News Updates from CLG
23 December 2015
23 December 2015
http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
Previous edition: Footage shows Israeli commandos rescuing wounded ISIS fighters from Syrian warzone
Moscow to consider countermeasures after US extends anti-Russia sanctions | 22 Dec 2015 | Moscow says it will consider countermeasures after the US announced an updated sanctions list targeting 34 individuals and entities in order to "pressure Russia" over the Ukraine crisis. The Kremlin, in turn, said it will analyze Washington's decision and may develop countermeasures. The sanctions imposed on Tuesday are "a continuation of this unfriendly stance towards Russia, a continuation of the stance which has a devastating impact on bilateral relations," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Six U.S. troops killed, three wounded outside American airbase by suicide bomber on a motorcycle --The Taliban, which has been waging an insurgency against the U.S.-backed Afghan government, claimed responsibility in an email to AP. | 21 Dec 2015 | Six American service members were killed Monday in a suicide bombing during a meeting near a U.S. base north of Kabul, in the largest U.S. loss of life from an attack this year, according to two senior Defense officials. The meeting was targeted by a motorcyclist carrying a bomb. In addition to the servicemembers killed, three were injured, according to NATO command headquarters in Afghanistan. The attack occurred outside a sprawling U.S. airbase in Bagram, located 34 miles north of Kabul.
30 Iraqi Soldiers Killed, 20 Injured in US Air Force Strike in Fallujah | 18 Dec 2015 | At least 30 Iraqi soldiers were killed and 20 others injured in US air strike, Hakim al-Zamili, the head of Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Committee said. "Thirty soldiers from the Iraqi Army's 55 brigade were killed and 20 were injured in a US airstrike on the town of al-Naimiya in the al-Fallujah in Anbar province," al-Zamili's statement obtained by Sputnik reads. The politician stated that he demanded "the [Iraqi] prime minister to conduct an investigation into the airstrike against the 55 brigade, which had previously had huge success in the fight against Daesh terrorists."
French defense chief to ask Russia to step up anti-ISIS ops | 21 Dec 2015 | Ahead of his visit to Moscow on Monday, the French defense minister told journalists Paris would ask Russia to increase its action against Islamic State, and would offer intelligence sharing and plans for a joint vision on combating terrorist groups in Syria. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian heads for Moscow this Monday in pursuit of enhanced collaboration between France and Russia to combat Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) [but still I-CIA-SIS] on Syrian soil. His main goal is to ask Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to increase strikes against IS, according to AFP.
Secret Service Agent's Sig Sauer, USB drive, and Badge Stolen From Car in Downtown DC | 22 Dec 2015 | A Secret Service agent had his gun, portable radio, badge and other items stolen from his personal vehicle in downtown Washington, police said. According to a District of Columbia police report, the theft occurred shortly before 4 p.m. Monday outside a downtown office building, less than a block from the agency's headquarters. The agent parked his car and returned a few minutes later to find a window open and a bag missing, the report said. The bag contained his service weapon, a Sig Sauer handgun, the report said. It also included a radio, his Secret Service badge, a USB drive and handcuffs.
Minnesota Man Facing Terrorism Charge Once Worked at Airport | 22 Dec 2015 | A Minnesota man who faces terrorism-related charges once boasted that he was capable of building rockets that could threaten planes landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and also once worked at the airport as a baggage handler, an FBI agent testified Tuesday. FBI Special Agent Daniel Higgins spoke at a hearing for Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame, 20, of Eagan. Warsame was arrested and charged Dec. 9 with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and one count of providing such support.
Four arrested after bomb scare causes Air France flight to divert to Kenya | 20 Dec 2015 | Four people have been arrested over a suspicious device that was found in the restroom of an Air France flight, prompting an emergency landing in Kenya early Sunday. The four had all been on board Air France Flight 463, a Boeing 777 bound from Mauritius to Paris, which was diverted to the coastal Kenyan city of Mombasa after the device was found, Kenyan Cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Interior Joseph Nkaissery told CNN. The object was analyzed and found to contain no explosives, the airline said.
