ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

August 10, 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.

General news

• Trial by jury, a hallowed American right, is vanishing (New York Times)
• Not your parents’ pot: today’s marijuana strains are much stronger (OC Register)
• States and cities don't invest in infrastructure (Marketplace)
• Report: US paid Iran $400 million as American prisoners were freed (Jerusalem Post)
• Obama’s new so-called “GMO Labeling Law”is a gift to the industry (Truthout)
• Gymnastics hidden abuse crisis (Daily Beast)

Presidential campaign

• NY Times exposes Trump campaign manager on Russian payroll (Bipartisan Report)
• Clinton emails shed light on relationship between State Dept, Clinton Foundation (CNN)
• Trump’s new billionaire advisors could threaten his populist message (Washington Post)
• Donald Trump’s many, many, many, many ties to Russia (Time)
• Clinton leads Trump by 15 points nationwide (The Hill)
• New poll has Trump in fourth—behind Gary Johnson and Jill Stein –with young people (Washington Post)
• Trump’s employees have sued over sexual harassment (USA Today)
• Many questions, few answers on how Melania Trump immigrated to  U.S. (Wash.Post)
• CNN's Second Libertarian Presidential Town Hall Recap (Reason)
• How to hack an election in seven minutes(Politico)

WORLD

• Refugee Olympians: 10 athletes representing 60 million people (Washington Post)
• Syria conflict: UN says water and power cuts threaten 2 million (BBC)
• Pediatric hospital in Syria bombed, killing at least 5 kids, aid group says(CBS)
• ISIS: 'Listen Putin, we will come to Russia and kill you at your homes’(JPost)
• Paris tourism suffers after terror attacks (International Business Times)
• Nearly 100 Dead After Anti-Government Protests In Ethiopia (NPR)
• Grief, anger after 74 Pakistanis killed in hospital bomb (Reuters)
• U.N. censure of North Korea missile thwarted (Reuters)

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

U.S.

General news

Trial by jury, a hallowed American right, is vanishing (New York Times)

The criminal trial ended more than two and a half years ago, but Judge Jesse M. Furman can still vividly recall the case. It stands out, not because of the defendant or the subject matter, but because of its rarity: In his four-plus years on the bench in Federal District Court in Manhattan, it was his only criminal jury trial. He is far from alone.

Not your parents’ pot: today’s marijuana strains are much stronger (Orange County Register)

Today’s pot is typically four times stronger than the marijuana of just a couple of decades ago. That’s timely to note in the current push to legalize the drug, because much of the research showing marijuana has only modest health effects on adults is based on weaker strains that have been largely bred out of the marketplace.

States and cities don't invest in infrastructure (Marketplace)

Low interest rates aren't enough when local governments must pay pension and Medicaid costs.

Report: US paid Iran $400 million as American prisoners were freed (Jerusalem Post)

The Wall Street Journal reports that senior US officials deny any link between payment and prisoner swap while critics have charged that the move represented a ransom payment.

Obama’s new so-called “GMO Labeling Law”is a gift to the industry (Truthout)

… This is a labeling law that doesn’t require labeling. It allows toll-free numbers and QR codes requiring smart phones to read. Any corporation trying to hide its use of GMO’s (i.e. most of them) will employ the QR codes.

Gymnastics hidden abuse crisis (Daily Beast)

The sport’s most powerful organization ignored evidence that up to 50 coaches were sexual predators—and athletes report routine physical and emotional abuse inside top gyms.

Presidential campaign

NY Times exposes Trump campaign manager for being on Russian payroll (Bipartisan Report)

Vladimir Putin might have just inserted himself into American politics without anybody knowing. On Monday, the New York Times exposed the history of Paul Manafort, top Trump adviser and campaign manager.…According to the Times, Manafort was an instrumental figure in the inner circle of recently ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych… Manafort continued to work on behalf of the pro-Russia and pro-Putin forces inside the Ukraine. He helped lead the efforts to oppose the government that arose in place of Yanukovych, a government aligned with the United States and against Russia…All of this comes as Trump continues his curiously favorable attitude towards Russia.

Newly released Clinton emails shed light on relationship between State Dept.and Clinton Foundation (CNN)

Newly released emails from Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state raise questions about the nature of the department's relationship with the Clinton Foundation.

