US Trainers to Deploy to Ukraine - News Updates 25 Jan 2015

News Updates from CLG
25 January 2015

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Previous edition: C.I.A. Report Found Value of Torture Was Inflated

US Trainers to Deploy to Ukraine --Also Will Begin Shipment of US-funded Armored Vehicles --US has already earmarked 19 million to help build Ukrainian [Nazi] National Guard | 22 Jan 2015 | American soldiers will deploy to Ukraine this spring to begin training four companies of the Ukrainian National Guard, the head of US Army Europe Lt. Gen Ben Hodges said during his first visit to Kiev on Wednesday. The number of troops heading to the Yavoriv Training Area near the city of L'viv -- which is about 40 miles from the Polish border -- is still being determined, however. Funding for the initiative is coming from the congressionally-authorized Global Security Contingency Fund (GSCF), which was requested by the Obama administration in the fiscal 2015 budget to help train and equip the armed forces of allies around the globe.

Donetsk trolleybus explosion blows Ukraine peace negotiations apart | 22 Jan 2015 | Barely had the ink dried on another diplomatic attempt to bring peace to eastern Ukraine than a bloody explosion ripped through a trolleybus in Donetsk, killing 13 people. Foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine had signed a document in Berlin late on Wednesday night calling for Kiev's forces and Russian-backed rebels to pull back artillery from the front lines: but on the ground, instead of peace, came signs of intensified violence.

'We didn't even really know who we were firing at' - former US drone operator | 22 Jan 2015 | Former US drone sensor operator Brandon Bryant admits he "couldn't stand" himself for his participation in the country's drone program for six years - firing on targets whose identities often went unconfirmed. Since 2001, and increasingly under the Obama administration, the US has been carrying out drone strikes against targets believed to be affiliated with terrorist organizations in countries like Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia. The program, which has been shrouded in secrecy, has been routinely criticized for the high number of resultant civilian casualties.

ISIS sets up English-speaking brigade to target Western countries | 23 Jan 2015 | The Islamic State has created an English language group of fighters, whose aim is to bring the terrorist organization's fight to the West. The first step is to send foreign fighters back home after they have completed their training. The brigade, which is known as the 'Anwar al-Awlaki Battalion,' [LOL! Who writes this stuff?] is made up solely of English speaking jihadists. The Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) now wants to use this group of Islamists to plan and carryout terrorist attacks in English speaking countries.

Islamic militants behead Japanese hostage, offer swap for remaining one - reports | 24 Jan 2015 | A video has reportedly appeared on the internet showing one of the Japanese hostages held by jihadists. He claimed his companion was executed and said the Islamic State want him swapped for a female [alleged] suicide bomber. Kenji Goto shows a picture of the beheaded body of his fellow captive, Haruna Yukawa, reported the SITE Intel Group. In his message, Goto reportedly blames Japan's prime minister for Yukawa's death and says that the Islamic State now wants the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an alleged attempted suicide bomber, who is believed to be connected to the attack on a hotel in Jordan in 2005.

President Barack Obama to meet, pay respects to new Saudi King [of beheading and flogging] | 24 Jan 2015 | U.S. President Barack Obama will travel to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in order to meet the newly appointed monarch, King Salman, and pay his respects to the family of the late King Abdullah, the White House said Saturday. Vice President Joe Biden was originally set to have led a delegation to Saudi Arabia on Obama's behalf. However, the schedule for the President's departure from India has been adjusted to allow Obama to stop in Riyadh himself on his way home, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

Obama will not meet with Netanyahu during trip to Washington | 22 Jan 2015 | President Barack Obama will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he travels to Washington in March, the White House said Thursday, one day after being caught off-guard by Republicans' invitation for the Israeli leader to address a joint session of Congress.

Yemen president resigns under pressure from rebels | 22 Jan 22 2015 | Yemen's president resigned Thursday, saying he had reached a "deadlock" in talks with Shiite rebels who rule the capital and had confined him to his home. His resignation raised fears the Arab world's poorest country could again split apart, severely complicating U.S. efforts to 'combat' al-Qaida's powerful local franchise.

