CLG: Houston Oil Clean-Up on 25th Anniversary of Exxon Valdez Spill, Native Alaskans Still Reeling 25 Years After Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill, et al

News Updates from CLG
25 Mar 2014

http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

Previous edition: Inside the NSA's Secret Efforts to Hunt and Hack System Administrators - Part 2 of Monday's CLG News (which Google relegated to the sp*m bin. Google subscribers: Google Filter Instructions for CLG Newsletter.)

Two Dead in Shooting at U.S. Navy Base 25 Mar 2014 Two people were killed in a shooting at Virginia's Naval Station Norfolk on Monday night, officials said. The world's largest naval base was briefly put on lockdown while U.S. Navy security forces responded to the incident, according to a statement on a Fb page affiliated with the facility. The incident happened at about 11:20 p.m. ET at Pier 1 and no other injuries were reported, the statement said.

MH370 Protests As Airline Chief Defends Search --Scuffles broke out as uniformed security personnel attempted to block relatives from reaching reporters 25 Mar 2014 Malaysia Airlines' chief executive has said he will decide later whether to resign, as Chinese relatives of passengers held angry protests in Beijing. At a news conference at Kuala Lumpur airport, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya was asked whether he would stand down over the airline's handling of the disappearance of MH370... But the news conference came as dozens of angry relatives of Chinese passengers clashed with police at Malaysia's embassy in Beijing. They were shouting slogans including "the Malaysian government are murderers" and "return our relatives". Scuffles broke out as uniformed security personnel attempted to block some of the relatives from reaching reporters, who were being kept in a designated area.

'Liars, tell us the truth!' Hundreds march on Malaysian embassy in Beijing in massive protest over MH370 disaster 25 Mar 2014 Hundreds of angry protesters, many of them family members of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 passengers, marched on the Malaysian embassy in Beijing against what call cover-up and mishandling of the disaster by Malaysian authorities on Tuesday. Beijing authorities had to call in reinforcement of paramilitary soldiers and plainclothes security agents to guard the Malaysian embassy as protesters, some arriving by bus and others on foot, breached police lines set up several streets away. Earlier on Tuesday morning, several hundred family members of the doomed flight's passengers had stormed out of the hotel they were staying at and travelled to the Malaysian embassy in downtown Beijing by bus.

Malaysia Airlines crash: Suicide mission theory of MH370 investigators 24 Mar 2014 Flight MH370 crashed into the Indian Ocean in an apparent suicide mission, well-placed sources revealed have revealed, as Malaysia's prime minister announced that everyone on the missing aircraft had died. The team investigating the Boeing 777's disappearance believe no malfunction or fire was capable of causing the aircraft's unusual flight or the disabling of its communications system before it veered wildly off course on a seven-hour silent flight into the sea. An official source told The Telegraph that investigators believe "this has been a deliberate act by someone on board who had to have had the detailed knowledge to do what was done...Nothing is emerging that points to motive."

Missing flight MH370 lost in southern Indian Ocean, says Malaysian PM 24 Mar 2014 The last desperate hopes of finding survivors in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane ended on Monday with the announcement that it had crashed into the southern Indian Ocean with all lives lost. A statement by the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, concluded an anguished 16-day wait for families of the passengers and crew but brought them no closer to understanding why flight MH370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March. The location of the Boeing-777 also remains unknown despite a massive international hunt. Ten aircraft are combing a huge patch of the southern Indian Ocean, around 2,500km (1,500 miles) south-west of the Australian city of Perth.

Malaysia Plane 'Crashed Into Indian Ocean' 24 Mar 2014 Satellite data has confirmed that Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 crashed into the southern Indian Ocean. The Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak held a news conference today confirming that all those on the flight have been lost. He said satellite data provided by a UK company, Inmarsat, showed the plane's last recorded position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth. "This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites," Mr Razak said.

