ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

March 5, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Supreme Court will decide fate of Obamacare health law (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• U.S., Taliban Sign Deal (Time)
• Sanders, Biden face off in primary election (CBS)
• Sanders Will Drop Out if Biden Gets Plurality Coming Into Dem Convention (Newsweek)
• Judge demands unredacted Mueller report, questions Barr's 'credibility' (The Hill) 
• Health-care workers worry about whether they are adequately protected (Washington Post)

WORLD

• Five reasons why Canada’s shutdown is a big deal (BBC)
• Dubai's ruler abducted daughters and threatened former wife, UK judge rules (Reuters)
• ICC clears way for probe of alleged Afghanistan war crimes (Reuters)
• After Delhi Riots, Muslims in India Fear What's Next (Time)
• Nearly Half of Central American Asylum Seekers Say Relatives Were Killed (Newsweek)

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

U.S.

Supreme Court will decide fate of Obamacare health law (San Diego Union-Tribune)

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide a lawsuit that threatens the Obama-era health care law, a case that will keep health care squarely in front of voters even though a decision won’t come until after the 2020 election.  The court said it would hear an appeal by 20 mainly Democratic states of a lower-court ruling that declared part of the statute unconstitutional and cast a cloud over the rest.

U.S., Taliban Sign Deal (Time)

The United States signed an agreement with Taliban militants on Saturday aimed at bringing an end to 18 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan and allowing U.S. troops to return home from America's longest war. 

Sanders, Biden face off in primary election (CBS)

Democratic primary front-runners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are crisscrossing the country ahead of a slate of elections in six states next week. While Sanders is expected to get most of California’s delegates, Biden is still leading in the total count with wins in the majority of Super Tuesday states. Ed O’Keefe breaks down both of the campaigns’ paths to victory and where they stand after Tuesday’s primaries.

Sanders Will Drop Out if Biden Gets Plurality Coming Into Dem Convention (Newsweek)

Senator Bernie Sanders said that a Democratic convention rules change means that he will drop out of the race if former Vice President Joe Biden ends up with a plurality of pledged delegates, adding that superdelegates deciding the nomination would be a "real disaster" for Democrats.

Judge demands unredacted Mueller report, questions Barr's 'credibility' (The Hill) 

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to hand over to him a copy of the unredacted Mueller report and accused Attorney General William Barr of misrepresenting its findings in the days before it was submitted to Congress last year…

Health-care workers worry about whether they are adequately protected (Washington Post)

As caregivers fall sick with covid-19 or are in isolation, staffing hospitals and nursing homes is a critical challenge.

WORLD

Five reasons why Canada’s shutdown is a big deal (BBC)

At the forefront is a conflict first sparked over indigenous opposition to a natural gas pipeline project, that has now evolved to include broader complex issues like indigenous governance and indigenous rights. It has led to rail blockades and protests that have crippled rail lines and disrupted the flow of the country's economy.  Those events have underscored a pressure point for Mr Trudeau - he has struggled to deliver on his promise to chart a path for Canada that balances oil and gas development, environmental stewardship and indigenous reconciliation. 

Dubai's ruler abducted daughters and threatened former wife, UK judge rules (Reuters)

Dubai's ruler ordered the abduction of two daughters and orchestrated a campaign of intimidation against his former wife, a British judge has ruled, in what is likely to be a major blow to his reputation as a Middle East reformer.

ICC clears way for probe of alleged Afghanistan war crimes (Reuters)

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court will investigate whether war crimes were committed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan military and U.S. forces after an appeals panel said on Thursday the "truth-seeking" inquiry should go ahead.

After Delhi Riots, Muslims in India Fear What's Next (Time)

… The violence began on Feb. 23 and lasted for several days, leaving at least 46 people dead in Delhi, the majority of them Muslims. It was the worst religious violence in India in years. Though some Hindus too were killed in the riots, it quickly emerged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Delhi police force his government oversees, had tacitly supported the mobs, who chanted Hindu nationalist slogans as they burned buildings and beat Muslims while police reportedly looked on.

Nearly Half of Central American Asylum Seekers Say Relatives Were Killed (Newsweek)

"Many of our patients are desperately fleeing violence back home," said Sergio Martin, MSF's head of mission in Mexico.