ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

April 3, 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.

• Fort Hood shooting spree: `Texans hearts are once again very heavy ‘(CNN)
• House panel subpoenas on wind power, eagle deaths (UT San Diego)
• Facing near certainty of rape, women illegally crossing border turn to birth control (RawStory)
• Yellowstone National Park rattled by largest earthquake in 34 years (Reuters)
•  Colorado River begins flooding Mexican delta (KPBS)
• Local partisans divide on Supreme Court ruling (UT San Diego)
• GM Bailout Claims the Legal Rights of Americans (Reason)
• Why do we make students sit still in class? (CNN)
• Facing the development of U.S. wind energy with a DOE map (ECO report)
• Fallen Marine's Dad Wants Peace At Fred Phelps' Funeral (Video) (KPBS)

WORLD

• Mexico finds 370 abandoned immigrant children (Reuters)
• Iraq electoral commission resigns en masse weeks before vote (Reuters)
• With $1B In Aid For Ukraine, Congress Puts Money Where Its Mouth Is (NPR)
• U.N. official says 'terrifying' level of hatred in Central African Republic (Reuters)
• ‘Black-clad army’ rallies for democracy in Taipei (Taipei Times)
• Obama ready to expand covert aid to Syrian opposition: report (Reuters)
• Exclusive: Russia threatened countries ahead of UN vote on Ukraine - envoys(Reuters)
• New Zealand tops social progress index, world's biggest economies trail (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

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

U.S.

Fort Hood shooting spree: `Texans hearts are once again very heavy ‘(CNN)

A day after a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, left three soldiers dead and 16 wounded, a profile emerged Thursday of the killer as an experienced soldier who was grappling with mental illness, but no answers were forthcoming as to a possible motive.

House panel subpoenas on wind power, eagle deaths (UT San Diego)

House Republicans are seeking to compel the Obama administration to turn over uncensored, internal documents related to its enforcement of environmental laws at wind farms where eagles and other protected birds have been killed.The House Natural Resources Committee issued the subpoena…

Facing near certainty of rape, women illegally crossing border turn to birth control (RawStory)

Faced with the prospect that they may be raped by their guides – also called ‘coyotes’ – or fellow travelers as they cross border and travel through the desert, women crossing illegally into the United States have turned to birth control injections to avoid becoming pregnant by their rapist.

Yellowstone National Park rattled by largest earthquake in 34 years (Reuters)

 Yellowstone National Park, which sits atop one of the world's largest super-volcanoes, was struck on Sunday by a magnitude 4.8 earthquake, the biggest recorded there since February 1980, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported.

Colorado River begins flooding Mexican delta (KPBS)

Colorado River water has begun pouring over a barren delta in northwest Mexico, the result of a landmark agreement between the U.S. and Mexico that is being celebrated Thursday. The gush of water in Mexico is an effort to revive the last 70-mile stretch of the river into the Sea of Cortez. The once-lush river delta dried up decades ago.

Local partisans divide on Supreme Court ruling (UT San Diego)

GOP says it's a victory for free speech. Democrats believe it will give wealthy even more influence

GM Bailout Claims the Legal Rights of Americans (Reason)

 If you are own one of the 1.6 million vehicles General Motors has recalled since February with faulty ignitions and you or a loved one had an accident in the car, there's some more bad news

Why do we make students sit still in class? (CNN)

An educator and mother wonders why many insist classrooms be still and quiet. Research led her to believe some students learn better with freedom to move.

Facing the development of U.S. wind energy with a DOE map (ECO report)

A new Department of Energy map is a bit of an eye opener for those of us getting skeptical about the Golden State’s wind potential. According to an article in the  Wallstreet Journal, wind power makes sense in Texas, but not in California,  “which isn’t located in the ‘wind belt.’” That may be true, but guess where the technology first took root!

Fallen Marine's Dad Wants Peace At Fred Phelps' Funeral (Video) (KPBS)

Fred Phelps, controversial leader of a church best known for picketing military funerals, has died at the age of 84. The father of a fallen Twentynine Palms Marine whose lawsuit against the Westboro Baptist Church made its way to the Supreme Court has said he hopes Phelps is "buried in peace."

WORLD

Mexico finds 370 abandoned immigrant children (Reuters)

one week, 370 immigrant children, most of them from Central America, were found abandoned in Mexico, after traffickers promised to take them to the United States but left them to their own devices after being paid thousands of dollars, authorities said.

Iraq electoral commission resigns en masse weeks before vote (Reuters)

 The entire board of Iraq's electoral commission tendered its resignation on Tuesday in protest against political interference, casting doubt on a nationwide vote scheduled for next month.

With $1B In Aid For Ukraine, Congress Puts Money Where Its Mouth Is (NPR)

Congress has approved a billion-dollar aid package for Ukraine. Both chambers voted in favor, two days after Senate Democrats removed a provision to overhaul the International Monetary Fund.

U.N. official says 'terrifying' level of hatred in Central African Republic (Reuters)

 Hatred between Christians and Muslims in Central African Republic has reached a "terrifying level", the U.N.'s top human rights official said on Thursday, warning that atrocities were being carried out with impunity. Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, appealed to the international community to urgently provide troops for a proposed 12,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission to halt crimes which she said included acts of cannibalism and decapitation of children.

‘Black-clad army’ rallies for democracy in Taipei

(Taipei Times) -- Hundreds of thousands of “black-clad army” members took to the streets in Taipei yesterday, wearing black to symbolize what they call the government’s “black-box,” or opaque, handling of the cross-strait service trade pact as they called for the agreement to be retracted and Taiwan’s democracy to be safeguarded.

Obama ready to expand covert aid to Syrian opposition: report (Reuters)

 The United States is ready to step up covert aid to Syrian rebels under a plan being discussed with regional allies including Saudi Arabia, according to a Washington Post report.

Exclusive: Russia threatened countries ahead of UN vote on Ukraine - envoys(Reuters)

 Russia threatened several Eastern European and Central Asian states with retaliation if they voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution this week declaring invalid Crimea's referendum on seceding from Ukraine, U.N. diplomats said.

New Zealand tops social progress index, world's biggest economies trail (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

 New Zealand came first in a global index published on Thursday that ranks countries by social and environmental performance rather than economic output in a drive to make social progress a priority for politicians and businesses.