ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

May 15, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--ECM 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

• NASA spots worrisome Antarctic ice sheet melt that could add 4 to 12 feet to current sea levels (10 News)
• Net neutrality puts FCC at center of storm (Washington Post)
• Dems ready student loan push (The Hill)
• U.S. passenger jet nearly collided with drone in March: FAA  (Reuters)

WORLD

• Sewol ferry captain and 3 crew members face murder charges in South Korea  (CNN)
• EU court says people may remove unflattering links from Google (+video) (CS Monitor)
• France says Syria used chlorine in 14 recent attacks (Reuters)
• Separatists kill seven Ukraine soldiers in heaviest loss for Kiev forces (Reuters)
• Sudanese woman may face death for choosing Christianity over Islam (Reuters)
• Iraq Debates Law That Would Allow Men To Marry 9-Year-Old Girls (NPR)

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

U.S

NASA spots worrisome Antarctic ice sheet melt that could add 4 to 12 feet to current sea levels (10 News)

The huge West Antarctic ice sheet is starting a glacially slow collapse in an unstoppable way, two new studies show. Alarmed scientists say that means even more sea level rise than they figured.

Net neutrality puts FCC at center of storm (Washington Post)

Silicon Valley once cheered the election of President Obama, comforted by his stance that Internet service providers should be banned from charging Web sites such as Facebook or Netflix for faster access to American homes. And for much of the past six years, tech firms felt shielded from the possibility that the Internet would ever have separate slow and fast lanes for traffic. But on Thursday, the government is poised to vote on a plan that could make that scenario a reality

Dems ready student loan push (The Hill)

Senate Democrats are preparing a June offensive on student loans meant to bolster the party's 2014 election message. Democrats will push for a vote on legislation to allow people to refinance student loan debt at a lower rate.

U.S. passenger jet nearly collided with drone in March: FAA  (Reuters)

An American Airlines Group Inc aircraft almost collided with a drone above Florida earlier this year, a near-accident that highlights the growing risk from rising use of unmanned aircraft, the U.S. air safety regulator said.

WORLD

Sewol ferry captain and 3 crew members face murder charges in South Korea  (CNN)

The captain and three other crew members of the Sewol, the South Korean ferry that sank last month, have been charged with murder, chief prosecutor Yang Joon-jin said Thursday.

EU court says people may remove unflattering links from Google (+video) (CS Monitor)

Google makes it too easy to dig up someone's past, according to the EU's highest court. It ruled Tuesday that Google must honor some requests to remove links from its search engine.

France says Syria used chlorine in 14 recent attacks (Reuters)

 Syria may have used chemical weapons involving chlorine in 14 attacks in recent months, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday, expressing concerns that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is hiding toxic weapons.

Separatists kill seven Ukraine soldiers in heaviest loss for Kiev forces (Reuters)

 Pro-Russian separatists ambushed Ukrainian troops on Tuesday, killing seven in the heaviest loss of life for government forces in a single clash since Kiev sent soldiers to put down a rebellion in the country's east.

Sudanese woman may face death for choosing Christianity over Islam (Reuters)

 A Sudanese court gave a 27-year-old woman until Thursday to abandon her newly adopted Christian faith and return to Islam or face a death sentence, judicial sources said on Monday. Mariam Yahya Ibrahim was charged with apostasy as well as adultery for marrying a Christian man, something prohibited for Muslim women to do and which makes the marriage void.

Iraq Debates Law That Would Allow Men To Marry 9-Year-Old Girls (NPR)

The Iraqi Cabinet has approved the measure and sent it to Parliament for a vote. Opponents say it would be a major setback for a country that has mostly secular laws