ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

August 27, 2014 (San Diego's East County)-- East County Magazine's 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.

• Obama studying plan to expand legal immigration, press reports (Vida Latina)
• Pentagon warns: Islamic State threat greater than 9/11 (JPost)
• Clinton vs. Warren: Where they disagree (The Hill)
• Agencies grapple with a proliferation of buzzing drones (eenews)
• Fatal shooting by 9-year-old at firing range stirs debate over guns (CBS)
• U.S. undercover investigators among those exposed in data breach (Reuters)
• St. Ann Police Officer in Ferguson That Threatened Protestors ‘Suspended Indefinitely’ | (EURweb)

WORLD

• President Obama considers air strikes, other military options in Syria against ISIL’s ‘terrorist army’ (Associated Press)
• Cease-fire extended, but not on HAMAS’ terms (New York Times)
• Brazil dismantles ‘biggest destroyer’ of amazon rainforest (BBC)
• Hundreds dead as Islamic State seizes Syrian air base: monitor (Reuters)
• After Foley murder, more jihadi threats to murder hostages (CS Monitor)
• Ukraine defiant on national day, rebels parade captives (Reuters)
• Twelve dead, 36,000 homeless in Niger flooding (Reuters)
• A New Strain Of Ebola Emerges In Democratic Republic Of Congo (NPR)
• African Doctor Treated With San Diego Company's Ebola Drug Dies (KPBS)

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

U.S.

Obama studying plan to expand legal immigration, press reports (Vida Latina)

… One of the proposals that several business and immigration advocacy groups have sent to the White House since then includes more than doubling the number of people who may be in this country on employment and familybased green cards, a figure that is currently limited to 366,000, according to the Post.

Pentagon warns: Islamic State threat greater than 9/11 (JPost)

"This is beyond anything that we've seen," Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said.

Clinton vs. Warren: Where they disagree (The Hill)

There are five major policy areas that shed daylight between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Clinton is expected to run for president in 2016, but some on the left are pining for Warren to launch a bid. The Massachusetts senator has repeatedly denied she is interested in running for the White House. However, her recent campaign stumping for Democratic candidates — as well as a planned trip to Israel — have stoked the 2016 speculation.

Agencies grapple with a proliferation of buzzing drones (eenews)

.. The small, unmanned aircraft have proliferated at Utah's Zion National Park in recent years, zipping through slot canyons, down trails and amid wildlife. Not long ago, someone flew a remote-controlled drone into a herd of bighorn sheep, separating the young from the adults.

Fatal shooting by 9-year-old at firing range stirs debate over guns (CBS)

The death of a firing-range instructor at the hands of a 9-year-old girl bracing an Uzi submachine gun has set off a powerful debate over youngsters and guns, with many people wondering what sort of parents would let a child handle an Uzi.

U.S. undercover investigators among those exposed in data breach (Reuters)

A cyber attack at a firm that performs background checks for U.S. government employees compromised data of at least 25,000 workers, including some undercover investigators, and that number could rise, agency officials said on Friday.

St. Ann Police Officer in Ferguson That Threatened Protestors ‘Suspended Indefinitely’ | (EURweb)

A police officer in Ferguson, MO has been “suspended indefinitely” after he threatened peaceful protestors by pointing his gun at them.

 

WORLD

President Obama considers air strikes, other military options in Syria against ISIL’s ‘terrorist army’ (Associated Press)

The intelligence gathered by U.S. military surveillance flights over Syria could support a broad bombing campaign against the Islamic State militant group, but current and former U.S. officials differ on whether air power would significantly degrade what some have called a "terrorist army."Further complicating the plans, any military action against Islamic State militants in Syria would also have the effect of putting the U.S. on the same side as Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose ouster the Obama administration has sought for years.

Cease-fire extended, but not on HAMAS’ terms (New York Times)

After 50 days of fighting that took some 2,200 lives, leveled large areas of the Gaza Strip and paralyzed Israel’s south for the summer, Israeli and Palestinian leaders reached an open-ended cease-fire agreement on Tuesday that promised only limited change to conditions in Gaza and left unresolved the broader issues underpinning the conflict.

Brazil dismantles ‘biggest destroyer’ of amazon rainforest (BBC)

The authorities in Brazil say they have dismantled a criminal organisation they believe was the "biggest destroyer" of the Amazon rainforest. The gang is accused of invading, logging and burning large areas of public land and selling these illegally for farming and grazing.

Hundreds dead as Islamic State seizes Syrian air base: monitor (Reuters)

Islamic State militants stormed an air base in northeast Syria on Sunday, capturing it from government forces after days of fighting that cost more than 500 lives, a monitoring group said.

After Foley murder, more jihadi threats to murder hostages (CS Monitor)

Lebanese hostages held by Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria and the so-called Islamic State were threatened with death in a video yesterday unless Lebanon's Hezbollah withdraws its support for Bashar al-Assad.

Ukraine defiant on national day, rebels parade captives (Reuters)

Ukraine marked its [23rd] independence day on Sunday with a military march-past in Kiev intended to send a message of defiance to Russia, but pro-Moscow rebels countered by parading captured Ukrainian troops through the streets of their main stronghold.

Twelve dead, 36,000 homeless in Niger flooding (Reuters)

At least 12 people have been killed and more than 36,000 made homeless in Niger due to flooding caused by heavy seasonal rainfall, the government said.

A New Strain Of Ebola Emerges In Democratic Republic Of Congo (NPR)

A new outbreak of Ebola is being reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But scientists say it's not related to the Ebola epidemic going on in West Africa.

African Doctor Treated With San Diego Company's Ebola Drug Dies (KPBS)

A Liberian doctor's death is the second among the six people treated with ZMapp, an experimental drug to treat Ebola made by a San Diego-based biotech.