ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

April 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.

Syrian bombing

• U.S. air strike took out 20% of Syria’s air force, Mattis claims (CNN)
• Syria’s war rages unabated days after U.S. strike (Huffington Post)
• Russia warns of serious consequences from U.S. striking Syria (Reuters)
• Tillerson: Russia must choose between Assad and U.S. (USA Today)

Politics

• Carl Vinson strike group ordered to Korea amid rising tensions (Times of San Diego)
• Trump’s proposal to eliminate payroll taxes that fund Social Security may be his worse idea yet (Los Angeles Times column by Michael Hiltzik)
• Cutting off fly-over states, Trump to axe AMTRAK for 220 cities (Common Dreams)
• U.S. lawmakers ask for disclosure of number of Americans under surveillance (Reuters)

Other U.S. news

• U.S. household debt approaches $12.6 trillion, close to 2008 record (Marketplace)
• A passenger was violently removed from an overbooked flight. Now some are urging boycott of United  (Boston Globe)
• Startups fight for geographic diversity (Marketplace)
• Judge orders removal of gas pipeline on Indian land in Oklahoma (IndianZ)
• These Hispanic contractors offered to build Trump's border wall. Then the death threats began (Jewish World Review)
• Terrorist drone threat military policy issued (Washington Times)
• DEA Seized $4 Billion from People Since 2007. Most Were Never Charged with a Crime (Reason)

WORLD

• Anti-LGBT violence in Chechnya (Human Rights Watch)
• Russian computer hacker arrested in Spain: Embassy (Reuters)
• U.S. Arrests Mexican State Prosecutor, Says He's Also a Drug Smuggler (NPR)
• The View from Khan Shaykhun: a Syrian Describes the Attack's Aftermath (NPR)
• 'Build that wall?' Canadians join call for more border control (Jewish World Review)
• UN Agency to release new document equating Israeli ‘occupation’ to U.S. slavery (JPost)
• Paraguay rioters set fire to Congress after Senate re-election vote (Reuters)
• Venezuelan Political Crisis Grows After High Court Dissolves Congress (NPR)
• The View from the Site of the Chemical Attack (NPR)
• Exclusive: Mexico opens up its heroin fight to U.S., U.N. observers  (Reuters)

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

U.S.

Syrian bombing

U.S. air strike took out 20% of Syria’s air force, Mattis claims (CNN)

The US airstrike on Syria's Shayrat airbase Friday destroyed about 20% of the Syrian government's operational aircraft, Secretary of Defense James Mattis claimed in a statement Monday... Russian military's damage assessments said only six MiG-23 planes were destroyed.

Syria’s war rages unabated days after U.S. strike (Huffington Post)

… Russian and Syrian jets have carried out airstrikes in the days following the U.S. attack, including reported bombings in the same town where toxic gas killed scores last week, triggering President Donald Trump’s retaliation. On Monday, activists and Britain-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said warplanes also dropped incendiary cluster bombs across Syria’s Idlib and Hama provinces.

Russia warns of serious consequences from U.S. striking Syria (Reuters)

… "We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious,” Russia's deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council … Russia's Defense Ministry responded to the attack by calling in the U.S. military attache in Moscow to say …it would close down a communications line used to avoid accidental clashes between Russian and U.S. forces in Syria….

Tillerson: Russia must choose between Assad and U.S. (USA Today)

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that Russia must choose between aligning itself with the United States and other Western nations or Syrian President Bashar Assad, Iran and the militant group Hezbollah.

Politics

Carl Vinson strike group ordered to Korea amid rising tensions (Times of San Diego)

The San Diego-based USS Carl Vinson and its strike group will move toward the Korean peninsula in a show of force as concerns grow about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Earlier this month North Korea tested a liquid-fueled Scud missile which only traveled a fraction of its range.

Trump’s proposal to eliminate payroll taxes that fund Social Security may be his worse idea yet (Los Angeles Times column by Michael Hiltzik)

President Trump’s tax reform agenda is in trouble. That’s not news, but one proposal that his team has floated as a way, ostensibly, to cut taxes on the middle class is. According to the Associated Press, they’re toying with the idea of eliminating the payroll tax, which funds Social Security and part of Medicare, or cutting it drastically.

Cutting off fly-over states, Trump to axe AMTRAK for 220 cities (Common Dreams)

President's so-called "skinny budget" will eliminate all federal funding for Amtrak's national train network

U.S. lawmakers ask for disclosure of number of Americans under surveillance (Reuters)

A U.S. congressional committee on Friday asked the Trump administration to disclose an estimate of the number of Americans whose digital communications are incidentally collected under foreign surveillance programs, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Other U.S. news

U.S. household debt approaches $12.6 trillion, close to 2008 record (Marketplace)

Current household debt in the U.S. is at just about $12.6 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York…. 1 percent shy of the 2008 record. Mortgages still make up the largest amount of that debt. ... Student loan debt though? That’s increased 170 percent in 10 years

A passenger was violently removed from an overbooked flight. Now some are urging boycott of United (Boston Globe)

Pictures and video of a bloodied man being dragged by police from a United Airlines flight spread across the Internet Monday, creating a firestorm of ill will toward the airline and focusing attention on the practice of bumping passengers off overbooked flights…In a series of tweets on Twitter, passenger Jayse Anspach, a student and trainer, narrated the scene….”The doctor needed to work at the hospital the next day, so he refused to ‘volunteer.’ United decided to use force on the doctor.”

