ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL NEWS

June 22, 2023 (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 a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

General news

• Supreme Court rules against Navajo Nation in water supply case (CNN)
• Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court (Pro Publica)
• Missing Titanic sub crew believed to be dead after 'catastrophic implosion' (CNN)
• Supreme Court strikes down Alabama congressional map in voting rights dispute(NBC)
• Lab-grown chicken can now be grown in the U.S. (Time)

Political news

• House votes along party lines to censure Rep. Adam Schiff  (NPR)
• Texas Democrat unveils bipartisan immigration plan with path to citizenship, border security spending (Texas Tribune)
• Trump vows to stay in the race even if convicted (Politico)
• Trump’s Former Defense Secretary Believes He Is a Threat to National Security (Rolling Stone)
• Trump lacked power to declassify secret nuclear arms document, experts say  (MSN)
• Senate GOP leaders break with House on Trump indictment (The Hill)
• The GOP ‘bribery’ allegations against Biden remain transparently thin (Washington Post)

WORLD

• Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment   (Pro Publica)
• Russia had means, motive and opportunity to destroy Ukraine dam, drone photos and information show  (AP)
• Russia rejects U.N. help as death toll from breached Kakhovka dam rises  (MSN)
• Mexico president's ruling party rolls to win in country's most populous state (AP)
• ‘Miracle, miracle’: lone children survive 40 days in Amazon jungle (Guardian)
• Boris Johnson Resigns From Parliament (New York Times)
• Mexico's president states willingness to negotiate peace deals with cartels  (NPR)
• Biden calls for immediate repeal of Uganda’s anti-gay law (Politico)
• Hundreds of scientists protest the Indian government's changes made to textbooks  (NPR)
• Brazil's Bolsonaro faces trial over voting claims that could bar him from office  (NPR)
• Chinese ex-official's wife says alleged repatriation pressure turned her life in US 'upside-down'  (AP)
• How US-made sniper ammunition ends up in Russian rifles (Politico)

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

U.S.

General news

Supreme Court rules against Navajo Nation in water supply case (CNN)

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against the Navajo Nation, dismissing a lawsuit arguing that the federal government has the legal duty under treaties signed in the 1800s to develop a plan to provide the tribe with an adequate water supply. The ruling was 5-4 against the Navajos with Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivering the opinion of the court. Justice Neil Gorsuch, filed a dissenting opinion joined by the court’s liberal justices. The suit pitted the Navajo Nation against the US government as well as a handful of western states that are concerned about water allocation.

Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court (Pro Publica)

In early July 2008, Samuel Alito stood on a riverbank in a remote corner of Alaska. The Supreme Court justice was on vacation at a luxury fishing lodge that charged more than $1,000 a day,..To his left, a man stood beaming: Paul Singer, a hedge fund billionaire who has repeatedly asked the Supreme Court to rule in his favor in high-stakes business disputes. Singer was more than a fellow angler. He flew Alito to Alaska on a private jet. If the justice chartered the plane himself, the cost could have exceeded $100,000 one way.

Missing Titanic sub crew believed to be dead after 'catastrophic implosion' (CNN)

The Titanic-bound submersible that went missing on Sunday with five people on board suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” killing everyone on board, US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said Thursday. A remotely operated vehicle found the tail cone of the Titan about 1,600 feet away from the bow of the shipwreck, Mauger said.

Supreme Court strikes down Alabama congressional map in voting rights dispute(NBC)

The justices threw out Republican-drawn congressional districts that a lower court said discriminated against Black voters.

Lab-grown chicken can now be grown in the U.S. (Time)

In an historic milestone that will irrevocably change the landscape of food, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has authorized the sale of cell-cultivated chicken—chicken grown from stem cells in a bioreactor—from two Bay Area-based food technology companies, Good Meat and Upside Foods. The approval…clears the way for the production and marketing of an entirely new food category in the United States, and is likely to herald a sea change in how consumers and the industry think about meat.

Political news

House votes along party lines to censure Rep. Adam Schiff  (NPR)

The House of Representatives has voted to censure Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff for his past actions while chair of the House Intelligence Committee in leading investigations into then-President Donald Trump…. "I led the first impeachment of Donald Trump, for one of the most egregious presidential abuses of power in our history, and I led a trial which resulted in the first bipartisan vote to remove a president in history," Schiff said. "I would do so again. I warned that if Trump was not held accountable, he would go on to try to cheat in even worse ways in the next election, and he did, inciting a violent attack on this very Capitol.”

