ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

East County News Service

February 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.

• Not just ‘bad hombres’, Trump is targeting up to 8 million people for deportation  (LA Times)
• Where Neil Gorsuch would fit on the Supreme Court (New York Times)
• Army approves Dakota Access pipeline, paving way for project’s completion (NPR)
• After Trump moves to undo financial regulations, Sanders calls him a ‘fraud’ (Chicago Tribune)
• FCC is stopping 9 companies from providing subsidized Internet access to the poor (LA Times)
• Bureau of Indian Affairs sending agents to clear Dakota Access protesters from site (Wash. Post)
• Republicans face anger over Obamacare repeal during town halls (Politico)
• USDA drops online animal abuse database; activists cry foul (CNN)
• Republicans back off bill to sell 3.3 m acres of public lands after public outcry (Guardian)
• US military officials: Trump-ordered raid in Yemen that killed US Navy SEAL was approved 'without sufficient intelligence' (Business Insider)
• Trump takes Propecia, hair loss drug associated with mental confusion, impotence (Huff. Post)
• Senate votes to kill Dodd-Frank anti-corruption rule (Huffington Post)
• Trump defends Putin over Russia killings allegations (BBC)
• Senate Republicans defy Democrats’ boycott to advance Trump nominees (NPR)
• Pentagon failed to disclose up to thousands of air strikes: report (Reuters)
•  ‘This was the worst call by far,’’ Trump badgered, bragged and abruptly ended call with Australian Prime Minister (Washington Post)
• Trump’s FCC Chair wastes no time changing agency direction (GovExec.com)

WORLD

• Human slaughterhouse:  mass hangings and extermination at Sadnaya prison, Syria (Amnesty International)
• Trump barred from UK Parliament due to racism and sexism(Bloomberg News)
• UN Ambassador Haley hits Russia hard on Ukraine (CNN)
• Extremely deadly radiation, huge hole found in grate under Fukushima 1 reactor  (Japan Times)
• Did Iran's Ballistic Missile Test Violate A U.N. Resolution? (NPR)
• U.S. coalition jets bomb Islamic State-held town near Euphrates Dam (Reuters)
• Iran: 'Only seven minutes needed for the Iranian missile to hit Tel Aviv’ (JPost)
• IDF strikes multiple Hamas targets in retaliation for rocket attack (JPost)
• 'Hamas cell planned terror attacks at synagogue, train station in Israel’ (JPost)
• More Than 100 People Killed In Afghanistan Avalanches (NPR)
• At least 20 dead in bomb blast outside Afghan Supreme Court (Reuters)
• Mass protests force Romania to scrap decree decriminalizing graft (Reuters)

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

U.S.

Not just ‘bad hombres’, Trump is targeting up to 8 million people for deportation  (Los Angeles Times)

Far from targeting only “bad hombres,” as Trump has said repeatedly, his new order allows immigration agents to detain nearly anyone they come in contact with who has crossed the border illegally. People could be booked into custody for using food stamps or if their child receives free school lunches.

Where Neil Gorsuch would fit on the Supreme Court(New York Times)

In nominating Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, President Trump chose a jurist who closely shares the conservative legal philosophy of Justice Antonin Scalia, the man whose seat he would fill if confirmed, according to a study analyzing the ideologies of potential nominees.

Army approves Dakota Access pipeline, paving way for project’s completion (NPR)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted an easement allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under the Missouri River north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, paving the way for construction of the final 1.5 miles of the more than 1,700-mile pipeline.

After Trump moves to undo financial regulations, Sanders calls him a ‘fraud’ (Chicago Tribune)

Former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday cast President Donald Trump's moves this week to undo financial regulations enacted following the 2008 financial crisis as a betrayal of his campaign promises to stand up against Wall Street. "This guy is a fraud," Sanders, I-Vt., said on CNN's "State of the Union." "This guy ran for president of the United States saying, 'I, Donald Trump, I'm going to take on Wall Street. These guys are getting away with murder.' Then suddenly he appoints all these billionaires, his major financial adviser comes from Goldman Sachs, and now he's going to dismantle legislation that protects consumers."

