July 11, 2018 (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 news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits (AP)
• FAA To Passengers: Not Our Job to Regulate Seat Size, Legroom on Planes (NPR)
• Can a 3-year-old represent herself in immigration court?  This judge thinks so. (Washington Post)
• Sessions rescinds DOJ guidance on refugees, asylum seekers' right to work (The Hill)
• Scott Pruitt steps down as EPA head after ethics, management scandals (Washington Post)
• Immigrant children begin appearing in court without lawyers or parents (American Bar Association Journal)
• America’s love for SUVs is killing pedestrians (MSN)
• Rachel Maddow was right. There was no plan for reuniting families split at the border (Politifact)
• Judge to Detroit Students: We Can’t Force Schools to Actually Teach You Anything (Reason)
• Families charged steep fees to transport children from migrant shelters: report (The Hill)
• The government is refusing to release new stats on kids from separated families (CNN)
• Judge to decide on order blocking Puerto Rican evictions (CBS)
• Newsroom targeted for shooting had run story on suspect’s harassment conviction (NY Post)

WORLD

• Mission declared possible as Thai soccer team saved from flooded cave (Reuters)
• Mexico elects left-leaning populist as president to chart a new course (USA Today)
• North Korea Reportedly Expanding Ballistic Missile Production Facility (NPR)
• Death Toll in Japan Floods Reaches More Than 155, With Dozens Still Missing (NPR)
• Incendiary kites, balloons spark over 17 fires in [southern Israel (Jerusalem Post)
• Mexico Is Suffering Its Bloodiest Year in Modern History. Here's Why (Time)
• Deadly heat wave kills 33 across southern Quebec (BBC)
• Lions eat 'rhino poachers' on South African game reserve (BBC)
• Who can stop India WhatsApp lynchings? (BBC)

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

U.S.

US Army quietly discharging immigrant recruits (AP)

Some immigrant U.S. Army reservists and recruits who enlisted in the military with a promised path to citizenship are being abruptly discharged, the Associated Press has learned… Eligible recruits are required to have legal status in the U.S., such as a student visa, before enlisting. More than 5,000 immigrants were recruited into the program in 2016, and an estimated 10,000 are currently serving…To become citizens, the service members need an honorable service designation, which can come after even just a few days at boot camp

FAA To Passengers: Not Our Job to Regulate Seat Size, Legroom on Planes (NPR)

Cramped cabins, knocked knees, aggrieved elbows: all real problems for today's flyers. But the Federal Aviation Administration has said they aren't its problems — announcing Tuesday that it will not regulate airline seat size and legroom.

Can a 3-year old represent herself in immigration court? This judge thinks so. (Washington Post)

A senior Justice Department official is arguing that 3- and 4-year-olds can learn immigration law well enough to represent themselves in court…Jack H. Weil, a longtime immigration judge who is responsible for training other judges, made the assertion in sworn testimony in a deposition in federal court in Seattle. His comments highlighted the plight of thousands of juveniles who are forced to defend themselves each year in immigration court amid a surge of children from Central America who cross the southwestern U.S. border.

Sessions rescinds DOJ guidance on refugees, asylum seekers' right to work (The Hill)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday rescinded 2011 Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance that dictated refugees and asylum seekers have the right to work in the U.S.

Scott Pruitt steps down as EPA head after ethics, management scandals (Washington Post)

Scott Pruitt, the former Oklahoma attorney general who relentlessly pursued President Trump’s promises of deregulation at the Environmental Protection Agency, resigned Thursday after controversies over his lavish spending, ethical lapses and management decisions eroded the president’s confidence in one of his most ardent Cabinet members.

America’s love for SUVs is killing pedestrians (MSN)

A Detroit Free Press/USA TODAY NETWORK investigation found that the SUV revolution is a key, leading cause of escalating pedestrian deaths nationwide, which are up 46 percent since 2009.  Almost 6,000 pedestrians died on or along U.S. roads in 2016 alone — nearly as many Americans as have died in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002. Data analyses by the Free Press/USA TODAY and others show that SUVs are the constant in the increase and account for a steadily growing proportion of deaths. 

Rachel Maddow was right. There was no plan for reuniting families split at the border (Politifact)

"There isn’t a system," Rachel Maddow said June 21. "There isn’t a database … connecting the parent from whom the kid was separated, and the kid from whom the parent is separated." We wanted to see if this was true. As it turns out, immigration experts, multiple government officials, a Republican-appointed federal judge and countless reports of immigrants struggling to find loved ones all point to the absence of a federal government system for reuniting families separated under Trump’s border policy.

