ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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)

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

U.S.

Blogger gets same speech protections as traditional press: U.S. court  (Reuters)

A blogger is entitled to the same free speech protections as a traditional journalist and cannot be liable for defamation unless she acted negligently, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday.

As CA’s drought deepens, a sense of dread grows (NY Times)

Cattle ranchers have had to sell portions of their herd for lack of water. Sacramento and other municipalities have imposed severe water restrictions. Wildfires broke out this week in forests that are usually too wet to ignite. Ski resorts that normally open in December are still closed; at one here in the Sierra Nevada that is actually open, a bear wandered onto a slope full of skiers last week, apparently refusing to hibernate because of the balmy weather.

Tech firms say Obama’s proposals fall short of expectations (Washington Post)

 In a statement after the speech, the wireless industry’s biggest lobbying group, CTIA-The Wireless Association, stressed that it believes privacy and security “can be achieved without the imposition of data retention mandates that obligate carriers to keep customer information any longer than necessary for legitimate business purposes.”

. Obama bans spying on leaders of U.S. allies, scales back NSA program (Reuters)

 President Barack Obama banned U.S. eavesdropping on the leaders of close friends and allies on Friday and began reining in the vast collection of Americans' phone data in a series of limited reforms triggered by Edward Snowden's revelations.

Civil Libertarians Respond to Obama's NSA Reforms - Meh! (Reason)

-Many prominent civil libertarian organizations do not think that the president's proposed reforms are anywhere close to being sufficient "to constrain those in power."

NSA collects millions of text messages daily in 'untargeted' global sweep (The Guardian)

 The National Security Agency has collected almost 200 million text messages a day from across the globe, using them to extract data including location, contact networks and credit card details, according to top-secret documents....  The NSA has made extensive use of its vast text message database to extract information on people’s travel plans, contact books, financial transactions and more – including of individuals under no suspicion of illegal activity.

Senator Feinstein encounter with drone surveillance (Politico)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she once found a drone peeking into the window of her home — the kind of cautionary tale she wants lawmakers to consider as they look at allowing commercial drone use.

North Carolina ultrasound abortion law ruled illegal by judge (Reuters)

 A federal judge on Friday struck down a 2011 North Carolina law requiring abortion providers to perform an ultrasound and explain it to a woman before having an abortion, arguing it violated the constitutional right to free speech of doctors.

U.S. states could turn to firing squads if execution drugs scarce (Reuters)

 Lawmakers for at least two U.S. states say they should conduct executions by firing squad if opposition to capital punishment by pharmaceutical companies makes it hard to obtain drugs for lethal injections.

U.S. seeks UNESCO World Heritage site status for Alamo, missions  (Reuters)

The U.S. government will nominate the Alamo, the famed location of a battle for Texas independence, and other colonial missions nearby as U.N. World Heritage sites, the Interior Department said on Friday.

U.S. Air Force hit with cheating scandal in nuke missile wing (Reuters)

 The Air Force has suspended security clearances for 34 officers and is re-testing the entire force overseeing America's nuclear-armed missiles after uncovering widespread cheating on a key proficiency exam.Horse slaughter blocked by federal law (U-T San Diego)

The resumption of commercial horse slaughter in the U.S. was blocked Friday as President Barack Obama signed a budget measure that withholds money for required federal inspections of the slaughtering process.

U.S. judge rules against government in no-fly challenge (Reuters)

A U.S. judge on Tuesday sided with a woman challenging the federal government's no-fly policy and ruled that existing procedures to correct mistakes on that list do not provide adequate due process protections.

Benghazi attack: Senate report slams State Department, intelligence agencies (+video) (CS Monitor)

 In a new report, a Senate committee faults the State Department and US intelligence agencies for failure to prevent the 2012 terrorist attack on a US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

Would a 'third party' protect your phone data better than the NSA? (CS Monitor)

President Obama wants to limit NSA surveillance of US citizens. One suggestion is that a third party – perhaps telecommunications company themselves – store such metadata for NSA use.

Who's enrolling for health insurance? Not the uninsured (APM Marketplace)

A new survey from McKinsey & Co., the Wall St. Journal reports that only 11 percent of the 2.2 million Americans who have purchased health insurance on state or federal exchanges were previously uninsured.

WORLD

Not impossible: 3D printing arms for children of war (RawStory)

When Mick Ebeling read about a boy in South Sudan who had lost his arms, he set off with a 3D printer to make him a prosthetic limb. Now the project is bringing hope to the country’s other 50,000-plus amputees.

Ukraine leader, defying West, signs laws against protests  (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich on Friday signed into force a set of tough new laws that would ban virtually all forms of anti-government protests despite an outcry from Western governments which have criticized them as anti-democratic.

Kiev protesters hold mirrors to police - literally - as new confrontation looms (CS Monitor)

Ukraine's parliament issued new bans on antigovernment demonstrations Thursday. Mirrors are just one unusual tactic protesters are deploying to prompt some soul-searching by police.

Thousands of Afghans face cold, hungry winter as aid goes missing (Reuters)

Thousands of homeless Afghans are huddling on the sides of freezing roads this winter with little shelter and nothing to eat, not far from warehouses stuffed with food.

How Rouhani triumphed: Iranian election could spell trouble for hard-liners (CS Monitor)

Iranians disillusioned by a stolen election were coaxed to turn out for last year's ballot. They elected a centrist president and have reshaped Iran's political map.

Mexico vigilante leader wants cartel bosses dead, not captured (Reuters)

 A vigilante leader in a Mexican state torn by violence said on Wednesday it would be better to kill the heads of the region's dominant drug cartel than arrest them, and rejected a government order to disarm.

Egypt's constitutional referendum: It's not about democracy any more. (+video) (CS Monitor)

 Egypt's constitutional referendum, which wraps up today, is taking the country further away from democracy. Many Egyptians seem just fine with that.

Israel shoots down Gaza rockets, responds with air strikes (Reuters)

 Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted five rockets fired at the city of Ashkelon from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and the military responded with a series of air strikes on the Hamas-controlled territory.