ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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January 21, 2015 (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.

WORLD

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

U.S.

Shadow of crisis is past’; Presidents urges fair shot for all (Washington Post)

President Obama, who took office six years ago amid a historic recession and two U.S. wars, declared unequivocally Tuesday that the nation had clawed its way out of those dire straits, praising Americans for their resilience but also pointedly taking credit for leading the way.

Ohio man arrested for planning attack on U.S. Capitol (Reuters)

 An Ohio man claiming sympathy with Islamic State militants was arrested and charged on Wednesday in connection with a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol with guns and bombs, court documents disclosed.

To get their diploma, Arizona students must pass citizenship test (CS Monitor)

 On Thursday, Arizona became the first state in the nation to make passing aUS citizenship test on civics a requirement for high school graduation. The bill, which newly elected Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed into law Thursday evening, was passed among a nationwide effort to boost civic education.

Politics: The tyranny of celebrity (Jewish World Review)

The likely slate of candidates will include the son of a governor and presidential candidate, the son of a congressman and presidential candidate, the wife of a president and the brother of a president, son of a president and grandson of a senator. Nearly 2½ centuries after rebelling against the monarchy, our presidential contest has all the freshness of the House of Lords.

The Fine Print in Holder's New Forfeiture Policy Leaves Room for Continued Abuses(Reason)

 Last week Attorney General Eric Holder scaled back the Equitable Sharing Program, which enables local law enforcement agencies to evade state limits on civil asset forfeiture. But he did not end that program, and the fine print in the new policy seems to leave a lot of leeway for continued abuses. 

Oil spills in Montana's Yellowstone River after pipeline leak (Reuters)

 Bridger Pipeline LLC said on Monday it has shut the 42,000 barrel per day Poplar pipeline system after a weekend breach that sent as much as 1,200 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River near Glendive, Montana.

U.S. senator threatens aid cut to Palestinians over ICC move (Reuters)

The Palestinians could lose annual U.S. aid if they file a lawsuit against Israel at the International Criminal Court which they joined this month over American and Israeli protests, a senior U.S. Republican senator said on Monday.

The Secret Recordings of Carmen Segarra (This American Life)

 An unprecedented look inside one of the most powerful, secretive institutions in the country. The NY Federal Reserve is supposed to monitor big banks. But when Carmen Segarra was hired, what she witnessed inside the Fed was so alarming that she got a tiny recorder and started secretly taping. ProPublica's print version.

Five Yemenis transferred from U.S. custody at Guantanamo: Pentagon(Reuters)

 The Pentagon transferred five Yemenis held at Guantanamo prison to foreign custody on Wednesday in the first handover of detainees in 2015, sending four to Oman and one to Estonia despite Republican calls for a moratorium on the resettlements.

WORLD

Hero Of Kosher Grocery Siege Will Become A French Citizen (KPBS)

 Less than a week after his actions were credited with saving the lives of customers at the grocery store where he works, Lassana Bathily has learned that France wants to give him citizenship.  Citing Bathily's "act of bravery," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says France will expedite a citizenship application that Bathily filed last July...  More than 300,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Bathily to be made a citizen — and for him to be awarded the Legion of Honor.

19,000 French websites hit by cyberattack since Paris terror assaults, official says (CS Monitor)

 In what France's cyberdefense chief calls an unprecedented surge, about 19,000 French websites have suffered cyberattacks since a rampage by Islamic extremists left 20 dead in Paris last week.

The Great Wall of Saudi Arabia? (CS Monitor)

 Saudi Arabia has been constructing a 600-mile East-West barrier on its Northern Border with Iraq since September.  The main function of the barrier will be keeping out ISIS militants, who have stated that among their goals is an eventual takeover of the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, both of which lie deep inside Saudi territory, according to United Press International.  This past week, a commander and two guards on the Saudi-Iraq border were killed during an attack by Islamic State militants, the first direct ground assault by the group on the border.  

China says its colleges must champion core socialist values (AP)

 China's leadership has issued guidelines requiring universities to strengthen ideological controls in classrooms and demand that professors champion Marxism, traditional culture and socialist core values.... Control over professors has significantly tightened since Xi took power in late 2012, Lam said. "For intellectuals, this is a disturbing phenomenon. It's a return to Maoist values," he said.

Prosecutor Who Accused Argentine President Of Cover-Up Is Found Dead (NPR)

 One day before he was to testify about an alleged cover-up after a deadly terrorist bombing at a Jewish center in Argentina, a federal prosecutor was found dead of a gunshot wound in his Buenos Aires apartment.

Canadian soldiers exchange fire with ISIS in Iraq (AP)

Canadian soldiers opened fire on Islamic State group extremists in Iraq over the last week in what was apparently the first ground firefight between Western troops and ISIS.  Brig.-Gen. Michael Rouleau, commander of special operations command, said Monday the soldiers were visiting front-line positions with Kurdish peshmerga forces when they came under mortar and machine-gun fire. He said the Canadian soldiers fired back in self-defense.

Nigerians face killings, hunger in Boko Haram's 'state' (Reuters)

 Boko Haram says it is building an Islamic state that will revive the glory days of northern Nigeria's medieval Muslim empires, but for those in its territory life is a litany of killings, kidnappings, hunger and economic collapse.

Netanyahu: Israel must open Asian markets due to Islamization, anti-Semitism in Europe (JPost)

 

 With Europe becoming increasingly hostile toward Israel and Jews, the Jewish State needs to diversify its markets, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet Sunday just hours before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe landed for the first visit by a Japanese premier in nine years

Israel: First known local Islamic State cell arrested (AP)

 Israel's Shin Bet security service says it arrested the first known Islamic State cell operating inside the country.  The intelligence agency said Sunday that the seven cell members belong to the country's Arab minority. It said they were caught just before executing an attack and were practicing on animals how to behead people.

Egypt uncovers explosives-laden smuggling tunnel between Sinai, Gaza (JPost)

 Egyptian security forces on Saturday uncovered an underground smuggling tunnel running from northern Sinai into Gaza that housed large quantities of mortar shells and explosives, Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported. / Egyptian sources in Cairo told Ma’an the approximately 1,200 meter-long tunnel’s entrance was located inside a house on the Egyptian side of Rafah, on the eastern border of the Palestinian enclave.

Suspected Boko Haram fighters kidnap around 80 in Cameroon (Reuters)

(Reuters) - Suspected Boko Haram Islamist fighters from Nigeria kidnapped around 80 people, many of them children, and killed three others on Sunday in a cross-border attack on villages in northern Cameroon, army and government officials said.

Anti-Charlie rally in Pakistan draws 5,000 (Reuters)

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Around 5,000 people rallied against French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore on Sunday, and the founder of a group banned for militant links urged protesters to boycott French products.  Hafiz Saeed, who founded Lashkar-e-Taiba, an organization banned for launching attacks in neighboring India, told protesters: "We will launch a movement against the insulting caricatures of our beloved prophet."...  On Friday, protesters trying to storm the French consulate in the southern city of Karachi shot and injured a photographer working for French news agency AFP.

 


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