By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left, by CalFlier 001 on WIkipedia:  Famed Dharahara Tower, Khatmandu in 2013, was reduced to a stump by the April 25, 2015 quake

Photo, right: Google executivfe Dan Fredinburg, who perished on Mt. Everest, reported on Instagram by his sister, Megan.

April 27, 2015 (San Diego) -- A devastating earthquake has struck Nepal on Saturday, April 25th,  killing over 3,700 people  in India,  Nepal, Bangladesh and the Tibetan region of China.  The quake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale,  stronger than the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the strongest to hit the Nepal region in more than 80 years.

An avalanche on Mt. Everest killed at least 18 mountain climbers and sherpas, including Google executive Dan Fredinburg,  whose father and stepmother live in Carlsbad in San Diego’s North County.

Cultural resources have also been devastating particularly in Khatmandu Valley, including the landmark Dharahara Tower, which collapsed. Multiple temples have also been damaged or destroyed.

By Miriam Raftery

April 18, 2015 (San Diego)—A video released by the Islamic State, or ISIS, shows the apparent killings of 15 Christians in Libya—half by beheading, the rest by shooting. The victims are believed to be Ethiopian Christians, CNN reports.  A message in the graphic 29-minute video makes clear the executions were motivated by religious hate, stating “Muslim blood shed under the hand of your religion is not cheap.”

April 15 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.

• U.S. airliners could be vulnerable to in-flight hacking: GAO (Reuters)
• Obama pledges $200 million in humanitarian aid to Iraq to help fight IS (CS Monitor)
• Denver TSA agents targeted 'attractive' passengers for pat-downs: authorities (Reuters)
• Maryland detains 'free-range' kids: how walk to playground became so fraught (CS Monitor)
• Before The NSA, The DEA Used Phone Records To Track Drug Cartels (NPR)
• Kansas man arrested in bomb plot in support of Islamic State: prosecutor (Reuters)
• Do Hillary and Jeb have an 'unfavorable' problem? Yes, but in different ways. (+video) (CS Monitor)

WORLD

• U.S. allies conduct 17 air strikes in Syria, Iraq: military (Reuters)
• Tijuana Police Officers Claim Corruption In The Force (KPBS)
• Australia To Stop Payments To Families Who Refuse Child Vaccinations (NPR)
• Nigeria's Boko Haram abducted 2,000 women and girls: report (Reuters)
• Islamic State militants claim attacks on embassies in Libya (Reuters)
• Iran will sign final nuclear deal only if sanctions lifted: Rouhani (Reuters)
• Iran creating 'suicide' drones that threaten Israel, U.S. Navy: Pentagon (Washington Times)
• Israel Foils Gaza Smugglers as Hamas Prepares for Next War (JWR)
• Two IDF soldiers stabbed by Palestinian (JPost)
• Malaysia toughens sedition law to include online media ban, mandatory jail (Reuters)
• Despite Optimism, Many Cubans Still Wish To Leave, Secret Poll Finds (NPR)
• Russia to deliver S-300 missiles to Iran as sign of 'good will' over nuclear talks (CS Monitor)
• When Rates Turn Negative, Banks Pay Customers To Borrow (NPR)
• Mexico oil spill affects drinking water for Tabasco city (AP)
• France's govt wants emergency surveillance powers (UT San Diego

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By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s palace in Tikrit; public domain image

April 7, 2015 (San Diego)--CNN reports that a mass gave containing up to 1,700 bodies has been found in the Iraqi city of Tikrit. The bodies are believed to be Iraqi soldiers slaughtered by Islamic State or ISIS forces last summer, according to Iraqi officials.

Photo: Syrian monastery in Tikrit, public domain image from Wikipedia

April 1, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)—Iraqi forces backed by U.S. air strikes have been pummeling the city of Tikrit in Iraq, seeking to wrest control away from Islamic State terrorists, or ISIS.  Now the Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi has declared a “magnificent victory” in the offensive.

By Miriam Raftery

March 25, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - A bill introduced this week by San Diego Congressional members Juan Vargas, a Democrat, and Duncan Hunter, a Republican, would provide expedited processing for religious minorities in Iraq/Syria.

Trials by ISIS underway as some captives reportedly freed; local Chaldean leaders speak out on crisis

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Open Doors

March 1,2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Fears mount for hundreds of Assyrian Christians taken captive by ISIS last week, amid reports that the self-proclaimed Islamic State militants are putting hostages on trial, though some reports indicate that a handful have been freed. 

The hostages include at least 262 men, women and children taken from villages in northeastern Syria, CNN reports.  Open Doors USA, an organization serving persecuted Christians worldwide, reports the captives include 72 families.

East County News Service

February 20, 2015 (San Diego)—Threats of Islamic State (or ISIL) forces spreading across northern Africa and into Europe are growing.  After establishing a caliphate in portions of Iraq and Syria, ISIL jihadists have reportedly burned 40 people alive  in Iraq’s Anbar province as well as a Jordanian pilot and beheaded 20 Egyptian Christians in Libya. This weeks, Turkish intelligence reportedly warns that ISIL may be plotting terror attacks in Turkey.

