CLG: Apple execs say San Bernardino iPhone password changed while in government custody, Firm with Saudi ties works on Air Force One, other VIP jets

 News Updates from CLG
20 February 2016

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

 

Previous edition: CIA knew of impending ISIS attack days before Paris: 'System was blinking red'

 

Donald Trump wins South Carolina; Hillary Clinton takes Nevada | 20 Feb 2016 | Donald Trump has won the South Carolina Republican primary, a tremendous show of strength in the heart of the Deep South that validates his status as the GOP's national front-runner. Trump's win, following his victory in New Hampshire earlier this month and a second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, gives the former reality television star a critical burst of momentum heading into Nevada's Republican caucuses Tuesday and the slate of 13 states voting on Super Tuesday, March 1...Earlier Saturday, Hillary Clinton won the Nevada Democratic caucuses, a crucial victory that could ease concerns about her ability to secure the party's nomination. Clinton's win provides a jolt of momentum to the former secretary of state as she heads into the February 27 South Carolina Democratic primary and Super Tuesday.

 

Donald Trump Wins in South Carolina, Solidifying Lead in G.O.P. Race | 20 Feb 2016 | Donald J. Trump won a clear victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, cementing his position as the Republican presidential front-runner as he enters a tougher test in a series of potentially decisive March contests. Mr. Trump ran ahead of Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, who were locked in a battle for second place. Both have struggled to become the principal alternative to Mr. Trump, a larger-than-life candidate from outside the political system whose nomination would upend the Republican Party...By capturing the first Southern primary immediately after winning New Hampshire in a landslide, Mr. Trump made clear that he would not be easy to stop. 

 

Donald Trump Wins South Carolina Primary | 20 Feb 2016 | The third primary contest in the Republican presidential nomination hands Donald Trump his second victory in a race that has seen hundreds of millions of dollars spent and a dozen candidates drop out. The real estate mogul and reality television host won the first-in-the-South primary in South Carolina Saturday, adding legitimacy to a campaign that many wrote off since even before he officially announced in June. The tight battle for second place is still undecided between Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

 

Hillary Clinton Edges Bernie Sanders for Nevada Caucus Win | 20 Feb 2016 | Hillary Clinton will win Nevada's Democratic caucuses, NBC News projects, scoring a much-needed boost in the nomination race and depriving rival Bernie Sanders of a victory in a racially diverse state. Days in advance of the notoriously unpredictable contest Saturday afternoon, the former secretary of state's team had tried to downplay the significance of the Nevada results amid concerns that Sanders would pull off a win. But Clinton ultimately gathered a coalition of minority voters, self-identified Democrats and union workers to fuel her victory. She was also boosted by a strong performance in Clark County - home to the city of Las Vegas and the state's most populous county by far.

 

Clinton Holds Off Sanders in Nevada Caucuses | 20 Feb 2016 | Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her supporters can breath a sigh of relief, thanks to a win in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday. With 80 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton had a 52 percent to 48 percent lead over Bernie Sanders. Clinton's win in the Democratic caucuses Saturday was a virtual necessity, given how much she had been favored to win the Silver State, and the significant advantages she had on the ground. But her victory certainly doesn't signal the end of the Sanders campaign -- the candidates will more or less split Nevada's 43 delegates, including the 23 awarded based on outcomes of caucuses in each congressional district.

 

Jeb Bush suspends 2016 campaign | 20 Feb 2016 | Jeb Bush, who sought to join his father and brother in winning the White House [well, his father won - his brother didn't], suspended his campaign for the presidency Saturday night after a long year-long slide in the polls and a disappointing showing in the South Carolina primary. Bush's decision followed a devastating loss in the Palmetto State, a state that handed both his father and brother crucial victories but that has shifted toward a much more strident form of Republicanism in the years since. Bush was also under intensifying pressure from [corporate-owned] party leaders to clear the field so they could coalesce around a challenger to Donald Trump.

 

Firm with Saudi ties works on Air Force One, other VIP jets | 17 Feb 2016 | A company owned by a Saudi investor works on Air Force One and other VIP aircraft that fly Cabinet secretaries and other dignitaries around the world, USA TODAY has learned. GDC Technics has been servicing President Obama's jet as a contractor for Boeing, according to the Air Force. This is the first time the Pentagon has acknowledged that a contractor from a business with foreign ties has worked on Air Force One. The company was bought in 2013 by MAZ Aviation, which is owned by Saudi businessman Mohammed Alzeer. Along with Air Force One, GDC Technics services the E-4B, which serves as an aerial national command post "in case of national emergency or destruction of ground command and control centers," according to the Air Force.

