ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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January 29, 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.

WORLD

Scroll down for excerpts and links to full stories.

 

U.S.

Obama said what? State of the Union explained (CNN)

Just think of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address as a Rorschach of sorts. Sure, there were plenty of feisty proclamations and bold promises for action. But the political context behind the swagger reveals a President who is keenly aware that his time in the Oval Office has hit more than a few bumps. Here’s a decoder of Obama’s speech.

Obama to use executive action to raise minimum wage for federal contractors (The Hill)

President Obama will announced plans to use his executive authority to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour for federal contract workers during the State of the Union address, the White House said Tuesday. Federal workers like janitors, construction workers and dishwashers hired under new federal contracts would benefit from the new order, which the White House calls an example of how the president can "lead by example."

What's your Facebook credit score? (Marketplace)

We know that credit goes way beyond the plastic in our wallets -- from how much debt we carry to paying it off on time. Now, some credit agencies are looking into using our social media information in our credit reports.

Farm bill conference strikes compromise (The Hill)

The House will vote Wednesday on a five-year farm bill unveiled by House and Senate negotiators from both parties on Monday night. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said he will personally support the compromise bill, giving it further momentum ahead of the House vote. The bill includes nearly $1 trillion in funding for agriculture subsidy, crop insurance and food stamp programs over the next 10 years. It would reduce food stamp funding by about $8 billion, much less than what Cantor and other House Republicans had demanded.

 DEA Struck A Deal With Mexico's Most Notorious Drug Cartel

(Business Insider) -- An investigation by El Universal found that between the years 2000 and 2012, the U.S. government had an arrangement with Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel that allowed the organization to smuggle billions of dollars of drugs while Sinaloa provided information on rival cartels. 

NSA also serves economic interests: Snowden Interview (AFP)

The US National Security Agency (NSA) sometimes uses data it collects for economic purposes, intelligence leaker Edward Snowden reveals in an extract of an interview with a German television chain to be broadcast Sunday. "If there is information, for example on Siemens, which is in the national interest, but has nothing to do with national security, they will still use this information," said Snowden, according to the German translation of the interview on public television ARD.

U.S. Border Patrol drone goes down off Pt. Loma (10 News)

A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol drone was purposely crashed into the ocean about 20 miles southwest of San Diego after it developed a mechanical problem, an  agency spokesman said today.

Pig Virus Continues To Spread, Raising Fears Of Pricier Bacon (NPR)

Porcine epidemic diarrhea, or PED, virus has killed about 1 million baby pigs in the U.S. since April. Its effect on the pork industry is small so far, but analysts say it could send pork prices rising if it isn't controlled.

 

WORLD

Ukranian Prime Minister and government resign (BBC)

Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych has accepted the resignation of the prime minister and his cabinet amid continuing anti-government protests. Mykola Azarov had offered to step down as prime minister to create "social and political compromise". The move came after the Ukrainian parliament voted overwhelmingly to annul a controversial anti-protest law.

'Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance' (NPR)

..The New York Times is reporting that the Ukrainian government used technology to zero-in on the locations of cellphones in use Tuesday near clashes between riot police and anti-government protesters.  Shortly after midnight, the newspaper says, people near the fighting received a text message that read: "Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance." …The phrasing echoed language in a new law making participation in a protest deemed violent a crime punishable by imprisonment.

29 dead in clashes on anniversary of Egypt uprising (Reuters)

Twenty-nine people were killed during anti-government marches on Saturday while thousands rallied in support of the army-led authorities, underlining Egypt's volatile political fissures three years after the fall of autocrat President Hosni Mubarak.


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