CLG: Overdraft fees top $2.5B for U.S. banks in first three months of year, In Sworn Statement, Ex-Official Says Chris Christie Broke Grand Jury Law, Marco Rubio and His Wife Cited 17 Times for Traffic Infractions,

News Updates from CLG
08 June 2015

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

 

Previous edition: N.S.A. Secretly Expands Internet Spying at U.S. Border, Hunting for Hackers --which Yahoo (and NYU) relegated to the sp*m bin.

 

US nuclear missiles could be sited again on British soil in new 'Cold War' with Russia --The Pentagon is reportedly considering axing a Cold War-era treaty and deploying nuclear-capable missiles in Europe | 07 June 2015 | The UK could site American new nuclear missiles on British soil amid heightened [Western-generated] tensions with Russia, Philip Hammond has indicated. The comments raise the prospect of a return to a Cold War-type arms race with Russia over the use of nuclear missiles. The Foreign Secretary said there were "worrying signs" about the increased activity of Russian forces [?] and the UK would consider the pros and cons of taking US intermediate-range weapons.

 

Moscow 'closely looks' into reported US plans to return medium-range missiles to Europe | 05 June 2015 | The Pentagon is considering scrapping a Cold War-era treaty and deploying nuclear-capable intermediate-range cruise missiles in Europe over Moscow's alleged treaty violations, AP reported. The Kremlin says it is looking closely into the report. The US administration is mulling deploying medium-range missiles in Europe and Asia that would be potentially capable of destroying military targets within Russian territory, the Associated Press reports. The news agency is citing an unclassified portion of a report written by the office of General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

 

U.S. quietly starts channeling arms from $1.6 billion fund to Iraq | 05 June 2015 | The United States has quietly started delivering promised arms for Iraqi soldiers from a 1.6 billion fund approved by Congress last year, officials said...The Pentagon said long-awaited equipment from the Iraq Train and Equip Fund (ITEF) started being fielded about two weeks ago and was moving as fast as possible. Officials noted extensive, previous arms transfers under different U.S. authorities. The first U.S. material provided to Iraqi forces under ITEF outfitted an Iraqi army brigade with rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, protective masks and other gear. And more arms were on the way, Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith said. [Does anyone else see what's happening here? I-CIA-SIS was created so the open money pit for US contractors supplying Iraq with arms and bogus 'training' programs can continue until the end of time. --LRP]

125 extra UK military trainers to be sent to Iraq | 07 June 2015 | The UK is to send an extra 125 military trainers to Iraq to help in the battle against Islamic State, the PM has said. David Cameron made the announcement at the G7 in Bavaria, ahead of a meeting with the Iraqi leader on Monday. Mr Cameron said that I[CIA-I]S terror activity was "the biggest threat" G7 leaders had to address. The latest pledge will take the number of UK personnel training Iraqi security forces to more than 275, but No 10 dismissed claims of "mission creep." 

US-led coalition 'against ISIS': Warplanes 'mistakenly' strike Iraqi army bases in Fallujah, kill Iraqi soldiers --The US has repeatedly struck the popular forces' positions in different parts of Iraq. | 06 June 2015 | Fighter jets of the US-led coalition against ISIL once again struck the Iraqi forces' positions in the province of Anbar, in Western Iraq, on Saturday. The US-led coalition warplanes hit the bases of Iraqi army's Hezbollah battalions in Fallujah in Anbar province, killing 6 soldiers and injuring 8 others. In early May, the anti-ISIL coalition forces struck the position of Iraq's popular forces near Baghdad, killing a number of volunteer forces. The US-led coalition warplanes hit an arms production workshop of the popular forces near the Iraqi capital, destroying the workshop and its ammunition completely. Two members of Iraq's popular forces were killed in the attack. [See also: Iraq Pilots 'Mistakenly' Gave Food, Ammunition to ISIS Fighters 30 Sept 2014.] 

The Saudis are ready to go nuclear --The kingdom's ambassador to London tells the Telegraph that 'all options are on the table' if talks fail to keep Iran in check | 08 June 2015 | In the past two years, Saudi Arabia has beaten Britain into fourth place in the world's military spending league with a defence budget of around 37 billion pounds (compared with the UK at around 34 billion pounds). The military offensive in Yemen has seen Saudi Arabia [war criminals, terrorists, and sociopaths] deploy an estimated 150,000 troops -- nearly twice the size of the British Army -- while Saudi fighter jets, many of them British-made, have flown thousands of sorties. Now the Saudis have raised the alarming prospect of the Middle East becoming embroiled in a nuclear arms race after the country's blunt warning that "all options are on the table" if Iran fails to resolve the international stand-off over its nuclear programme.

US Congress blocks lifting of Cuba travel ban | 05 June 2015 | House Republicans voted on Thursday to keep restrictions on Americans seeking to travel to Cuba, a setback to Obama administration efforts to ease the five-decade Cold War standoff. The Republican-controlled chamber voted 247-176 to keep a Cuba-related provision in a transportation funding bill. The provision would block new rules issued in January that would significantly ease travel restrictions to Cuba and allow regularly scheduled flights for the first time.