 

Apple execs say San Bernardino iPhone password changed while in government custody | 20 Feb 2016 | The iPhone of the [alleged] San Bernardino shooter that US officials are pressuring Apple to unlock had its password changed within 24 hours of the government custody, company bosses claim insisting this prevents them from getting backup information. Exactly who or how the Apple ID password was changed is unconfirmed, but in court filings, the US Department of Justice alleged that the San Bernardino Health Department, "in an attempt to gain access to some information in the hours after the attack, was able to reset the password remotely, but that had the effect of eliminating the possibility of an auto-backup."

 

US deploys tanks and equipment to classified Cold War-era caves in Norway near the NATO-Russia frontier --The six-cave classified facility is in central Norway | 18 Feb 2016 | The US military has deployed tanks and artillery equipment to Cold War-era caves in Norway in an effort to better equip stations near the NATO-Russia frontier. The move is part of a push by Washington to bolster NATO's defenses in Europe and have weaponry 'ready to go' should a [Pentagon-generated] crisis with Russia arise. Russia shares a 121.6-mile long border with Norway. 'Any gear that is forward-deployed both reduces cost and speeds up our ability to support operations in crisis, so we're able to fall in on gear that is ready-to-go and respond to whatever that crisis may be,' Col. William Bentley, operations officer for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, told CNN on Thursday.

 

French judge summons former Guantanamo chief in torture probe | 19 Feb 2016 | A French judge has summoned retired US General Geoffrey Miller, the former Guantanamo Bay prison chief, to appear in court on March 1 over allegations of torture, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs told FRANCE 24 on Thursday. William Bourdon, a lawyer for former Gitmo detainee prisoner Mourad Benchellali, said General Miller was due in court at 10am on March 1 to answer accusations that he oversaw Benchellali's "illegal detention and torture". Bourdon said he did not expect the general to show up, noting that "top US civilian and military officials refuse to be held to account by [foreign] judges".

 

US military burn pits built on chemical weapons facilities tied to soldiers' illness | 16 Feb 2016 | Vice President Joe Biden's son, Beau Biden, arrived in Iraq in 2008, and spent the next several months serving as a Jag officer at Camp Victory, just outside of the Baghdad airport, and Joint Base Balad, nearly 40 miles north of Baghdad. Though he returned home safely in September 2009, he woke up one day a few months later with an inexplicable headache, numbness in his limbs and paralysis on one side of his body. Beau had suffered a mild stroke. His health deteriorated, and he was diagnosed with brain cancer...Though the underlying cause of Beau's cancer cannot be confirmed, evidence gathered in a new book out Tuesday suggests a possible link between his illness and service. Based on clusters of similar cases, scientific studies and expert opinions, author Joseph Hickman proposes in The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America's Soldiers that US service members in Iraq and Afghanistan confronted more than one unexpected enemy that followed them home.

 

After Blimp's Wild Ride, JLENS Program Will Fly Again, NORAD Says | 11 Feb 2016 | After an embarrassing incident last fall where the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) broke free in Maryland and floated into Pennsylvania dragging its mooring line, it appears the controversial surveillance blimp program will [*insanely*] fly again. Investigations into what happened that late October day are completed and JLENS' revival is being closely coordinated among organizations involved. The system will require putting together a new fire control aerostat, training personnel, implementing recommended changes and procedures, and more m-ney [of course], Maj. Beth Smith, a spokeswoman for North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and US Northern Command, told Defense News.

 

Heads up! A big, fat dirty bomb false flag may be coming our way: ISIS could have stolen enough radioactive material from U.S. oilfield services company in Iraq for dirty bomb | 17 Feb 2016 | ISIS [I-CIA-SIS] terrorists could have enough stolen radioactive material to build a potentially devastating dirty bomb to attack the US or Europe, a new report said Wednesday. The Iraqi government is frantically searching for the missing material, which was stored in a case about the size of a laptop computer and was taken last November from a storage building in southern Iraq near the city of Basra, Reuters reported...An American company named Weatherford, a [Houston-based] contractor that services the oil and gas industry and that owned the storage facility, uses gamma rays from the material to detect flaws in pipelines.

 

Turkey imposes media gag after bomb blast | 17 Feb 2016 | The Latest on the large explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara (all times local): 8:35 p.m. - The governor of Ankara has raised the death toll in the attack in the Turkish capital to 18. Mehmet Kiliclar says at least 45 others were wounded in the attack Wednesday apparently targeting vehicles that were carrying military personnel...7:55 p.m. - Turkey's state-run agency says the government has imposed a media gag order following a bombing that killed at least five people and wounded 10 others.

