ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

August 17, 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

• National media fiddle as Louisana drowns (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
• U.S. seeks Mexico’s help in controlling immigration from Mideast (Times of San Diego)
• House Minority Leader Pelosi calls hack an “electronic Watergate”(AP)
• This Republican mayor has an incredibly simple idea to help the homeless—and it seems to be working (Washington Post)
• Buildings burn during violent night in Milwaukee (10News)
• AT&T to pay customers $775 million for scam (10 News)
• 15 Guantanamo Bay Detainees Transferred To United Arab Emirates (NPR)
• American Jewish leaders grapple with anti-Israel Black Lives Matter (Jerusalem Post)

Presidential election

• Secret ledger in Ukraine lists cash for Donald Trump’s campaign chief (NY Times)
• Report: Ukraine official designated millions in cash for Manafort (CNN)
• Trump campaign illegally soliciting donations from foreign nationals (Washington Times)
• DNC sued by up to 2 million Sanders supporters in class action lawsuit(Embol)
• Hillary Clinton puts White House transition team in place (New York Times)
• Gary Johnson "$15 for 15" (Percent in the Polls) on August 15 Fundraising Promotion Breaks $1.5 Million (Reason)

WORLD

• Jubilation in Syria’s Manbij as ISIS loses control of key city (CNN)
• Kurdish forces in fresh push to close in on ISIS-held Mosul (Reuters)
• Official: ISIS leader killed by U.S.drone strike in Afghanistan (CBS)
• Russia deploys bombers to Iranian air base (Jerusalem Post)
• Anti-Semitism at the Olympics is completely out of control (Federalist)
• Egyptian judoka sent home from Olympics after refusing to shake Israeli  opponent’s hand (Washington Post)
• Turkish police raid Istanbul courthouses, more officers detained (Christian Science Monitor)

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

U.S.

General news

National media fiddle as Louisana drowns (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

…With so-called 1,000-year rains hammering the region for days – in some places measuring 2 feet in less than three days -- the National Guard was activated to rescue stranded residents. The self-appointed "Cajun Navy" sprung into action. Ordinary citizens from Grand Isle to Ruston have stepped in to offer what aid they can to victims of what is being called the worst natural disaster since Superstorm Sandy in 2012. But the national media has, by and large, rendered the flood a secondary story at best.

U.S. seeks Mexico’s help in controlling immigration from Mideast (Times of San Diego)

Washington is seeking closer coordination with several Latin American countries to tackle a jump in migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East who it believes are trying to reach the United States from the south on an arduous route by plane, boat and through jungle on foot.

House Minority Leader Pelosi calls hack an “electronic Watergate”(AP)

After receiving a deluge of obscene voicemails and text messages, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi informed her fellow Democrats on Saturday of "an electronic Watergate break-in" and warned them not to allow family members to answer their phones or read incoming texts. The breach targeted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other Democratic Party entities, Pelosi said… As a result, a mix of personal and official information of Democratic members and hundreds of congressional staff, purportedly from a hack of the DCCC, was posted online, she said.

This Republican mayor has an incredibly simple idea to help the homeless—and it seems to be working (Washington Post)

Republican Mayor Richard Berry was driving around Albuquerque last year when he saw a man on a street corner holding a sign that read: “Want a Job. Anything Helps.”…Next month will be the first anniversary of Albuquerque’s There’s a Better Way program, which hires panhandlers for day jobs beautifying the city.

Buildings burn during violent night in Milwaukee (10News)

Crowds riot after officer shoots, kills driver…Police said the 23-year-old man was fleeing a traffic stop and was armed with a gun. It wasn't immediately clear if he pointed it at or fired it at the officer.

AT&T to pay customers $775 million for scam (10 News)

AT&T customers could be getting a check in the mail soon. On Monday, Aug. 8, the Federal Communications Commission announced a settlement with AT&T ordering the telecommunications company to pay $7.75 million for allowing scammers to charge its customers for a service that did not exist. The scam charged customers $9 a month for a sham directory assistance service, and AT&T received a portion of those funds.

15 Guantanamo Bay Detainees Transferred To United Arab Emirates (NPR)

It's the largest single release of Guantanamo detainees since President Obama took office. The population of the military prison in Cuba is now down to 61.

