October 25, 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.

• Children are dying at alarming rates and nobody is bothering to investigate (The Intercept)
• Road kill: sideswiping the Environmental Protection Act (Bill Moyers)
• EPA’s climate change website reappears, minus the word “climate” (Mashable)
• Still waiting for FEMA in Texas and Florida after hurricanes (New York Times)
• U.S. proposes fee hikes at national parks to pay for upgrades (Reuters)
• Native American tribe sues Amazon and Microsoft (BBC)
• Read Sen. Jeff Flake's stunning retirement speech: 'I will not be complicit or silent' (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Poll: Most Americans Think Their Own Group Faces Discrimination (NPR)
• Trump plans massive private prison expansion to jail undocumented immigrants (Independent)
• A 2018 wave is building. But how big will it be? (CNN)
• Trump does not plan to block release of JFK documents (Guardian)
• Trump administration considers pausing U.S. refugee family reunification program (Reuters)

WORLD

• U.N. Rights Chief: Myanmar's Treatment of Rohingya Includes 'Almost ISIS-Type Crimes' (NPR)
• In Turkey, Teachers, Parents Concerned About Religious Nature of New Curriculum (NPR)
• Catalonia warns of civil disobedience as Madrid readies direct rule (Reuters)
• Demoralized and divided: inside Catalonia's police force (Reuters)
• Milan And Venice Head to Polls in Push for Greater Autonomy from Italy (NPR)
• China Communist Party enshrines Xi in constitution (Reuters)
• As Food Crisis Continues, Venezuelans Turn to American Friends and Relatives for Help (Reason)

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October 11, 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.

• Trump on North Korea: only one thing will work (Politico)
• New York City: ‘Islamic State attack plot’ is revealed (BBC)
• ‘This changes everything’: New timeline about Las Vegas shooting raises questions (Time)
• Breaking: Trump-Pence administration unleashes sweeping LGTB license to discriminate (Human Rights Campaign)
• Trump guts requirement that employer health plans pay for birth control (NPR)
• Ken Starr predicts indictments in Russia probe (The Hill)
• 3 horrendous mass shootings far worse than Vegas (AlterNet)
• Las Vegas: An Asteroid Did Not Fall From The Sky (SD Rostra – guest commentary by Casey Gwinn, Esq.)
• Goodbye, middle class: 51% of workers make less than $30,000 a year (Washington Blog)

WORLD

• Japanese Court Orders Payments To Plaintiffs Over Fukushima Disaster (NPR)
• Catalonia nears possible defense proclamation despite defense warnings (Reuters)
• North Korea 'hackers steal US-South Korea war plans' (BBC)
• A Spanish Mosque's Ties To Terror (NPR)
• How extensive damage in Mexico City's earthquake could have been averted (CS Monitor)
• Report: Iran tried 30+ times to buy illegal nuclear technology in 2016 (Jerusalem Post)

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By Miriam Raftery

October 1, 2017 (Puerto Rico) – Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, a military hospital ship has not yet arrived while the death toll continues to mount.  Only 10,000 National Guard members have been deployed, compared to 31,000 swiftly sent after Hurricanes Irma and Harvey struck Florida and Texas. There are also far fewer FEMA personnel, CNN reports. 

September 27, 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.

Puerto Rico hurricane damage

• Terrifying torrents of water in Puerto Rico after dam fails, forcing 70,000 to evacuate as Hurricane Maria continues to ravage the island (Daily Mail)
• Hurricane Maria halts crucial drug manufacturing in Puerto Rico, may spur shortages (USA Today)
• If anyone can help us…Puerto Rico’s mayors describe widespread devastation from Hurricane Maria (Washington Post)
• In Puerto Rico, Residents Scramble for Supplies a Week After Hurricane Maria (NPR)
• How to help Puerto Rico (Reporting San Diego)

Other national news

• Trump tax plan cuts corporate rates, nearly doubles standard deduction (Hill)
• Governments turn tables by suing public records requesters (AP)
• Goodbye for now, to a vital source of Native American news (NPR)
• How Sudan got off Trump’s travel ban list (Intercept)
• Endangered species, and the wall that could silence them (USA Today)
• For the first time, the Marines plan to have a female infantry officer among its ranks (Washington Post)
• Congress questions SEC chairman on security of files after Equifax hacking (CS Monitor)
• Anthony Weiner sentenced to 21 months in federal prison (Washington Post)
• A conservative-leaning court just issued a surprise ruling on climate change and coal mining (Vox)

WORLD

• Merkel hangs onto power but bleeds support to surging far right (Reuters)
• Kurds stick with independence vote: ‘Never going back to Baghdad’: Barzani (Reuters)
• Saudi Arabia Announces It Will Lift Ban and Allow Women to Drive (NPR)
• Thousands evacuated in Ukraine as ammunition depot explodes (Reuters)
• Countering the US, Iran test-fires new ballistic missile (Jerusalem Post)
• Hamas speaks highly of deadly shooting attack that killed 3 Israelis (Jerusalem Post)

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September 20, 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.