 

MoD sought sensitive children's data for possible recruitment drive | 06 June 2015 | The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) has been blocked from accessing highly sensitive data on school students, including how rich their parents are and their academic record, which they sought to better inform them of military career opportunities. The MoD made a request to the National Pupil Database (NPD) last year, according to the magazine Schools Week. The information the MoD was trying to get hold of is not easy to access; it is labeled Tier 1 and includes school children's most personal details.

 

Thousands protest G7 summit in southern Germany | 06 June 2015 | Thousands of demonstrators packed a German Alpine resort town on Saturday to protest a wide range of causes, from climate change to free trade corporate slavery, before the arrival of the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies for a two-day summit. Though the demonstration in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was largely peaceful, a small group of protesters clashed with police as they marched through the town, charging at officers who responded with pepper spray. At least two protesters had to be taken away by medics for treatment.

 

Sixth Person Dies of MERS Virus in South Korea | 08 June 2015 | South Korea on Monday reported its sixth death from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome as authorities were bolstering measures to stem the spread of the virus that has left dozens of people infected. A total of 87 people in South Korea have been infected by MERS since last month in the largest outbreak outside the Middle East. About 1,870 schools have closed and more than 2,000 people are isolated at their homes or state-run facilities after having contact with patients infected with the virus.

 

FBI aware of multiple potential victims in Hastert case | 05 June 2015 | CBS News has learned that during the investigation into Dennis Hastert, the FBI became aware of as many as two, maybe three, potential victims alleging sexual misconduct by the House speaker. Hastert last month was indicted and charged with violating federal banking laws and lying to FBI investigators. According to the indictment, Hastert agreed to pay 3.5 million in 2010 to a person identified only as "Individual A," in an effort to "compensate and conceal" Hastert's "prior misconduct." "Individual A" is one of the alleged victims the FBI may have interviewed, according to the source.

 

Marco Rubio and His Wife Cited 17 Times for Traffic Infractions | 05 June 2015 | Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has been in a hurry to get to the top, rising from state legislator to United States senator in the span of a decade and now running for president at age 44...He and his wife, Jeanette, have also shown a tendency to be in a rush on the road. According to a search of the Miami-Dade and Duval County court dockets, the Rubios have been cited for numerous infractions over the years for incidents that included speeding, driving through red lights and careless driving. A review of records dating back to 1997 shows that the couple had a combined 17 citations: Mr. Rubio with four and his wife with 13.

 

In Sworn Statement, Ex-Official Says Chris Christie Broke Grand Jury Law | 07 June 2015 | The players at the center of the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal are not finished causing headaches for Gov. Chris Christie. The latest indication comes in a sworn statement by David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official and the admitted mastermind of the access-lane closings, that describes Mr. Christie breaking the law as he exercised a heavy hand over state politics from the front office. Mr. Wildstein's statement, in a civil case separate from the federal prosecution in the bridge case, offers the first insider confirmation of a long-rumored tale of New Jersey political corruption, and places Mr. Christie at the center of it. It also portrays the governor, a former United States attorney, casually revealing information about a grand jury proceeding he had overseen, which violates federal law.

 

Overdraft fees top $2.5B for U.S. banks in first three months of year | 27 May 2015 | America's three biggest banks -- JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo -- made more than 1.1 billion on overdraft fees in the first three months of the year. If the fee collection pace keeps up, the big three banks are on track bring in 4.5 billion in overdraft charges by the end of this year...In all, the nearly 600 U.S. banks that had to disclose their overdraft fees made just over 2.5 billion from consumers who overdrew their accounts in January, February or March.

 

Hurricane Blanca: thousands of troops on alert as storm nears Mexico coast --Hurricane reached 'strengthened suddenly' [?!?] to category four status on Saturday | 06 June 2015 | Thousands of troops were put on alert on Saturday and businesses boarded up their windows as hurricane Blanca travelled toward Mexico's Baja California Peninsula as a powerful category three storm. The unpredictable Blanca, which strengthened suddenly from a category one to a category four storm on Saturday before weakening slightly, is expected to make landfall as a tropical storm on Monday. But authorities said its outer bands could start hitting the southern Baja California Peninsula as a hurricane on Sunday.

 

Man Calls 911 to Resolve 3-Hour Standoff With Angry House Cat | 05 June 2015 | A Stamford, Connecticut, man called 911 this week for help as a standoff with his house cat entered its third hour, leaving him stuck outside the house. Audio of the 911 call, placed at around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, makes it clear the man wasn't kitten around, either. "My cat was getting too aggressive," Mohammed Lokman can be heard telling the 911 operator. Police told News12 that the 7.5-pound feline had given birth the night before and that she apparently became aggressive when the man left the house and then attempted to return. 

 

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