ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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February 11, 2016 (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.

Presidential primary

Other national news

WORLD

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

 

U.S.

Presidential primary

Presidential hopefuls in dead heat in national Reuters/Ipso poll (Reuters)

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has erased Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's wide lead for the Democratic presidential nomination since the start of year, putting the two in a dead heat nationally, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Under Sanders, income and jobs would soar, economist says (CNN)

Median income would soar by more than $22,000. Nearly 26 million jobs would be created. The unemployment rate would fall to 3.8%. Those are just a few of the things that woudl happen if Bernie Sanders became president and his ambitious economic program were put into effect, according to an analysis given exclusively to CNNMoney. The first comprehensive look at the impact of all of Sanders' spending and tax proposals on the economy was done by Gerald Friedman, a University of Massachusestts Amherst economics professor.

FBI confirms Clinton probe (The Hill)

The FBI formally confirmed that its investigation connected to Hillary Clinton’s private email server remains ongoing in a letter released on Monday. / The letter from FBI general counsel James Baker comes one day before the New Hampshire primary. / The message does not offer new details about the probe, which the bureau has been reluctant to discuss. However, it represents the FBI’s formal notification to the State Department that it is investigating the issue.

Court Orders Government To Explain The Holdup With 7,000 Clinton Emails (NPR)

A federal judge wants the Department of Justice to formally explain why it hasn't been able to meet a deadline set for releasing all of Hillary Clinton's emails from her time as secretary of state. 

Stark Divide Between Democrat, Republican Candidates on Veterans Health Care (Reason)

 The presidential campaign issue of veterans health care is worth keeping a close eye on, even if you aren’t a veteran or a close family member of one. The matter came up at both of the two most recent presidential debates. It’s in the news not only because of the scandal over long wait times for care at Veterans Administration hospitals and the coverup of the same scandal, but because the differences between Republicans and Democrats on the issue illuminate a stark ideological divide.

Carly Fiorina quits presidential race (Politico)

The only woman in the Republican field bows out one day after a dismal finish in New Hampshire.

Christie drops out (Politico)

The New Jersey governor had made a big push in New Hampshire, but only mustered a sixth-place finish.

How Ohio Governor John Kasich is making life hell for women seeking abortions (Mother Jones)

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the latest Republican to step into the presidential fray, has widely been labeled the moderate in a GOP field that tilts sharply to the right. Climate change? It's real. Common Core educational standards? He'll take it. Medicaid expansion? Sure. Immigration reform? He's open to the possibilities. But his celebrated moderation disappears when it comes to reproductive rights. The religious former congressman and two-term governor is a hardliner on abortion: As governor he's signed and supported some of the most stringent anti-abortion legislation in the country. 

Other national news

Feds sue Ferguson to force police reforms (USA Today)

The Justice Department is suing the city of Ferguson in an attempt to forcibly overhaul the city’s troubled police and court operations, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Wednesday.

Genital mutilation risk triples for girls and women in U.S., CDC study finds  (The Guardian)

Since the last official estimate in 1990 of how many people were affected by the practice, the number has grown to 513,000.

Lead contamination of Flint water draws multiple lawsuits (Washington Post)

One lawsuit seeks to replace lead-leaching water lines at no cost to customers. Another seeks money for thousands of Flint residents who unwittingly drank toxic water. A third complaint has been filed on behalf of people with Legionnaires’ disease.  While government officials scramble to rid Flint’s tap water of lead, victims are suing Gov. Rick Snyder, the former mayor, rank-and-file public employees and almost anyone else who may have had a role in supplying the troubled city with corrosive river water for 18 months. The lawsuits accuse them of violating civil rights, wrecking property values and enriching themselves by selling a contaminated product.

Gulf Of Mexico Open For Fish-Farming Business (NPR)

For the first time, companies can apply to set up fish farms in U.S. federal waters. The government says the move will help reduce American dependence on foreign seafood and improve security.

After Returning the Money They Stole, Feds Will Pay Interest and Legal Expenses Too (Reason)

First the feds stole $107,000 from Lyndon McLellan, saying his bank deposits of money from his North Carolina convenience store were suspiciously small, as if he were trying to avoid the reporting requirement for transactions involving $10,000 or more. Then the feds refused to return the money, even after the IRS and the Justice Department announced that they would no longer pursue such "structuring" cases unless they involved proceeds of illegal activity….This week a federal judge completed McLellan's vindication by dismissing the forfeiture case with prejudice, making him eligible to recover his costs and the interest on his purloined savings under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act).

