ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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November 21, 2013 (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:

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

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

 

NATIONAL

 

Healthcare plan enrollment surges in some states after rocky rollout (Los Angeles Times)

… A number of states that use their own systems, including California, are on track to hit enrollment targets for 2014 because of a sharp increase in November, according to state officials. "What we are seeing is incredible momentum," said Peter Lee, director of Covered California, the nation's largest state insurance marketplace, which accounted for a third of all enrollments nationally in October. California — which enrolled about 31,000 people in health plans last month — nearly doubled that in the first two weeks of this month.

Health care: Obama's fix for canceled plans throws insurers a curveball (CS Monitor)

Insurers cannot simply reissue old plans: They must recrunch numbers, refigure the benefits and rates for a complex array of populations, and then resubmit them to state regulators. Some states may not go along. 

Women beating men in jobs recovery (UT San Diego)

Women-dominated sectors recover faster from "Great Mancession" -- Women have recovered all the jobs they lost since the Great Recession while men remain nearly 2 million jobs below a 2007 peak, according to October figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Would You Like to Give Your Blood and Saliva to a Nameless Official for No Apparent Reason?

The federal government is spending $8 million on a study to determine the number of drunken or drug-impaired drivers on the road. The way the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration decided to make this scientific calculation is causing some concern: They’re apparently forcibly pulling cars over en masse and asking them to “voluntarily” give them some blood or saliva to test… It turned out the claim that participation was voluntary was nonsense…The form stated that drivers were tested by “passive alcohol sensor readings before the consent process has been completed.

Is It The End Of The Line For The Landline? (NPR)

The U.S. landline network was once the best in the world. But these days, phone companies see them as a burden, an old technology too expensive to maintain. AT&T wants to start replacing the system with cheaper options. Some call it a hasty abandonment of the tried-and-true traditional network.

Writers Especially Concerned About NSA Actions (NPR)

 A new report from the PEN American Center, a membership organization of writers, finds that a large majority of its members say they have, quote, "never been as worried about privacy rights and freedom of the press as they are today." Some of those respondents say it's changing the way they work....

Supreme Court allows Texas abortion restrictions to remain in place (RawStory)

The Supreme Court divided down partisan lines today when it ruled that Texas can continue to enforce strict abortion restrictions that prevent nearly a third of the state’s clinics from operating. The court rejected the arguments by Planned Parenthood and several affiliated clinics that claimed that the strictures place an “undue burden” on women’s ability to procure an abortion.

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

Toronto mayor vows to go clean while city hall changes the locks (Reuters)

 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford vowed on Tuesday he would stay away from drugs, alcohol and "bad company" as he tries to rebound from a drug scandal that prompted city council to strip away much of his power.

Insight: Boko Haram, taking to hills, seize slave 'brides' (Reuters) 

In a new development, Boko Haram is abducting Christian women whom it converts to Islam on pain of death and then forces into "marriage" with fighters....The group, whose name broadly translates as "Western education is sinful", has killed thousands during a four-year insurgency against the Nigerian state...

UN: Nearly 2 Million Displaced By Typhoon (NPR)

More than a week after Typhoon Haiyan decimated parts of the Philippines, many residents there are still awaiting help to secure food and shelter. The official death toll has climbed to more than 3,600. And the United Nations now estimates that the storm left nearly 2 million people homeless.

Iranian dissidents say Iran has built secret new nuclear site (Reuters)

An exiled Iranian opposition group said on Monday it had information about an underground nuclear site being built in Iran and that this was among a number of secret venues for an atomic bomb program.

Fukushima begins fuel rod removal (BBC)

Workers at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant begin removing fuel rods from a storage pond at the Unit 4 reactor building.

Putin accused of Soviet tactics in drafting new history book (Reuters)

A call by President Vladimir Putin for a new textbook that reconciles differences over Russia's past has left him facing accusations of copying Soviet leaders by rewriting history for political ends.... The guidelines, drawn up by historians of Putin's choice, contain no criticism of the president, no reference to protests against him in 2011 and 2012 and no mention of the jailed former tycoon and Kremlin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

"Alarming exploitation" of workers in Qatar: Amnesty (Reuters) 

Qatar's construction industry is rife with abuse of migrant workers who are "treated like cattle" and live in squalid accommodation, Amnesty International said on Sunday, calling on world soccer's governing body to help address the situation.

Chinese leaders face Spain arrest warrant over Tibet (Reuters)

Former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and ex prime minister Li Peng could face arrest when travelling abroad over allegations they committed genocide in Tibet, a Spanish court ruled on Tuesday....

Suicide bombings kill 23 near Iran embassy in Beirut (Reuters)

 Lebanese-based al-Qaida-linked group claims responsibility.

 

 


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