By Miriam Raftery

February 17, 2015 (San Diego’s East County)—Last week,  a young Jewish man was shot and killed outside a Copenhagen synagogue. In Paris, as many as 250 Jewish graves were desecrated.  At the University of California in Davis, California earlier this month, swastikas were sprayed on a Jewish fraternity house after a demonstration by pro-Palestinian students, one of whom  proclaimed on Facebook that Hamas and Sharia law had come to the campus, prompting 23 organizations to demand an investigation to protect Jewish students’ safety. These are the latest in a string of hate crimes targeting Jewish people around the world.

It's a violent start to the New Year that continues a chilling trend.  Last year, 2014, was a year of unprecedented anti-Semitic violence worldwide, the Simon Wiesenthal Center reports. That report found that due to violent anti-Semitism, Jewish people worldwide now face the greatest challenges since the end of World War II, when 6 million Jewish people were exterminated in concentration camps by the Nazis.

February 11, 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.

• Obama asks Congress to authorize 3-year ISIS fight (NY Times)
• U.S. leads 12 air strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military (Reuters)
• Electrified rail pierced New York train in crash, official says (Reuters)
• Could a Single Food-Safety Agency be the Answer? (Reason)
• This Valentine's Day growers hope 'slow flower' movement will take root  (CS Monitor)
• Three in St. Louis indicted for helping ISIS and Al Qaeda (CS Monitor)

WORLD

• The TransAsia crash and the rise of dashcam journalism (+video) (CS Monitor)
• Troops kill eight in highway battles in northern Mexico (Reuters)
• September 11 conspirator Moussaoui says Saudi royals backed al Qaeda (Reuters)
• Muslim clerics demand 'crucifixion' of ISIS terrorists who burned Jordanian pilot to death (JPost)
• UK anti-Semitic incidents hit record in 2014, says charity (AP)
• Jewish groups rap German anti-Semitism commission for omitting Jews (Reuters)
• Boko Haram kill more than 100 in Cameroon: local leader (Reuters)
• After Horrific Taliban Massacre, Pakistani Teachers Are Bringing Concealed Weapons to School

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

January 21, 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.

• ‘Shadow of crisis is past’; Presidents urges fair shot for all (Washington Post)
• Ohio man arrested for planning attack on U.S. Capitol (Reuters)
• To get their diploma, Arizona students must pass citizenship test (CS Monitor)
• Politics: The tyranny of celebrity (Jewish World Review)
• The Fine Print in Holder's New Forfeiture Policy Leaves Room for Continued Abuses (Reason)
• Oil spills in Montana's Yellowstone River after pipeline leak (Reuters)
• U.S. senator threatens aid cut to Palestinians over ICC move (Reuters)
• The Secret Recordings of Carmen Segarra (This American Life)
• Five Yemenis transferred from U.S. custody at Guantanamo: Pentagon (Reuters)

WORLD

• Hero Of Kosher Grocery Siege Will Become A French Citizen (NPR)
• 19,000 French websites hit by cyberattack since Paris terror assaults, official says (CS Monitor)
• The Great Wall of Saudi Arabia? (CS Monitor)
• China says its colleges must champion core socialist values (AP)
• Prosecutor Who Accused Argentine President Of Cover-Up Is Found Dead (NPR)
• Canadian soldiers exchange fire with ISIS in Iraq (AP)
• Nigerians face killings, hunger in Boko Haram's 'state' (Reuters)
• Netanyahu: Israel must open Asian markets due to Islamization, anti-Semitism in Europe (JPost)
• Israel: First known local Islamic State cell arrested (AP)
•  Egypt uncovers explosives-laden smuggling tunnel between Sinai, Gaza (JPost)
• Suspected Boko Haram fighters kidnap around 80 in Cameroon (Reuters)
• Anti-Charlie rally in Pakistan draws 5,000 (Reuters)

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

East County News Service

Photo: Muhammad ud-Deen, creative commons

January 10, 2015 (La Mesa) –Anwar al-Awlaki, a former cleric at a mosque on the La Mesa-San Diego boundary and ex-student at San Diego State may have inspired the jihadist brothers who massacred 12 people at the French magazine Charlie Hebdo.  Awlaki was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in September 2011 and was believed by U.S. authorities to have been a terrorist mastermind tied to the 9/11 attacks and many other terror plots around the world.

Cherif Kouachi , one of two brothers who reportedly gunned down journalists at Charlie Hebdo, was later killed by police following a massive manhunt in Paris. Before he died, Koachi told BFM-TV, “I was sent, me, Cherif Koachi, by Al Qaeda of Yemen. I went over there and it was Anwar al Awlaki who financed me.” Reuters reports that the statement was recorded and aired on French television.

January 8, 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.

• Big threats for Obama’s climate efforts from GOP-led Congress (AP)
• Millions caught in icy grip as arctic front pushes south (CBS)
• Who’s most likely to be killed by police? (CNN)
• Net Neutrality Debate Forces FCC Chairman Into The Spotlight (NPR)

WORLD

• At least 12 dead in shooting at satirical publication’s office in Paris (KPBS)
• Palestinian statehood resolution fails at U.N council, U.S. votes against (Reuters)
• New Year's Eve stampede kills 36 on Shanghai waterfront (Reuters)
• US mission in Havana to become embassy amid thaw (UT San Diego)
• Islamic State executed nearly 2,000 people in six months: monitor (Reuters)
• U.S.-led forces launch 13 air strikes in Iraq, three in Syria (Reuters)
• Despite Its Beauty, Cuba Isn't Quite Ready For Tourists (NPR)
• ISIS published female sex slave handbook (Post)

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