Rams Stiff St. Louis, Leave City with $144 Million Bill (Reason)

St. Louis residents no longer have a football team, but that doesn’t mean they will get to stop paying for one. While the Rams won a vote in mid-January to relocate to Los Angeles, St. Louis taxpayers will still be responsible for making $144 million in debt and maintenance payments for the Edward Jones Dome. 

WORLD

Progress in the global war on poverty (CS Monitor)

Almost unnoticed, the world has reduced poverty, increased incomes, and improved health more than at any time in history. Global poverty has fallen faster during the past 20 years than at any time in history.

Syria ‘exterminating detainees’ – UN report (BBC)

The Syrian government has carried out a state policy of extermination against thousands of detainees, UN human rights investigators say. They accuse President Bashar al-Assad's regime of crimes against humanity, in a report for the UN Human Rights Council.

UAE says ready to support anti-Islamic State coalition with troops (CS Monitor)

Several other Sunni Muslim states, including Saudi Arabia, say they are ready to participate in ground operations against the IS, but the UAE's foreign minister says American leadership "is a pre-requisite."

Mt. Sakurajimi erupts in fiery blast (Japan Times)

Mount Sakurajima, a volcano that overlooks the city of Kagoshima, erupted Friday with a fiery blast that sent lava rolling down its slope.The Meteorological Agency said Sakurajima, which is about 50 km from Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, erupted at 6:56 p.m.

Zika outbreak means it is now time to cancel Rio Olympics (Forbes)

It is beginning to look like the time has come to call off the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The reason is simple: young women cannot travel there safely…To host the Games at a site teeming with Zika, an outbreak the World Health Organization has labeled a “public health emergency of international concern,” is, quite simply, irresponsible.

Germany Opens 62-Mile Bicycle Highway That's Completely Car-Free (Nature Knows)

Germany has opened the first three-mile stretch of a bicycle highway that will eventually span over 62 miles, connecting 10 western cities including Duisburg, Bochum, and Hamm, as well as four universities.

France Has Banned Supermarkets From Wasting Food (iflscience.com)

The French senate has banned supermarkets larger than 400 square meters (4,300 square feet) from binning unsold food, the first nation in the world to bring in such a ban. Instead, supermarkets will have to sign donation contracts with charities. The penalty for bosses not doing so is a fine of up to €75,000 (£58,000/$84,000), or two years imprisonment.

Thousands flee as Russian-backed offensive threatens to besiege Aleppo (Reuters)

 Tens of thousands of Syrians fled an intensifying Russian assault around Aleppo on Friday, and aid workers said they feared the major city could soon fall under a full government siege.

German spy agency says ISIS sending fighters disguised as refugees (Reuters)

Islamic State militants have slipped into Europe disguised as refugees, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV) said on Friday, a day after security forces thwarted a potential IS attack in Berlin…. The Berliner Zeitung newspaper cited Maassen on Friday as saying that the BfV had received more than 100 tip-offs that there were Islamic State fighters among the refugees currently staying in Germany.

Armed with new U.S. money, NATO to strengthen Russia deterrence (Reuters)

Backed by an increase in U.S. military spending, NATO is planning its biggest build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War to deter Russia but will reject Polish demands for permanent bases.

Quake fells Taiwan apartment building, at least two dead  (Reuters)  A powerful earthquake toppled a 17-story apartment building in southern Taiwan on Saturday, killing at least two people, including a 10-day-old girl, and triggering frantic efforts to rescue dozens of people feared trapped inside.

Bomb threats made to Jewish schools in UK (JPost)

At least eight Jewish schools in the UK received bomb threats on Monday the Community Security Trust, a communal security organization, reported. / The threats are the latest in a series of similar such warnings that have been made against schools across the UK and further afield. / The bomb threats were made in the form of a pre-recorded message, with a voice threatening that the school in question will be bombed, while Arabic or Islamic music was heard in the background.

Assailant stabs Jewish boy, 11, in Ramle attack (JPost)

Police investigating motive; Arab woman with knife arrested in Old City

More than four months of terror, by the numbers (JPost)

Four and-a-half months into the terror wave, Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service has summarized some of the period's key statistics.

Pilot after Somalia emergency: Airplane security is “zero” (CS Monitor)

After a suicide bombing forced him into an emergency landing, Capt. Vlatko Vodopivec says dozens of people can access aircraft as they wait on the tarmac at Mogadishu Airport.

 


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