Startups fight for geographic diversity (Marketplace)

Half of all the venture capital in America goes to just two places: the San Francisco Bay Area and New York. Venture capitalists have long been criticized for their relative lack of support for startups founded by women and minorities. Now there’s an emerging conversation about another kind of diversity problem: geographic diversity. 

Judge orders removal of gas pipeline on Indian land in Oklahoma (IndianZ)

An energy company has been ordered to remove a natural gas pipeline from an Indian allotment in Oklahoma after failing to secure consent from the landowners for nearly two decades.

These Hispanic contractors offered to build Trump's border wall. Then the death threats began (Jewish World Review)

They've received death threats and had profanities and rocks hurled at them. One company's tractor was stolen…Of the approximately 200 companies that have responded to the federal government's two requests for proposals for a solid concrete border wall and another wall design, at least 32 companies are Hispanic-owned.

Terrorist drone threat military policy issued (Washington Times)

The commander of the Strategic Command voiced concerns this week that terrorists could use drone aircraft to attack U.S. nuclear facilities.

DEA Seized $4 Billion From People Since 2007. Most Were Never Charged with a Crime (Reason)

The Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than $4 billion in cash from people suspected of drug activity over the last decade, but $3.2 billion of those seizures were never connected to any criminal charges.

WORLD

Anti-LGTB violence in Chechnya  (Human Rights Watch)

For several weeks now, a brutal campaign against LGBT people has been sweeping through Chechnya. Law enforcement and security agency officials under control of the ruthless head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, have rounded up dozens of men on suspicion of being gay, torturing and humiliating the victims. Some of the men have forcibly disappeared. Others were returned to their families barely alive from beatings. At least three men apparently have died ..

Russian computer hacker arrested in Spain: Embassy (Reuters)

A Russian computer programmer, Pyotr Levashov, has been arrested in the Spanish city of Barcelona, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Madrid said on Sunday…Russian television station RT reported that Levashov was arrested under a U.S. international arrest warrant and was suspected of being involved in hacking attacks linked to alleged interference in last year's U.S. election.

U.S. Arrests Mexican State Prosecutor, Says He's Also a Drug Smuggler Named 'Diablo' (NPR)

U.S. prosecutors say they'll seek to compel Edgar Veytia to forfeit some $250 million if he's convicted. The attorney general of Nayarit state was arrested this week in San Diego….

The View from Khan Shaykhun: a Syrian Describes the Attack's Aftermath (NPR)

…Fellow activists in Khan Shaykhun, communicating via walkie-talkie, warned them that the bombs had released chemicals. They heard the word "sarin" — a toxic nerve gas — and pulled over. "We were afraid of inhaling the smoke. We didn't want to die, to be honest," Hussein told NPR in a conversation over the WhatsApp messaging app. They waited for about 15 minutes, until they saw the flood of victims being evacuated past them. Then they decided to venture in.

'Build that wall?' Canadians join call for more border control (Jewish World Review)

An Ipsos survey published last week by Thomson-Reuters said that 48 percent of respondents wanted the migrants returned to the United States, while 36 percent wanted to allow them to remain and seek refugee status. 

UN Agency to release new document equating Israeli ‘occupation’ to U.S. slavery (JPost)

Less than a month after its executive-secretary resigned over a controversial report describing Israel as an “apartheid regime,” the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia is reportedly writing another report, this time equating “50 years of Israeli occupation” to the United States’ history of slavery.

Paraguay rioters set fire to Congress after Senate re-election vote (Reuters)

Protesters stormed and set fire to Paraguay's Congress on Friday after the Senate secretly voted for a constitutional amendment that would allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election.

Venezuelan Political Crisis Grows After High Court Dissolves Congress (NPR)

The move is widely seen as bid by President Nicolas Maduro to consolidate his power in the face of a multi-layered crisis.

The View from The Site of the Chemical Attack (NPR)

Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with reporter Kareem Shaheen of The Guardian. He was the first Western journalist to enter the scene of the chemical attack in the town of Khan Shaykhun.

Exclusive: Mexico opens up its heroin fight to U.S., U.N. observers (Reuters)

 For the first time in at least a decade, Mexico's army is allowing the United States and the United Nations to observe opium poppy eradication, a step toward deeper cooperation to fight heroin traffickers, three sources in Mexico said.