Texas Democrat unveils bipartisan immigration plan with path to citizenship, border security spending (Texas Tribune)

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar’s legislation, dubbed the Dignity Act in partnership with a Florida Republican, also seeks to change asylum processes.

Trump vows to stay in the race even if convicted (Politico)

Donald Trump vowed Saturday to continue running for president even if he were to be convicted as part of the 37-count federal felony indictment that was issued against him this week.

Trump’s Former Defense Secretary Believes He Is a Threat to National Security (Rolling Stone)

Mark Esper said the former president's mishandling of classified information was "unauthorized, illegal and dangerous"

Trump lacked power to declassify secret nuclear arms document, experts say  (MSN)

The secret document, listed as No. 19 in the indictment charging Trump with endangering national security, can under the Atomic Energy Act only be declassified through a process that by the statute involves the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

Senate GOP leaders break with House on Trump indictment (The Hill)

Senate Republican leaders, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), are staying quiet about former President Trump’s indictment on 37 criminal charges, letting him twist in the wind and breaking with House Republican leaders who have rushed to Trump’s defense.  McConnell… has said to his GOP colleagues that he wants his party to turn the page on the former president, whom he sees as a flawed general election candidate…

The GOP ‘bribery’ allegations against Biden remain transparently thin (Washington Post)

The news release went out on May 3 from the Republican majority on the House Oversight Committee. “Information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national,” it alleged… Republicans are hyping a secondhand allegation from a single source — an allegation that was in the hands of Attorney General William P. Barr’s Justice Department in mid-2020 (under Trump) without leading to criminal charges…

WORLD

Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment   (Pro Publica)

As conditions that best support life shift toward the poles, more than 600 million people are already living outside of a crucial “climate niche,” facing more extreme heat, rising food scarcity and higher death rates.

Russia had means, motive and opportunity to destroy Ukraine dam, drone photos and information show  (AP)

Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to bring down a Ukrainian dam that collapsed earlier this month while under Russian control, according to exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press.

Russia rejects U.N. help as death toll from breached Kakhovka dam rises  (MSN)

Moscow declined United Nations offers to help residents affected by the flooding from the breached Kakhovka Dam, the world body said on Sunday, as the death toll rose and filthy water has forced the closing of beaches in southern Ukraine.

Mexico president's ruling party rolls to win in country's most populous state (AP)

The ruling party of Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the governorship of the country’s most populous state, dealing a life-threatening blow to the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party — or PRI — which had governed the State of Mexico without interruption for nearly a century.

‘Miracle, miracle’: lone children survive 40 days in Amazon jungle (Guardian)

The four Indigenous children were the only survivors of a plane crash that killed their mother.

Boris Johnson Resigns From Parliament (New York Times)

The former prime minister quit after getting a confidential report about whether he had lied to lawmakers about lockdown-breaking parties.

Mexico's president states willingness to negotiate peace deals with cartels  (NPR)

NPR's A Martinez talks to Falko Ernst of the International Crisis Group about the likelihood of Mexico's government reaching a peace deal with the country's drug cartels.

Biden calls for immediate repeal of Uganda’s anti-gay law (Politico)

“The enactment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is a tragic violation of universal human rights,” the president said, while suggesting possible sanctions.

Hundreds of scientists protest the Indian government's changes made to textbooks  (NPR)

Hundreds of scientists in India have expressed concern over the removal of topics like the theory of evolution and the periodic table from 10th-grade textbooks. The latest omission is one in a series of changes made this year, including in history textbooks. Critics say that it's part of the ruling BJP government's agenda to replace Western scientific concepts with traditional Hindu theories.

Brazil's Bolsonaro faces trial over voting claims that could bar him from office  (NPR)

Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro goes on trial Thursday, facing charges that he spread false information about Brazil's election system just months before he lost his reelection bid last October. He's also facing allegations that he abused his power to spread the misstatements…. The sentence for such crimes is a ban on running for office for eight years.

Chinese ex-official's wife says alleged repatriation pressure turned her life in US 'upside-down'  (AP)

Prosecutors say the defendants and others subjected the [New Jersey] couple, their adult daughter and various relatives to a spate of intimidating overtures at Beijing’s behest, as part of a repatriation initiative called “Operation Fox Hunt.”… China describes “Operation Fox Hunt” as a plan to pursue and repatriate nationals Beijing considers fugitives. Those on the wanted list also include people at political or cultural odds with China’s ruling Communist Party.

How US-made sniper ammunition ends up in Russian rifles (Politico)

A Politico investigation finds that Russian companies have declared hundreds of thousands of rounds obtained from Western suppliers.