• Big holdup for borrowers claiming for-profit college fraud (AP)
• Basically the entire healthcare system hates the new Obamacare repeal bill (Huffington Post)
• Mueller just obtained a search warrant that could change the whole nature of the Russia investigation (Business Insider)
• Judge rules Justice Dept. can’t keep grant money from uncooperative sanctuary cities (Washington Post)
• Trump threatens to ‘totally destroy’ North Korea if it continues on nuclear path (USA Today)
• Woman fired for having a period at work. Now the ACLU is taking on her case. (National Memo)

WORLD

• Powerful 7.1 earthquake strikes Mexico City, collapsing buildings and sending thousands fleeing into streets (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• For first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on island of Barbuda (USA Today)
• ‘We will kill you all’--Rohingya villagers in Myanmar beg for safe passage (Reuters)
• 4 American women attacked with acid in France (Reuters)
• Parsons Green tube attack: arrested man named as Yahyah Farroukh (Guardian)
• Syrian army and allies close in on Islamic State in Deir al-Zor (Reuters)

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By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Policia Federal Mexico via Twitter

September 20, 2017 (San Diego) – A powerful 7.1 earthquake struck Mexico City yesterday, 32 years to the day that a 1985 quake killed 9,500 people and destroyed 100,000 homes in Mexico City.  Since then, the city has made major efforts to improve earthquake safety standards.

September 6, 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.

• Gas prices spike as refineries stay shut (CBS)
• Toxic waste sites flooded in Houston area (AP)
• Texas do-it-yourself rescue effort defined Hurricane Harvey (Washington Post)
• Antifa: officials weigh gang label after Berkeley brawls (Los Angeles Times)
• Robert Mueller eliminates Trump’s trump card (New York Magazine)
• The great pot monopoly mystery (GQ)
• Utah police reveal patient defended by heroic nurse was police officer (The Hill)
• Wells Fargo Acknowledges Creation of Nearly Twice as Many Possible Fake Accounts (NPR)
• Russia and U.S. Order Each Other to Close Diplomatic Posts (NPR)
• Utah cop who arrested nurse over blood draw fired from second job (Reuters)

WORLD

• North Korea says it tested hydrogen bomb meant for ICBM (New York Times)
• Haley: Kim Jong Un ‘begging for war’ (CNN)
• Fox News just got pulled off the air in Britain (Washington Post)
• Tourists Still Head to Los Cabos Despite Safety and Security Warnings (NPR)
• At least three dead as Lidia slams Mexico's Los Cabos tourist hub  (Reuters)
• Floods in South Asia Have Killed More Than 1,000 People This Summer (NPR)
• Iran rejects U.S. demand for U.N. inspector visit to military sites  (Reuters)
• Kenya's Supreme Court declares presidential vote invalid, calls for new poll (Reuters)

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By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Texas National Guard,  U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Zachary West

August 29, 2017 (San Diego) – Rescue personnel from the San Diego region including East County are heading to Texas, where  Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 hurricane since reclassified as a tropical storm,  has dumped the heaviest rainfall ever recorded on the U.S. mainland—50 inches or more in places.

Much of Houston, Texas is submerged beneath a swath of floodwaters 50 miles wide.  so much rain fell that the National Weather Service had to add new color coding to its maps.

At least eight people have died.  An estimated 1.7 million  have evacuated  in Texas and Louisana as the storm continues its destructive path, according to the White House website, with many people still awaiting rescue, trapped amid rising waters. Now, a levee south of Houston in Brazoria County has broken and residents in its path are ordered to get out immediately. 

August 16, 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.

• Organizers of white nationalist rally in Virginia, driver sued for $3 million (Reuters)
• Anti-government extremist arrested in Oklahoma bomb plot (Los Angeles Times)
• Trump again blames ‘both sides’ for violence at white supremacist rally in VA (Washington Post)
• Google boots out neo-Nazi website that attacked Charlottesville victim (San Jose Mercury News)
• Turkey detains suspected Islamic State militant for planning to bring down U.S. plane (Reuters)
• Justice Dept. demands 1.3 million IP addresses related to Trump resistance site (The Hill)
• Virginia Governor declares state of emergency as alt-right rally turns violent (NBC)
• Trump threatens Venezuela with unspecified military action (Reuters)
• Trump’s odd thanks to Putin for expelling U.S. diplomats sparks anger among foreign service officers (Los Angeles Times)
• A New Report Raises Big Questions About Last Year’s DNC Hack (The Nation)

