July 1, 2014 (San Diego's East County)--This week, the extremist group ISIS declared an Islamic caliphate stretching from Syria across Iraq following weeks of mounting violence. On June 25, prior to the declaration, we aired a second interview with San Diego Chaldean-American leader Mark Arabo following his meetings with the State Department, members of Congress and high-level U.S. officials. We discussed international efforts to bring peace to the region, form a more inclusive government and protect Iraqi Christians.

Hear our interview here, originally aired June 18, 2014:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

June 26, 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.

• DOJ’s Defense of Drone-Killing American Alleged Terrorist Without Trial: Because War (Reason)
• Judge Declares Secretive No-Fly List Process Unconstitutional (Reason)
• House Passes Amendment Ordering Actual Restraints on NSA Searches (Reason)
•  Problems with collective action (USA Today)
• Alaska earthquake 'rings the Earth like a bell' (CS Monitor)
• In growing US sex-trafficking business, majority of victims are American-born (CS Monitor)
• Mormon church excommunicates prominent US activist Kate Kelly (CS Monitor)
• Colorado suspends oil and gas wastewater disposal well after quake (Reuters)
• Violent and Legal: The Shocking Ways School Kids are Being Pinned Down, Isolated Against Their Will (Pro Publica)

WORLD

• Obama Asks For $500 Million To Train, Equip Syrian Rebels (NPR)
• Global refugees highest since WWII, pointing to lack of political solutions  (CS Monitor)
• Iraq government claims gain in anti-militant fight ((CNN)
• Russia's Putin renounces right to send troops to Ukraine (Reuters)
• Report Of Drone Crashes A 'Record Of Calamity' (NPR)
• Children being lured into Syrian civil war, suicide missions (Jerusalem Post)
• Hamas leader says terror group capable of targeting any Israeli city with rockets (Jerusalem Post)
• US drone killings: 'a secret war governed by secret law'? (CS Monitor)

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By Miriam Raftery

“If they keep taking out city after city, the whole world’s safety is threatened. I hope the world acts soon." -- Mark Arabo, Iraqi-American community leader

Update: Our interview with Mark Arabo, which aired on KNSJ 89.1 on June 13, 2014 can now be heard here:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

June 17, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – The violence engulfing Iraq as terrorists capture  citiy after city is a “living nightmare that won’t go away” for Chaldean Christians across America, Mark Arabo, a first-generation Iraq-American and president/CEO of the Neighborhood Market Association, told East County Magazine.  “No question about it, this is a slow genocide."

Now, Chaldeans across American are asking the public to help by signing a petition urging President Barack Obama  and Congress to join with other world leaders and provide safe passage out of Iraq for Christians trapped with no safe place to go, now that Syria is in civil war and the terrorists in Iraq aim to impose Sharia law.  You can click this link to sign the petition to Save Iraqi Christians.

June 5, 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.

• Shinsheki resigns, but will that improve things at VA hospitals? (CNN)
• House Democrats unveil new gun bill focused on mental health (The Hill)
• EPA to call for 30% cut in power plant emissions by 2030 (Huffington Post)
• Republicans questions U.S. prisoner swap with Taliban (Reuters)
• Snowden: The Government That Is Attacking Me Is Also Reforming Because of Me (Reason)
• U.S. birth rate hits lows for teens, rises among older women (Reuters)

WORLD

• Spain arrests 6 suspects accused of recruiting for terror groups (CNN)
• Russia Takes Helm Of UN Security Council, Turns Focus On Ukraine (NPR)
• G7 willing to step up sanctions on Russia over Ukraine  (Reuters)
• Why Chinese youth are ignorant of Tiananmen Square protest (CS Monitor)
• Egypt's Former Army Chief Wins Presidential Election In Landslide (NPR)
• Ottawa City Hall Hosts Palestinian Exhibit Honoring Terrorists (Investigative Projects)

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May 22, 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.

