WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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August 16, 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.

WORLD

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

U.S.

Organizers of white nationalist rally in Virginia, driver sued for $3 million( Reuters)

Two people who say they were injured in a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia sued the man charged with killing a woman by driving his car through the crowd as well as the event's organizers on Tuesday for $3 million… The lawsuit names Fields, "Unite the Right" rally organizer Jason Kessler and about two dozen alt-right leaders and organizations as defendants.

Anti-government extremist arrested in Oklahoma bomb plot (Los Angeles Times)

A 23-year-old man who said he hated the U.S. government has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly trying to blow up an Oklahoma City bank with what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb in a truck. According to a criminal complaint, Jerry Drake Varnell wanted to start a militia group and admired Timothy McVeigh, the domestic terrorist who was convicted and executed for setting off a massive truck bomb outside a federal building in Oklahoma City in April 1995.

Trump again blames ‘both sides’ for violence at white supremacist rally in VA (Washington Post)

… In a remarkable show of defiance, Trump insisted during a combative exchange with reporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan that there were “two sides to a story” just a day after he had belatedly condemned racist hate groups for the mayhem that left a woman dead and many other people injured.

Google boots out neo-Nazi website that attacked Charlottesville victim (San Jose Mercury News)

… The Daily Stormer was kicked off GoDaddy’s domain name registry after it published an article attacking Heather Heyer, who was killed in the Aug. 12 muscle-car rampage by a white supremacist…Booted from GoDaddy, the Daily Stormer moved to Google’s domain registry…Later the same day, Google announced it was ousting the site from its domain registry.

Turkey detains suspected Islamic State militant for planning to bring down U.S. plane (Reuters)

 Turkish authorities have detained a suspected Islamic State militant of Russian origin after he allegedly planned to use a drone to bring down a U.S. plane at the Incirlik air base….

Justice Dept. demands 1.3 million IP addresses related to Trump resistance site (The Hill)

…DreamHost claimed that the complying with the request from the Justice Department would amount to handing over roughly 1.3 million visitor IP addresses to the government, in addition to contact information, email content and photos of thousands of visitors to the website, which was involved in organizing protests against Trump on Inauguration Day.“That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment,” DreamHost wrote ..“That should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone’s mind.” …The company is currently challenging the request.

Virginia Governor declares state of emergency as alt-right rally turns violent (NBC)

Fights erupted and at least two people were hurt when white nationalists and counter-protesters violently clashed Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, forcing local police and Gov. Terry McAuliffe to declare a state of emergency. Supporters gathered in Emancipation Park Saturday morning in anticipation of a noon rally held by "Unite the Right…McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and the city of Charlottesville declared the alt-right protest an unlawful assembly — effectively cancelling the demonstration before its planned start time.

Trump threatens Venezuela with unspecified military action (Reuters)

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened military intervention in Venezuela, a surprise escalation of Washington's response to Venezuela's political crisis that Caracas disparaged as "craziness."

Trump’s odd thanks to Putin for expelling U.S. diplomats sparks anger among foreign service officers (Los Angeles Times)

He now says he was being sarcastic, but President Trump’s expression of gratitude to Russian President Vladimir Putin for cutting hundreds of U.S. diplomatic personnel was no laughing matter for many U.S. foreign service officers. Their anger and concern poured out on social media and elsewhere Friday, a day after Trump repeatedly thanked Putin for ordering the State Department to cut 755 diplomats and staff from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and three consulates, saying, “Now we have a smaller payroll.”

A New Report Raises Big Questions About Last Year’s DNC Hack (The Nation) 

Former NSA experts say it wasn’t a hack at all, but a leak—an inside job by someone with access to the DNC’s system.

WORLD

Patriot intercept batteries to be deployed pronto in Western Japan (Japan Times)

The government has decided to deploy Patriot interceptor missiles in parts of western Japan that North Korea’s missiles are expected to fly over if Pyongyang actually goes through with its plan to fire them at Guam, Defense Ministry officials said Friday…The Japanese government wants to be ready in case the North’s missiles malfunction while over Japan.

North Korea’s Missile Success Is Linked to Ukrainian Plant, Investigators Say (New York Times)

North Korea’s success in testing an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears able to reach the United States was made possible by black-market purchases of powerful rocket engines probably from a Ukrainian factory with historical ties to Russia’s missile program, according to an expert analysis being published Monday and classified assessments by American intelligence agencies.

How ISIS nearly stumbled on the ingredients for a 'dirty bomb' (Jewish World Review)

On the day the Islamic State overran the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014, it laid claim to one of the greatest weapons bonanzas ever to fall to a terrorist group… Only now is it becoming clear what happened to it.

China issues order to implement U.N. sanctions on North Korea (Reuters)

China's Commerce Ministry issued a ban effective from Tuesday on several imports from North Korea, including coal, iron ore, lead concentrates and ore, lead and seafood, a move that is in line with U.N. sanctions announced this month.

As Pakistan Marks 70 Years of Independence, Its Minorities Struggle for Space (NPR)

Seventy years after Pakistan's creation as a homeland for South Asia's Muslims, its minorities continue to suffer persecution — and the definition of who is considered a Muslim has narrowed.

Report: Iran and Russia violated U.N. weapons sanctions  (JPost)

German media and state intelligence agencies revealed how Russia and Iran bypassed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear accord.

Hearing loss of US diplomats in Cuba blamed on covert device (AP)

Some of the diplomats’ symptoms were so severe that they were forced to cancel their tours early and return to the United States... After months of investigation, U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been exposed to an advanced device that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences. It was not immediately clear if the device was a weapon used in a deliberate attack, or had some other purpose.

PA arrests five journalists for "leaking" sensitive information (JPost)

Five Palestinian journalists have been arrested in the West Bank by Palestinian Authority security forces in what a human rights monitoring group has termed a “serious blow to freedom of opinion and expression.”

Report: Attack on police vehicle kills four in northern Sinai (JPost)

Violence against police in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula have increased since the 2013 ouster of Morsi.

Machine gun attack on U.N. Mali base in Timbuktu kills seven (Reuters)

Gunmen attacked a United Nations peacekeeping base in the northern Mali city of Timbuktu on Monday, officials said, killing seven people, including five Malian security guards, a gendarme and civilian.


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