Japanese military team moves base to Australia 24 Mar 2014 Two Japanese P-3C Orion military aircraft took off from the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base here this morning and will join search and rescue operations in Australia for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. "We will be going to Australia to try and find MH370 ...When we arrive in Australia, we will start to coordinate with the (Royal) Australian Air Force," commanding officer Hidetsugu Iwamasa, 41, told reporters before boarding the aircraft. Hidetsugu is part of the Japan Disaster Relief (JDR) team that was sent to Malaysia following MH370's disappearance.

Flight MH370: Pilot Used 'Emergency and Combat Scenarios' Simulator 23 Mar 2014 Investigators are poring over a state-of-the-art flight simulator built by one of the pilots [Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid] of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in a search for clues about the plane's disappearance. Last week, a state-of-the art-flight simulator was seized from Zaharie's home in Kuala Lumpur, and investigators are examining the X-plane 10 game he played, which would have allowed him to practise flying in a range of circumstances and weather conditions. The software would have allowed him to practise landing at more than 33,000 airports, on aircraft carriers, oil rigs, frigates, which pitch and roll with the waves, and heli-pads atop buildings.

Missing plane fuels security rethink 24 Mar 2014 As the hunt for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 enters a third week, the piecemeal returns from one of the most intense, international searches in living memory have delivered a public and institutional shock that could force a major rethink about aviation security. The fact that a Boeing-777 equipped with state-of-the-art location tracking technology could vanish for so long, is in itself, aviation experts say, shocking enough to compel changes in the way commercial aircraft are electronically monitored. One priority would be to enhance tracking coverage for a plane in an emergency situation that forces it beyond the reach of conventional radar systems.

MAS flight MH066 diverted to Hong Kong due to inoperative generator 24 Mar 2014 Malaysia Airlines (MAS) confirmed that its Flight MH066 from Kuala Lumpur to Incheon, Seoul on Sunday was diverted to Hong Kong due to an inoperative aircraft generator. MAS media relations manager Kharunnisak Dzun Nurin said in a statement on Monday that the Airbus A330-300 aircraft landed in Hong Kong "uneventfully". Electrical power continued to be supplied by the auxiliary power unit, she said.

Obama to Call for N.S.A.'s Data Retention to Shift to Phone Companies 25 Mar 2014 The Obama administration is preparing to unveil a legislative proposal for a far-reaching 'overhaul' of the National Security Agency's once-secret bulk phone records program in a way that -- if approved by Congress -- would end the aspect that has most alarmed privacy advocates since its existence was leaked last year, according to senior administration officials. Under the proposal, they said, N.S.A. would end its systematic collection of data about Americans' calling habits. The records would stay in the hands of phone companies, which would not be required to retain the data for any longer than they normally would. And the N.S.A. could obtain specific records only with permission from a judge, using a new kind of court order.

Crimea flag added to line-up at Russian parliament 24 Mar 2014 The flags of Crimea and Sevastopol have been added to a line of Russian regional flags at parliament in Moscow. The ceremony at the hall of the Federation Council marks the end of a series of celebrations following the region's accession to Russia.

U.S., six other Western nations vote to kick Russia out of G8 24 Mar 2014 The United States and six other Western nations voted Monday to kick Russia out of the G8 in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea, a White House statement said. President Barack Obama and other world leaders will discuss ending Russia's role in the group of leading industrialized nations, a senior White House official said Monday. The move to suspend Russia's membership in the G8 would be the latest direct response from major countries allied against its annexation reunification of Crimea.

'Revival of anarchy': Ukraine radicals rob Russia-Moldova train passengers --Moscow also said it was 'bewildered' by the refusal of the Ukrainian police to take any action when the victims attempted to file a report. 24 Mar 2014 The recent robbing of passengers, traveling from Russia to Moldova via Ukraine's territory, by a local ultra-nationalist Insurgent Army is a manifestation of "anarchy," the Russian Foreign Ministry has said. On March 21, the train, en route from Moscow to the capital of Moldova, Chisinau, made a scheduled stop in the city of Vinnitsa in central Ukraine. "To the horror of passengers...people dressed in the uniform of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) got into carriages and began a 'document check'. People who showed Russian passports were then made to hand over their m-ney and golden jewelry," the Russian Ministry said on Monday in a statement published on its website.