FCC is stopping 9 companies from providing subsidized Internet access to the poor (Los Angeles Times)

Regulators are telling nine companies they won’t be allowed to participate in a federal program meant to help them provide affordable Internet access to low-income consumers — weeks after those companies were given the green light. The move, announced Friday by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, reverses a decision by his Democratic predecessor, Tom Wheeler, and undercuts the companies’ ability to provide low-cost Internet access to poorer Americans.

Bureau of Indian Affairs sending agents to clear Dakota Access protesters from site (Washington Post)

… In response to a directive from President Trump, this week the acting secretary of the Army, Robert Speer, ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite review of an easement for the pipeline to run under Lake Oahe.

Republicans face anger over Obamcare repeal during townhalls (Politico)

Two Republican lawmakers representing reliably conservative districts on opposite ends of the country on Saturday faced down heated questions from Obamacare supporters who flooded town hall events demanding that Congress not dismantle a health care law that has provided insurance for millions of people.

USDA drops online animal abuse database; activists cry foul (CNN)

The United States Department of Agriculture shut down an online database Friday that included information about animals mistreated, injured and killed...For more than a decade the USDA's website posted official warnings, settlements made before trial, administrative complaints, inspection reports and research facility annual reports.

Republicans back off bill to sell 3.3 m acres of public lands after public outcry (Guardian)

In the small hours of Thursday morning, US congressman Jason Chaffetz announced that he would withdraw a bill he introduced last week that would have ordered the incoming secretary of the interior to immediately sell off 3.3m acres of national land. Chaffetz, a representative from Utah, wrote on Instagram that he had a change of heart in the face of strong opposition from “groups I support and care about” …House bill 621 had ignited a firestorm of indignation from conservationists but also from hunters and fishermen…

US military officials: Trump-ordered raid in Yemen that killed US Navy SEAL was approved 'without sufficient intelligence' (Business Insider)

… US Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens died in the raid on a branch of Al Qaeda, also known as AQAP, in al Bayda province, which the Pentagon said also killed 14 militants. Medics at the scene, however, said about 30 people, including 10 women and children, were killed.

Trump takes Propecia, hair loss drug associated with mental confusion, impotence (Huffington Post)

In a snicker-worthy disclosure by President Donald Trump’s longtime personal physician, readers of The New York Times learned Thursday that the leader of the free world takes a small daily dose of the drug finasteride ―  otherwise known as Propecia ― which is used to treat male-pattern baldness. .. “The FDA-approved pill has been called into question, with emerging research and a slew of lawsuits suggesting that finasteride may be more dangerous than previously believed,” reported Men’s Journal. “Users report that its side effects — inability to orgasm, painful erections, chronic depression, insomnia, brain fog, and suicidal thoughts — can last long after patients stop taking the pill.”

Senate votes to kill Dodd-Frank anti-corruption rule (Huffington Post)

The rule was aimed at curbing corruption at big oil, gas and mining companies.

Trump defends Putin over Russia killings allegations (BBC)

US President Donald Trump has defended Vladimir Putin when questioned over allegations of murders carried out by the Russian state. In an interview with Fox News, he said: "There are a lot of killers. We've got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our country's so innocent?"

Senate Republicans defy Democrats’ boycott to advance Trump nominees (NPR)

A day after Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee boycotted votes to advance the nominations for President Trump's nominees to lead the departments of the Treasury and Health and Human Services, the panel's Republicans met in a surprise meeting Wednesday morning and voted to suspend committee rules to vote on those nominees without Democrats present.

Pentagon failed to disclose up to thousands of air strikes: report  (Reuters)

 The Pentagon has failed to disclose up to thousands of air strikes the U.S. military carried out over several years in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan against militants in those countries….  Last year, the United States carried out at least 456 air strikes in Afghanistan that were not documented in a U.S. Air Force database, the website reported. 

 ‘This was the worst call by far,’’ Trump badgered, bragged and abruptly ended call with Australian Prime Minister (Washington Post)

President Trump blasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refu­gee agreement and boasted about the magnitude of his electoral college win, according to senior U.S. officials briefed on the Saturday exchange. Then, 25 minutes into what was expected to be an hour-long call, Trump abruptly ended it.