Suspected bomb forces Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris to land in Kenya - official | 20 Dec 2015 | An Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris was forced to land in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa after a device suspected to be a bomb was found in the lavatory, a Kenyan police official said Sunday. The Boeing 777 Air France flight 463 was heading to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris when the pilots requested an emergency landing at the Moi International Airport at 12:37 a.m., police spokesman Charles Owino said. "It requested an emergency landing when a device suspected to be an explosive was discovered in the lavatory," Owino said.
Police stopped Europe's most wanted terrorist THREE times in the hours immediately after the Paris attacks but he was released every time, according to his getaway driver --Salah Abdeslam was stopped three times a few hours after the Paris attacks --Until now it had been thought Abdeslam had only been stopped once | 20 Dec 2015 | Police stopped the most wanted terrorist in Europe three times a few hours after the Paris attacks - but he was let free every time, it emerged today. The astonishing revelations about Salah Abdeslam, 26, highlight the lax security that ultimately allowed Islamic State operatives to murder 130 people at will. Until today it was thought that Abdeslam, a Belgian-born Frenchman who is still on the run, was questioned once by a traffic patrol on the day after the atrocities...Hamza Attou, a Belgian friend who has been charged with 'assisting in terrorist activity' by driving Salah to Brussels, told prosecutors they were stopped 'not once, but three times'.
California governor declares emergency in response to San Bernardino attack | 18 Dec 2015 | California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County, following the massacre by an Islamic State-inspired couple at a holiday party for county workers. Because the 14 people killed and 26 wounded in the terrorist attack were largely employees in the county's environmental health department, the massacre left San Bernardino County with too few health inspectors and others needed to carry out critical work, Brown said in his emergency proclamation. Declaring an emergency will allow the state to send in health inspectors as replacements until the county is able to resume normal staffing, Brown said.
Nashua, New Hampshire, Schools Closed for 'Detailed Threat of Violence' | 20 Dec 2015 | Officials in Nashua, New Hampshire, told all public school students Sunday to stay home Monday because of a "specific" threat aimed at two high schools. "We have received a detailed threat of violence to harm students and staff at both high schools," Superintendent Mark Conrad announced on the school district's website Sunday...In a statement Sunday, Governor Maggie Hassan said that officials "are closely monitoring the situation in Nashua" and that "State Police and state emergency management officials are working closely with the Nashua Police Department, local public safety officials and the FBI."
Netanyahu undergoes routine colonoscopy, has polyps removed --Defense Minister Ya'alon briefly serves as acting PM while Netanyahu is sedated for the procedure | 19 Dec 2015 | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent an exploratory colonoscopy Friday during which he was sedated. The tests revealed a number of polyps, which were successfully removed, the Prime Minister's Office said. Netanyahu then returned to full activity, it said. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon served as acting prime minister while Netanyahu, 65, was under sedation.
Thousands evacuated in disaster drills near Japan's 1st post-Fukushima nuclear plant | 20 Dec 2015 | About 3,600 officials and residents have taken part in nuclear disaster drills near Japan's Sendai Nuclear Power Plant. The plant was the first to be reopened following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, despite warnings over tectonic risks. The drills in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan, within 30 km of the power plant, simulated a serious nuclear accident, Kyodo news reported. At least 1,200 residents who were living within 5 km from the Sendai plant were evacuated by buses and other vehicles. Sendai Nuclear Power Plant, in the city of Satsumasendai - with a population of 100,000 people - is [insanely] located near the volcanically active Kirishima mountain range. Mount Ioyama, located just 65 kilometers away from the plant, is experiencing tremors, prompting the Meteorological Agency to issue warnings. [Instead of doing 'disaster drills,' just don't build nuclear plants, *duh.*]
7 more nuclear waste 'hot spots' found in St. Louis suburb | 22 Dec 2015 | (MO) Three-hundred residents of North St. Louis County crowded into a local gym, anxious about what they would hear. Soil near the local creek was contaminated by improperly stored nuclear weapons [radioactive] waste in the 1960's and 70's, and people have been getting sick. The Army Corps of Engineers was there to deliver the latest test results. The seven new "hot spots," areas of low level nuclear contamination radiation, were discovered as crews tested the creek this summer.