Immigrant children begin appearing in court without lawyers or parents (American Bar Association Journal)

Most immigrants facing deportation wouldn’t climb onto a table during their court hearings. But then again, most 3-year-olds don’t go to court without parents or lawyers…. Court hearings are beginning for the 2,000 or more children who have been separated from their parents under the federal policy of “zero tolerance” for illegal border crossings, the Tribune says. And those notices are highlighting the fact that unaccompanied minors don’t get court-appointed attorneys in immigration court—meaning that most of them won’t have any lawyer at all.

Judge to Detroit Students: We Can’t Force Schools to Actually Teach You Anything (Reason)

A federal judge has made it very clear in a new ruling that the government can force you to send your kids to school, but you can't force the government to actually provide an education there.

Families charged steep fees to transport children from migrant shelters: report (The Hill)

Families are being charged high fees and forced to deal with various bureaucratic hurdles to transport children from migrant shelters, according to a report from The New York Times. .. Sponsorship candidates have to show various documents to prove they are related to the migrants they are looking to transport, and that they are financially capable, according to the Times. The documents include proof of income, rent records and utility bills.  After providing the documents, many families have been burdened with having to pay thousands of dollars in airfare.

The government is refusing to release new stats on kids from separated families (CNN)

How many immigrant families have been reunited since a judge ordered the US government to halt most family separations at the border?  And how many kids from separated immigrant families are still in government custody? We don't know, because officials aren't saying.

Judge to decide on order blocking Puerto Rican evictions (CBS)

Nearly 1,700 Puerto Rican hurricane evacuees living in hotels across the U.S. on Monday were awaiting a federal judge's decision on their next home. A hearing was held on another federal judge's restraining order temporarily blocking their evictions.

Newsroom targeted for shooting had run story on suspect’s harassment conviction (NY Post)

The man who is reportedly suspected of gunning down five people in the Capital Gazette newsroom in Maryland on Thursday had been convicted of harassing a former high school classmate over Facebook, reports and court records show… The article may have sparked Ramos’ feud with the Gazette as he accused it of defamation after its publication.

WORLD

Mission declared possible as Thai soccer team saved from flooded cave (Reuters)

Rescuers freed the last four of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach from deep inside a flooded cave on Tuesday, a successful end to a perilous mission that gripped the world for more than two weeks.

Mexico elects left-leaning populist as president to chart a new course (USA Today)

Mexican voters upended the country's political order Sunday, according to exit polls, by supporting a left-leaning populist as the next president who vows to make changes.

North Korea Reportedly Expanding Ballistic Missile Production Facility (NPR)

North Korea is reportedly expanding a facility to build solid-fuel ballistic missiles — a further sign that despite last month's summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang is pressing ahead with its nuclear programs. The Wall Street Journal, citing satellite imagery, reports that the bulk of the new construction at the facility in the North Korean city of Hamhung took place in April and June, around the time Kim was meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and later with Trump.

Death Toll in Japan Floods Reaches More Than 155, With Dozens Still Missing (NPR)

At least 157 people are dead in western Japan and dozens are still missing after record rainfall that sparked flash floods and mudslides over the weekend, officials said, according to broadcaster NHK.

Incendiary kites, balloons spark over 17 fires in [southern Israel (Jerusalem Post)

Over 17 fires blazed in KKL-JNF-managed land near the Gaza border on Saturday, as a result of incendiary kites and balloons launched into Israel by Palestinians in Gaza.

Mexico Is Suffering Its Bloodiest Year in Modern History. Here's Why (Time)

On average, someone was killed in Mexico every 15 minutes during the month of May, putting the country on track to surpass last year’s grim milestone of 29,168 killings. What is behind the violence?

Deadly heat wave kills 33 across southern Quebec  (BBC)

Thirty-three people have died in a heat wave that has baked the southern part of the Canadian province of Quebec, officials say.

Lions eat 'rhino poachers' on South African game reserve  (BBC)

Rangers discovered the remains of two, possibly three, people in a lion enclosure in the Sibuya reserve…. "They strayed into a pride of lions - it's a big pride so they didn't have too much time,” …. "We're not sure how many there were - there's not much left of them.”/ An anti-poaching team arrived on the scene, where a hunting rifle with silencer, a long axe and wire-cutters - equipment generally used by rhino poachers - were also found.

Who can stop India WhatsApp lynchings? (BBC)

India's government has asked messaging service WhatsApp to act urgently to halt the spread of "irresponsible and explosive messages" on its platform after a spate of deadly attacks... The statement comes amid a spate of mob lynchings that have killed at least 17 people across India in the last three months. Media reports put the number of dead higher.  The violence has been blamed on rumours of child kidnappings, spread over WhatsApp, which have led people to attack strangers.