ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

August 2, 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.

• Watch: Hackers demonstrate how to crack into electronic voting machines in minutes (Alternet)
• Lawsuits could force feds to pay Obamacare insurers (Politico)
• More than half the U.S. is within range of latest North Korea missile test, defense experts say (CNBC)
• Frustrated in defeat, Trump threatens healthcare of voters and lawmakers (Los Angeles Times)
• Democrats pivot to offering Obamacare improvements (The Hil)
• Migrants in surge faire worse in immigration court than other groups (Wash. Post)
• U.S. govt. ordered to solve 'Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat' (Reuters)
• Navy Grappling with Ethical Issues Raised by Fat Leonard Case (KPBS)
• Jeff Sessions latest attack on sanctuary cities is probably illegal (Slate)
• Chinese jets intercept U.S. surveillance plane: U.S. officials (Reuters)

WORLD

• U.S. flies bombers over Korean peninsula after N. Korea missile test (Reuters)
• Strong quake off Turkish and Greek coasts kills two, injures scores (Reuters)
• Removal of Metal Detectors at Holy Site Do Little to Quell Palestinian Protests (NPR)
• Deadly Halamish attack hits family celebrating grandson's birth (YNet News)
• Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 24 In Afghanistan's Capital (NPR)
• Israel cites self-defense in Amman embassy shooting (Reuters)
• Venezuela money supply surges 10 percent in one week, fastest in 25 years (Reuters)
• Venezuela Agents Arrest Opposition Leaders in Midnight Raids (NPR)
•  Iranian Revolutionary Guard attack vessels force U.S. Navy ship to change course (JPost)
• Mexico ties for most dangerous country in world for journalists (CBS)

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

U.S.

Watch: Hackers demonstrate how to crack into electronic voting machines in minutes (Alternet)

One of the world's largest and best-known hacker conventions, DEF CON, debuted an interactive "Voting Machine Hacker Village" this year at its annual gathering in Las Vegas. In some cases, within minutes, and in other cases within a few hours, of the village doors' opening, hackers in attendance said they had successfully breached some systems. The security investigators claimed to have found major vulnerabilities or claimed to have breached every voting machine and system present.

Lawsuits could force feds to pay Obamacare insurers (Politico)

A pending court decision could force the Trump administration to pump billions of dollars into Obamacare insurers, even as the president threatens to let the health care law “implode.” Health insurers have filed nearly two dozen lawsuits …Insurers are owed more than $8 billion in payments, and the tab is likely to grow. Insurers say spending restrictions Republicans forced on the “risk corridors” program during the Obama administration, aside from being illegal, are partly to blame for severe turbulence in some Obamacare marketplaces.

More than half the U.S. is within range of latest North Korea missile test, defense experts say (CNBC)

North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, which defense experts say could reach as far as New York or other U.S. East Coast cities. The most recent test lofted the North Korean missile on a very high trajectory, bringing it down in the Sea of Japan. Preliminary data from the launch reveals that half, if not most, of the continental U.S. would be in range of the missile tested Friday."Looks like it pretty much can get to New York, Boston and probably falls just short of Washington," David Wright, co-director and senior scientist for the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told CNBC.

Frustrated in defeat, Trump threatens healthcare of voters and lawmakers (Los Angeles Times)

Frustrated by the failure of the Obamacare repeal in the Senate, President Trump on Saturday threatened to end federal subsidies for healthcare insurance – for Congress as well as the rest of the country.

Democrats pivot to offering Obamacare improvements (The Hil)

House Democrats are poised to advance a flood of proposals designed to address the problems dogging President Obama's signature healthcare law –– a move that puts pressure on Republican and Democratic leaders alike.

Migrants in surge faire worse in immigration court than other groups (Washington Post)

…Tens of thousands of families from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, and some from Mexico, came here citing their need for protection from predatory gangs and criminal violence. Now, they face the prospect of being sent back …Of nearly 100,000 parents and children who have come before the courts since 2014, most asking for refuge, judges have issued rulings in at least 32,500 cases, court records show. The majority — 70 percent — ended with deportation orders in absentia, pronounced by judges to empty courtrooms.

U.S. govt. ordered to solve 'Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat' (Reuters)

Judge Patricia Millett told the Federal Aviation Administration to take another look at an advocacy group's assertion that shrinking airline seats are imperiling passenger safety.  The judge rejected the FAA's argument that seat size was unimportant to getting off the plane in an emergency.

Navy Grappling with Ethical Issues Raised by Fat Leonard Case (KPBS)

While the ongoing Fat Leonard legal cases grab headlines, the Navy has been working to change the ethical conduct of its officers.

Jeff Sessions latest attack on sanctuary cities is probably illegal (Slate)

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced a new policy depriving “sanctuary cities” of federal funds unless they comply with the administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants

Chinese jets intercept U.S. surveillance plane: U.S. officials (Reuters)

 Two Chinese fighter jets intercepted a U.S. Navy surveillance plane over the East China Sea over the weekend, with one coming within about 300 feet (91 meters) of the American aircraft, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday.

WORLD

U.S. flies bombers over Korean peninsula after North Korea missile test (Reuters)

 The United States flew two B-1B bombers over the Korean peninsula in a show of force after recent North Korean missile tests, the U.S. Air Force said in a statement on Sunday.

Strong quake off Turkish and Greek coasts kills two, injures scores more (Reuters)

 A powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.7 killed two people and injured scores more when it struck near major Turkish and Greek tourist destinations in the Aegean Sea early on Friday…

Removal of Metal Detectors at Holy Site Do Little to Quell Palestinian Protests (NPR)

Israel removed metal detectors from a Jerusalem holy site to ease tensions with Palestinians. But plans for a new security system have prompted more protests.

Deadly Halamish attack hits family celebrating grandson's birth (YNet News)

Palestinian terrorist murders 3, one in critical condition; woman saves herself and 5 children who came to visit their grandparents by hiding them in a nearby room. 

Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 24 In Afghanistan's Capital (NPR)

At least 24 people were killed and 42 were wounded in a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital in the early morning hours on Monday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Israel cites self-defense in Amman embassy shooting (Reuters)

 An Israeli embassy security guard shot dead a Jordanian who stabbed him with a screwdriver in the Amman mission compound in an incident in which a Jordanian bystander was also killed, Israel said on Monday.

Venezuela money supply surges 10 percent in one week, fastest in 25 years (Reuters)

Venezuela's money supply is up 384 percent in the last year. In contrast, the United States' money supply is up 5.5 percent in the same period.

Venezuela Agents Arrest Opposition Leaders in Midnight Raids (NPR)

A day after a vote granting President Nicolas Maduro near-dictatorial powers, agents of Venezuela's intelligence agency seized two key opposition figures in Caracas.

 Iranian Revolutionary Guard attack vessels force U.S. Navy ship to change course  (JPost)

The incident comes just days after Iran successfully completed a series of tests on the advanced Russian-made S-300 missile-defense system, making it fully operational.

Mexico ties for most dangerous country in world for journalists (CBS)

Mexico now ranks alongside Iraq as the deadliest country in the world for journalists in 2017. It has even surpassed war-torn Syria, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.