Plutonium exposure prompts investigation into inactive nuclear arms plant --Tom Carpenter, executive director of the watchdog group Hanford Challenge, said Energy officials were trying to minimize the seriousness of the incident. | 18 Dec 2015 | A worker at a shuttered nuclear weapons plant in Washington state was contaminated with plutonium earlier this month, triggering a federal investigation into the transportation of potentially contaminated ventilation devices through three states, the Times has learned. The incident occurred during cleanup operations at the Plutonium Finishing Plant, a highly contaminated facility that has been inactive for 25 years at the Hanford Site in central Washington, along the Columbia River. The worker, an employee of CH2M Hill, was exposed when he removed his hazmat suit, but a subsequent investigation found contamination on the ventilation unit's hose.
Obama signs $1.1 trillion spending package, approves controversial CISA surveillance legislation | 19 Dec 2015 | President Barack Obama signed a 1.1 trillion spending package which bankrolls the government through next year. While it includes tax breaks for low-wage earners, it also includes a controversial cybersecurity measure slipped in during negotiations. Labeled the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, it is actually a combination of three bills passed by Congress over the year, including the often-criticized Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA). The new law authorizes companies to share information about cyber threats with "any federal entity." Any company participating in the data sharing would be immune from consumer lawsuits. Once the Department of Homeland Security has all the pertinent details, they could be passed along to the FBI and NSA for further investigation and, potentially, legal action.
Lindsey Graham Drops Out of GOP Presidential Race --Long-shot bid for the White House never gained much traction | 21 Dec 2015 | Republican Lindsey Graham has ended his long-shot bid for the White House, saying he is suspending his presidential campaign in a television interview that aired Monday. "I'm going to suspend my campaign," the South Carolina senator told CNN. In his campaign, Mr. Graham made a case for a strong, interventionist [cray cray] American foreign policy and has called for called for allowing some undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S.
Trump: Fellow Republicans are 'jealous as h-ll' of Putin's praise | 19 Dec 2015 | Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Saturday that anyone who criticizes the warm compliments he has swapped with Russian President Vladimir Putin is simply "jealous as h-ll." Trump has maintained that Russia could be a powerful partner for the United States -- and one that could help the country save some money. "You know, he feels good about me. I feel, frankly, good about him. I think that we can do things with Russia that are to our advantage...It's a mutual advantage," Trump said during a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday afternoon. "Now, they're jealous as h-ll because he's not mentioning these people. He's not going to mention them, so they're jealous as h-ll. So a couple of them came out with: 'Oh, well, you don't want to be friends.' Oh no, we don't want to be friends. No, we want to spend another five trillion dollars continuing to fight..."
TPP dirt-bag Mitch McConnell planning to rig GOP primaries, to ensure a corpora-terrorist like himself 'wins:' Mitch McConnell Warns YOU Not to Vote for Donald Trump - Or Else... | 20 Dec 2015 | Senate Majority Leader [sociopath] Mitch McConnell declared he would not entertain nominating any non-traditional Mainstream Republican candidates in the 2016 election cycle and cautioned voters they are to follow his example. The message was clear from one of the most powerful Republicans in the nation - the entirety of the GOP Machine is ready and willing to go to war with Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and any other Republican candidate who doesn't conform to Mr. McConnell's version of an "acceptable" Republican. "We will not nominate anybody for the United States Senate on the Republican side who’s not appealing to a general-election audience."