Donald Trump’s new team of billionaire advisors could threaten his populist message (Washington Post)

The list includes strikingly few academic policy experts, usually the bread-and-butter of campaign policy teams. Instead, the advisory team of 13 men — and no women — reflects a wide range of people from the higher echelons of American finance, including hedge fund managers and real estate investors. The median net worth of Trump's official economic advisers appears to be at least several hundred million dollars.

Donald Trump’s many, many, many, many ties to Russia (Time)

… The truth, as several columnists and reporters have painstakingly shown since the first hack of a Clinton-affiliated group took place in late May or early June, is that several of Trump’s businesses outside of Russia are entangled with Russian financiers inside Putin’s circle.

Clinton leads Trump by 15 points nationwide (The Hill)

Clinton, the Democratic nominee, leads Trump 48 percent to 33 percent in the McClatchy-Marist survey released on Thursday.Clinton also retains her edge over Trump in a four-candidate match-up, earning 45 percent to the GOP presidential nominee’s 31 percent. In that scenario, Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson takes third, with 10 percent, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein grabs 6 percent.

New poll has Trump in fourth—behind Gary Johnson and Jill Stein –with young people (Washington Post)

The McClatchy poll shows Trump pulling just 1 in 10 votes — 9 percent — among Americans under 30 years old. Hillary Clinton is at 41 percent, while Johnson is at 23 percent and Stein is at 16 percent. Trump is basically tied with "undecided," which is at 8 percent.

Trump’s employees have sued over sexual harassment (USA Today)

… An ongoing USA TODAYNetwork review of more than 4,000 legal actions involving Trump and his companies showed two related to sexual harassment. They were among about 130 labor disputes involving Trump and his sprawling business empire over the past three decades.

Many questions but few answers on how Melania Trump immigrated to the U.S. (Washington Post)

Newly published nude photographs of Melania Trump, the wife of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, have raised questions about the story of her immigration to the United States and how the Slovenian-born former model gained her legal status here — questions that the Trump campaign is not answering.

CNN's Second Libertarian Presidential Town Hall Recap

Libertarian Party presidential and vice presidential candidates Gary Johnson and Bill Weld participated in their second CNN-hosted town hall Wednesday night. So how'd they do? Watch the recap. Approx. 3:50

How to hack an election in seven minutes(Politico)

With Russia already meddling in 2016, a ragtag group of obsessive tech experts is warning that stealing the ultimate prize—victory on Nov. 8—would be child’s play.

WORLD

Refugee Olympians: 10 athletes representing 60 million people (Washington Post)

In their past, they had seen some of the darkest places on the planet. War zones in South Sudan. Bombed-out cities in Syria. Refugee camps in Kenya. Of all the places for these 10 athletes to come together, it was here this week, on a stage inside a makeshift conference center at the outset of the 2016 Olympics.

Syria conflict: UN says water and power cuts threaten 2 million (BBC)

Children in the Syrian city of Aleppo are at "grave risk" of disease unless water supplies are immediately repaired, the UN children's agency says. The United Nations says an immediate pause in fighting is needed to allow the water and electricity networks to be fixed.

Pediatric hospital in Syria bombed, killing at least 5 kids, aid group says(CBS)

A hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders and specializing in pediatrics in a rebel-held northern Syria province has been destroyed in a series of airstrikes over the weekend that killed 13 people, including four staff and five children, the international medical charity said Monday.

ISIS: 'Listen Putin, we will come to Russia and kill you at your homes’(JPost)

Islamic State terror group published nine-minute video threatening jihadi attacks in Russia.

Paris tourism suffers after terror attacks (International Business Times)

Parisians like to say that in August, they leave the city for vacation and entrust the keys to the tourists. This year, less tourists are taking up the offer, deterred by recent Islamist militant attacks in France.

Nearly 100 Dead After Anti-Government Protests In Ethiopia (NPR)

In Ethiopia, activists and witnesses say nearly 100 people were killed by security forces cracking down on anti-government protests over the weekend. The protests began late last year over a government plan to lease a forest to private foreign developers. Ethiopia's authoritarian government is a key U.S. ally in East Africa.

Grief, anger after 74 Pakistanis killed in hospital bomb (Reuters)

Pakistani mourners flocked to funerals on Tuesday for 74 victims, most of them lawyers, of the bombing of a hospital in the southwestern city of Quetta, and legal organizations staged a nationwide strike in protest.

U.N. censure of North Korea missile thwarted (Reuters)

 The United Nations Security Council has been unable to condemn the launch of a missile by North Korea that landed near Japan because China wanted the statement to oppose the planned deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system in South Korea.