Trump’s FCC Chair wastes no time changing agency direction (GovExec.com)

On Friday, Pai revoked what he called Obama-era “midnight regulations” and reports released in that administration’s final days which he deemed controversial… In another change, Pai announced that the agency was ending its investigation into wireless carriers’ offerings of free data, a step some fear could alter the FCC’s recent sympathy to the consumer concept of Internet neutrality by allowing major corporations special access… He also rescinded permission of nine broadband companies to work within a federal subsidy program for needy customers.

WORLD

Human slaughterhouse:  mass hangings and extermination at Sadnaya prison, Syria (Amnesty International)

A chilling new report by Amnesty International exposes the Syrian government’s calculated campaign of extrajudicial executions by mass hangings at Saydnaya Prison.... In five years, as many as 13,000 people, most of them civilians believed to be opposed to the government, were hanged in secret at Saydnaya. [The report] also shows that the government is deliberately inflicting inhuman conditions on detainees at Saydnaya Prison through repeated torture and the systematic deprivation of food, water, medicine and medical care….these extermination policies have killed massive numbers of detainees. These practices, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, are authorized at the highest levels of the Syrian government.

Trump barred from UK Parliament due to racism and sexism (Bloomberg News)

…“An address by a foreign leader to both houses of Parliament is not an automatic right, it is an earned honor,” Bercow said. “There are many precedents for state visits to take place to our country that do not include an address to both houses of Parliament.”

UN Ambassador Haley hits Russia hard on Ukraine (CNN)

The US ambassador to the United Nations offered a strong condemnation of Russia in her first appearance at the UN Security Council on Thursday, calling on Moscow to de-escalate violence in eastern Ukraine and saying that US sanctions against Moscow would remain in place until it withdraws from Crimea.

Extremely deadly radiation, huge hole found in grate under Fukushima 1 reactor vessel (Japan Times)

The radiation level in the containment vessel of reactor 2 at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant has reached a maximum of 530 sieverts per hour, the highest since the triple core meltdown in March 2011,…a person could die from even brief exposure, highlighting the difficulties ahead as the government and Tepco grope their way toward dismantling all three reactors that suffered core meltdowns in the March 2011 disaster…

Did Iran's Ballistic Missile Test Violate A U.N. Resolution? (NPR)

The U.S. has placed additional sanctions on Iran after its missile test on Sunday. The Trump administration says the test violated a U.N. resolution. Iran says it didn't. Who's right?  

U.S. coalition jets bomb Islamic State-held town near Euphrates Dam (Reuters)

 U.S-led coalition planes bombed an Islamic State-controlled town near the Euphrates Dam in northern Syria a day after the launch of a new phase of a campaign to capture the militants' defacto capital of Raqqa, activists and the militants said on Sunday.

Iran: 'Only seven minutes needed for the Iranian missile to hit Tel Aviv’ (JPost)

Iran’s officials vowed to continue launching “roaring missiles,” which they characterized as defensive in nature. 

IDF strikes multiple Hamas targets in retaliation for rocket attack (JPost)

The IDF struck several Hamas targets over the course of Monday following early morning rocket fire and late afternoon gunfire from Gaza directed at troops.

'Hamas cell planned terror attacks at synagogue, train station in Israel’ (JPost)

The cell, which received instructions from Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip, allegedly planned shooting attacks, the planting of explosive devices and kidnappings.

More Than 100 People Killed In Afghanistan Avalanches (NPR)

Snow buried homes in multiple provinces around Kabul and in the mountainous  part of the country this weekend. Officials said rescue crews had not yet reached some affected areas on Monday.

At least 20 dead in bomb blast outside Afghan Supreme Court  (Reuters)

At least 20 people were killed on Tuesday in a bomb blast outside the Supreme Court in the centre of the Afghan capital, government officials said, in what appeared to be the latest in a series of attacks on the judiciary.

Mass protests force Romania to scrap decree decriminalizing graft (Reuters)

Romania's prime minister said on Saturday he was scrapping a decree that would have, among other things, pardoned government officials for offenses that involved less than about $47,800, bowing to one of the biggest protests since the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.