ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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June 14, 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.

Trump-Russia probe

Other national news

WORLD

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

U.S.

Trump-Russia probe

Mueller staffing up Russia probe while Trump lawyer declares victory (CNN)

… special counsel Robert Mueller has been quietly and methodically building the equivalent of a small US attorney's office -- a team of formidable legal minds who've worked on everything from Watergate to Enron, unlikely to leave any stone unturned.

What Sessions did (and didn’t) tell us (BBC)

… During his testimony before the Senate committee investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, he was often evasive. His accounting of details was uncertain, littered with "I don't recalls" and "I have no recollections"… Going into Mr Sessions' testimony on Tuesday, there were some obvious questions Mr Sessions would face. Here's a look at how he answered (or, occasionally, didn't answer) them.

Sen. Kamala Harris leaves Sessions ‘nervous’ in interrogation over his refusal to disclose conversations with Trump (Los Angeles Times)

Sen. Kamala Harris of California turned her aggressive prosecutor tactics on Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions in a tense interrogation Tuesday at a Senate hearing on Russia and the Trump campaign.

Were James Comey’s leaks legal? (Washington Post)

The precedents are clear: Disclosures like these are constitutionally protected.

Trump’s lawyer makes things worse for his client (Washington Post)

Trump’s aversion to dealing with new people has prompted him to retain an unqualified attorney to represent him in a matter that may lead to impeachment and/or criminal prosecution. What’s more, Kasowitz’s ham-handed effort to intimidate witness Comey raises legal problems…Kasowitz seems to be playing with fire, unaware of the implications of his bullying. “It is true that abuse of official authority can constitute as a legal matter obstruction or witness intimidation,” says ethics guru Norman Eisen. “There can also be bar penalties for abuse of process.”

Ex-prosecutor refused Trump’s call, got fired the next day (Huffington Post)

President Donald Trump fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara the day after the prosecutor refused to return a call from him, Bharara said on ABC News’ “This Week” Sunday. Bharara said he viewed direct contact from the president to himself, as a law-enforcement official, to be an inappropriate breach of protocol and reported it to the office of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on March 9. “Twenty-two hours later, I was fired,” Bharara said.

Feinstein: Congress should probe whether Lynch provided cover for Clinton (Politico)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Sunday said Congress should look into former FBI Director James Comey’s revelation that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch asked him to downplay the nature of his investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Trump announces new pick for FBI Director (Boston Globe)

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced his pick for FBI director — a former Justice Department official who served as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s lawyer during the George Washington Bridge lane-closing investigation…Wray served in a leadership role in the George W. Bush Justice Department, rising to head the criminal division and overseeing investigations into corporate fraud, during the time when Comey was deputy attorney general. Wray took charge of a task force of prosecutors and FBI agents created to investigate the Enron scandal.

Trump attorney signals a firm stance in dealing with special prosecutor (Los Angeles Times)

President Trump will not unconditionally cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s recently opened investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and any possible coordination with the Trump campaign, a defense lawyer for Trump signaled on Sunday.

Trump’s lawyer is completely out of his depth and giving bad legal advice: NYT (RawStory)

President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer has stepped in to defend the president in what appears to be shaping up into an obstruction of justice investigation, but sources close to the White House say that attorney Marc Kasowitz is out of his depth and dispensing bad legal advice to the president and his aides. The New York Times said on Sunday that Kasowitz has told White House personnel that they will not need to obtain legal representation of their own and urged them not to speak to the media about the investigation into Trump and his campaign’s ties to Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Comey opens door to investigating Trump dossier (Bloomberg)

Hiding in plain sight in former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee is a potentially major new avenue for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia-related crimes: the possibility that President Donald Trump committed a federal crime by lying to Comey about his connections to Russia and activities on his 2013 visit there.

