ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

July 29, 2025 (San Diego’s East County) -- 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.

• Trump says Epstein poached young women from Mar-a-Lago. That raises new questions about what he knew. (CNN)
• Native communities could lose $24.5B under Trump administration proposal (Indian Country Today)
• Trump falls to 37% approval in Gallup Poll (Gallup)
• Judge blocks Trump order barring asylum access at border; door open for appeal  (AP)
• Native public media reels after federal budget cuts (Indian Country Today)
• Judge rules Los Angeles police can't use nonlethal weapons against journalists (Politico)
• Trump’s Labor Department proposes more than 60 rule changes in a push to deregulate workplaces (AP)
• Volunteers flock to immigration courts to support migrants arrested in the hallways (AP)
• Trump-Tied Lobbying Firms Are Cashing In (NOTUS)
• Democratic memo: The party's redistricting problem goes much deeper (Politico)
• Congress Requires ICE to Publish Detention Statistics. The Numbers Don’t Add Up.(NOTUS)
• Lawmakers seek to ban federal agents from wearing masks (NPR)
• Gabbard’s claims of an anti-Trump conspiracy are not supported by declassified documents  (AP)

WORLD

• One in five children in Gaza is malnourished, UN aid agency says  (BBC)
• Judge weighing disciplinary referral for DOJ lawyers in Venezuela deportations case (Reuters)
• Canada follows France and UK with plan to recognise Palestinian state
• Canada's prime minister says the move would depend on Palestinian democratic reforms and elections without Hamas. (BBC)
• Here are some of the newest UNESCO World Heritage sites (NPR)
• Moscow airports temporarily closed after Ukraine drone attacks (BBC)
• Thai and Cambodian forces clash as escalating border dispute leaves at least 11 dead (AP)

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

U.S.

Trump says Epstein poached young women from Mar-a-Lago. That raises new questions about what he knew. (CNN)

President Donald Trump wants to move on from his administration’s fiasco over the Jeffrey Epstein files, but he keeps hampering that effort by opening his mouth. The most recent instance has to do with precisely why the two men had a falling out about two decades ago.

Native communities could lose $24.5B under Trump administration proposal (Indian Country Today)

The Trump administration’s proposed freeze on federal grants would cut $24.5 billion in funding to Native communities for health, law enforcement, education and key social services, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Brookings Institution. The cuts, if they gain approval through the courts, would violate treaty obligations to tribal nations and impact nearly every tribe across the United States...The funding freeze would affect Native people both on and off reservations, the report notes.

Trump falls to 37% approval in Gallup Poll (Gallup)

Six months into his second term, President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has dipped to 37%, the lowest of this term and just slightly higher than his all-time worst rating of 34% at the end of his first term. Trump’s rating has fallen 10 percentage points among U.S. adults since he began his second term in January, including a 17-point decline among independents, to 29%...

Judge blocks Trump order barring asylum access at border; door open for appeal  (AP)

... The decision throws into doubt one of the key pillars of the president’s plan to crack down on migration at the southern border, but he put it on hold for two weeks to give the government time to appeal.

Native public media reels after federal budget cuts (Indian Country Today)

Francene Blythe-Lewis spent Friday morning crying at her desk, trying to assess how the loss of nearly half of her organization’s $2.8 million annual budget would impact its ability to support public media by and about Native people.... No Democrats supported the measure when it passed the Senate, 51-48...

Judge rules Los Angeles police can't use nonlethal weapons against journalists (Politico)

The Los Angeles Press Club sued the city's police department after officers allegedly used weapons against journalists while they were covering anti-ICE protests.

Trump’s Labor Department proposes more than 60 rule changes in a push to deregulate workplaces (AP)

The U.S. Department of Labor is aiming to rewrite or repeal more than 60 “obsolete” workplace regulations, ranging from minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with disabilities to standards governing exposure to harmful substances. 

Volunteers flock to immigration courts to support migrants arrested in the hallways (AP)

A diverse group — faith leaders, college students, grandmothers, retired lawyers and professors — has been showing up at immigration courts across the nation to escort immigrants at risk of being detained for deportation by masked ICE officials. They’re giving families moral and logistical support, and bearing witness as the people are taken away… The volunteers’ act of witnessing has proven to be important as people disappear into a detention system that can seem chaotic, leaving families without any information about their whereabouts for days on end.

Trump-Tied Lobbying Firms Are Cashing In (NOTUS)

The swamp appears to be doing just fine. Second-quarter lobbying disclosures were due Monday at midnight, offering a window into the money flowing to influence federal policy and policymakers… Several firms with ties to the Trump administration posted eye-watering federal lobbying revenue…. 

Democratic memo: The party's redistricting problem goes much deeper (Politico)

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee calls on its party to rethink their “failed federal-first strategy,” in a memo sent to donors and strategists …and instead invest in winning seats in state legislatures ahead of 2030 redistricting.  

Congress Requires ICE to Publish Detention Statistics. The Numbers Don’t Add Up.(NOTUS)

 Congress requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement to report statistics showing how many people are held in its detention centers overnight. But researchers the data includes anomalies that indicate the Department of Homeland Security is underreporting detentions….

Lawmakers seek to ban federal agents from wearing masks (NPR)

In Congress, Democrats have introduced several bills, including the No Secret Police Act, which would bar federal agents from concealing their faces with "home-made, non-tactical masks."

Gabbard’s claims of an anti-Trump conspiracy are not supported by declassified documents  (AP)

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard this month declassified material she claimed proved a “treasonous conspiracy” by the Obama administration in 2016 to politicize U.S. intelligence in service of casting doubt on the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory…. The Associated Press has reviewed those reports to evaluate how Gabbard’s claims stack up.

WORLD

One in five children in Gaza is malnourished, UN aid agency says  (BBC)

The UN agency for Palestinians says it has thousands of truckloads of supplies near Gaza which it wants to deliver.

Judge weighing disciplinary referral for DOJ lawyers in Venezuela deportations case (Reuters)

 U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said on Thursday he may initiate disciplinary proceedings against Justice Department lawyers for their conduct in a lawsuit brought by Venezuelans challenging their removal to a Salvadoran prison in March…. "I will certainly be assessing whether government counsel's conduct and veracity to the court warrant a referral to state bars or our grievance committee, which determines lawyers' fitness to practice in our court," Boasberg said.

Canada follows France and UK with plan to recognise Palestinian state  (BBC)

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September, becoming the third G7 nation to make such an announcement in recent days. Carney said such a move would depend on democratic reforms, including the Palestinian Authority holding elections next year without Hamas.

Here are some of the newest UNESCO World Heritage sites (NPR)

Twenty-six sites have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List, designating their cultural and natural importance.

Moscow airports temporarily closed after Ukraine drone attacks (BBC)

Russia’s defence ministry says more than 230 Ukrainian drones have been downed over Russia since Saturday Morning.

Thai and Cambodian forces clash as escalating border dispute leaves at least 11 dead (AP)

Thai and Cambodian soldiers clashed in several areas along their border Thursday in a major escalation of their conflict that left at least 11 people dead, mostly civilians. The two sides fired small arms, artillery and rockets, and Thailand also called in airstrikes.