ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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April 27, 2016 (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.

WORLD

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

U.S.

Syrian conflict:  Obama to send 250 more non-combat troops (BBC)

US President Barack Obama is to send 250 additional military personnel to Syria to support local militias in the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS), officials have said.The goal, they say, is to encourage more Sunni Arabs to join Kurdish fighters in north-eastern Syria. The new deployment will bring to 300 the number of US forces in non-combat roles in Syria. In a BBC interview, Mr Obama ruled out sending ground troops there.

New data says 49.7% are poor, with 80% of total population in U.S. near poverty (Counter Currents News)

…This startling new statistic is means that 80% of the population is struggling with joblessness, or with near-poverty. Many of them are relying on government assistance to help pay the bills or feed their families. Without that assistance, this near-poverty statistic means that they too would be poor…. Out-of-pocket medical costs as well work-related expenses have now been factored in. The adjusted data is “considered more reliable by social scientists because it factors in living expenses as well as the effects of government aid, such as food stamps and tax credits,” Hope Yen said, reporting for the Associated Press.

Volkswagen Reaches Deal With U.S. On Cars With Emissions Software (NPR)

After months of negotiations, Volkswagen has reached a deal with U.S. authorities on most of the cars involved in its diesel emissions scandal. The agreement covers nearly 500,000 2-liter engine cars. Owners will get to choose between having VW buy back their vehicles or having their cars fixed. But owners still don't know how much VW will offer in the buyback, or what the terms of a fix will be.

Cuts could leave United States unprepared for disease outbreak, report warns (CNN)

U.S. funding for global health research has been on the decline from 2009 to 2014, a new report says. Global spending on neglected diseases should double to $6 billion by 2020, it says.

Cruz and Kasich team up to stop Trump (Politico)

Ted Cruz and John Kasich have begun coordinating their campaign strategy to stop Donald Trump, an abrupt alliance announced Sunday night that includes Kasich quitting his efforts in Indiana and Cruz clearing a path for the Ohio governor in Oregon and New Mexico.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Iran bank's bid to avoid payout to attack victims (Reuters)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that almost $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets must be turned over to American families of people killed in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks blamed on Iran.

U.S. to buy heavy water from Iran's nuclear program (Reuters)

The United States will buy heavy water from Iran's nuclear program and expects it to be delivered within weeks, U.S. officials said on Friday, a move that Republican lawmakers quickly criticized.

Federal judge seizes Puerto Rico govt funds amid crisis (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Puerto Rico's financially strapped government was ordered by a federal judge Friday to immediately pay long-overdue bills owed by the Health Department to companies that serve mentally disabled people in the U.S. territory.

WORLD

Road to Rio: Brazil’s troubled path to summer Olympics (Newsweek)

…When Brazil was awarded the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games in 2009, little appeared to stand in the way of the country achieving the potential that has seemed untapped for decades. It shrugged off the global financial crisis and powered ahead. But the last few years have been brutal. And Brazil has inflicted some Olympic-sized wounds since 2009, on itself.

Chernobyl: 30 years on (Truthout)

Tuesday, April 26, 2016, marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe. As is the case with its counterpart Fukushima, the official date marks only the beginning of a long, horrible ordeal, which is still underway and still worsening. The date also marks the beginning of the 10th year of the daily vigil by the grassroots organization IndependentWHO at the entry to the World Health Organization (WHO). The stated and unwavering purpose of the vigil is to have the WHO renounce the accord that ties it to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), giving the IAEA veto power over anything that the WHO might propose to do in the area of ionizing radiation and health.

Dead dolphins in Fukushima found with white radiated lungs (Your Newswire)

Japanese scientists have said they have never seen anything as horrific as the massive group of dead dolphins discovered stranded on a beach near the site of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. After conducting an autopsy the scientists found that the dolphins’ lungs were white – which they say is an indication of radiation poisoning.

Mexico hampered probe into apparent student massacre, panel says (The World Post)

A panel of international experts on Sunday accused Mexico’s government of undermining their probe into the fate of 43 trainee teachers apparently massacred in 2014, the most notorious human rights case in Mexico in recent years.

China Deploys Troops Along North Korea Border, Report Says (International Business Times)

China deployed troops to its border with North Korea Wednesday as reports said that the reclusive country may be preparing to conduct a fifth nuclear test.

German airport's secret emergency plan was on internet for months (JPost)

A confidential emergency plan for Cologne-Bonn airport was posted on its website for several months, German broadcaster ZDF said on Wednesday, heightening concerns about security after attacks at Brussels airport.

Bangladeshi Professor Hacked To Death In Islamic State-Claimed Attack (NPR)

Bangladesh has seen a string of attacks against outspoken atheists and secularists, and the government has been accused of not doing enough to protect them.

2 UK men sentenced over IS-inspired drive-by shooting plot (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Two British students have been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for conspiring to kill soldiers, police officers and civilians in a plot inspired by the Islamic State group.

One dead, 26 wounded as rockets hit Turkish town near Syrian border (Reuters)

Rockets pounded the Turkish town of Kilis near the Syrian border on Sunday, a Reuters witness reported, killing one person and injuring 26, a day after the government promised to protect the area from repeated attacks by Islamic State militants.

 

 

 


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