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August 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.
General national news
- Hawaii officials urge families of people missing after deadly fires to give DNA samples (AP)
- Here's where inflation stands today — and why it's raising hope about the economy (NPR)
- Hilary Boosts Lake Mead's Water Levels for Second Day Running (Newsweek)
- America Is Back in the Factory Business (Wall Street Journal)
- 3 reasons gas prices are climbing again (CBS)
- US Army no longer has Senate-confirmed leader, joining Marines (Reuters)
Trump indictments/legal issues
- Messages show Trump team behind voting system breach (CNN)
- Trump cancels news conference to release report on 2020 election
- Prosecutors say witness in Trump’s classified documents case retracted false testimony (AP)
- Trump supporters post names and addresses of Georgia grand jurors online (NBC)
- Almost half of Republicans in new poll would not vote for Trump if he’s convicted of felony (The Hill)
- Trump's defamation countersuit against E. Jean Carroll is dismissed (NPR)
- Trump targets DC judge in 2020 election case (Reuters)
WORLD
- Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants, HRW says (Reuters)
- Yevgeny Prigozhin, who staged a mutiny in Russia, is listed as a passenger on a plane that crashed north of Moscow, Russian state media says (CNN)
- Exclusive: North Korean hackers breached top Russian missile maker (Reuter)
- Ukraine hits Russian tanker with sea drone near Crimea Bridge (Reuters)
- How the use of drones in Ukraine has changed war as we know it (NPR)
- Heatwave caused higher than normal death rate in southern Italy (Reuters)
- Russia’s new history textbooks teach Putin’s alternate reality (Washington Post)
- The British government is deporting migrants to Rwanda (NPR)
For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.”
U.S.
General national news
Hawaii officials urge families of people missing after deadly fires to give DNA samples (AP)
Authorities in Hawaii pleaded Tuesday with relatives of those missing after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century to come forward and give DNA samples, saying the low number provided so far threatens to hinder efforts to identify any remains discovered in the ashes. Some 1,000 to 1,100 names remain on the FBI’s tentative, unconfirmed list of people unaccounted for after wildfires destroyed the historic seaside community of Lahaina on Maui. But the family assistance center so far has collected DNA from just 104 families.
Here's where inflation stands today — and why it's raising hope about the economy (NPR)
Consumer prices in July were up 3.2% from a year ago, according to data released Thursday, driven in part by rising rent, gas and grocery prices. The increase came after the annual inflation rate had fallen steadily for the previous 12 months. Despite the rise in the headline rate, details in the report show inflation continuing to moderate. Stocks rallied on the news, which bolstered hopes for a "soft landing," in which the Federal Reserve brings inflation under control without tipping the economy into recession.
Hilary Boosts Lake Mead's Water Levels for Second Day Running (Newsweek)
Experts have been worried after water levels in the lake, which provides water for around 25 million people, plummeted to record lows.
America Is Back in the Factory Business (Wall Street Journal)
Record spending on manufacturing construction heralds a made-in-the-U.S. rebound, stoked by green-energy incentives and concerns about foreign supply chains; ‘this is here to stay’
3 reasons gas prices are climbing again (CBS)
Drivers once again are feeling a pinch when fueling their vehicles, with the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. jumping to $3.82 a gallon, up nearly 30 cents from a month ago….To be clear, gas prices today are nowhere near as high as they were in June 2022, when they reached a record high of $4.62 a gallon…Here are three reasons gas prices are going up.
US Army no longer has Senate-confirmed leader, joining Marines (Reuters)
The U.S. Army on Friday became the second branch of the U.S. military to no longer have a Senate-confirmed leader, as a Republican senator continues to block military nominations, a move military leaders said threatens readiness and undermines retention of officers. Retiring Chief of Staff of the Army General James McConville relinquished command on Friday. It will be the first time in history the U.S. military will have two branches, the Army and the Marine Corps, without a confirmed leader, the Pentagon said.
Trump indictments/legal issues
Messages show Trump team behind voting system breach (CNN)
Atlanta-area prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia are in possession of text messages and emails directly connecting members of Donald Trump’s legal team to the early January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County, sources tell CNN.
Trump cancels news conference to release report on 2020 election
Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had canceled a press conference scheduled for next week to release a report into the 2020 election in Georgia, saying his attorneys would put his arguments in court filings instead.
Prosecutors say witness in Trump’s classified documents case retracted false testimony (AP)
A witness in the criminal case against Donald Trump over the hoarding of classified documents retracted “prior false testimony” after switching lawyers last month and provided new information that implicated the former president, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Trump supporters post names and addresses of Georgia grand jurors online (NBC)
A fringe website featured the purported names and addresses of the Fulton County grand jury that indicted Trump and 18 other people for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Almost half of Republicans in new poll would not vote for Trump if he’s convicted of felony (The Hill)
Nearly half of Republicans in a survey released Thursday said they would not vote for former President Trump if he were convicted of a felony. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 45 percent of Republicans said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted, while 35 percent said they would still cast their ballot for the former president. Another 20 percent said they were unsure of how they would vote.
Trump's defamation countersuit against E. Jean Carroll is dismissed (NPR)
…on Monday, federal Judge Lewis Kaplan said Carroll's statements repeating the claim that Trump had raped her were "substantially true" given the jury's verdict in that case.
Trump targets DC judge in 2020 election case (Reuters)
Donald Trump on Sunday targeted the federal judge assigned to the case charging him with seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election, as his lawyer argued that actions Trump took after his loss were just "asks."
WORLD
Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants, HRW says (Reuters)
Saudi Arabian border guards have killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants, including women and children, who attempted to enter the kingdom along its mountainous border with Yemen, Human Rights Watch said on Monday…. Human Rights Watch said attacks against groups of migrants, who used remote mountain tracks to cross into Saudi Arabia by foot, were "widespread and systematic" and that the "killings are continuing"….
Video of plane engine debris taken at the purported crash site in the Tver region northwest of Moscow matches a plane registered to Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Exclusive: North Korean hackers breached top Russian missile maker (Reuter)
An elite group of North Korean hackers secretly breached computer networks at a major Russian missile developer for at least five months last year, according to technical evidence reviewed by Reuters and analysis by security researchers.
Ukraine hits Russian tanker with sea drone near Crimea Bridge (Reuters)
A Ukrainian sea drone full of explosives struck a Russian fuel tanker overnight near a bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea, the second such attack in 24 hours, both sides said on Saturday…. / A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that the drone with 450 kg of explosives hit the SIG vessel as it transported fuel for the Russian military in Ukrainian territorial waters.
How the use of drones in Ukraine has changed war as we know it (NPR)
NPR's Scott Simon speaks with military analyst Kelly Grieco about how the use of drones in the war in Ukraine is changing the very nature of war.
Heatwave caused higher than normal death rate in southern Italy (Reuters)
The central and southern regions of Italy recorded 7% more deaths than normal in July after a baking heatwave, health ministry data showed, while firefighters on Monday battled fires on Sardinia and hailstones and floods battered the northeast.
Russia’s new history textbooks teach Putin’s alternate reality (Washington Post)
When classes begin next month, Russian high-schoolers will get fresh history textbooks rewritten to carry Kremlin-approved narratives… / …the drastic transformation of Russia’s portrayal of Ukraine and the rest of the world illustrates Putin’s fierce determination to sweep aside the dark pages of Russia’s past and, quite literally, write himself into history as a victorious conqueror.
The British government is deporting migrants to Rwanda (NPR)
In recent years, there's been an influx of migrants crossing the sea border to England. The British government found a solution that critics are calling illegal: Deport them to Rwanda, Africa.
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