ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

March 26, 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.

• House Passes Bill Changing Medicare Fee Formula and Extending Children’s Insurance (NY Times)
• What is driving a remarkable shift in US-Afghan relations? (+video) (CS Monitor)
• McCain: Pentagon wasting money training drug-sniffing elephants (The Hill)
• Government report finds U.S. Homeland Security deputy intervened in visa cases (Reuters)
• DEA agents held ‘sex parties’ with prostitutes paid for by drug cartels (The Hill)

WORLD

• U.S. offering tactical, intel support to Saudi airstrikes in Yemen (The Hill)
• U.S.-led coalition, Iraqis pound Islamic State in Tikrit (Reuters)
• Recording shows pilot locked out of Airbus cockpit before crash: NYT (Reuters)
• Boko Haram kidnaps hundreds of Nigerian civilians, official says (+video) (CS Monitor)
• Why the Nicaragua canal poses new challenge to Ortega's power (+video) (CS Monitor)
• 200 suspected jihadis prevented from leaving Australia (UT San Diego)
• Islamic State claims suicide bombing in Libya's Benghazi (Reuters)
• Jordan signs $10 billion nuclear power plant deal with Russia (Reuters)
  

U.S.

House Passes Bill Changing Medicare Fee Formula and Extending Children’s Insurance (NY Times)

The House overwhelmingly approved sweeping changes to the Medicare system on Thursday, in the most significant bipartisan policy legislation to pass through that chamber since the Republicans regained a majority in 2011.

What is driving a remarkable shift in US-Afghan relations? (+video) (CS Monitor)

On Tuesday, President Obama announced that 9,800 US troops would remain in Afghanistan through the end of 2015, a shift from a planned drawdown of troops.

McCain: Pentagon wasting money training drug-sniffing elephants (The Hill)

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday blasted the Defense Department for wasting money on projects, including one to study the bomb-sniffing capabilities of elephants. “Thus far, they have found that, while elephants are more effective than dogs, using them is impractical," McCain said Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "No bomb-sniffing elephants have been fielded."

Government report finds U.S. Homeland Security deputy intervened in visa cases (Reuters)

(Reuters) - The No. 2 official at the U.S. Homeland Security Department exerted improper influence while at another agency on behalf of politically connected Democrats seeking visas for foreign investors, the department's inspector general said in a report released on Tuesday.

DEA agents held ‘sex parties’ with prostitutes paid for by drug cartels (The Hill)

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents allegedly held “sex parties” with prostitutes paid for by drug cartels at an overseas post, according to a new report from a government watchdog.

WORLD

U.S. offering tactical, intel support to Saudi airstrikes in Yemen (The Hill)

President Obama has authorized U.S. forces to provide logistical and intelligence support to a Saudi air offensive against rebels in Yemen, the White House said late Wednesday.

U.S.-led coalition, Iraqis pound Islamic State in Tikrit (Reuters)

U.S.-led coalition warplanes launched their first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Tikrit on Wednesday, officials said, coming off the sidelines to aid Iraqi forces fighting alongside Iran-backed Shi'ite militia on the ground.

Recording shows pilot locked out of Airbus cockpit before crash: NYT (Reuters)

Cockpit voice recordings from the German jet that crashed in the Alps showed one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not get back in before the plane went down, killing everyone onboard, the New York Times reported.

Boko Haram kidnaps hundreds of Nigerian civilians, official says (+video) (CS Monitor)

The Islamist miltant group abducted a large group, including many children, when they retreated from a town in northeastern Nigeria.

Why the Nicaragua canal poses new challenge to Ortega's power (+video) (CS Monitor)

Nicaraguans have lots of questions, but the closed-door nature of canal decisions mean they're getting few answers – and taking their frustration to the streets.

200 suspected jihadis prevented from leaving Australia (UT San Diego)

Counterterrorism squads have prevented 200 suspected jihadis from departing Australian airports for the Middle East including at least three teenage boys this month, officials said on Wednesday.

Islamic State claims suicide bombing in Libya's Benghazi (Reuters)

(Reuters) - Islamic State militants claimed a suicide bombing that killed seven people at an army checkpoint in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Tuesday and triggered retaliatory air strikes by army forces.

Jordan signs $10 billion nuclear power plant deal with Russia (Reuters)

 Jordan signed an agreement with Russia on Tuesday worth $10 billion that sets the legal basis for building the kingdom's first nuclear power plant with a total capacity of 2,000 megawatt.