ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

March 13, 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, hit “read more” and scroll down.

 

U.S.

Judge dismisses FAA fine against small drone user  (UT San Diego)

A federal judge has dismissed the Federal Aviation Administration's only fine against a commercial drone user on the grounds that the small drone was no different than a model aircraft, a decision that appears to undermine the agency's power to keep a burgeoning civilian drone industry out of the skies.

Stolen passports raise security concerns (Wall Street Journal)

The use of stolen passports by two passengers on Malaysia Airlines 3786.KU -8.00% Flight 370 raised concerns over possible weaknesses in immigration and aviation security. Law-enforcement officials said the stolen passports would have been detected during immigration checks if they had been screened against an international police database…Interpol, the international police coordinating agency, estimates that passengers were able to board aircraft more than a billion times last year without having their passports screened against the agency's databases.

Judge's order preserves NSA surveillance records (Sacramento Bee)

A federal judge in San Francisco stopped the destruction Monday of millions of telephone records collected by the National Security Agency more than five years ago.

Snowden: Proposed NSA reforms vindicate my data leaks (Reuters)

Former security contractor Edward Snowden, addressing a sympathetic crowd at a tech-heavy event in Austin, Texas, on Monday from a secret location in Russia, said proposed reforms at the National Security Agency show that he was vindicated in leaking classified material.

WORLD

Missing Malaysian jet may have disintegrated in mid-air: source (Reuters) - Officials investigating the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner with 239 people on board suspect it may have disintegrated in mid-flight, a senior source said on Sunday, as Vietnam reported a possible sighting of wreckage from the plane.  International police agency Interpol confirmed that two passengers on the flight had used stolen Austrian and Italian passports, raising suspicions of foul play. 

U.S. warns Russia not to annex Crimea (BBC)

The US has warned Russia that any moves to annex Crimea would close the door to diplomacy.

Arab League refuses to recognize Israel as Jewish state (Christian Science Monitor)

Endorsing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's postion, the Arab League on Sunday rejected the concept of Israel as 'Jewish State.' The US is asking Abbas to concede this point as part of a framework agreement to extend Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Iraqi women protest against proposed Islamic law in Iraq (Reuters)

 About two dozen Iraqi women demonstrated on Saturday in Baghdad against a draft law approved by the Iraqi cabinet that would permit the marriage of nine-year-old girls and automatically give child custody to fathers.

Not like a fairy tale: Saudi princesses reportedly locked in castle by king for 13 years (Jerusalem Post)

King's daughters complain of human rights violations in e-mails, say they haven't left palace since 2001 except to bring groceries.

Save the Children describes healthcare disaster in Syria (Reuters)

(Reuters) - Newborns freezing to death in hospital incubators, doctors cutting off limbs to stop patients from bleeding to death, surging cases of polio: a new report published on Monday paints a dire picture of Syria's collapsing healthcare system.

 Israel: Seized rockets would put Jerusalem in Gaza's range (+video) (Christian Science Monitor)

And the sub-total is ... 40 long-range missiles, 181 mortars, 400,000 bullets. / The Israelis still aren't finished cataloguing contents of foiled Iranian arms ship bound for Gaza terrorists

Saudi Arabia names Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group  (Christian Science Monitor)

Following a sweeping new counterterrorism law targeting those who criticize the government, Saudi Arabia has identified the Muslim Brotherhood and some branches of al-Qaida as terrorist groups. Supporters of the groups could face 30 years in prison.

 


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.