ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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June 18, 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:

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

Iraq

Other countries

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

 

NATIONAL

 

Sources: Benghazi terror suspect captured without a single shot fired (CNN)

Benghazi attack suspect Ahmed Abu Khatallah was watched by U.S. commandos, law enforcement and intelligence for days before his capture, several U.S. officials said Tuesday.Not a single shot was fired when the manhunt was successfully completed over the weekend, U.S. officials said. Abu Khatallah's arrest and detention marks the first by the United States in connection with the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

 

Federal court rules cellphone tracking data protected under Fourth Amendment (CS Monitor)

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that people have a expectation of privacy in their movements, including cell tower data and investigators must have a search warrant to obtain tracking data

 

US missile defense system unreliable in tests (Sacramento Bee)

The U.S. missile defense system can't be relied on to hit its targets even in scripted tests a decade after it was declared operational and despite $40 billion spent, according to a newspaper's investigation.

 

For The Win(e): U.S. Passes France As World's Top Wine Consumer

But France is changing quickly. It's the No. 2 market for McDonald's and it's fighting a tough battle against the creeping influence of English. And now there's another unkind cut: A report finds that the U.S. has overtaken France as the world's top wine consumer.

 

Pew Poll: More Americans Are Political Purists (NPR)

Over the past 20 years, Americans who are politically in the middle of the road have lost ground to more ideological hard-liners, a new Pew Research Center survey shows.

 

Two prominent Mormon activists threatened with excommunication (Reuters)

A pair of Mormon activists who have pushed for greater acceptance of gay church members and the ordination of women are facing disciplinary action and possible excommunication by their faith leaders.

 

Stay-At-Home Dads On The Rise, And Many Of Them Are Poor (NPR)

The number of fathers at home in the U.S. has nearly doubled since 1989. A desire among more men to stay home with the kids has a lot to do with that, but so does the inability to find a job.

 

Tornado obliterates Nebraska town, killing one and injuring 16  (Reuters)

A swarm of tornadoes, some appearing two at a time, struck several farming communities in northeastern Nebraska on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring 16 others in one tiny town obliterated by a direct hit, officials said.

INTERNATIONAL

 

Iraq

Militants Reportedly Overrun Tikrit, As 500,000 Flee Mosul (NPR)

The takeovers raise questions about U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers, who reportedly abandoned their posts in both cities. The militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has ties to al-Qaida.

 

Iraq's implosion could redraw Middle East boundaries (Reuters)

The capture of Iraqi cities Mosul and Tikrit by al Qaeda-influenced jihadis has not only redrawn the map of a country corroded by sectarian hatred.

 

In One Map, The Dramatic Rise Of ISIS In Iraq And Syria (NPR)

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, was created just last year, but it has seized many towns and cities in both countries. Here's an animated map showing its gains since the start of 2013.

 

ISIL gets rich in attack on Iraq's cities (Marketplace)

The insurgent group ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has been wreaking military havoc across Northern Iraq. In recent days the Sunni group has taken the major oil-trading hub of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, as well as Tikrit, and is moving south toward Baghdad.  All of that military action is causing jitters in financial markets around the world, as well as driving up world oil prices. Another financial impact from ISIL’s rapid advance—the group is getting a lot richer.  Reports from the region, quoting the Iraqi provincial governor, say ISIL fighters raided Mosul’s central bank as they took the city. They may have stolen $425 million or more. They reportedly looted other banks’ vaults of cash and gold bullion as well.

 

Pentagon moves USS Mesa Verde nearer Iraq. What can it do? (CS Monitor)

The USS comes with quick-reaction forces and MV-22 Ospreys, which come in handy because they can take off and land vertically. It's a sign of how dire the situation is becoming.

 

Al Qaeda Splinter Grabs U.S. Humvees, Sends Them to Syria (Reason)

American Humvees are in the hands of a militant Islamic force following a significant battle in northern Iraq. The vehicles, which the U.S. gave to the government of Iraq to quell insurgencies, have already been taken across the border to bolster the Syrian opposition.

 

Other nations

 

Saudi Arabia jails 33 for up to 30 years on terrorism charges(Reuters)

A Saudi court sentenced 33 suspected Islamist militants on Monday to up to 30 years in prison, the official Saudi Press Agency said, eight years after their arrest on terrorism charges.

 

More than two dozen dead as Taliban assault Pakistan's main airport (Reuters)

Taliban militants disguised as security forces stormed into Pakistan's busiest airport on Sunday night, triggering an all-night battle in which at least 27 people were killed.

 

After Ukraine, U.S. trains more special forces in eastern Europe (Reuters) 

As NATO refocuses on its eastern borders after Russia's annexation of Crimea, the United States is quietly deploying more troops to train special forces in former Soviet bloc states anxious about Moscow's intentions.

 

Yeshiva Students Missing, Suspected Kidnapped by Terrorists (Israel National News)

All communication was lost with them as they were on their way home from the yeshiva, located in Gush Etzion, roughly between Jerusalem and Hevron in Judea; security sources suspect they were taken into a vehicle driven by terrorists that stopped for them as they waited at a popular hitchhiking spot....  

 

US Quietly Releases More Military Prisoners in Afghanistan (Israel National News)

The Obama administration has quietly returned a dozen detainees from a small US military prison in Afghanistan, defense officials stated Thursday night, in another controversial prisoner release set to tone down the US's war on terror. 

 

Russia Sent Tanks to Separatists in Ukraine, U.S. Says (NY Times)

The State Department said Friday that Russia had sent tanks and other heavy weapons to separatists in Ukraine, supporting accusations Thursday by the Ukrainian government.  A convoy of three T-64 tanks, several BM-21 multiple rocket launchers and other military vehicles crossed the border near the Ukrainian town of Snizhne, State Department officials said. The Ukrainian Army reported Friday that it had destroyed two of the tanks and several other vehicles in the convoy.

 

Russia cuts off gas to Ukraine as Kiev orders border secured (Reuters)

Russia cut off gas to Ukraine on Monday in a dispute over unpaid bills that could disrupt supplies to the rest of Europe and set back hopes for peace between the former Soviet neighbours.

 

Russian jet tangles with US spy plane over Pacific (CS Monitor)

Russian jet: In a 'Top Gun' moment, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet flew within 100 feet of a US Air Force reconnaissance plane. One US official described the actions of the Russian pilot as one of the most provocative in decades.

 

Nigeria rejects swap of Boko Haram prisoners for schoolgirls: UK Minister (Reuters)

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has rejected the idea of a swap of Boko Haram prisoners for schoolgirls who were kidnapped by the Islamist group a month ago, Britain's minister for Africa said after talks with him in Abuja on Wednesday

 

Unrest Breaks Out In Vietnam Over Island Dispute With China (NPR)

Mobs in Ho Chi Minh City targeted Chinese-owned factories, setting some on fire. Meanwhile, the Philippines says China is building an airstrip on the disputed Spratly Islands.

 

Myanmar’s Persecuted Minority (NY Times)

A collection of stories from a recent trip focusing on a Muslim minority who are confined to camps and villages and deprived of medical care. 

 

Are English schools being taken over by Islamic extremists? (CS Monitor)

The government has put several Birmingham schools on probation amid accusations that Islamic conservatives were trying to take them over. 

 

What negative interest rates mean for the Eurozone (Marketplace)

The European Central Bank's new policy of negative interest rates is, essentially, charging banks for something that it used to pay banks for. 

 

Wall Of Ice Surrounding Fukushima Will Contain Radioactive Water (NPR)

Wastewater at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which suffered major damage to its reactors in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, will be contained with an underground frozen barrier.

 


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