ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

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March 18, 2024 (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.

WORLD

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

U.S.

US makes its first Gaza aid airdrop as mediators to seek truce deal(Reuters)

The United States on Saturday carried out the first of what it said would be a series of humanitarian airdrops of food into Gaza, as aid agencies warned of a growing humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian enclave in the absence of a ceasefire deal. Three C-130 U.S. military planes delivered more than 38,000 meals into a territory where the United Nations says at least 576,000 people are one step away from famine conditions.

Trump warns of “bloodbath” if he isn’t reelected (PBS)

... If I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” he warned, while talking about the impact of offshoring on the country’s auto industry and his plans to increase tariffs on foreign-made cars. Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer accused Trump of doubling “down on his threats of political violence.” “He wants another January 6...”

Republicans’ Star Informant Against Hunter Biden Was Just Arrested by the FBI (Slate)

On Thursday, the Justice Department announced charges against an FBI informant with inventing the claims that the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had hired Hunter Biden as a way of channeling bribes to Joe Biden.

Ex-FBI source charged with Biden lies is tied to Russian intelligence, prosecutors say (NPR)

The former FBI informant charged with fabricating claims about a bribery scheme involving Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company has "extensive" contacts with Russian intelligence agencies, according to the Justice Department. Federal prosecutors also say in a new court filing that Alexander Smirnov admitted to authorities after he was arrested that "officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story" about President Biden's son, Hunter Biden. Smirnov, a longtime FBI informant, was arrested last week and charged with making false statements and creating a false and fictitious record.

Power lines ignited the largest wildfire in Texas history, officials say  (AP)

Power lines ignited massive wildfires across the Texas Panhandle that destroyed homes and killed thousands of livestock, officials said Thursday, including the largest blaze in state history that the utility provider Xcel Energy said its equipment appeared to have sparked. …. 

Alabama court ruled frozen embryos are children. Experts explain potential impacts to IVF treatment. (CBS News)

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, are considered children under state law and are therefore subject to legislation dealing with the wrongful death of a minor if one is destroyed.

Can Trump pay? What if he doesn’t? Here’s what to know about Trump’s massive civil judgments. (Politico)

He’s now on the hook for nearly a half-billion dollars across three civil cases. These are the rules for when and how he must pay.

George Soros’ fund set to become largest shareholder in radio giant Audacy (Market Watch)

Radio and podcasting giant Audacy Inc. has received court approval to emerge from bankruptcy, with George Soros’ investment fund on track to become the company’s largest stakeholder.

Hard hit by the US opioid crisis, Oregon reconsiders decriminalization (Reuters)

It's a common sight on the streets of downtown Portland, Oregon: people…crouched over torch lighters held up to sheets of tinfoil or meth pipes…. Oregonians in 2020 passed a ballot measure decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs and funneling hundreds of millions of dollars in cannabis taxes to addiction recovery services…. Drug overdose deaths increased by a third in Oregon from 2019 to 2020, and another 44% in 2021….

Supreme Court stalls Trump’s federal election trial while weighing his immunity bid (Politico)

Donald Trump’s federal trial for seeking to subvert the 2020 election is likely to remain on hold for several more months while the Supreme Court takes up his argument that he is immune from prosecution for actions he took while president.

DOJ says it has foiled 4 state-sponsored murder attempts since 2022 (NPR)

…in the past few years, there have been assassination plots aplenty in the U.S. In just the past 18 months, the Justice Department says it has foiled four of them on American soil.

Boeing whistleblower is found dead in South Carolina  (NPR)

Police in Charleston, S.C., are investigating the death of John Barnett, a former Boeing quality control manager who became a whistleblower when he went public with his concerns about serious safety issues in the company's commercial airplanes.  Barnett's body was found in a vehicle in a Holiday Inn parking lot in Charleston on Saturday... .Barnett was in the middle of giving deposition testimony in his whistleblower retaliation case against Boeing when he died.

Lahaina community tries new solution to keep homes affordable after wildfire (NPR)

…some community members are working on a way to buy properties so they can remain affordable and available to local residents. It's a nonprofit community land trust, modeled after ones used around the country for affordable housing. Land trusts purchase properties and then sell or rent the houses. When the homes are for purchase, the trust keeps ownership of the land they're built on, so the overall sale price is less than comparable homes.