• As outrage over V.A. allegations grow, White House scrambles to respond (Washington Post)
• Obama, business execs look to boost investment (The Hill)
• Bernie Sanders has questions about Clinton (Washington Post)
• Jeb Bush hints at 2016 run, talks up faith in his only commencement address this year (Washington Post)

WORLD

• Drones join fight to protect African wildlife (CBS)
• Russia's Says Rides To The Space Station Will End  (NPR)
• How does a drug cartel become a lime cartel? (Washington Post)
• Record Flooding In Balkans Destroys Communities (NPR)
• U.N. monitors warn on human rights in east Ukraine, Crimea (Reuters)

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May 7, 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.

• Rep. Hunter opposes possible nominee to head Pentagon’s spy program (The Hill)
• Release of White House email stirs up a new controversy over Benghazi (Los Angeles Times)
• Tea Party takes hit in primary contests (The Hill)
• States must be warned of oil-by-rail cargoes, U.S. says (Reuters)
• For Many, Farming Is A Labor Of Love, Not A Living (NPR)
• Rice backs out of commencement address at Rutgers (Washington Post)

WORLD

• Germany’s wind power chaos should be a warning to the UK (Telegraph)
• Outrage Out Of Moscow As News Of Ukrainian Offensive Spreads  (NPR)
• China Could Pass U.S. As Top Economy This Year (NPR)
• US joins hunt for Nigerian girls (BBC)
• Japan, worried about China, strengthens ties with NATO (Reuters)

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April 30, 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.

• Supreme Court appears wary of carte blanche for cellphone searches (CS Monitor)
•  Death toll rises as twisters rip across Mississippi, Alabama (CNN)
• Obamacare enrollment extended again (The Hill)
• What’s next for Obamacare ? The Hill)
• Clippers owner Donald Sterling banned for life by NBA (CBS)
  
  Clippers sponsors jump ship (CNN)
• ADL director responds to Kerry's reported 'apartheid’ remark (Jerusalem Post)
• U.S. investigating theft of doctors' tax refunds (Reuters)
• How A Public Corruption Scandal Became A Fight Over Free Speech (NPR)
• Texas family plagued with ailments gets $3 million in first of its kind fracking judgment (CNN)

WORLD

• Hungarians march against anti-Semitism after far-right poll gains (Reuters)
•  Megacities contend with sinking land (BBC)
• Tu-95 bombers: Brits scramble jets after Russian bombers approach  (CS Monitor)
• Russia Threatens Invasion Unless Ukraine Stops Stopping Separatists (Reason)
• Pacific Island Nation Sues U.S., Others For Violating Nuclear Treaty (NPR)
• Poppies replace tourists in Egypt's Sinai desert  (Christian Science Monitor)
• On Second Day Of Mass Trial, Egyptian Judge Sentences 683 To Death (NPR)

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April 17, 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.

• IRS Chasing Children For Dead Parents' Debts (NPR)
• Three border officials face charges (SD Reader)
• A look at chances of getting audited by IRS (UT San Diego)
• Obama Administration Slapped With 'Muzzle Awards' for Threatening Free Expression (Reason)
• Senate report: Interrogation methods 'far worse' than CIA acknowledged (CS Monitor)
•  Three people killed in shootings at Jewish centers in Kansas (Reuters)

WORLD

• Water flows to Colorado River Delta  (U-T San Diego)
• Rwanda, the world's swiftest genocide (CS Monitor)
• (2 powerful earthquakes hit Solomon Islands (AP)
• A look at Ukraine's fast-growing Russian gas bill (UT San Diego)
• Can Russia's military fly without Ukraine's parts? (CS Monitor)

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April 3, 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.

