February 9, 2012 --  (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 reflecting 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:  

General news  

• Group urges FTC action on Google privacy (USA Today)
• Dems fight back against GOP in contraception battle (CBS)
• Forgetting a key lesson of Watergate? (CNN)
• Child labor for Victoria’s Secret cotton examined by U.S. (Bloomberg Business)
• U.S. Brigadier General dies in Afghanistan (CNN) 

• Santorum sweeps Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado (CNN)
• Mitt Romney wins overwhelming victory in Nevada caucuses (Washington Post) 

• NATO vs. Syria (American Conservative)
• Syrians storm embassies after uprising's worst violence (Reuters)
• Activists: Syrian assault leaves 250 dead (NPR)
• U.N. vote on Syria fails (NPR)
•  ‘Hezbollah will hit Israel if Syria attacked’ (Jerusaleum Post)
• Iran vows to hit any country that stages attack (San Diego UT)
• Thousands stranded by rising floodwaters in Australia (CNN) 

• Blind doctor can see again (Jerusalem Post)

TOKYO FLOODED BY TSUNAMI

TSUNAMI COULD REACH SAN DIEGO FRIDAY  

AT 8:41 A.M.

TSUNAMI WATCHES/WARNINGS ISSUED FOR HAWAII, ALASKA, CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON, AUSTRALIA, RUSSIA, TAIWAN, GUAM, PHLIPPINES, INDONESIA, MARIANAS ISLANDS, SOUTH AMERICA, ANTARCTICA & MORE

Public urged to "leave early" when fire threatens, make preparations before fire season

By Miriam Raftery

February 17, 2009 (El Cajon)--"Fifty-three fire chiefs agree that the best way to keep families safe is to evacuate early," August Ghio, president of the San Diego County Fire Chiefs Association, said at a press conference at Cal Fire's El Cajon station. Ghio joined other local fire officials (photo)in drawing media attention to Australia's policy of encouraging homeowners to stay home and fight wildfires--a factor that many believe to have contributed to a death toll of over 200 in Australia's catastrophic blazes.

Australia's tragedy also casts a pallor over some San Diego County Supervisors and local developers calls to adopt "shelter-in-place" standards for certain new housing projects. "The people here who cite Australia as a role model will have to back off, because clearly Australia was a disaster," Leonard Villareal, public information officer for the San Miguel Fire District, told ECM.