 

Obama to make historic trip to Cuba in coming weeks, official says | 17 Feb 2016 | President Barack Obama will visit Cuba in the coming weeks, a senior administration official said on Wednesday, making a historic trip in the final year of his presidency that will mark a turning point in U.S. relations with a long-time Cold War foe. The White House plans to announce the visit on Thursday. The visit to Havana by Obama would cap what administration officials see as one of his legacy foreign policy achievements: normalizing relations with Cuba and taking steps toward expanded commercial relations after a 54-year freeze.

 

Fukushima disaster: Tepco to pay couple in landmark damages case | 19 Feb 2016 | A court in Japan has ordered the operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant to compensate a couple who fled radiation, even though they lived outside the evacuation zone. Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) will pay 30m yen ($265,000; pounds 185,00) for financial losses and poor health. It is thought to be the first time Tepco has been found liable for people outside the mandatory evacuation area.

 

Pope's plane hit by laser light | 17 Feb 2016 | Italian airline Alitalia has confirmed that Pope Francis's plane was struck by a laser light as the airplane began its descent into Mexico City Friday. ABC News reports the crew onboard the flight "noticed a laser light from the ground, as did other aircraft flying towards Mexico City," Alitalia said in a statement.

 

U.S. Marshals make arrests over non-payment of student loans | 16 Feb 2016 | Being behind on student lo-n payments in Texas could cost you more than your cr-dit sc-re. The U.S. Marshals Service in Houston is arresting people who aren't paying their federal student d-bt. Paul Aker said that seven deputy U.S. Marshals showed up at his Houston home in combat gear...It isn’t the first time Marshals have served someone for being behind on lo-ns, and they are planning to serve between 1,200 and 1,500 other people who have student d-bt. Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) told Fox 26 that it's worrisome that private d-bt collectors are able to use U.S. Marshals as muscle to retrieve payments for lo-ns.

 

Feds fight news media request to unseal Bridgegate records | 17 Feb 2016 | The U.S. Attorney's Office is asking a federal judge to maintain the seal and redactions on certain records the government gathered in the George Washington Bridge lane closure criminal case, court records filed Tuesday night show. In particular, the brief filed by U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman's office states that news outlets covering the Bridgegate case do not have a right to see the list of unindicted co-conspirators -- individuals the government believes may have known about the plot to abruptly shut down access lanes to the bridge to cause massive traffic disruptions, but were not charged.

 

Illinois judge agrees to hear lawsuit filed against Ted Cruz stating he should NOT be eligible to run for president because he was born in Canada | 19 Feb 2016 | The question of whether or not Ted Cruz can serve as president of the United States is heading to court. A judge has agreed to hear a lawsuit filed against the presidential hopeful by Illinois voter Lawrence Joyce. CNN reports that the case will be heard in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago on Friday in response to Joyce's claim that Cruz should not appear on the ballot for next month's Illinois primary because he was born in Canada.

 

Fox News Poll: Clinton 'feels the Bern,' trails Sanders by three points nationally | 18 Feb 2016 | Bernie Sanders now tops Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination. The latest Fox News national poll finds 47 percent of Democratic primary voters now back the Vermont senator, up from 37 percent in January. Clinton gets 44 percent, down from 49 percent a month ago. This is the first time Sanders has been ahead of Clinton, who not long ago was regularly described as the "presumptive Democratic nominee."

 

Superdelegates help Clinton expand her lead despite NH loss | 18 Feb 2016 | Since [Bernie Sanders's big win in New Hampshire], Hillary Clinton has picked up endorsements from 87 more superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, dwarfing Sanders's gain from the New Hampshire primary, according to a new Associated Press survey. Sanders has added just 11 superdelegate endorsements. If these party insiders continue to back Clinton overwhelmingly -- and they can change their minds -- Sanders would have to win the remaining primaries by a landslide just to catch up...After the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders has a small 36-32 lead among delegates won in primaries and caucuses. But when superdelegates are included, Clinton leads 481-55, according to the AP count. It's essentially a parallel election that underscores Clinton's lopsided support from the Democratic establishment.

 

Gov. Nikki Haley endorses Sen. Marco Rubio for president | 17 Feb 2016 | South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Marco Rubio for president Wednesday night at an outdoor rally in Chapin, S.C., just three days ahead of Saturday's Republican primary. Haley, a popular two-term governor and possible vice presidential candidate, arrived at the rally with Rubio on his campaign bus and explained why she decided to back the Florida senator. Rubio also has been endorsed by two other members of the congressional delegation in South Carolina: Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-Spartanburg, and Sen. Tim Scott.

 

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