State and National News

While initial headlines that said a man jumped into a vat of acid to rescue a co-worker at at New Jersey construction site may have overstated what happened just a bit, there's still a dramatic tale to tell.

According to NorthJersey.com:

Sun, salt and lime sounds like the beginnings of a cocktail recipe, but for some, it could mean cleaner, life-sustaining water.

In many developing countries, the only source of water is contaminated with viruses and bacteria. In fact, the United Nations estimates that 1 in 6 people don't have access to enough fresh drinking water.

Voters in Indiana, Wisconsin and North Carolina on Tuesday will decide the outcome of battles many see as proxy wars going into the fall elections.

-- In Indiana, voters will determine the fate of six-term Republican Sen. Richard Lugar, 80, a respected legislator who has run afoul of Tea Party activists.

-- In Wisconsin, they'll pick a Democrat from a field of four whose aim it will be to oust anti-union Republican Gov. Scott Walker in a June recall election prompted by his slashing of collective bargaining rights.

Benjamin Weinthal is the Berlin-based European correspondent for the Jerusalem Post and a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

If the results of the latest elections are any indication, Europeans will elect anyone from communists to fascists if they promise to fight German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the financial austerity measures she has imposed on the eurozone.

John Nichols writes about politics for The Nation magazine as its Washington correspondent.

Bernie Sanders is as focused as any member of Congress could be on the struggles of the state he represents, and more generally on the challenges facing working people across the United States.

But that does not mean that the independent senator from Vermont fails to recognize when things are kicking up around the world — especially when those developments have meaning for the fights he is waging in Washington.

Good morning, here are some of the headlines we're following:

Santorum Endorses Romney.

Clinton Hopes To Soon Welcome Chinese Activist Chen To The U.S.

A 19-year-old University of Iowa student paid $20 for a stolen driver's license and debit card. He took the ID to a bar. But the bouncer instantly recognized the ID was stolen. Because it belonged to him.

An L.A. County detective testified that he gave a suspect the Miranda warning. But a TruTV reality show was following him around. Video shows the detective actually said, "You watch TV. You know your rights and all that?" Prosecutors say that's not close enough.