TODAY'S TALKING POINTS 10-07-15

TODAY'S  TALKING POINTS The U.S. said bombing a Doctors Without Borders hospital was “a mistake.” The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, said the airstrike was requested by Afghan forces, but it was most definitely a U.S. decision. “We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility,” he said, adding the U.S. was already investigating the attack. But Doctors Without Borders wants an independent probe to look into violations of humanitarian law. The Syrian refugee crisis just got a Kickstarter. The number of Syrian refugees seeking a new home has already hit a record high, and 3 million more could flee their war-torn homeland. But Kickstarter teamed up with the White House to launch a weeklong fundraising push to give the crisis a much-needed financial boost. The money will be used for food, water, clothing, foster care and other essentials. The European Union has a new plan to crack down on human traffickers headed to Europe: sending naval ships to "board, seize and divert" refugee boats to prevent more deaths at sea. The operation is named Sophia after a baby born on an EU rescue ship. U.S. companies are hoarding more cash overseas than the GDP of India. The Public Interest Research Group and Citizens for Tax Justice discovered that huge companies like Apple, Microsoft and General Electric have stashed $2.1 trillion with one goal in mind: tax evasion. A chunk of money that size would generate about $620 billion in taxes if it were repatriated to the U.S. That’s enough money to wipe out the nation’s federal budget deficit, and then some. A new study proved that humans are a bigger threat to wildlife than Chernobyl. The 1986 nuclear accident in Ukraine produced 100 times more radiation than the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but scientists found that local animals are thriving. The number of wild animals in the area is likely even higher since the disaster than it was when humans occupied the land. The Justice Department is about to free 6,000 prisoners. The largest one-time release of federal prisoners ever is an attempt to reduce overcrowding and give some relief to drug offenders who got intense sentences. This is another step toward addressing mass incarceration as the nation's views about the criminal justice system change.