ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

July 23, 2023 (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.

• Trump notified he is target of DOJ’s Jan. 6 investigation (The Hill)
• Biden’s economic dream is becoming reality — but how long can he sustain it? (Politico)
• Watchdog calls for House committee to uninvite RFK Jr. after his comments are blasted as antisemitic (AP)
• U.S. destroys last of its declared chemical weapons (CBS)
• With No GOP Support, Senate Panel Passes Bill Requiring Supreme Court to Adopt Ethics Code
• Bank of America to pay $250 million for illegal fees, fake accounts   (NPR)
• Former Fox executives say they regret helping Rupert Murdoch birth ‘disinformation machine’ (CNN)
• 3 tax prep firms shared 'extraordinarily sensitive' data about taxpayers with Meta, lawmakers say  (AP)

WORLD

• The heat index reached 152 degrees in the Middle East — nearly at the limit for human survival (Washington Post)
• Turkey's pledge of support for Sweden's NATO entry is tied to goals on security and EU membership (AP)
• Russian general reported killed in attack on Berdyansk hotel (BBC)
• These members of Russia's top brass are either dead or missing (CNN)
• Fired Russian general speaks out about war in Ukraine  (CNN)
• China imposes export controls on 2 metals used in semiconductors and solar panels (KPBS)
• Mexico's old ruling party fractures following election loss (AP)
• UK, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine take Iran to top UN court over 2020 downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet  (AP)
• Canada’s Indigenous women forcibly sterilized decades after other rich countries stopped (AP)
• Mexico says protest was organized by a drug gang and a cartel car bomb killed National Guard officer  (AP)
• How many Russians have died in Ukraine? Data shows what Moscow hides (AP)

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

U.S.

Trump notified he is target of DOJ’s Jan. 6 investigation (The Hill)

Former President Trump said Tuesday morning that he has been alerted he is a target of the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation focusing on his efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election…A model prosecution memo analyzing publicly available details about the DOJ investigation suggested the former president could face charges on conspiracy to defraud the United States after creating fake electoral certificates that were submitted to Congress.  Creating those fake electoral certificates could also invoke statutes that prohibit obstruction of an official proceeding, a charge also leveled at numerous rioters who entered the building, including members of the Oath Keepers …and Proud Boys.

Biden’s economic dream is becoming reality — but how long can he sustain it? (Politico)

President Joe Biden is enjoying the economic recovery of his dreams, complete with cooling inflation, a still-hot jobs market and diminishing odds of a recession…A White House that has bet Biden’s political future on the economy’s resilience — so much so that they’re branding it with the president’s name — got the latest encouraging sign Wednesday that its strategy is paying off, with new data showing a sharper than expected slowdown in consumer costs.

Watchdog calls for House committee to uninvite RFK Jr. after his comments are blasted as antisemitic (AP)

A Democratic watchdog group has called for a U.S. House committee to rescind an invitation to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Democratic presidential candidate was filmed falsely suggesting COVID-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.

U.S. destroys last of its declared chemical weapons (CBS)

The last of the U.S. declared chemical weapons stockpile was destroyed in eastern Kentucky at a military installation…a milestone that closes a chapter of warfare dating back to World War I.

With No GOP Support, Senate Panel Passes Bill Requiring Supreme Court to Adopt Ethics Code

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced legislation that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt an enforceable code of ethics and adhere to stronger disclosure rules following a series of revelations about the luxury trips and other gifts justices have received from right-wing billionaires.… The measure faces uncertain odds in the narrowly Democratic Senate and stands no chance of passing the GOP-controlled House.

Bank of America to pay $250 million for illegal fees, fake accounts   (NPR)

Bank of America, the nation's second largest bank, has been ordered to pay more than $100 million to customers for double charging insufficient fund fees, withholding reward bonuses and opening accounts without customers' knowledge or permission. The bank is also on the hook for an additional $150 million in penalties for the same violations.

Former Fox executives say they regret helping Rupert Murdoch birth ‘disinformation machine’ (CNN)

Three former high-ranking Fox executives are blasting Rupert Murdoch for Fox News’ role spreading disinformation in the public discourse….“At the time of our work in the 1990’s, we all greatly admired Rupert Murdoch and his vision and bold efforts,” the trio said in their statement. “We genuinely believed that the creation of a fourth competitive force in broadcast television was in the public interest. “We never envisioned, and would not knowingly have enabled, the disinformation machine that, in our opinion, Fox has become.”