American Jewish leaders grapple with anti-Israel Black Lives Matter (Jerusalem Post)

…Admitting they were taken by surprise by the Black Lives Matter platform which called Israel an “apartheid state” and accused the United States of complicity in Israel’s “genocide” against the Palestinians, American Jewish leaders this week expressed optimism about the resiliency of Jewish-black relations in the US.

Presidential election

Secret ledger in Ukraine lists cash for Donald Trump’s campaign chief (New York Times)

…government investigators examining secret records have found his name, as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former PresidentViktor F. Yanukovych.  Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.

Report: Ukraine official designated millions in cash for Manafort (CNN)

Hillary Clinton's campaign slammed Donald Trump for "troubling connections" to Russia after The New York Times published a report late Sunday alleging that millions in cash payments were designated for Paul Manafort by Ukrainian leaders during his time as a political consultant there.

Trump campaign illegally soliciting donations from foreign nationals (Washington Times)

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is illegally soliciting campaign donations from foreign nationals, according to a complaint being filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission. Mr. Trump’s campaign has emailed solicitations to foreign nationals in Iceland, Scotland, Britain, and Australia requesting that they make contributions to his presidential campaign, according to a copy of the complaint being filed by the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21, two campaign finance watchdog groups.

DNC sued by up to 2 million Sanders supporters in class action lawsuit(Embol)

Hundreds of Bernie Sanders donors have launched a massive class action lawsuit against the DNC alleging fraud and collusion with the Hillary Clinton campaign, in a move designed to fundamentally change the way the DNC exists and conducts business, and thousands more people have requested paperwork to sign on as plaintiffs in the past 48 hours.(Note: Court documents are here: http://jampac.us/dnclawsuit/)

Hillary Clinton puts White House transition team in place (New York Times)

Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced on Tuesday that Ken Salazar, the former interior secretary and Colorado senator, would become chairman of Mrs. Clinton’s transition planning team.

Gary Johnson "$15 for 15" (Percent in the Polls) on August 15 Fundraising Promotion Breaks $1.5 Million (Reason)

In pursuit of their goal of getting 15 percent in enough national polls to make the debates, the Gary Johnson/William Weld Libertarian presidential ticket ran a fundraising "moneybomb" promotion today, August 15… pulling $1,707,375. ..This is the largest single-day take for an official Libertarian Party presidential campaign in small donations ever….Earlier in the month, Johnson said he'd raised over a million in the two weeks prior, from over 20,000 individual donors.

WORLD

Jubilation in Syria’s Manbij as ISIS loses control of key city (CNN)

Manbij residents finally freed from the stranglehold of ISIS occupation celebrated in the streets Saturday, cutting off beards, burning niqabs and smoking cigarettes, things they weren't allowed to do during the terror group's two-year rule over the city. Jubilation broke out in many neighborhoods after ISIS militants lost control of Manbij to U.S.-backed rebels, and the Pentagon said the center of the city was liberated.

Kurdish forces in fresh push to close in on ISIS-held Mosul (Reuters)

Kurdish Peshmerga forces backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes launched a fresh attack on Islamic State militants in northern Iraq in the early hours of Sunday, as part of a plan to close in on their de facto capital Mosul, a Kurdish official said.

Official: ISIS leader killed by U.S.drone strike in Afghanistan (CBS)

A regional leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was killed last month in Afghanistan by a U.S. drone strike, an official confirms to CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

Russia deploys bombers to Iranian air base (Jerusalem Post)

Defense Ministry in Moscow says Iran-based aircraft have stuck various targets in Syria.

Anti-Semitism at the Olympics is completely out of control (Federalist)

Throughout the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Israeli athletes have encountered stark anti-Semitism. After losing a judo match on Friday, Islam el-Shehaby, a fighter from Egypt, refused to shake his Israeli opponent’s hand…Last week, the head of the Lebanese Olympic delegation refused to let Israeli athletes board a bus the two countries were supposed to share en route to the opening ceremonies, the Washington Times reports.

Egyptian judoka sent home from Olympics after refusing to shake Israeli  opponent’s hand (Washington Post)

An Egyptian judoka has been reprimanded and sent home by the International Olympic Committee for refusing to shake the hand of an Israeli competitor who beat him on Friday..

Turkish police raid Istanbul courthouses, more officers detained (Christian Science Monitor)

Warrants had been issued for 173 judicial staff, of whom 136 were detained in the raid, the state-run Anadolu agency said. / More than 35,000 people have been detained, of whom 17,000 have been placed under formal arrest, and tens of thousands more suspended since the July 15 putsch...