• Fort Hood shooting spree: `Texans hearts are once again very heavy ‘(CNN)
• House panel subpoenas on wind power, eagle deaths (UT San Diego)
• Facing near certainty of rape, women illegally crossing border turn to birth control (RawStory)
• Yellowstone National Park rattled by largest earthquake in 34 years (Reuters)
•  Colorado River begins flooding Mexican delta (KPBS)
• Local partisans divide on Supreme Court ruling (UT San Diego)
• GM Bailout Claims the Legal Rights of Americans (Reason)
• Why do we make students sit still in class? (CNN)
• Facing the development of U.S. wind energy with a DOE map (ECO report)
• Fallen Marine's Dad Wants Peace At Fred Phelps' Funeral (Video) (KPBS)

WORLD

• Mexico finds 370 abandoned immigrant children (Reuters)
• Iraq electoral commission resigns en masse weeks before vote (Reuters)
• With $1B In Aid For Ukraine, Congress Puts Money Where Its Mouth Is (NPR)
• U.N. official says 'terrifying' level of hatred in Central African Republic (Reuters)
• ‘Black-clad army’ rallies for democracy in Taipei (Taipei Times)
• Obama ready to expand covert aid to Syrian opposition: report (Reuters)
• Exclusive: Russia threatened countries ahead of UN vote on Ukraine - envoys(Reuters)
• New Zealand tops social progress index, world's biggest economies trail (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

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March 19, 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.

• Navy Seals seize rogue tanker (UT San Diego)
• NSA mimics criminals in bid to infect millions of computers, report says (+video) (CS Monitor)
• Owners of recalled GM cars feel angry, vindicated (Reuters)
• Gun control supporters turn to new front (The Hill)
• If Hilary doesn’t run, the democratic primary could be one for the ages (Washington Post)
• Jobless deal came down to wire (Politico)
• Louisiana sues MoveOn.org over Bobby Jindal billboard  (Times-Picayune)
• Editorial: Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell agree: Voters don’t need to know (SacBee)

WORLD

• Moscow wins overwhelming Crimea vote, West readies sanctions (Reuters)
• Fresh off triumph in Crimean vote, Moscow spells out conditions for Kiev (+video) (CS Monitor)
• In Eastern Europe, the talk is of 1939 (Monitor Global Outlook)
• Crimea to Russia: we're ready to be annexed (CS Monitor)
• Why China's new anti-satellite weapon worries US (CS Monitor)
• Missing Malaysian flight: Air traffic control heard from pilot after systems shut down (CS Monitor)
• NATO websites hit in cyber attack over Crimea stance Reuters)
• Nigeria: Attacks on Christians kill at least 100 (UT San Diego)
• Iran pursuing banned items for nuclear, missile work: U.S. official (Reuters)
• Cyber-war: In deed and desire, Iran emerging as a major power (CS Monitor)
• US delivers Hellfire missiles, ammunition to Iraq (UT San Diego)
• Israel bombs Gaza militants after intensive rocket fire (Reuters)
• Assad and Hezbollah gain control of Lebanon border, choke off supply line to rebels (Jerusalem Post)
• Egypt arrests 'Israel lover' for Star of David tattoo, contacting Israelis on Facebook (Jerusalem Post)

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San Diego Ukranians Speak Out

“My 17 year old friend was shot by snipers for delivering vegetables to protestors in independence square.”—Vera Skop, San Diego

By Jessica Richmond

March 14, 2014 (San Diego)-- Since the February 28^th takeover of the Crimean region in the Ukraine by unmarked Russian troops, Ukrainians have been asking, “Are we safe from Russian expansionism?” In San Diego, with a population of approximately 15,000 Ukrainians, this has become a sensitive topic. Sources from Ukraine confirm that family members at home and abroad are equally worried about the escalating encroachment of Russia on the sovereign Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

March 5, 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.

