ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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June 3,  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.

Texas floods:

Other national news:

WORLD

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

 

U.S.

After 35 trillion gallons of rain, Texans search for the missing – and closure (+video)

Thousands of friends, family members, and strangers have been searching for those missing after torrential rain and flooding in Texas. 'Over the past few days, we’ve been absolutely amazed and overwhelmed by the generosity of others,' said one family member.

 

Cattle Drive Saves Hundreds Of Cows Stranded By Texas Flooding (NPR)

A herd of Texas cattle is safe Monday, thanks to the work of cowboys and volunteers who worked to move some 500 cows and calves from an "island" of land that was being shrunk by the rising Trinity River.

 

Soaked Texans Brace For More Storms After 7 More Inches Of Rain Fall (NPR)

More rain is forecast this weekend in North Texas after up to 7 inches fell last night across parts of the state, causing colonies of fire ants and snakes to take shelter in houses and an alligator had to be removed from a parking garage.

 

IsraAID sending team to join Texas flood relief effort (JPost)

A team of ten IsraAID volunteers will depart for Texas on Sunday where they will help with removing debris from damaged houses, Zahavi told The Jerusalem Post.  The organization will be partnering with US disaster relief organization Team Rubicom and will be helping people in the Austin area.  The house clearing work will assist homeowners to turn to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to receive assistance, Zahavi said.

 

 

As The Arctic Opens Up, The U.S. Is Down To A Single Icebreaker (NPR)

Melting ice means more of the Arctic is accessible to exploration and shipping, and countries are racing to establish a presence. But they still need heavy icebreakers, and the U.S. is falling behind.

 

U.S. removes Cuba from list of terrorism sponsors (LA Times)

The Obama administration on Friday removed Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism

 

Leaked Repot: DHS and soverign citizens   (Reason) 

In February, the Department of Homeland Security circulated a report on the sovereign citizens movement, known for filing nuisance lawsuits, making their own license plates and identification papers, and sometimes attempting to form parallel institutions of government. The intelligence assessment was not released to the general public, though some media outlets did get wind of it and discussed it in sensationalized terms.

 

It's a Match (Reason)

A few years ago, Houston found that it had a backlog of more than 6,600 untested "rape kits," the medical forensic evidence collected from alleged sexual-assault victims. Since 2013, the city has focused on clearing this archive of potential DNA evidence, and it has gotten some encouraging results. As of February 2015, testing the kits had turned up 850 hits from the FBI's criminal forensic database, leading to charges against 29 individuals and six convictions....

 

What Beau Biden represented in American politics (CS Monitor)

Vice President Biden's son Beau, who died Saturday, showed that politics can be an honorable profession. He was Delaware's attorney general and served in Iraq. 

 

If NSA surveillance program ends, phone record trove will endure (LA Times)

The National Security Agency will mothball its mammoth archive of Americans' telephone records, isolating the computer servers where they are stored and blocking investigators' access, but will not destroy the database if its legal authority to collect the material expires on schedule this Sunday, officials said Thursday. 

 

Silk Road mastermind: drug kingpin or libertarian ideologue gone astray? (CS Monitor)

On Friday, US District Judge Katherine Forrest sentenced Ross Ulbricht, the operator of the 'deep web' drug bazaar the Silk Road, to life in prison.  

 

Yahoo must face email spying class action: U.S. judge (Reuters)

A U.S. judge ordered Yahoo Inc to face a nationwide class-action lawsuit accusing it of illegally intercepting the content of emails sent to Yahoo Mail subscribers from non-Yahoo Mail accounts, and using the information to boost advertising revenue.

Appeals court blocks 12-week ban on abortion as unconstitutional (CS Monitor)

A three-judge panel of the Eighth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that an Arkansas law imposed an undue burden on a woman’s ability to terminate her pregnancy before fetal viability.

 

San Diego State Study: Millennials Might Be Least-Religious Generation (KPBS)

SDSU psychology professor Jean Twenge and her team found that 75 percent of high school seniors say religion is not important to them.

