ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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February 25, 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 excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

U.S.

24 Pictures That Perfectly Capture How Insane The Snow In New England Is (Buzzfeed)

In case you didn’t know, there is whole lot of snow in New England right now…Historic levels. (111 inches in Lowell, Massachusetts—that’s over 9 feet!)

Big US, Canadian shopping malls: Next terrorist target? (CS Monitor)

A new video threat from the Al Qaeda-linked extremist group Al Shabab calls for terrorist attacks on major shopping malls in the US, Canada, and Britain. 

Now You Can Sign Up To Keep Drones Away From Your Property (NPR)

 Most Americans worry that drones will invade their privacy, polls show. Thousands of people have signed up with NoFlyZone.org — the equivalent of a "get-off-of-my-lawn" warning to drone operators.

The Government’s War on Freedom of the Press (Reason)

The U.S. plummeted to a dismal 49th place on the Reporters Without Borders annual Press Freedom Index, marking the country’s second lowest ranking since the list was created in 2002 and its lowest since 2006. Other countries ranked in the 40s and 50s include Haiti, Mongolia, and Chile.

Anti-Semitic, Pro-Islamic State Graffiti Continues to Plague D.C. (Free Beacon)

 Anti-Semitic, pro-terror graffiti continues to plague an affluent neighborhood in Washington, D.C., causing worry among some residents as anti-Jewish incidents continue to spike across the globe.

Anti-Semitism Spikes in the Badger State Tablet Magazine)

Over 30 families in Madison, WI awoke to find anti-Semitic and racist graffiti covering their homes, garages and driveways.

The great Sim heist: how spies stole the keys to the encryption castle (The Intercept)

American and British spies hacked into the internal computer network of the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world, stealing encryption keys used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications across the globe, according to top-secret documents provided to The Intercept by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden…

Federal government: average of 10 fuel trains may derail each year (CS Monitor)

The federal government predicts that trains hauling crude oil or ethanol will derail an average of 10 times a year over the next two decades, causing more than $4 billion in damage and possibly killing hundreds of people if an accident happens in a densely populated part of the U.S...The study completed last July took on new relevance this week after a train loaded with crude derailed in West Virginia, sparked a spectacular fire and forced the evacuation of hundreds of families. 

Two men sentenced to 25 years in plot to attack Americans in Afghanistan (Reuters)

Two men convicted of seeking to join al Qaeda and training to carry out attacks on Americans in Afghanistan were sentenced on Monday to 25 years in federal prison, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Supreme Court Considers Visa Case For Foreign Spouses (NPR)

 Do Americans' constitutional rights include the right to a visa for a non-citizen spouse? The Supreme Court heard arguments on that issue Monday and appears to be headed for another close vote.

U.S. jury orders Palestinian groups to pay attack victims $218.5 million (Reuters)

 A U.S. jury on Monday found the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority liable for supporting terrorist attacks in Israel more than a decade ago that killed dozens of people.

WORLD

ISIS parades caged Kurdish fighters through Iraqi streets (JPost)

The video showed 21 men dressed wearing orange jumpsuits inside cages and driven around Hawija, Iraq....  In the video, Islamic State members identified 16 of the captives as Peshmerga fighters, three as local Kirkuk policemen and two as officers in the Iraqi army.

Saudi Preacher says US never went to moon, offers 'rational' proofs Earth doesn't revolve (JPost)

Bandar Al-Khaybari, a preacher with the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Al-Madina, challenged the claim that the Earth revolves, during a series of lectures held in the Sharjah emirate…Al-Khaybari also stated the claim that the US did not land on the moon, but rather fabricated lunar travel in Hollywood.

Reliving the 1930s (Town Hall)

World War II was the most destructive war in history. What caused it? The panic from the ongoing and worldwide Depression in the 1930s had empowered extremist movements the world over. Like-minded, violent dictators of otherwise quite different Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan and Communist Soviet Union all wanted to attack their neighbors.



Yet World War II could have been prevented had Western Europe united to deter Germany. Instead, France, Britain and the smaller European democracies appeased Hitler. The United States turned isolationist. The Soviet Union collaborated with the Third Reich. And Italy and Japan eventually joined it.

Denmark’s Jewish Radio Station Shuts Down (Tablet Magazine)

On the advice of the country’s security officials, Radio Shalom goes off the air.

Two bombs explode at residence of Iranian ambassador in Libya (JPost)

Other foreign missions in the capital, such as the embassies of Algeria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have also been targeted with bombings, again with no casualties.... / On Saturday, Arab media reported that insurgents in Libya have captured chemical weapons from storage areas in southern and central parts of the country…In addition, Asharq Alawsat obtained a video of what seems to be fighters testing the chemical weapons... 

 How Russia forces its soldiers to fight against Ukraine (CS Monitor)

 Human rights groups have received dozens of complaints in the past month from Russian conscripts, who say they have been strong-armed into signing contracts to become professional soldiers and sent to fight in Ukraine

After the terrorist attacks: Children deregister from Jewish school (Danmarks Radio)

…Parents of Jewish schoolchildren in Copenhagen have begun to withdraw their children from the Caroline School, a Jewish school in the capital, writes tv2.dk. / The announcement comes after last weekend's terrorist attacks against the Jewish synagogue..

 Photos: Islamic State torches musical instruments, cigarrettes in Libya

(JPost) -- Islamic State recently took to the streets burning piles of musical instruments and boxes of cigarettes in the Barqa province of eastern Libya…Instrumental music is banned according to the extreme form of Salafi Islam practiced by Islamic State.  

Icelandic bankers sentenced to prison (Icelandic Review)

The Supreme Court of Iceland today upheld prison sentences issued by Reykjavík District Court in December 2013 on four former key executives and majority owners of Kaupþing Bank in the so-called Al-Thani case in what is the heaviest sentence ever given in Iceland for economic fraud, ruv.is reports.

WATCH: Jerusalem mayor tackles Arab terrorist seconds after suspect stabs Jewish man (JPost)

 In a scene straight out of a blockbuster action film, surveillance video recorded Sunday evening shows Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat tackle an Arab terrorist who stabbed a haredi man seconds earlier, and then wildly attempted to accost passersby near the capital’s City Hall.


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