• White House touts tax breaks in budget (The Hill)
• Majority of Americans now support gay marriage, survey finds (Reuters)
•  Who'll fund journalism? Meet the new Medicis (CS Monitor)
• Thermal Imaging Gets More Common But The Courts Haven't Caught Up (NPR)
• Shutdown cost national parks at least $414M (SacBee)

WORLD

• Ukraine mobilizes troops after Russia’s declaration of war(CNN)
• Ukraine crisis resurrects Cold War ghosts as U.S. warns Russia, Poland appeals to NATO (Washington Post)
• Will Mexico's capture of 'El Chapo' mean border instability? US agents on alert. (+video) (CS Monitor)
• Idle No More: Japan Plans To Restart Closed Nuclear Reactors (NPR)

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February 19, 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.

• Banking barrier tumbles for legal sellers of marijuana (Washington Post)
• ‘Thug music’ killer dodges murder charge (Huffington Post)
• Possible radiation leak at New Mexico military nuclear waste site (Reuters)
• US Navy Ready To Deploy Laser For 1st Time (AP)
•  The 'Crime' of Having a Hidden Compartment in Your Car (Reason)
• Debate: Was Edward Snowden Justified? (NPR)

WORLD

• Tensions high in Kiev after at least 21 die in fiery clashes (CNN)
• Japan quake survivor wins skating gold (UT San Diego)
• More than 140 Brazilian cities ration water amid prolonged heat wave (Fox)
• A New Assault on Freedom of the Press (Reason)
• U.N. Report Details North Korea's 'Crimes Against Humanity' (NPR)
• Report: Egypt creating buffer zone on Gaza-Sinai border, destroys 10 tunnels (Jerusalem Post)

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February 6, 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.

• To save lives, it's time for our cars to 'talk', US says. Are there risks? (CS Monitor)
• U.S. abortion rate falls to lowest level in 40 years (RawStory)
• U.S. safety agency says 22 million vehicles recalled in 2013  (Reuters)

WORLD

• Airlines warned on possible Olympics toothpaste bombs (USA Today)
• Volcanic ash smothers part of Indonesia, kills 15 (CNN)
• Should E.U. Police Be Given Darth Vader-Like Powers to Stop Cars Remotely? (Reason)
• More than 400 dead dolphins on north Peru coast (UT San Diego)

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January 23, 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.

• Blogger gets same speech protections as traditional press: U.S. court  (Reuters)
• As CA’s drought deepens, a sense of dread grows (NY Times)
• Tech firms say Obama’s proposals fall short of expectations (Washington Post)
• . Obama bans spying on leaders of U.S. allies, scales back NSA program (Reuters)
• Civil Libertarians Respond to Obama's NSA Reforms - Meh! (Reason)
• NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep (The Guardian)
• Senator Feinstein encounter with drone surveillance (Politico)
• North Carolina ultrasound abortion law ruled illegal by judge (Reuters)
• U.S. states could turn to firing squads if execution drugs scarce (Reuters)
• U.S. seeks UNESCO World Heritage site status for Alamo, missions  (Reuters)
• U.S. Air Force hit with cheating scandal in nuke missile wing (Reuters)
• Horse slaughter blocked by federal law (U-T San Diego)
• U.S. judge rules against government in no-fly challenge (Reuters)
• Benghazi attack: Senate report slams State Department, intelligence agencies (+video) (CS Monitor)
•  Would a 'third party' protect your phone data better than the NSA? (CS Monitor)
• Who's enrolling for health insurance? Not the uninsured (APM Marketplace)

WORLD

• Not impossible: 3D printing arms for children of war (RawStory)
• Ukraine leader, defying West, signs laws against protests  (Reuters)
• Kiev protesters hold mirrors to police - literally - as new confrontation looms (CS Monitor)
• Thousands of Afghans face cold, hungry winter as aid goes missing (Reuters)
• How Rouhani triumphed: Iranian election could spell trouble for hard-liners (CS Monitor)
• Mexico vigilante leader wants cartel bosses dead, not captured (Reuters)
• Egypt's constitutional referendum: It's not about democracy any more. (+video) (CS Monitor)
• Israel shoots down Gaza rockets, responds with air strikes (Reuters)

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