WORLD

• Patriot interceptor batteries to be deployed pronto in Western Japan (Japan Times)
• North Korea’s Missile Success is Linked to Ukrainian Plant, Investigators Say (New York Times)
• How ISIS nearly stumbled on the ingredients for a 'dirty bomb' (Jewish World Review)
• China issues order to implement U.N. sanctions on North Korea (Reuters)
• As Pakistan Marks 70 Years of Independence, Its Minorities Struggle for Space (NPR)
• Report: Iran and Russia violated U.N. weapons sanctions (JPost)
• Hearing loss of US diplomats in Cuba blamed on covert device (AP)
• PA arrests five journalists for "leaking" sensitive information (JPost)
• Report: Attack on police vehicle kills four in northern Sinai (JPost)
• Machine gun attack on U.N. Mali base in Timbuktu kills seven (Reuters)

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August 8, 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.

• North Korea says seriously considering plan to strike Guam: KCNA (Reuters)
• FCC exploits loophole to push massive expansion of pro-Trump Sinclair media (Salon)
• Sinclair requires stations to air pieces that tilt right (New York Times)
• Justice Dept. takes on affirmative action in college admissions (New York Times)
• ‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli found guilty of 3 of 8 charges, including security fraud (MSNBC)
• He once said mothers don’t belong in state office. Now he leads Trump Cabinet in Bible study (Los Angeles Times)
• Strong jobs market boosts demographic groups that usually lag in unemployment (Marketplace)
• One year into FBI ‘s Russia investigation, Mueller is onto Trump’s money trail (CNN)
• White House gives ground on agencies’ selective responses to Congressional oversight inquiries (Gov Exec)
• ‘Fact checking; website Snopes on verge of collapse after founder accused of fraud, lies, and putting prostitutes and honeymoon on his expenses (Daily Mail)
• Asian-Americans’ Complaint Against Harvard Could Get Dept. of Justice Review (NBC)
• Trump rips Congress, brags about deal-making prowess in Russian sanctions statement (The Hill)

WORLD

• Decline in Democracy Spreads Across Globe as Authoritarian Leaders Rise  (NPR)
• U.S. formally delivers notice to withdraw from Paris climate deal (Reuters)
• North Korea now making missile-ready nuclear weapons, U.S. analysts say (Washington Post)
• ·Iran Gains Ground in Afghanistan as U.S. Presence Wanes (New York Times)
• A Flawed Asylum System in Mexico, Strained Further by U.S. Changes (New York Times)
• 'I Give Up': Top War Crimes Expert Resigns from U.N.'s Syria Inquiry (NPR)
• Nearly 1 Million South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda (NPR)
• Civil activism: Are Russians exiting the Soviet eclipse? (CS Monitor)
• PHOTOS: A 'Massive' Wildfire is Now Blazing in Greenland (NPR)
• Nine dead, 164 injured in China Sichuan quake (Reuters)

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43% of alcohol served in Mexico is produced illegally and may be dangerous, government study reveals

East County News Service

Photo:  Abbey Conner, whose family alleges she died due to tainted alcohol served at a Mexican resort

July 27, 2017 (San Diego) – The U.S. State Department has issued a warning for Americans visiting Mexico.  Since 2010, over 1.4 million gallons of tainted alcohol have been seized in Mexico. That includes counterfeit booze that reportedly contained pure industrial ethanol used in rubbing alcohol – a substance that can be toxic if consumed.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: UK Independent Twitter feed

July 24, 2017 (Raqqa, Syria) -- Women in Raqqa, Syria are burning their burqas and men are shaving off their beards in celebration of being liberated from the Islamic State, or ISIS, by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish fighting group. British media reports photos and interviews of joyful, freed Syrians who had been forced to endure ISIS occupation of their city.

July 11, 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.

• Donald Trump Jr. makes the Russian connection (New York Times editorial board)
• ICE officers told to take actions against all undocumented immigrants (Pro Publica)
• Trump suggested a cyber-security pact with Russia. Lawmakers dumbfounded. (Wash. Post)
• Hobby Lobby agrees to forfeit 5,500 artifacts smuggled out of Iraq (NY Times)
• Trump team met with lawyer linked to Kremlin during campaign (NY Times)
• Republicans call Obamacare a ‘failure.’These 7 charts show they couldn’t be more wrong. (LA Times)
• Activists cry cowardice as Republicans senators shut door to healthcare town halls (Guardian)
• Was election rigged against Sanders? DNC lawsuit demands repayment for donors  (Newsweek)
• Judge Overturns Utah's 'Ag-Gag' Ban on Undercover Filming at Farms (NPR)
• New Rule Opens Credit Card Companies, Banks to Class-Action Suits (NPR)
• Black gun owners ask: Does the Second Amendment apply to us? (CS Monitor)
• 10 Charts That Compare the Relative Strength of the U.S. and Russia (Reason)

