ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

November 11, 2015 (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.

• U.S. to tighten airline security after crash of Russian plane (Washington Post)
• IRS May Soon Use Private Debt Collectors (NPR)
• GOP candidates oppose raising minimum wage (10 News)
• No Man's Land: When Innocent Prisoners Are Released (NPR)
• Comcast orders MSNBC to remove anti-TPP hosts (Ring of Fire)
• Mormon church bans same sex couples and their children (New York Times)
• Why poor white Americans are dying of despair (The Week)
• Why you probably won't be audited by the IRS (Marketplace)
• Oregon utility offers help to cannabis growers after wave of outages  (Reuters)
• Surge In Cyberattacks [in U.S.] Signals Strength Of Iran's Hard-Liners (NPR)
• Which US states are the most corrupt? (CS Monitor)

WORLD

• U.S. to open new screening centers for Syrian refugees (Reuters)
• The clock is ticking on a time bomb that could blow up free internet: the TPP (Guardian)
• U.S. and 11 Other Countries Sign Pact Promising To End Currency Manipulation (NPR)
• Report: Black boxes show bomb brought down Russian jet (CNN)
• Court ruling could pave the way for marijuana legalization in Mexico (Huffington Post)
• As China ends one-child policy, illegally born kids ask: 'What about us?' (CS Monitor)
• Terrorist killed after attempting to stab IDF soldier at Gush Etzion Junction (JPost)
• In Sweden, refugee crisis spurs an odd side effect: a teacher shortage (CS Monitor)
• Lost at sea: the man who vanished for 14 months (Guardian)
• WADA commission recommends banning of Russian athletes (Reuters)

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

U.S.

U.S. to tighten airline security after crash of Russian plane (Washington Post)

As investigators search for the cause of a plane crash that killed 224 people over the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday and Russia suspends all flights to Egypt, U.S. officials said they are taking unspecified precautionary measures to enhance the security of flights from the Middle East.

IRS May Soon Use Private Debt Collectors

A provision in the highway bills before Congress would require the IRS to hire collection agencies to collect back taxes. Congress sees it as a way of raising money to pay for highway construction. Opponents say it would lead to abuses, and that it's been tried in the past — and cost taxpayers more than it brought in.

GOP candidates oppose raising minimum wage (10 News)

Drawing a sharp contrast with Democrats, Republican presidential candidates voiced opposition to raising the federal minimum wage in Tuesday's primary debate, casting it as an impediment to national job growth.

No Man's Land: When Innocent Prisoners Are Released (NPR)

Unlike prisoners who've served their sentences, prisoners who've been exonerated and released are not eligible for any re-entry programs from the state, and this is common across the country.

Comcast orders MSNBC to remove anti-TPP hosts (Ring of Fire)

When it comes to coverage of the Trans Pacific Partnership, no one in the corporate media covered the issue more than Ed Schultz on MSNBC’s The Ed Show. When it was announced last week that they were pulling the plug on his program, they effectively killed the only national voice that was talking about the disaster of a trade deal on cable news.  But what is the real reason for MSNBC dumping Ed? When you dig down, it’s dirtier than you would think.

Mormon church bans same sex couples and their children (New York Times)

Children of same-sex couples will not be able to join the Mormon Church until they turn 18 — and only if they move out of their parents’ homes, disavow all same-sex relationships and receive approval from the church’s top leadership as part of a new policy adopted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Why poor white Americans are dying of despair (The Week)

…A recent social science paper found that middle-aged non-Hispanic white Americans (ages 45-54) experienced a large increase in total mortality between 1998 and 2013. If the mortality rate had instead continued falling on its previous trend, it would have prevented nearly half a million deaths over that 15-year period.

Why you probably won't be audited by the IRS (Marketplace)

The IRS says years of budget cuts have pushed taxpayers' likelihood of being audited lower than it's been in more than a decade. Experts say that if you’re really rich or really poor, you’re more likely to hear from the IRS.

Oregon utility offers help to cannabis growers after wave of outages  (Reuters)

An Oregon electric utility said on Thursday that residents growing light-craving marijuana plants indoors have sparked a wave of small-scale outages, prompting the company to offer expert help in setting up their home-growing operations.

U.S. and 11 Other Countries Sign Pact Promising To End Currency Manipulation (NPR)

The pact would require countries to turn over data about their foreign exchange policies on a regular basis.

Surge In Cyberattacks [in U.S.] Signals Strength Of Iran's Hard-Liners (NPR)

The U.S. has noticed an uptick in cyberattacks from Iran. The hacks seem to be from hard-liners in Iran hoping to undermine better relations with the West, possibly in backlash to the nuclear deal.

Which US states are the most corrupt? (CS Monitor)

A recent data-driven study grades all 50 US states on their transparency and accountability, highlighting both disturbing trends and signs of progress.

WORLD

U.S. to open new screening centers for Syrian refugees (Reuters)

The Obama administration is moving to increase and accelerate the number of Syrian refugees who might be admitted into the United States by opening new screening outposts in Iraq and Lebanon, administration officials told Reuters on Friday.The move comes after President Barack Obama pledged in September to admit an additional 10,000 refugees in 2016 from Syria, torn by four years of civil war and disorder.

The clock is ticking on a time bomb that could blow up the free internet: the TPP (Guardian)

The agreement poses a grave threat to our basic right to access information and express ourselves on the web.

Report: Black boxes show bomb brought down Russian jet (CNN)

European investigators who analyzed the two flight recorders from the Metrojet plane that went down last weekend in Egypt are categorically saying the crash is not an accident, CNN affiliate France 2 reported Friday. The investigators said the cockpit voice recorder of Metrojet Flight 9268 shows an explosion and the flight data recorder confirms the explosion is not accidental -- there is no sign of mechanical malfunction during the initial part of the flight, France 2 reported.

Court ruling could pave the way for marijuana legalization in Mexico (Huffington Post)

The country's Supreme Court has ruled that a cannabis club can grow weed for personal use.

As China ends one-child policy, illegally born kids ask: 'What about us?' (CS Monitor)

China has at least 13 million 'nonpersons,' second or third children born illegally in the past 40 years, who have no papers and no rights.

Terrorist killed after attempting to stab IDF soldier at Gush Etzion Junction (JPost)

A Palestinian man who drew a knife and attempted to stab a soldier at the Gush Etzion junction was shot dead by fellow soldiers on Thursday.

In Sweden, refugee crisis spurs an odd side effect: a teacher shortage (CS Monitor)

Tens of thousands of school-age refugees, many who came to Sweden unaccompanied, are putting stress on Sweden's already stretched education system.

Lost at sea: the man who vanished for 14 months (Guardian)

In November 2012, Salvador Alvarenga went fishing off the coast of Mexico. Two days later, a storm hit and he made a desperate SOS. It was the last anyone heard from him – for 438 days. This is his story.

WADA commission recommends banning of Russian athletes (Reuters)

Russia could be banned from international athletics, including the 2016 Olympic Games, after an anti-doping commission report on Monday alleged widespread corruption and collusion that added up to a state-sponsored drugs culture in a sporting superpower.