3 tax prep firms shared 'extraordinarily sensitive' data about taxpayers with Meta, lawmakers say  (AP)

In a letter to the heads of the IRS, the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and the IRS watchdog, seven lawmakers say their findings “reveal a shocking breach of taxpayer privacy by tax prep companies and by Big Tech firms.”  Their report said highly personal and financial information about sources of taxpayers’ income, tax deductions and exemptions was made accessible to Meta as taxpayers used the tax software to prepare their taxes.

WORLD

The heat index reached 152 degrees in the Middle East — nearly at the limit for human survival (Washington Post)

 And in the Middle East, the heat index reached 152 degrees, nearing — or surpassing — levels thought to be the most intense the human body can withstand. Scott Dance in the Washington Post

Turkey's pledge of support for Sweden's NATO entry is tied to goals on security and EU membership (AP)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey had agreed to support Sweden’s NATO bid – by putting the issue to a vote in Parliament -- in return for deeper cooperation on security issues and a promise from Sweden to revive Turkey’s quest for EU membership.

Russian general reported killed in attack on Berdyansk hotel (BBC)

Lt Gen Oleg Tsokov is said to have died in a strike on a hotel housing Russian military commanders in Berdyansk, on Ukraine's occupied southern coast. Russia's defence ministry has not officially confirmed his death. But it was widely announced by Russian war channels on the Telegram messaging app.

These members of Russia's top brass are either dead or missing (CNN)

A key Putin lieutenant has been reported missing, just days after the high-profile assassination of a Russian former submarine commander.

Fired Russian general speaks out about war in Ukraine  (CNN)

Russian general Ivan Popov has been suddenly dismissed from his post commanding forces in occupied southern Ukraine, after accusing the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of betraying Russian soldiers by not providing sufficient support. 

China imposes export controls on 2 metals used in semiconductors and solar panels (KPBS)

The Chinese government has announced buyers of two metals used in computer chips and solar panels will need to apply for export permits, starting on Aug. 1. The metals, gallium and germanium, are also used in military applications. 

Mexico's old ruling party fractures following election loss (AP)

Mexico’s old ruling party fractured Monday…amid internal disputes and the loss of the last major state the party governed.  The Institutional Revolutionary Parties held the presidency and almost all statehouses in Mexico without interruption for 70 years…. On Monday, four leading PRI senators and dozens of supporters announced they are quitting the party. Senators led by former interior secretary Miguel Osorio Chong announced they will form a new group called “Congruence for Mexico.”

UK, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine take Iran to top UN court over 2020 downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet  (AP)

The United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine launched a case against Iran at the United Nations’ highest court Wednesday over the downing in 2020 of a Ukrainian passenger jet and the deaths of all 176 passengers and crew.

Canada’s Indigenous women forcibly sterilized decades after other rich countries stopped (AP)

Decades after many other rich countries stopped forcibly sterilizing Indigenous women, numerous activists, doctors, politicians and at least five class-action lawsuits say the practice has not ended in Canada.  A Senate report last year concluded “this horrific practice is not confined to the past, but clearly is continuing today.” In May, a doctor was penalized for forcibly sterilizing an Indigenous woman in 2019.

Mexico says protest was organized by a drug gang and a cartel car bomb killed National Guard officer  (AP)

[Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez] acknowledged that a demonstration Monday by hundreds of people in the southern city of Chilpancingo was organized by the Los Ardillos drug gang. She said the protest was aimed at forcing the government to release two detained gang leaders …The demonstrators largely blocked all traffic on the highway between Mexico City and Acapulco for two days, battled security forces and commandeered a police armored truck and used it to ram down the gates of the state legislature building.  Rodríguez said the demonstrators had abducted 10 members of the state police and National Guard, as well as three state and federal officials, and were holding them hostage…

How many Russians have died in Ukraine? Data shows what Moscow hides (AP)

Nearly 50,000 Russian men have died in the war in Ukraine, according to the first independent statistical analysis of Russia’s war dead… Russia has publicly acknowledged the deaths of just over 6,000 soldiers.