ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

October 9, 2020  (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

Presidential election

• Prestigious medical journal calls for US leadership to be voted out over Covid-19 failure (CNN)
• Trump mounts bizarre and misleading White House return despite warnings (CNN)
• Joe Biden holds town hall forum with NBC’s Lester Holt (NBC) (Begins at 4:45)
• VP debate fact check: Where Harris, Pence landed on COVID-19, taxes, economy (USA Today)
• Fact-checking the first Trump-Biden presidential debate (Washington Post)
• Fact-checking the first Trump-Biden presidential debate (part 2) (Washington Post)
• Donald Trump & Joe Biden 1st Presidential Debate Transcript 2020 (Rev)
• Biden's national lead over Trump jumps to 14 points after debate in NBC News/WSJ poll (NBC)
• Biden widens lead after Trump diagnosis: poll (The Hill)
• Texas governor shuts down drop-off sites for mail ballots (Reuters)
• Trump campaign opposes new debate rules  (Reuters)
• Exclusive: Over 50 Republican ex-national security officials endorse Biden (Reuters)
• Trump Secretly Mocks His Christian Supporters (The Atlantic)

Other national news

• F.B.I. Says Michigan Anti-Government Group Plotted to Kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (New York Times)
• Trump kills stimulus talks, tweets no deal until 'after I win' election (NBC)
• Trump, in total reversal, is telling allies he is, in fact, interested in a broad stimulus deal (CNN)
• In Profane Rant, Melania Trump Takes Aim at Migrant Children and Critics (New York Times)
• Senate GOP's third positive Covid-19 case threatens quick Barrett confirmation (CNN)

WORLD

• UK's Johnson doesn't want a no-deal Brexit but can live with it  (Reuters)
• ‘There are no words’: As coronavirus kills Indigenous elders, endangered languages face extinction (Washington Post)   
• Pope says free market, 'trickle-down' policies fail society (Reuters)
• .Battling Wildfire and Pandemic, Ukraine Faces a New Foe: Landmines (New York Times)
• Investigators probe 'possible ecological catastrophe' in Russia's Kamchatka region (NBC)

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

U.S.

Presidential election

Prestigious medical journal calls for US leadership to be voted out over Covid-19 failure (CNN)

In an unprecedented move, the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday published an editorial written by its editors condemning the Trump administration for its response to the Covid-19 pandemic -- and calling for the current leadership in the United States to be voted out of office.

Trump mounts bizarre and misleading White House return despite warnings (CNN)

A strongly medicated President Donald Trump bolted from his VIP hospital bubble Monday, staging a bizarre White House comeback that included an irresponsible mask removal and a reckless pronouncement there is nothing to fear from Covid-19, which has already killed 210,000 Americans. His actions show him, if anything, entrenched deeper in denial over the virus than ever before and more committed to trashing scientific protocols that could slow the pandemic. .

Joe Biden holds town hall forum with NBC’s Lester Holt (NBC)

Note: The live town hall begins at minute 4:45 in this tape of the livestreamed forum, where the Democratic nominee makes his case to be president and answers questions directly from members of the public.

VP debate fact check: Where Harris, Pence landed on COVID-19, taxes, economy (USA Today)

… USA TODAY fact-checked the various claims made by Harris and Pence to find out where the two got it right and where they missed the mark on the facts.

Fact-checking the first Trump-Biden presidential debate (Washington Post)

In the contentious first presidential debate between President Trump and former vice president Joe Biden, Trump repeatedly relied on troublesome and false assertions that have been debunked throughout his presidency. Biden, by contrast, stretched the truth on occasion.

Fact-checking the first Trump-Biden presidential debate (part 2) (Washington Post)

On the night of the contentious first debate between President Trump and former vice president Joe Biden, we produced fact checks of 21 claims made during the debate before we went to bed. But it was such a crazy night, with so many falsehoods, that we feel compelled to produce a follow-up report. So here are 32 more claims, most of which were made by the president, in the order in which they were made.

