ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

East County News Service

February 15, 2017 (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.

• First ‘dreamer’ protected by Obama’s DACA order arrested in Trump immigration raid (Sacramento Bee)
• Here’s what we know about Trump’s border wall (Bloomberg News)
•  Russian spy ship spotted off Delaware coast (CS Monitor)
• Abortion protests on both sides erupt across U.S. (Reuters)
• Mexicans in the U.S. are Sending Home More Money Than Ever (NPR)
• Website for disabled kids disappears as DeVos takes office (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
• Trump then: ‘I would have no problem’ banning lobbyists. Trump now: You’re hired! (Pro Publica)
• State-sponsored hackers targeting journalists, Google warns (Politico)
• Legal scholars: Why Congress should impeach Donald Trump (Time Magazine)
• Russia Considers Returning Snowden to U.S. to ‘Curry Favor’ With Trump: Official (U.S. News)
• How ISIS is beginning to train child terrorists in the West (Jewish World Review)

WORLD

• Why Is Russia Helping Anti-U.S. Insurgents in Afghanistan? (NPR)
• Amnesty International Identifies Assad's 'Policy of Extermination’ (NPR)
• U.S. blacklists Venezuela vice president for drug trafficking (Reuters)
• NATO says it sees sharp rise in Russian disinformation since Crimea seizure (Reuters)
• German police arrest two men suspected of planning Islamist attack (Reuters)
• Islamic State-linked group claims rocket attack on Israeli resort (Reuters)
• Chinese sent Iran missile parts (Washington Times)
• North Korea tests ballistic missile; U.S. to avoid escalation (Reuters)
•  Malnutrition Is Killing Nigeria's Children Because of Food Shortage (NPR)
• South Korea suspects female assassins killed half-brother of North Korea leader (Reuters)
•  Russia Deploys Missile in Violation of Arms Treaty (NPR)
• At Denmark’s Borderless Kitchen, refugees cook foods from their home countries (Conde Nast)
• Airport assassination focuses new attention on North Korean leader (Washington Post)

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

U.S.

First ‘dreamer’ protected by Obama’s DACA order arrested in Trump immigration raid (Sacramento Bee)

A young immigrant protected from deportation under an executive order issued by President Barack Obama because he’d been brought into the country as a child faces deportation following sweeping raids launched by the Trump administration. Daniel Ramirez Medina, a 23-year-old with no criminal record, was taken into custody in Seattle as part of last week’s raids …

Here’s what we know about Trump’s border wall (Bloomberg News)

 President Donald Trump has directed the Department of Homeland Security to move forward with one of his more prominent campaign promises: to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico. But he hasn’t provided many details about the project, including when and how the wall would be built, or how much it would cost. Based on what we know so far, here are some answers about how his plan might work.

Russian spy ship spotted off Delaware coast (CS Monitor)

In a complicated week for US relations with Russia, a Russian surveillance ship was spotted off the eastern seaboard.

Abortion protests on both sides erupt across U.S. (Reuters)

Anti-abortion groups rallied at Planned Parenthood clinics in scores of U.S. cities on Saturday to urge Congress and President Donald Trump to strip the health services provider of federal funding…Supporters also showed up at some clinics where the anti-abortion demonstrations were being staged, and in some cases, outnumbered those who were protesting against federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Mexicans in the U.S. are Sending Home More Money Than Ever (NPR)

A new report finds that remittances by migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean topped $69 billion last year — the highest amount on record…. The 2016 tally is the highest amount on record and an increase of nearly 8 percent over 2015. About 40 percent of the money goes to just one country — Mexico.

Website for disabled kids disappears as DeVos takes office (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

A U.S. Department of Education website, empowering families of students with disabilities, has disappeared… Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell want to know what happened to the vanished website, and have asked Education Secretary DeVos to put it back up. The website was set up under President George W. Bush so educators, advocates and parents could get a "one-stop" explanation on the federal Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), as well as know their rights under the disability law.

Trump then: ‘I would have no problem’ banning lobbyists. Trump now: You’re hired! (Pro Publica)

Donald Trump suggested during the campaign that he would ban lobbyists from his administration. Now they’re working at the very agencies they sought to influence.

State-sponsored hackers targeting journalists, Google warns (Politico)

Google has warned a number of prominent journalists that state-sponsored hackers are attempting to steal their passwords and break into their inboxes, the journalists tell POLITICO.