Exclusive: NSA Chief admits Donald Trump colluded with Russia (The Observer)

… Trump is reported to have asked Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence (DNI), and Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, to go public in denying that Team Trump had any ties to Russia during the 2016 election campaign… asking top intelligence officials to publicly attack the FBI and its director isn’t just unusual—it’s unprecedented. Even President Nixon, in the depths of the Watergate scandal, which ultimately unraveled his administration, never went quite so far as to drag NSA into his public mess.

Other national news

Head of Michigan Health Dept. charged with manslaughter in Flint water crisis (Chicago Tribune)

Te head of the Michigan health department was charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter, the highest-ranking member of Gov. Rick Snyder's administration to be snagged in a criminal investigation of Flint's lead-contaminated water.Nick Lyon is accused of failing to alert the public about an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the Flint area, which has been linked by some experts to poor water quality in 2014-15. The state's chief medical officer, Dr. Eden Wells, was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer.

House votes along party lines to repeal key Dodd Frank financial reforms (Los Angeles Times)

The House voted along party lines Thursday to repeal many of the stricter regulations enacted after the 2008 financial crisis, taking the first step in a long-held Republican desire to roll back landmark rules they complain are hurting banks, restricting consumer credit and slowing economic growth… Dodd-Frank is strongly supported by consumer advocates, but opposed by banks and other financial firms.

Lawmaker Steve Scalise injured in GOP baseball shooting; suspect dies (Washington Post)

A gunman unleashed a barrage of gunfire Wednesday at a park in Alexandria, Va., as Republican members of Congress held a morning baseball practice, wounding five people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (La.).  President Trump said the suspected gunman — identified by multiple law enforcement officials as James T. Hodgkinson III, 66, from Illinois — was killed in a shootout with police, two of whom were wounded in the gun battle.

Rand Paul on Blocking Indefinite Detention and Saudi Arms Sales (Reason)

Front and center is a new piece of legislation, introduced this week, to once and for all ban indefinite detention. With the working title of "The Sixth Amendment Preservation Act," Paul's bill "prevents any future military force authorization from being used to justify indefinite detention without trial," according to a summary prepared by his office.

Rallies against Islamic law draw counter-protests across U.S. (USA Today)

Demonstrations against Islamic law Saturday in cities across the U.S. drew counter-protests by people who said they stoked unfounded fears and a distorted view of the religion.

EmergencyBnB: An Altruistic Spin on Airbnb (ApartmentTherapy)

The hosts on Emergency BnB offer up their spaces free of charge to refugees and victims of domestic violence. The site is currently operating throughout the U.S., Europe, and beyond.… To protect host families from being taken advantage of... established a vetting system whereby guests must provide official documentation to hosts, proving they are of refugee status or leaving an abusive situation: refugee passport, court order or police report.

MD, DC attorneys general suing Trump over payments, alleging 'unprecedented constitutional violations' (Capitol Gazette)

Alleging that President Donald J. Trump has engaged in "unprecedented constitutional violations," the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia sued the president Monday over payments his real estate empire has received from foreign governments since he took office. … claiming those payments violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

Hezbollah recruits arrested for planning attacks against Israeli, U.S. targets

The US Department of Justice confirmed Thursday that two men were arrested for planning attacks against Israeli and US targets in Panama and New York. The arrests took place on June 1.

Trump admin ending program for women, children seeking asylum (10 News)

The Trump administration is shuttering a program designed to keep vulnerable asylum seekers -- mainly mothers and young children, including pregnant and nursing women -- out of detention.

Puerto Rico overwhelmingly votes on U.S. statehood in non-binding referendum (KPBS)

Puerto Ricans overwhelmingly voted for U.S. statehood for their island in a non-binding referendum on Sunday.

Independent journalist now faces 70 years in prison after inauguration mass arrest (U.S. News)

Alexei Wood live-streamed his every move and utterance to Facebook. Now he's one of the last journalists to face charges.

