ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL NEWS

May 20, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• House approves bill that would end NSA bulk collection of data (Huffington Post)
• FBI: hacker claims to have taken over flight’s engine controls (CNN)
• Picking strawberries for U.S. tables has workers in Mexico asking for more (Reuters)
• Wreckage of U.S. chopper found in Nepal (10 News)
• Extreme El Nino expected to wreak havoc on weather this year  (New Scientist)
• Drought drains nation’s largest reservoir  (New Scientist)
• Amtrak train that derailed sped up before crash (Time)

WORLD

• Islamic state seizes ancient Palmyra city from Syrian forces (Reuters)
• Islamic State seizes Iraqi army base  (Reuters)
• ISIS seizes capital of Iraq’s largest province (Washington Post)
• Fighting continues in Yemeni city despite truce (Reuters)
•  Israel intercepts 40 diving suits en route to Gaza (JPost)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

U.S.

House approves bill that would end NSA bulk collection of data (Huffington Post)

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill that would end spy agencies' bulk collections of Americans' telephone data, setting up a potential showdown with the U.S. Senate over the program that expires on June 1.

FBI: hacker claims to have taken over flight’s engine controls (CNN)

A cybersecurity consultant told the FBI he hacked into computer systems aboard airliners up to 20 times and managed to control an aircraft engine during a flight, according to federal court documents.

Picking strawberries for U.S. tables has workers in Mexico asking for more (Reuters)

Huddled around a single flickering candle in a tiny wood and cardboard shack on scrubland in Mexico's northwest, laborer Genaro Perfecto and his family prepared to bed down for the night on a bare earth floor.

Wreckage of U.S. chopper found in Nepal (10 News)

Eight bodies have been recovered from the U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crash site in a remote area of Nepal, the country’s military said Saturday.

Extreme El Nino expected to wreak havoc on weather this year  (New Scientist)

The bad boy of global weather is on its way. El Niño can cause floods, droughts, fires and epidemics around the world, and the next one could be a humdinger.

Drought drains nation’s largest reservoir  (New Scientist)

IF California’s prolonged dry spell is eventually recognised as a megadrought, no one can say we weren't warned. Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US, has hit its lowest level ever. Feeding California, Nevada and Arizona, it can hold a mind-boggling 35 cubic kilometres of water. But it has been many years since it was at capacity, and the situation is only getting worse.

WORLD

Islamic state seizes ancient Palmyra city from Syrian forces (Reuters)

Islamic State insurgents stormed the historic Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday, fighting off pro-government forces who withdrew after evacuating most of the civilian population, state television said.

Islamic State seizes Iraqi army base  (Reuters)

slamic State militants said they had taken full control of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday in the biggest defeat for the Baghdad government since last summer.

ISIS seizes capital of Iraq’s largest province (Washington Post)

Islamic State fighters on Friday seized control of key parts of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s largest province, in what appeared to be a significant blow to a U.S.-backed military campaign to retake territory from the insurgents.

Fighting continues in Yemeni city despite truce (Reuters)

At least 10 people were killed in heavy clashes in Yemen on Friday despite a five-day humanitarian truce, while aid distribution to the millions deprived of food, fuel and medicine by weeks of fighting and air strikes continued.

 Israel intercepts 40 diving suits en route to Gaza (JPost)

Customs officers and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) intercepted an attempt to smuggle diving suits into the Gaza Strip, authorities announced on Monday, some nine months after a Hamas naval commando unit attempted to infiltrate Kibbutz Zikim during last summer’s conflict.