ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

April 29 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.

• Obama apologizes for attack that killed two hostages (Washington Post)
• US, Japan release new defense guidelines for Japanese global role (CS Monitor)
• High costs hinder outfitting of U.S. cops with body cameras (Reuters)
• Graffiti artists’ move to national parks shocks nature lovers (Los Angeles Times)
• Minnesota declares state of emergency over bird flu in poultry (Reuters)
• Goldman Paid Bill Clinton $200000 For Speech Before Bank Lobbied Hillary Clinton
• (International Business Times)
• Oklahomans Feel Way More Earthquakes Than Californians; Now They Know Why (NPR)
• Hostage locations difficult to track - and may be getting harder (Reuters)
• Exclusive: Clinton charities will refile tax returns, audit for other errors (Reuters)
• Russian hackers read Obama's unclassified emails last year: NYT (Reuters)

WORLD

•  Russian spacecraft 'out of control' (BBC)
• Iranian Revolutionary Guards seize cargo ship in Gulf (Reuters)
• If You Find $1.3 Billion in Missing Aid to Afghanistan, Please Contact the Pentagon at Your Earliest Convenience. (Reason)
• Signaling from the Supreme Court: Justices Mostly Show Their Cards on Gay Marriage (Reason)
• Experts gathered in Nepal a week ago to ready for earthquake (U-T San Diego)
• Spanish tax agency uncovers wind farm payoff scheme (WCN)
• Mexico recovers stolen radioactive material (AP)
• China warns on rising North Korea nuclear capability: WSJ  (Reuters)
• 'Bookkeeper of Auschwitz', 93, on trial in Germany: 'I did not question that the Jews were our misfortune' (JWR)
• Rocket fired from Gaza lands in Israeli territory; IDF strikes terror site (JPost)
• Chinese experts reportedly say North Korea may have 20 nuclear warheads (CS Monitor)
• Putin accuses US of supporting separatists in Russia (AP)
• Russian Justice Ministry annuls opposition party registration (Reuters)
• 
EU border agents too busy to screen migrants (AP)
• Saudi says arrests 93 Islamic State suspects, foils U.S. embassy attack (Reuters)

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

U.S.

Obama apologizes for attack that killed two hostages (Washington Post)

A CIA drone strike in January that was aimed at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Pakistan accidentally killed two hostages, including a kidnapped American, U.S. officials acknowledged Thursday.

US, Japan release new defense guidelines for Japanese global role (CS Monitor)

The new parameters reflect a changing world and mean Japan could shoot down missiles heading toward the United States and come to the aid of third countries under attack. 

High costs hinder outfitting of U.S. cops with body cameras

(Reuters) - A Reuters survey of the 20 largest U.S. police forces found widespread interest in the devices. But while 16 departments have equipped some officers with cameras or plan to do so, not one has yet been able to provide kits to all its patrol officers, the survey found.

Graffiti artists’ move to national parks shocks nature lovers (Los Angeles Times)

Andre Saraiva is an internationally known graffiti artist..Two months ago he showed up on the decidedly un-fashionista website Modern Hiker, along with a photo of a boulder he tagged in Joshua Tree National Park. Since then, Saraiva, who lives in France and is known by his fans as Mr. Andre and Mr. A., has been scorned by American nature lovers and thrust into a highly charged debate.

Minnesota declares state of emergency over bird flu in poultry (Reuters)

Minnesota declared a state of emergency on Thursday over a fast-spreading strain of avian flu that has led to the extermination of more than 7.3 million birds in the country. It followed Wisconsin's action on Monday. / The highly pathogenic H5N2 strain of bird flu has been identified on 46 Minnesota farms in 16 counties and affected more than 2.6 million birds in the state.

Goldman Paid Bill Clinton $200000 For Speech Before Bank Lobbied Hillary Clinton

(International Business Times)

Goldman Sachs paid former President Bill Clinton $200,000 to deliver a speech in the spring of 2011, several months before the investment banking giant began lobbying the State Department, then headed by Hillary Clinton, federal records reviewed by International Business Times show

Oklahomans Feel Way More Earthquakes Than Californians; Now They Know Why (NPR)

The U.S. Geological Survey issues a report Thursday on quakes linked to oil and gas drilling, but Oklahoma has said that the industry's wastewater disposal is the cause. What's unknown is a solution.

Hostage locations difficult to track - and may be getting harder (Reuters)

The U.S. drone strike that accidentally killed two hostages in Pakistan exposes intelligence shortfalls that former and current U.S. officials say appear to be growing more frequent as militants expand their safe havens and as Washington gathers less on-the-ground human intelligence.

Exclusive: Clinton charities will refile tax returns, audit for other errors (Reuters)

Hillary Clinton's family's charities are refiling at least five annual tax returns after a Reuters review found errors in how they reported donations from governments, and said they may audit other Clinton Foundation returns in case of other errors.

