ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

April 6, 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.

• With ‘nuclear option’, Senate ends Democratic blockade of Trump court pick (Reuters)
• Devin Nunes quits Russian hacking probe (BBC)
• Trump removes Bannon from National Security Council  (NY Times)
• GOP healthcare could lead to higher premiums for sick people (Hill)
• Blackwater founded held meeting to establish Trump-Russia back channel communication (Hill)
• Report: undocumented immigrants in U.S. contribute billions in state and local taxes(San Jose Mercury News)
• Former National Security advisor Michael Flynn seeks immunity (Los Angeles Times)
• Flynn on video:  “When you are given immunity, that means you’ve probably committed a crime” (Meet the Press)
• Senate lets states defund clinics that perform abortion (NY Times)
• Trump gives part of salary to U.S. parks (BBC)
• Trump duo, now in White House, can’t escape conflict laws (NY Times)
• Senators press Agriculture nominee Sonny Perdue on Trump’s proposed cuts to rural programs (Washington Post)
• CIA operations may be disrupted by new Wikileaks’ release (BBC)

WORLD

• White House condemns chemical attack in Syria (The Hill)
• So many journalists are being killed in Mexico that one newspaper decided to shut down (Los Angeles Times)
• Rescuers dig for Colombia flood victims; 254 dead  (Reuters)
• Second Moscow opposition protest leads to arrests (BBC)

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

U.S.

With ‘nuclear option’, Senate ends Democratic blockade of Trump court pick (Reuters)

With ideological control of the nation's highest court at stake, the Republican-led Senate voted 52-48 along party lines to change its long-standing rules in order to prohibit a procedural tactic called a filibuster against Supreme Court nominees. That came after Republicans failed by a 55-45 tally to muster the 60-vote super-majority needed to end the Democratic filibuster that had sought to deny Gorsuch confirmation to the lifetime post.

Devin Nunes quits Russian hacking probe (BBC)

House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes is now himself under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. The panel is looking into claims that the Republican disclosed classified intelligence.

Trump removes Stephen Bannon from National Security Council Post (New  York Times)

For the first 10 weeks of President Trump’s administration, no adviser loomed larger in the public imagination than Stephen K. Bannon, the raw and rumpled former chairman of Breitbart News who considers himself a “virulently anti-establishment” revolutionary out to destroy the “administrative state.”

Trump pulls back Obama-era protections for women workers (NBC)

On March 27, Trump revoked the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order then-President Barack Obama put in place to ensure that companies with federal contracts comply with 14 labor and civil rights laws. The Fair Pay order was put in place after a 2010 Government Accountability Office investigation showed that companies with rampant violations were being awarded millions in federal contracts. In an attempt to keep the worst violators from receiving taxpayer dollars, the Fair Pay order included two rules that impacted women workers: paycheck transparency and a ban on forced arbitration clauses for sexual harassment, sexual assault or discrimination claims.

GOP healthcare could lead to higher premiums for sick people (The Hill)

New discussions around the White House's ObamaCare repeal effort could lead to more expensive health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions. While Republicans have indicated they would keep ObamaCare's provision that requires insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions, a new proposal from the White House could lead to sicker people paying more for coverage. 

Blackwater founded held meeting to establish Trump-Russia back channel communication (the Hill)

Blackwater founder Erik Prince met with a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin in early January in what The Washington Post reports was an apparent effort to create a back channel line of communications between Moscow and the incoming Trump administration.The meeting, on the Seychelles islands, reportedly occurred less than two weeks before President Trump’s inauguration.

Report: undocumented immigrants in U.S. contribute billions in state and local taxes(San Jose Mercury News)

Undocumented residents in the United States pay an estimated $11.74 billion annually in state and local taxes, an amount that would increase significantly if these immigrants were given a pathway to citizenship, according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Former National Security advisor Michael Flynn seeks immunity (Los Angeles Times)

President Trump's former national security advisor, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, has been seeking immunity from prosecution in return for testifying to the House and Senate intelligence committees, a congressional official confirmed Thursday.

Flynn on video:  “When you are given immunity, that means you’ve probably committed a crime” (Meet the Press)

Back in 2016, Flynn spoke out on Clinton campaign insiders seeking immunity. Now he’s asking for immunity for himself, after disclosures that he failed to disclose large payments from  RT, the Russian propaganda network.

Senate lets states defund clinics that perform abortion (New York Times)

Senate Republicans, aided by Vice President Mike Pence and an ailing Georgia colleague who gingerly made his way to the Capitol with the aid of a wheelchair and a walker, voted Thursday to undo an Obama administration rule preventing states from blocking funding for family planning clinics that also provide abortions. The vote was one of a string of showdowns to reverse Obama-era regulations…with Mr. Pence casting the tiebreaking vote in his role as president of the Senate.

Trump gives part of salary to U.S. parks (BBC)

US President Donald Trump is donating his first quarterly salary to the National Parks Service, a White House spokesman has said. Sean Spicer on Monday handed a cheque for $78,333  to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who oversees national parks and monuments…But critics quickly pointed out his donation went to an agency he wants to cut by more than a billion in funding.

Trump duo, now in White House, can’t escape conflict laws (New York Times)

The husband-and-wife team of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, now both senior federal government officials, has been alongside President Trump as the White House has hosted dozens of chief executives and a handful of world leaders…Mr. Kushner will continue to keep such select company now that he has helped create a new office that Mr. Trump is calling the White House Office of American Innovation. But the financial disclosure report released late Friday for Mr. Kushner, which shows that he and his wife still benefit financially from a real estate and investment empire worth as much as $740 million, makes clear that this most powerful Washington couple is walking on perilous legal and ethical ground…

Senators press Agriculture nominee Sonny Perdue on Trump’s proposed cuts to rural programs (Washington Post)

Former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue, President Trump’s pick to lead the Agriculture Department, faced pointed questions about the administration’s proposed cuts to rural assistance programs during his otherwise friendly Senate confirmation hearing Thursday.

CIA operations may be disrupted by new Wikileaks’ data release (BBC)

Current spying campaigns run by the CIA could be disrupted, say experts, after more data on the agency's hacking techniques was released by Wikileaks.

WORLD

White House condemns chemical attack in Syria (The Hill)

The White House on Tuesday condemned a deadly gas attack allegedly carried out by the Syrian government.“Today’s chemical attack in Syria against innocent people, including women and children, is reprehensible,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.

So many journalists are being killed in Mexico that one newspaper decided to shut down (Los Angeles Times)

Mexican newspaper is shutting down because the country has become too dangerous for journalists, according to its owner. In an editorial published Sunday on the front page of the Norte newspaper in the border city of Juarez, owner Oscar Cantu Murguia said a string of deadly assaults on journalists is “preventing us from continuing freely with our work.”

Rescuers dig for Colombia flood victims; 254 dead  (Reuters)

Families and rescuers searched desperately on Sunday through mud-plastered rubble for victims of flooding and landslides that killed 254 people, injured hundreds and devastated entire neighborhoods.

Second Moscow opposition protest leads to arrests (BBC)

At least 29 people have been arrested during opposition protests in Moscow, the second Sunday in succession to see such demonstrations. Last week, at least 500 people were held during protests across Russia, reportedly the largest in five years. The opposition has called for the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev over corruption allegations.