66 killed in attacks across Iraq 24 Mar 2014 A total of 66 people were killed in violent attacks and battles between insurgents and Iraqi security forces in the provinces of Anbar and Diyala, security sources said. In Iraq's western province of Anbar, an Iraqi commando force fought fierce clash with gunmen in al-Sijar area in the northern part of the militant-seized city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving 33 militants killed, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Egypt's Mass Death Sentencing of 529 People Stirs Global Outrage 24 Mar 2014 With the abrupt sentencing of 529 defendants to death after a one-day mass trial that allowed no genuine defense, Egypt's state institutions appear to be taking their cues from the terrorists they claim to be targeting. The order Monday by a judge in Upper Egypt brought condemnation from rights groups and foreign observers in terms familiar to the aftermath of a car bomb -- "indiscriminate," "mass killing," "grotesque," "disaster" "exterminationist." Legal experts scrambled to find an instance in modern history where more executions were ordered in a single go, and came up empty.

Argentineans hold protest, slam US meddling in Venezuela 24 Mar 2014 Argentinean people have staged a protest rally in the capital, Buenos Aires, to condemn United States interference in Venezuela's domestic affairs. The demonstrators gathered outside the US Embassy in the Argentinean capital, criticizing Washington for plotting a[nother] coup d’état against the Venezuelan government. The protesters also demanded an end to US meddling in the Latin American country's internal affairs.

Chris Christie-ordered review of bridge scandal to clear Christie [LOL!] 24 Mar 2014 A forthcoming internal review of the George Washington Bridge scandal is expected to clear Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., of any involvement in planning or executing the closure of the access lanes in Fort Lee, N.J., last September, according to the New York Times. Christie commissioned the internal review from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, a firm that has close ties to his administration, which will certainly subject the report to heightened public scrutiny. According to the Times, the lawyers were not able to interview three key figures in the scandal including Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff who appeared to set off the lane closures with a message that said, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee"; David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official who received the message; and Bill Stepien, Christie's former aide and campaign manager.

Washington state mudslide death toll climbs to 14 with up to 176 missing 24 Mar 2014 The death toll from a devastating weekend mudslide in Washington state climbed to 14 people on Monday as six more bodies were found, while the number reported missing continued to swell two days after the tragedy, authorities said. As many as 176 people were reported missing in the massive landslide, and local emergency management officials expressed doubt anyone else would be plucked alive from the muck that engulfed dozens of homes when a rain-soaked hillside near Oso, Washington, collapsed on Saturday morning.

Houston Oil Clean-Up on 25th Anniversary of Exxon Valdez Spill 24 Mar 2014 On this 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the busy Houston Ship Channel was partially closed because of the weekend spill of nearly 170,000 gallons of tar-like crude. The Coast Guard says barge carrying about 900,000 gallons collided with a ship, spilling about a fifth of its liquid cargo. The channel is one of the world’s busiest waterways for moving petrochemicals. As many as 60 vessels are backed up, either trying to get in or out. Shipping is being allowed to move today on a case-by-by-case basis. Oil was spotted 12 miles off shore in an area that is major habitat for tens of thousands of wintering shorebirds. Environmental groups say the spill occurred at a sensitive time of year.

Native Alaskans Still Reeling 25 Years After Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill 24 Mar 2014 Twenty-five years ago today, an Exxon tanker carrying 53 million gallons of oil through a channel in Alaska’s Prince William Sound struck a reef and spilled about 11 million gallons of crude oil into the environment. The oil spill killed thousands of animals in the pristine environment, devastated the salmon and herring fisheries and profoundly affected the way of life for native Alaskans in the area.

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