ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

October 15, 2014 (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.

• Blackwater Founder Wants Mercenaries to Fight ISIS War (Reason)
• Supreme Court blocks Texas abortion law (Washington Post)
• U.S. Army says it faces huge equipment, training risks with budget cuts (Reuters)
• Lay-offs begin at CNN (Media Bistro)
• Feds Clear 7 On No-Fly List To Travel, Will Tell 6 More Why They Can't (NPR)

WORLD

• Meet The Kurdish Female Fighters Who Are Determined to Kick ISIS' Arse (JWR)
• Mexican activist slain during radio broadcast (AP)
• Global hero, local lightning rod? Why Malala's Nobel rankles many Pakistanis (+video) (CS Monitor)
• UN agency: Ebola cuts food in Sierra Leone (AP)
• Nations pledge $5.4 billion for Gaza at Cairo reconstruction conference (Reuters)
• UK lawmakers pass symbolic motion to recognize Palestine as a state (Reuters)
• Soldiers who fought in Gaza worry about traveling overseas (Jerusalem Post)
• ISIS threatens to conquer the Vatican, 'break the crosses of the infidels' (JPost)

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

U.S.

Blackwater Founder Wants Mercenaries to Fight ISIS War (Reason)

The Islamic State (ISIS) is massacring people in the strategic town of Kobani along the Syrian-Turkish border, indicating that American airstrikes on the terrorist group were not effective. Big-named pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Steven Colbert have been arguing about whether mercenaries should fight America's war against the Islamic State (ISIS). Now, the ex-chief of the mercenary company formerly known as Blackwater has waded into the debate, and (no surprise) he says absolutely they should.

Supreme Court blocks Texas abortion law (Washington Post)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday night blocked a Texas law that had drastically reduced the number of abortion clinics in the nation’s second most populous state.

U.S. Army says it faces huge equipment, training risks with budget cuts (Reuters)

 The U.S. Army warned on Monday that mandatory budget cuts due to resume in fiscal 2016 would be devastating to a service that is already facing huge risks as it tries to keep forces ready for battle, replace aging equipment and respond to crises around the world.

Lay-offs begin at CNN (Media Bistro)

Layoffs have begun at CNN. As many as 300, or 8%, of CNN’s workforce is being cut in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles.

Feds Clear 7 On No-Fly List To Travel, Will Tell 6 More Why They Can't (NPR)

The government long maintained it could not tell anyone whether they were on the list or provide a reason why. In June a judge struck that down as unconstitutional.

WORLD

Meet The Kurdish Female Fighters Who Are Determined to Kick ISIS' Arse (JWR)

 ...The YPJ is an all-female, independent militia which embrace arms along with their male comrades of the YPG, or People's Protection Units.  Women fighters make up one third of all Kurdish resistance, numbering between 7,000 and 10,000 of the Kurdish forces fighting in Syria… The female Kurdish fighters are feared by Islamic State militants, who believe that they'll go straight to hell if they are killed by a woman.

Mexican activist slain during radio broadcast (AP)

 Two gunmen walked into a radio station and killed a local activist while he was giving his weekly radio program, prosecutors in the northern Mexico state of Sinaloa said. It was the first on-air killing in recent memory in Mexico.  The victim, Atilano Roman Tirado, was the leader of a group of about 800 farm families whose lands were flooded by dam construction several years ago.

Global hero, local lightning rod? Why Malala's Nobel rankles many Pakistanis (+video) (CS Monitor)

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education advocate shot by the Taliban, is the co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. In Pakistan, TV coverage quickly shifted to domestic politics, and conspiracy theories abounded.

UN agency: Ebola cuts food in Sierra Leone (AP)

 The head of a United Nations agency says up to 40 percent of farms have been abandoned in areas of Sierra Leone affected the worst by the Ebola outbreak.  Kanayo Nwanze, president of International Fund for Agricultural Development, told a news conference Monday there are already food shortages in Senegal and other countries in West Africa because regional trade has been disrupted.

Nations pledge $5.4 billion for Gaza at Cairo reconstruction conference (Reuters)

Palestinian Authority asked the international community for $4 billion to reconstruct Gaza, claiming they will link the Strip’s future to the two-state solution.

UK lawmakers pass symbolic motion to recognize Palestine as a state (Reuters)

British lawmakers voted in favor of recognizing Palestine as a state on Monday in a move which will not alter the government's stance on the issue, but which carries symbolic value for Palestinians in their pursuit of international recognition.

Soldiers who fought in Gaza worry about traveling overseas (Jerusalem Post)

Initial statements by the UNHRC indicated it would make accusations of war crimes against Israeli soldiers, commanders and possibly against civilian-leaders.

ISIS threatens to conquer the Vatican, 'break the crosses of the infidels' (JPost)

 Online propaganda magazine calls on aspiring jihadists to target the Catholic Church and followers of the Christian faith.