 

IRS believes massive data theft originated in Russia (CNN)

The Internal Revenue Service believes that a major cyber breach that allowed criminals to steal the tax returns of more than 100,000 people originated in Russia, Rep. Peter Roskam confirmed.

 

WORLD

 

Russia moves to silence civil society and its 'undesirable' contacts (CS Monitor)

Under a new law, Russian NGOs could face prosecution for communication with 'undesirable' groups based abroad – groups like Transparency International, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.

 

Putin classifies Russian soldiers' deaths while denying Ukraine buildup (CS Monitor)

President Vladimir Putin ordered on Thursday that deaths of Russian soldiers during special operations in peacetime should be classified as a state secret, a move that comes as Moscow stands accused of sending troops to fight in eastern Ukraine.

 

Islamic State suicide attack kills 38 Iraqi policemen (Reuters)

Islamic State militants drove a tank rigged with explosives into a base south of the Iraqi city of Samarra on Monday, killing 38 policemen, military and police sources said. A further 46 people were wounded....

 

Cyber-Archeologists Re-Create Destroyed Artifacts (NPR)

Hundreds of ancient artifacts have been damaged or destroyed during violence in the Middle East. Project Mosul uses the power of crowd-sourcing and 3D imaging to re-create the ancient artifacts.

 

Did Russia impose a secret travel ban on European politicians?

A confidential 'stop list' of 89 European politicians and military leaders shown to reporters has worsened the already deteriorating relations between Europe and Russia. 

 

Under Cover Of Conflict, Hamas Killed Palestinians, Amnesty Alleges (NPR)

The human rights organization says Hamas deliberately killed at least 23 Palestinians during the war with Israel last summer. Those killed were accused by Hamas of collaborating with Israel.

 

Cyberattack tied to Hezbollah ups the ante for Israel's digital defenses (CS Monitor)

A sophisticated malware campaign recently discovered by an Israeli firm has been linked to Hezbollah, suggesting that the militant group has more advanced technological skill than previously thought.

 

Five weeks after big quake, Nepal's schools reopen (CS Monitor)

Thousands of Nepali children returned to school on Sunday after last month's devastating earthquake that left more than 8,600 people dead.

 

Squeezing Somalia (Reason)

Somalia gets the equivalent of 35 percent of its gross national product from remittances, at least $1.3 billion from individuals abroad...According to a February study from Oxfam, remittances likely provide up to 80 percent of Somali small-business capital and "one out of every three Somalis" depends on remittances for "food, school or basic healthcare." But thanks to U.S. Treasury regulations meant to stop money laundering for terrorists, the last U.S. bank to do major business with Somali money transferring companies, Merchant's Bank of California, stopped in February.

 

Man arrested in Cyprus suspected of planning terror attack against Israelis (JPost)

Cypriot police suspect a man arrested on Wednesday was planning an attack on Israeli interests on the island after they found almost two tonnes of ammonium nitrate in his basement, newspapers reported on Friday. .

 

Video shows Canada Parliament gunman praying before attack (Reuters)

Previously unreleased footage of a gunman who fatally shot a soldier in Canada's capital last October before storming Parliament shows him praying aloud in Arabic.

 

Gravely ill Russian opposition figure won't be sent abroad (AP)

The prominent Russian opposition figure who is being treated at a Moscow hospital after the sudden onset of a mysterious illness won't be taken abroad for care. …His wife Evgenia issued a statement Thursday saying he had symptoms of poisoning and called for him to be taken to Europe or Israel for treatment. But his father and the head doctor of the hospital said Friday he won't be sent abroad, Russian news agencies reported.

 

Assad regime kills dozens with barrel bombs, rights group says (JPost)

Syrian air force raid killed at least 59 civilians at a market in a town held by Islamic State militants in northern Syria on Saturday, according to a group monitoring the war. The strike on the town of al-Bab, northeast of the city of Aleppo, used "barrel bombs" - steel drums full of shrapnel and explosives, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. 

 


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