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• Egyptians cast votes in long-awaited presidential elections
• Congress debates transportation bill with measure on Keystone XL Pipeline
• Report finds abuse, flaws in due process at Georgia’s for-profit detention centers
• In Iowa town, residents point to environmental violations and health problems in shadow of industry

• Quebec student protests continue despite government crackdown
• Spanish university leaders and activists fight for education funding
• Treason conviction for Pakistani doctor who aided CIA in Bin Laden hunt
• Schoolgirls poisoned in suspect Taliban radical attack in Afghanistan
• Unions step up pressure on PA Governor for education funding

Egyptians turned out to vote in large numbers today in the country’s first true democratic Presidential elections in history. Across the country, voters went to polling stations to choose from a list of 13 possible candidates representing a broad spectrum of political backgrounds. From Cairo, FSRN's Noel King reports.

The clock is ticking for the US House and Senate to resolve their differences on the wide-ranging transportation reauthorization bill. Funding expires next month. The congressional conference committee has been grappling for weeks over many controversial measures in the bill. The House version would slash funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs, prevent the EPA from regulating coal ash pollution and approve the Keystone XL pipeline, even as new reports show the project wouldn’t lower gas prices or create nearly as many jobs as its backers claim.

Today, we continue our examination of the country’s prison system, by focusing on the for-profit facilities that are playing an increasingly larger role in detaining and deporting immigrants. In the US, about half of all immigrant detainees are housed in private for-profit facilities, making immigration enforcement a multi-billion dollar industry. Advocates have long condemned conditions inside detention facilities, and in 2009 the Obama administration pledged to make improvements. But a new report from the ACLU of Georgia finds that “serious abuses” are still ongoing.

Located on one of the sharpest bends of the Mississippi River, the southeastern Iowa town of Muscatine is known for its flourishing local economy and picturesque sunsets. But it’s also one of the most polluted cities in Iowa. Since 2007, Grain Processing Corporation has violated federal and state pollution laws more than 100 times. Recent violations are prompting the EPA to investigate the company for air and water pollution. And some who live near the corn wet-milling facility have developed respiratory illnesses. FSRN’s Joe Cadotte has the story.

• NATO plan on Afghanistan under scrutiny after decade of war
• In Alabama, accounts of sexual violence in women’s prison draw call for investigation
• Immigrant women and girls face sexual violence on US farms
• Settler attacks increase as Israel passes controversial tax break
• In Egypt, community media opens air to wider voices

• Two reportedly killed in Dier al Zor as UN observers arrive
• Spill over tension grows in Lebanon after Shiite pilgrims kidnapped in Syria
• Mali President still in place despite attack after deadline extended
• EU rejects France's ban on Monsanto GMO corn
• Rutgers Dharun Ravi gets 30 days for hate crime that led to suicide

NATO concluded its summit in Chicago with a lengthy declaration by the member countries on issues ranging from which new countries could soon join the alliance, to statements against nuclear proliferation and sexual violence. Front and center at the meeting, which wrapped up Monday night, was the future of an international military presence in Afghanistan, as the coalition begins to plan for the day when Afghanistan will both staff and fund its own military and police. But critics say NATO shouldn’t sacrifice more dollars and lives to a failing mission.

Today, a legal advocacy group filed a complaint with the Department of Justice calling for an investigation into widespread sexual assault and harassment at Alabama’s only prison for women. According to the Equal Justice Initiative, who filed the complaint, inmates describe “frequent and severe” officer-on-inmate sexual violence. Several prisoners became pregnant after being raped by correction officers, according to findings in the complaint, and authorities punished female inmates who attempted to bring incidents to light.