ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

February 19, 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

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

U.S.

Banking barrier tumbles for legal sellers of marijuana (Washington Post)

A new Obama administration policy allows banks to do business with pot dispensaries, legitimizing the industry.

‘Thug music’ killer dodges murder charge (Huffington Post)

A jury has found Michael Dunn, the Florida man accused of shooting an unarmed teenager to death during a dispute over loud music, guilty of four charges, but the jury was unable to reach a decision on the top count, first-degree murder. Dunn, who is white, fired 10 shots into an SUV, kill ing Jordan Davis, 17, who was black.

Possible radiation leak at New Mexico military nuclear waste site (Reuters)

 Unusually high levels of radioactive particles were found at an underground nuclear waste site in New Mexico on Saturday in what a spokesman said looked like the first real alarm since the plant opened in 1999.

US Navy Ready To Deploy Laser For 1st Time (AP)

 Some of the Navy's futuristic weapons sound like something out of "Star Wars," with lasers designed to shoot down aerial drones and electric guns that fire projectiles at hypersonic speeds

The 'Crime' of Having a Hidden Compartment in Your Car (Reason)

In drug cases, hidden compartment laws give prosecutors one more charge to pile onto the same offense and contain scant protections for law-abiding folks.

Debate: Was Edward Snowden Justified? (NPR)

Some consider former NSA contractor Edward Snowden a hero for releasing classified material to the media; others argue that he has irreparably harmed national security. Famed whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and a former CIA director face off in the latest Intelligence Squared debate

WORLD

Tensions high in Kiev after at least 21 die in fiery clashes (CNN)

Downtown Kiev was aglow in fire early Wednesday, as demonstrators undeterred by a bloody day on the streets staked their claim to the heart of the Ukrainian capital and, they hope, the heart of the country itself.

Japan quake survivor wins skating gold (UT San Diego)

Yuzuru Hanyu, 19, is youngest men's figure skating champion in 66 years

More than 140 Brazilian cities ration water amid prolonged heat wave (Fox)

The Folha de S. Paulo newspaper wrote Saturday that water is being rationed to close to six million people living in 142 cities in 11 states. The newspaper quoted water supply companies saying reservoirs, rivers and streams are the driest they've been in 20 years. Some neighborhoods in the city of Itu in Sao Paulo state only receive water for 13 hours, once every three days.

A New Assault on Freedom of the Press

(Reason) -- Last week, a little noticed clash took place on Capitol Hill involving the fundamental values underlying the First Amendment. The issue was the lawfulness of publishing the secrets that were given to reporters by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden.

U.N. Report Details North Korea's 'Crimes Against Humanity' (NPR)

 In blunt language that supports what the outside world has feared for decades, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says "the gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world."

Report: Egypt creating buffer zone on Gaza-Sinai border, destroys 10 tunnels (Jerusalem Post)

The Egyptian army destroyed ten tunnels and seven homes on the border with the Gaza Strip in the Sinai peninsula on Saturday, Palestinian new agency Ma'an reported. The homes destroyed were those that the tunnels were located in, an Egyptian security source told Ma'an

 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.