WORLD

• Trump says Russia was `satisfied’ with his election-meddling denials (Reuters)
• British Columbia wildfires – 14,000 evacuated as fires spread (BBC)
• ISIS lose last stronghold in Iraq but the militant group lives on (Newsweek)
• Spurned by Trump, China and Mexico talk about a trade deal (CNN)
• 122 countries approve first-ever treaty to ban nuclear weapons (Time Magazine)
• UN: Gaza 'unliveable' 10 years after Hamas takeover (Reuters)
• Germans angry over 'orgy of violence' at Merkel's pre-election G20 (Reuters)
• Huge crowd rallies in Istanbul against Turkey's post-coup crackdown  (Reuters) 
• International Investigators Targeted by Spyware Sold to Mexican Government (NPR)
• French groups to protest Netanyahu attendance at Paris Holocaust ceremony (Jpost)
• [Beijing just told 340 million Chinese not to criticize Putin on social media (Vox)
• 'UNHRC focusing on Israel, ignoring other countries operating in occupied areas’ (Jpost)

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Allied forces gain ground: Iraqi Prime Minister declares end to ISIS caliphate, but plight of refugees remains dire

By Miriam Raftery; Photos by Kainoa Little

Photo, left:  Refugees flee the embattled city of Mosul

July 4, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- East County Magazine has obtained dramatic photos from the Battle of Mosul, taken in the Iraqi city during April 2017 by photographer Kainoa Little, who specializes in photographing war zones and refugees. 

His images show Iraqi federal police fighting to free Mosul from occupation by Islamic State, or ISIL, militants who seized the city in June 2014.  The photos poignantly depict the courage of soldiers and at times, fear, as they fight amid the ruins and also the anguish of residents and refugees fleeing the city. 

The battle captured in these April photos continues, with the allies gaining ground. Today, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi held a press conference to praise his troops for a “big victory in Mosul” including retaking what remains of the al-Nuri mosque in the old city, Associated Press reports. 

June 21, 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.

Special prosecutor investigation

• Lobbyist for Russian interests says he attended dinners hosted by Sessions (Guardian)
• Donald Trump, Felix Sater and the job:  Lawyers push to unseal court documents they say could show fraud by president (Newsweek)
• Trump lashes out at Russia probe while Pence hires a lawyer (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Senate approves new Russia sanctions (CNN)
• Criminal investigation of Trump puts his presidency in peril (Wash. Post “Right Turn”)

Other national news

• Russia warns U.S. after downing of Syrian warplane (New York Times)
• Phoenix flights cancelled because it’s too hot for planes (BBC)
• Admin revokes blocked program to protect immigrant parents (Washington Post)
• Amazon to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion  (Reuters)
• U.S. Supreme Court strikes down sex offender social media ban (Reuters)
• U.S. top court says law banning offensive trademarks is unconstitutional (Reuters)
• Trump owes lenders at least $315 million, disclosure shows (Reuters)
• Trump signs bill revoking Obama era gun checks for mental illness (NBC)
• Emerging portrait of shooting suspect James T. Hodgkinson:  Anti-Trump rhetoric on social media, repeat visits to YMCA near Virginia ballfield (Washington Post)
• Legal services in unprecedented danger under Trump’s budget proposal (Guardian)
• CEOs to Trump: You’re failing (CNN)
• Democratic lawmakers sue Trump, handing the president another legal challenge (NPR)

WORLD

• Van rams Muslim worshippers in London; PM condemns ‘sickening’ attack (Reuters)
• Imam praised as hero for protecting Finsbury Park attacker (CNN)
• Veteran aide expert Egeland warns of ‘Biblical famine’ in Yemen (Reuters)
• 7 U.S. Service Members Wounded In 'Insider Attack' In Afghanistan (NPR)
• Saudi king empowers young reformer son in succession shake-up (Reuters)
• Palestinian Authority has not sent medical shipments to Gaza for over three months (Jerusalem Post)
• Why Is China Snatching Up Australian Farmland? (NPR)
• Attacks on Western cities prompt insurers to adapt (Reuters)
• FBI says probing Michigan airport stabbing as 'act of terrorism' (Reuters)
• Abortive Brussels attack could have been much worse -PM (Reuters)
• Explosion in Bogota shopping center kills three, wounds nine (Reuters)
• Jerusalem on high alert after police officer killed in Old City attack (JPost)

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