Congress's $12 billion giveaway to health insurers | 15 Dec 2015 | As Congress rushes to pass an omnibus tax/spending bill for the coming year, it's concocting a special tax break for health-insurance companies. And it amounts to a back-door bailout. Until this week, insurance-company lobbyists and their allies in the White House were pushing for an outright bailout, spending taxpayer dollars to cover what insurers are losing on ObamaCare plans to persuade insurers to keep selling them...This is good news for the insurers - but only insurers. The taxpayers are still on the losing side in this crony-capitalism deal...Suspending the tax is in effect handing the industry an estimated 12 billion a year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, exceeding even what insurers would've received in a bailout.
New Zealand judge rules Kim Dotcom eligible for extradition to U.S. | 23 Dec 2015 | A judge in New Zealand has ruled that Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom can be sent back to the U.S. where he faces criminal charges. Dotcom and three of his former business associates -- Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk -- are eligible for extradition under Thursday's decision. Dotcom, the millionaire founder of Megaupload -- a file-sharing site that became one of the Internet's largest bastions of pirated content -- is wanted in the U.S. for reproducing and distributing copyrighted content from movies to e-books on a massive scale.
Kentucky gov removes names of clerks from marriage licenses | 22 Dec 2015 | Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin ordered the state to prepare new marriage licenses that do not include the names of county clerks, in an attempt to protect the religious beliefs of clerk Kim Davis and other local elected officials. Bevin said he directed the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives to issue the revised marriage license forms to all county clerks. The executive order comes after Davis, the Rowan County clerk, spent five days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Bevin said he issued the executive order to "ensure that the sincerely held religious beliefs of all Kentuckians are honored."
Grand Jury Declines to Indict Anyone in Death of Sandra Bland | 21 Dec 2015 | Grand jurors in Texas declined on Monday to indict anyone in connection to the July death of a Chicago-area woman, Sandra Bland, at the Waller County jail, one of the special prosecutors assigned to the case said. But Darrell Jordan, the special prosecutor, said that "the case is still open," and that grand jurors would reconvene next month to discuss other aspects of the case. Many activists have called for charges against Brian Encinia, the Texas state trooper who arrested Ms. Bland after a routine traffic stop turned contentious. Mr. Jordan said Monday's decision not to indict anyone related only to Ms. Bland's death and to the conduct of the jail staff.
Polar bears travel further as Arctic sea-ice drifts | 16 Dec 2015 | Polar bears are working harder just to stay in one place, as the Arctic sea-ice on which they hunt drifts away. US scientists have tracked the animals for nearly 30 years and find they have increased their activity levels. Their normal behaviour is to stake out holes in the ice, waiting to prey on the seals as they emerge. But the thinning pack in the warming Arctic is now drifting faster than it used to, and the bears must travel further to get back to their territory.
Archie the toothless 41-year-old bear is put to sleep after a last meal of a cream-filled doughnut and tapioca pudding | 21 Dec 2015 | A beloved toothless, 41-year-old bear in the middle of a permit dispute between his owners and the state was put to sleep last week after finishing a last meal that included a cream-filled doughnut. The black bear named Archie had been in failing health for months and wasn't expected to live through hibernation, said owners Jeffrey and Debra Gillium. He was euthanized by a veterinarian on Friday after the Gilliums gave him a big breakfast of dog food mixed with tapioca pudding and a doughnut. The Gilliums had fought to keep Archie despite failing to get a permit when Ohio tightened rules for keeping dangerous animals. They argued that the bear was old and unlikely to escape his fenced enclosure near Lodi, roughly 40 miles southwest of Cleveland. [Correction: CLG had originally reported that Archie, the beloved black bear, 'died in his sleep.' (See: Archie the Bear, Center of Ohio Dept. of Agriculture Battle With Lodi Family, Dies at Home By Lori Price 18 Dec 2015.) In fact, Archie was euthanized, as summarized above. CLG regrets the error.]
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