Legal scholars: Why Congress should impeach Donald Trump (Time Magazine)

… Examples of existing business arrangements that constitute violations of the foreign-emoluments clause include: China’s state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the largest tenant in Trump Tower, and the state-owned Bank of China is a major lender to Trump. Trump’s business partner in Trump Tower Century City in Manila, Philippines is Century Properties, which is run by Jose Antonio, who was just named special envoy to the United States by the president of the Philippines. Further, many Trump Organization projects abroad require foreign government permits and approvals, which amount to substantial financial benefits that also constitute foreign emoluments.

Russia Considers Returning Snowden to U.S. to ‘Curry Favor’ With Trump: Official (U.S. News)

U.S. intelligence has collected information that Russia is considering turning over Edward Snowden as a "gift" to President Donald Trump....Snowden responded to NBC's report on Twitter and said it shows that he did not work with the Russian government

How ISIS is beginning to train child terrorists in the West (Jewish World Review)

The threat presented by the Islamic State is taking on a new form: child terrorists either directly in contact with or inspired by the militant group…. the Islamic State is cultivating adolescents in the West, who are being asked to stay in their home countries and strike targets with whatever weapons are available, such as knives and crude bombs.

WORLD

Why Is Russia Helping Anti-U.S. Insurgents in Afghanistan? (NPR)

Russia has begun openly supporting and covertly supplying the insurgent Taliban against the U.S.-backed Afghan government in Kabul. What are the aims behind its latest gambit?

Amnesty International Identifies Assad's 'Policy of Extermination’ (NPR)

Amnesty International released a report this week that may make you wonder how much of what we conscientiously report as important news truly is by comparison. The human rights group, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977, says as many as 13,000 opponents of Bashar Assad have been hanged in the Saydnaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus.

U.S. blacklists Venezuela vice president for drug trafficking (Reuters)

 The U.S. blacklisted Venezuela's Vice President Tareck El Aissami and an associate for drug trafficking, the first crackdown by the Trump administration against top officials in President Nicolas Maduro's government for money laundering and the drug trade.

NATO says it sees sharp rise in Russian disinformation since Crimea seizure (Reuters)

 NATO accused Russia of escalating a disinformation campaign since the Kremlin's 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region, saying Russian websites such as Sputnik and RT had posted false stories, the alliance's spokeswoman said on Saturday.

German police arrest two men suspected of planning Islamist attack (Reuters)

Some 450 German special commandos made 12 co-ordinated raids on Thursday and arrested two men suspected of planning an imminent Islamist attack, police said. Guns, munitions and a machete were recovered in the swoop launched on the basis of indications of a "possible concrete impending terrorist attack" by Salafists, ultra-conservative Islamists, mostly in the university town of Goettingen.

Islamic State-linked group claims rocket attack on Israeli resort (Reuters)

An Islamic State-affiliated group claimed responsibility for firing rockets on Thursday towards Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, an attack that Israel said caused no damage or casualties.

Chinese sent Iran missile parts (Washington Times)

The Trump administration recently imposed sanctions on Iran for its missile test, and the sanctions reveal that Tehran's missile program is backed by covert assistance from China.

North Korea tests ballistic missile; U.S. to avoid escalation (Reuters)

 North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea early on Sunday, the first such test since U.S. President Donald Trump was elected, and his administration indicated that Washington would have a calibrated response to avoid escalating tensions.

Malnutrition Is Killing Nigeria's Children Because of Food Shortage (NPR)

International groups warn of a looming food crisis in parts of Nigeria due to civil conflict. Children are the most vulnerable in these conditions, but up to 9 million people could be affected.

South Korea suspects female assassins killed half-brother of North Korea leader (Reuters)

 South Korea's spy agency suspects two female North Korean agents assassinated the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Malaysia, lawmakers in Seoul said on Wednesday, as Malaysian medical authorities sought a cause of death.

Russia Deploys Missile in Violation of Arms Treaty (NPR)

Russia has reportedly deployed a cruise missile in violation of a Cold War-era arms control treaty. NPR's Robert Sigel speaks with Michael R. Gordon of The New York Times about what this means for U.S.-Russia relations.

At Denmark’s Borderless Kitchen, refugees cook foods from their home countries (Conde Nast Traveler)

…Vinkler developed the concept following a July 2016 immigration law that cracked down on the influx of refugees into Denmark. His response? To create a space that would strengthen the process of unity and common cultural experiences; a space that could provide meaningful internships for refugees, where food and shared meals are the focal points.

Airport assassination focuses new attention on North Korean leader (Washington Post)

Terminal 2 at Kuala Lumpur ­International Airport was convulsing with its usual Monday morning chaos…What followed was an assassination that, complete with a honey trap and a public poisoning, has focused new attention on Kim Jong Un, the 33-year-old leader of North Korea, suggesting he will stop at nothing to keep power.