Russian hackers read Obama's unclassified emails last year: NYT (Reuters)

Russian hackers who penetrated sensitive parts of the White House computer system last year read President Barack Obama's unclassified emails…officials conceded that the unclassified system still contains highly sensitive information such as email exchanges with diplomats, exchanges about personnel moves and legislation, presidential schedules and discussion about policy.

WORLD

 Russian spacecraft 'out of control'

(BBC) -- A Russian spacecraft delivering supplies to the International Space Station is out of control and may fall back to Earth, unnamed officials say.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards seize cargo ship in Gulf (Reuters)

Iranian patrol boats intercepted a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday and forced it into Iranian territorial waters by firing shots across its bow, prompting the U.S. Navy to send a destroyer and reconnaissance plane to monitor the situation.

If You Find $1.3 Billion in Missing Aid to Afghanistan, Please Contact the Pentagon at Your Earliest Convenience. (Reason)

The Defense Department can’t account for $1.3 billion that was shipped to force commanders in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014 for critical reconstruction projects, 60 percent of all such spending under an emergency program, an internal report released Thursday concludes.

Signaling from the Supreme Court: Justices Mostly Show Their Cards on Gay Marriage (Reason)

Predictably, early reports about today's Supreme Court arguments on same-sex recognition paint a divided court. The more liberal members of the court had tough questions for states who want to preserve same-sex marriage bans and the justifications for them. The conservatives had tough questions about whether the courts should be overruling state decisions on marriage regulations. 

Experts gathered in Nepal a week ago to ready for earthquake (U-T San Diego)

Nepal's devastating earthquake was the disaster experts knew was coming. Just a week ago, about 50 earthquake and social scientists from around the world came to Kathmandu, Nepal, to figure out how to get this poor, congested, overdeveloped, shoddily built area to prepare better for the big one, a repeat of the 1934 temblor that leveled this city. They knew they were racing the clock, but they didn't know when what they feared would strike.

Spanish tax agency uncovers wind farm payoff scheme (WCN)

Tax inspectors have only started to reveal their findings in this complex web of corruption: €110 million worth of illegal commissions paid in Castilla y León, one of Spain’s 17 states …The Spanish IRS is presently investigating in other states. At the national level, illicit enrichment at the cost of taxpayers could easily top one billion euros. Unexplained payments to public officials received from Switzerland, shares in obscure windfarm companies resold for hundreds, even thousands of times the initial capital invested, home mortgages paid off by opaque entities, homes renovated by generous donators, etc

Mexico recovers stolen radioactive material (AP)

Mexican authorities say they have recovered hazardous radioactive material stolen last week from the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco.... /It was the fifth theft of radioactive material in Mexico in little over a year. The hazardous material has been recovered in all cases.

China warns on rising North Korea nuclear capability: WSJ  (Reuters)

Chinese nuclear experts have warned that North Korea may already have 20 nuclear warheads and the capability to produce enough weapons-grade uranium to double its arsenal by next year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

'Bookkeeper of Auschwitz', 93, on trial in Germany: 'I did not question that the Jews were our misfortune' (JWR)

The world was watching Tuesday as Oskar Groening laid out his defense. He's charged as an accessory in the deaths of more than 300,000 Hungarian Jews in what's likely to be one of the last trials of Nazi war crimes.

Rocket fired from Gaza lands in Israeli territory; IDF strikes terror site (JPost)

Security forces searching for remnants of projectile; no injuries reported.

Chinese experts reportedly say North Korea may have 20 nuclear warheads (CS Monitor)

A report by the Wall Street Journal says Chinese specialists on North Korea who met with US officials in February told them “that North Korea may already have 20 warheads, as well as the capability of producing enough weapons-grade uranium to double its arsenal by next year.”  US officials have warned over the past year about the North’s progress in “miniaturizing” its nuclear arsenal to fit atop a missile, as well as its gains in three separate long-range rocket programs. One such rocket is an intercontinental missile designed to carry a payload more than 5,000 miles, theoretically putting it within range of California.

Putin accuses US of supporting separatists in Russia (AP)

In a new documentary, Russian President Vladimir Putin says intercepted calls showed that the U.S. helped separatists in Russia's North Caucasus in the 2000s, underscoring his suspicions of the West.

Russian Justice Ministry annuls opposition party registration (Reuters)

Russia's Justice Ministry has canceled the legal registration of the Party of Progress, the ministry said on Tuesday, blocking the group's plan to run for parliament in alliance with another anti-Kremlin party. / The Party of Progress, led by anti-graft blogger Alexei Navalny, had agreed to run on a joint platform in 2016 parliamentary elections with RPR-Parnas, co-founded by slain politician Boris Nemtsov, allying fractious Kremlin adversaries.


EU border agents too busy to screen migrants (AP)

Border agents are so busy dealing with the record number of migrants entering the European Union that they can no longer screen people properly, leaving them to slip deeper into the EU unidentified. 

Saudi says arrests 93 Islamic State suspects, foils U.S. embassy attack (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia has arrested 93 people suspected of belonging to the Islamic State militant group, including two people who planned a failed suicide car bombing against the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.