WORLD

Evacuation flights for U.S. citizens begin as Haiti deteriorates (BBC)

Dozens of US citizens fled the chaos and violence of Haiti this weekend, arriving on a government-chartered plane in Miami on Sunday. The flight came a week after Washington airlifted non-essential staff from the capital, Port-au-Prince, parts of which have been overrun by gangs.  As gunfire and threats of starvation rock Haiti, the State Department is working to help other Americans leave...

Putin warns West of risk of nuclear war, says Moscow can strike Western targets (Reuters)

President Vladimir Putin told Western countries on Thursday they risked provoking a nuclear war if they sent troops to fight in Ukraine, warning that Moscow had the weapons to strike targets in the West.  "(Western nations) must realise that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory. All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilisation. Don't they get that?" said Putin.

One of the world’s biggest cities may be just months away from running out of water (CNN)

... Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 22 million people and one of the world’s biggest cities, is facing a severe water crisis as a tangle of problems — including geography, chaotic urban development and leaky infrastructure — are compounded by the impacts of climate change.  Years of abnormally low rainfall, longer dry periods and high temperatures have added stress to a water system already straining to cope with increased demand. Authorities have been forced to introduce significant restrictions on the water pumped from reservoirs.

Mexicans turn out in droves to 'protect democracy' ahead of elections (Reuters)

Huge crowds filled Mexico City's main square on Sunday in support of the nation's electoral authority, accusing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of trying to weaken the body ahead of a presidential election in June.  The protests, one of several in recent years meant to "protect" the National Electoral Institute (INE), come after Lopez Obrador sent a sweeping package of constitutional reforms to Congress, which would include an overhaul of the INE.

Haiti judge charges widow, ex-PM over president's assassination (Reuters)

A Haitian judge in charge of the investigation into the 2021 assassination of the Caribbean nation's last president has charged some fifty people, including his widow and a former prime minister, according to a document leaked to local media.

Ukraine needs more than a billion dollars to rebuild its scientific infrastructure, UN agency says (AP)

More than 1,443 scientific facilities, many attached to the country’s universities, have been damaged or destroyed along with 750 pieces of vital technical equipment, most of which is beyond repair, UNESCO said in a report released Monday... Before the war, Ukraine was internationally known for significant contributions in computer science, nuclear physics and astronomy, among other areas….  Since the start of the war, some 10,429 scientists working in the public research sector have been internally displaced or exiled.

Navalny aide Volkov attacked with hammer in Lithuania (Reuters)

Late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's long-time aide Leonid Volkov was assaulted with a hammer in the Lithuanian capitol Vilnius on Tuesday, former Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said. / "Volkov has just been attacked outside his house. Someone broke a car window and sprayed tear gas in his eyes, after which the attacker started hitting Leonid with a hammer," she wrote on social media website X…. / A large part of Navalny's political group, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which includes Volkov, are residing in European Union and NATO member Lithuania after fleeing Russia.

Al-Qaida's Yemen branch says leader Khalid al-Batarfi dead in unclear circumstances   (AP)

The leader of Yemen’s branch of al-Qaida is dead, the militant group announced late Sunday, without giving details….  In the announcement, the group said Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki would take over as its leader. The U.S. has a $6 million bounty on him, saying al-Awlaki “has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies.” The Yemen branch of al-Qaida has been seen by Washington as the terror network’s most dangerous branch….

Poland's president calls on NATO allies to raise spending on defense to 3% of GDP  (AP)

Poland’s president on Monday called on other members of the NATO alliance to raise their spending on defense to 3% of their gross domestic product as Russia puts its economy on a war footing and pushes forward with its invasion of Ukraine….  “The Russian Federation has switched its economy to war mode. It is allocating close to 30 percent of its annual budget to arm itself,” Duda argued. “This figure and other data coming out of Russia are alarming. Vladimir Putin’s regime poses the biggest threat to global peace since the end of the Cold War.”

More than 100 killed while seeking aid in Gaza, overall death toll passes 30,000 (Reuters)

Gaza health authorities said Israeli forces on Thursday shot dead more than 100 Palestinians as they waited for an aid delivery, but Israel blamed the deaths on crowds that surrounded aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over.

Israeli report says Hamas sexual violence 'systematic and intentional' (BBC)

The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel says it has gathered evidence Hamas gunmen "systematically and intentionally" committed sexual crimes during the 7 October attacks.  A report by the umbrella organisation describes "identical patterns" of sexual violence at multiple locations. These allegedly included violent rapes of women conducted "collectively" or "in front of an audience"….The report also warns that information from released hostages suggests abuse has continued in captivity...

 

 



 

 


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