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Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA. Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking? Follow us on Twitter @IAVAPressRoom or subscribe to receive the brief in your inbox each morning at www.iava.org/dailynewsbrief. 

MUST READS

1) Tulsa veterans treatment court serves as model nationwide

The Veterans Treatment Court in Tulsa is among four in the country being considered as a model court by the National Drug Court Institute. The court intervenes in the lives of veterans who have common underlying issues like PTSD, providing them with job assistance and screenings for up to three years.

2) Being moms again one of the many challenges for service women

Female veterans — and especially mothers — face a set of challenges when they come home that is different from those of their male counterparts. Like male service members, women often return home emotionally exhausted. However experts say many mothers are thrust back into caretaker roles the moment they return from war, getting no time to readjust.

3) More wounded Marines eligible for special pay

The Corps is expanding special pay and allowance eligibility for Marines wounded or ill as a result of combat or hostile fire. The Pay and Allowance Continuation program, approved by Congress in 2008, authorizes service members who are hospitalized or assigned to a medical/patient unit for treatment to continue collecting monthly bonus money they would have lost upon evacuation.

4) NYC device similar to Beirut barracks bomb, found near recruiting station

Police found an “amateurish” but potentially powerful bomb that apparently began to detonate but did not explode in a smoking sport utility vehicle in Times Square, authorities said Sunday. The car was parked only yards from an Armed Forces recruiting station that has been the target of an earlier anarchist attack and protests

AFGHANISTAN

U.S. troops in Afghanistan released a remake of Lady Gaga's video that has gone viral on the Internet.

The chief of U.S. Central Command warned Kandahar residents Friday of a violent summer ahead, predicting "horrific actions" by insurgents as his troops try to drive the Taliban from the southern Afghan city.

NATO said on Saturday it was investigating whether shots fired by its troops in southern Afghanistan had killed two women and a child traveling in car.

IRAQ

The Iraqi government Thursday accused Kuwait of impeding the resumption of flights between Baghdad and London, urging Arab nations to intervene to prevent such "Kuwaiti practices."

Iraq's foreign minister chided the U.S. and Britain for not taking an active role in resolving his country's bitter election dispute, and accused Washington of being more concerned with sending home U.S. troops.

Iraqi authorities say gunmen have robbed a jewelry store in northern Baghdad and killed its owner. As they were making their escape, a car bomb exploded nearby, killing three policemen who were responding to the robbery.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is considering a request from Louisiana's governor for funds to pay for the deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard troops to respond to the oil slick, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Nearly one-third of airmen could fail the Air Force’s physical fitness test when new standards are put into place on July 1, if recent sampling is any indication.

Contrary to what you may have read, the Army has not embraced the more intimate term “warrior companion” to replace the platonic “battle buddy.”

INSIDE WASHINGTON

Moved by a huge tide of troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress, Congress has pressured the Department of Veterans Affairs to settle their disability claims — quickly, humanely and mostly in the vets’ favor. But some fear making it easier for troops will open the door to fraud.

Senior Pentagon leaders on Friday warned Congress not to tamper with the ban on gays serving openly in the military until he can come up with a plan for dealing with potential opposition in the ranks.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate will convene at 2 p.m.

SENATE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No issues

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

May 5, 2010: Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Hearing: VA Disability

May 19 2010 Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Hearing: Pending Legislation 9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell

THE HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES 



The House will convene at 10:00 a.m.

HOUSE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST 



No issues

FUTURE HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST 



May 5, 2010 House Veterans' Affairs Committee Hearing: Status Update on the National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study 10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon House Office Building

May 6, 2010 House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Hearing: Quality vs. Quantity: Examining the Veterans Benefits Administration‚s Employee Work Credit and Management Systems

A wide-range of views, positions, and publications are represented in these articles. These views, positions and publications are not endorsed by nor do they necessarily represent the views of IAVA .