PETA's new formula: deception, manipulation, and fake animal abuse (YahooNews)

PETA has hit a breathtaking new low. The animal-rights group has produced a disturbing new video that depicts a cat suffering at the hands of its owner. It’s difficult to watch. It’s also completely fake….Now, PETA is trying to enlist complicit media organizations to knowingly publish the fake video in an effort to make the lie go viral

WORLD

U.S. joins battle as Philippines takes losses in besieged city  (Reuters)

 U.S. special forces have joined the battle to crush Islamist militants holed up in a southern Philippines town, officials said on Saturday, as government forces struggled to make headway and 13 marines were killed in intense urban fighting.

London fire:  people trapped as major blaze engulfs tower block (Guardian)

At least 200 firefighters and 40 engines on the scene of a huge fire at Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, near Notting Hill, in West London

British PM May fights for survival ahead of Brexit talks (Reuters)

British Prime Minister Theresa May was fighting for survival on Saturday after a failed election gamble undermined her authority and plunged the country into a major political crisis, days before the start of talks to leave the European Union. May's bet that she could strengthen her hand by crushing what she believed to be a weak opposition Labour Party backfired spectacularly on Thursday as voters stripped her Conservative Party of a parliamentary majority.

The toll that the Mexico City policy will have in Africa (New Yorker)

… Trump’s executive order … it applies to all $8.8 billion that the U.S. currently sets aside to help provide a vast array of health-care services for the poor throughout the world. In regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, health-care centers are too rare to provide specific services; they must cater to all of their patients’ medical needs. So, even if a local clinic primarily treats people for malaria, H.I.V., or other infectious diseases, its U.S. funding will be eliminated if it also offers access to abortion counselling.

Islamic state claims new reach into Iran with twin attacks in Tehran (Washington Post)

The Islamic State has struck at Iran and its allies for years — but always from afar, in places such as Iraq against Tehran-backed militias and in Syria battling government troops aided by Iranian forces. That appeared to change Wednesday when bloodshed came to Tehran. In a few chaotic hours, Iran endured the kind of deadly rampages so often claimed by the Islamic State elsewhere.

China pollution Survey finds 70% of firms break regulations (BBC)

Firms pumped out more emissions than allowed, operated without licences or had insufficient pollution control equipment, Xinhua news agency reported…Inspections found that more than 13,000 companies had failed to meet environmental standards, the ministry of environmental protection said in a statement… The ministry ordered local officials to investigate the firms and rectify the problems.

Ethiopia, humanitarian groups say food aid for 7.8 million to run out (Reuters)

Ethiopia will run out of emergency food aid for 7.8 million people hit by severe drought by the end of this month, the government and humanitarian groups said.

In Russia, state TV and the Internet tell a tale of two protests (Reuters)

Some of the biggest anti-Kremlin protests in years swept across Russia on Monday with over 1,000 people detained by the police ahead of a presidential election next year. But anyone relying on state TV would have concluded they were a non-event.

Russian Opposition Leader Aims To Build Movement (NPR)

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is doing something no Russian politician has tried recently: running a national campaign based on grassroots enthusiasm rather than backroom Kremlin deals…./Anton Kondakov, a 27-year-old Navalny volunteer in Tula, says five years ago, nobody talked about politics, but now Russia's sluggish economy is forcing even Putin supporters to change their minds. He says people are spending 70 percent of their income on food.

Tens of thousands pack Tel Aviv streets for LGBT Pride Parade (JPost)

Over 200,000 people packed Tel Aviv streets on Friday for the annual LGBT Pride Parade, making it the largest ever pride parade in the Middle East or Asia, according to the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality.

Australian PM says Melbourne siege 'a terrorist attack' (Reuters)

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday police were treating a deadly siege in the southern city of Melbourne as an "act of terrorism" after a claim by the Islamic State group that one of its fighters was the gunman responsible.

WATCH: The Ramadan anti-terror ad going viral in the Mideast (JPost)

As of Tuesday, the video had garnered more than 2.7 million views on YouTube.


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