Donald Trump & Joe Biden 1st Presidential Debate Transcript 2020 (Rev)

Full transcript of the first 2020 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The debate was moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News on September 29, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Biden's national lead over Trump jumps to 14 points after debate in NBC News/WSJ poll (NBC)

Joe Biden's lead has nearly doubled since Tuesday's debate with voters saying by a 2-to-1 margin that he has the better temperament to be president.

Biden widens lead after Trump diagnosis: poll (The Hill)

Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s lead over President Trump in the presidential race has grown to 10 points, according to a poll taken in the wake of the president testing positive for coronavirus…. Fifty-seven percent of Americans disapprove of his response to the pandemic, an increase of 3 points from last week. About 65 percent of respondents said they agree with the premise “if President Trump had taken coronavirus more seriously, he probably would not have been infected.” That includes 90 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of Republicans.

Texas governor shuts down drop-off sites for mail ballots (Reuters)

Texas counties will each be limited to a single site for voters to drop off mail ballots ahead of Election Day, Governor Greg Abbott said. More than a dozen satellite locations will close in at least two counties.

Trump campaign opposes new debate rules  (Reuters)

…President Donald Trump’s campaign on Thursday rejected calls to tweak the rules of the next two debates between him and Democratic challenger Joe Biden after a first matchup marred by constant interruptions and outbursts. Following Tuesday night’s debate that saw Trump regularly interrupt and talk over both Biden as well as the moderator, America’s presidential debates commission said it would adopt changes to allow for a “more orderly discussion” with the next debate scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami. There was immediate speculation that could include a mute button to limit the interruptions

 Exclusive: Over 50 Republican ex-national security officials endorse Biden (Reuters)

… Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden, launched in August with 70 members. The new endorsements will bring it to nearly 130 individuals who have publicly broken with the Republican president, including seven who served under Trump…Others worked as senior defense and security officials in the administrations of Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, also endorsed Biden on Thursday.

Trump Secretly Mocks His Christian Supporters (The Atlantic)

Former aides say that in private, the president has spoken with cynicism and contempt about believers.

Other national news

F.B.I. Says Michigan Anti-Government Group Plotted to Kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (New York Times)

Authorities charged 13 men, some of whom were accused of plotting to storm the State Capitol building and planning to start a civil war.

Trump kills stimulus talks, tweets no deal until 'after I win' election (NBC)

In the minutes after his tweet, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 400 points.

Trump, in total reversal, is telling allies he is, in fact, interested in a broad stimulus deal (CNN)

President Donald Trump, in a head-spinning reversal, has told allies he's interested in a large-scale stimulus deal, according to a person with direct knowledge of his comments.

In Profane Rant, Melania Trump Takes Aim at Migrant Children and Critics (New York Times)

The audio recording puts the first lady’s frustrations on full display just weeks before President Trump faces the voters in his bid for a second term.

Senate GOP's third positive Covid-19 case threatens quick Barrett confirmation (CNN)

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has tested positive for coronavirus after being exposed to someone with the virus earlier this week, according to his spokesman, making him the third GOP senator to test positive in 24 hours and threatening the quick confirmation prospects of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court

WORLD

UK's Johnson doesn't want a no-deal Brexit but can live with it  (Reuters)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson does not particularly wish for the Brexit transition period to end without a new trade deal in place but believes that Britain could live with such an outcome, he said on Sunday.

‘There are no words’: As coronavirus kills Indigenous elders, endangered languages face extinction (Washington Post)

The old man knew he was dying. The disease he'd been warning of for weeks had taken hold, and it wouldn't be long now. He looked to his son, who would soon be the leader of what remained of their people.  

Pope says free market, 'trickle-down' policies fail society (Reuters)

Pope Francis said on Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic was the latest crisis to prove that market forces alone and "trickle-down" economic policies had failed to produce the social benefits their proponents claim.

Battling Wildfire and Pandemic, Ukraine Faces a New Foe: Landmines (New York Times)

The blaze is setting off mines and other ordnance littering the war zone in eastern Ukraine, hampering already dangerous firefighting and evacuation efforts.

Investigators probe 'possible ecological catastrophe' in Russia's Kamchatka region (NBC)

“We need to understand what will happen to our health, to the health of animals,” said surfer Anton Morozov.