Khadr will seek to be released on bail | 23 Jan 2015 | Former Guantanamo Bay detainee prisoner Omar Khadr will seek to be released on bail pending a decision on the appeal of his convictions in the United States. A two-day hearing for the bail application was scheduled Friday in Edmonton's Court of Queen's Bench to be heard on March 24 and 25. Khadr, 28, is currently serving an eight-year federal prison sentence in Bowden Institution as a result of an international transfer agreement with the U.S. in 2012.

FBI finds no bombs on Atlanta-bound flights guided into airports by fighter jets after threats were posted on Twitter --It's believed threats prompted NORAD fighter jets to escort Delta flight 1156 and Southwest flight 2492 to Atlanta, Georgia, airport | 24 Jan 2015 | The FBI have found no bombs on the two Atlanta-bound planes that were guided into airports by fighter jets after threats were posted on Twitter. The Twitter user with no followers, who goes by the name KingZortic, sent a slew of warnings to Delta Airlines and Southwest Airlines, claiming to have planted explosives on flights which were due to land at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. Bomb squads was rushed in as a result, but nothing suspicious was found on either flight.

F-16 fighter jets escort two passenger planes after bomb threat | 24 Jan 2015 | F-16 fighter jets escorted two passenger planes into Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Saturday after a bomb threat made on Twitter was deemed credible, according to military officials. Southwest Airlines Flight 2492 and Delta Flight 1156 landed safely at the airport and were searched by bomb disposal units, according to airline officials. Nothing out of the ordinary was found, officials said. One runway was closed temporarily, causing delays for other flights as passengers on the two flights were questioned and their luggage was searched by bomb-sniffing dogs, officials said.

Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months for 'merely linking to hacked material' | 22 Jan 2015 | In a rebuke to a legion of online supporters and what the journalist and one-time member of Anonymous called a "dangerous precedent", Barrett Brown was sentenced to 63 months in prison by a federal judge in Dallas on Thursday. Brown's backers from across the web had hoped he would be able to walk free with his 31 months of time served for what they insist was "merely linking to hacked material". But the 33-year-old, who was once considered something of a spokesman for the Anonymous movement, will face more than twice that sentence. The judge also ordered him to pay more 890,000 in restitution and fines.

Journalist Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in federal prison, must pay $890K in restitution | 22 Jan 2015 |A court in Dallas has sentenced Barrett Brown to 63 months in federal prison, minus 28 months already served. For count one in the case, he receives 48 months. For count 2, he receives 12 months. And for count 3, he receives 3 months. He is also ordered to pay 890,000 in restitution. The government's charges against the intelligence and security reporter stemmed from his relationship with sources close to the hacker group Anonymous, and the fact that Brown published a link topublicly-available copies of leaked Stratfor documents. Brown read a statement to the court during the sentencing hearing, and you can read that statement in entirety here.

TEPCO reneges on deadline to process radioactive water at stricken Fukushima nuclear plant | 23 Jan 2015 | Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), owner and operator of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said Friday it would be unable to keep its promise of processing all the highly radioactive water still stored at the plant before the end of March, due to ongoing problems with faulty and untested equipment. In a pledge to the nation and to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he visited the stricken plant in Fukushima Prefecture, 220 km northeast of Tokyo, in Sept. 2013, TEPCO President Naomi Hirose vowed that the embattled utility would complete the filtration process of all the dangerously toxic water being held in temporary storage tanks by March 2015. As it stands, at the stricken plant...280, 000 tons of highly-radioactive water is in need of treating and being stored in tanks, with around 350 tons of toxic water being added daily, to keep the reactors cool.

Three Tepco execs again dodge indictment over meltdown disaster | 23 Jan 2015 | The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office dismissed a case Thursday against three former senior executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co. again over their alleged negligence for failing to prevent the March 2011 tsunami-triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The prosecutor's office cited a lack of sufficient evidence following its six-month reinvestigation, which was conducted after a special prosecution inquest panel ruled last July that the three should be charged with professional negligence leading to death and injury...Despite the latest decision, however, the three could still be indicted forcibly by court-appointed lawyers acting as prosecutors if the inquest panel seeks indictments for a second time.

Lawyers: Boston 'has to be ready' for lawsuits over deal requiring employees to support Olympics bid | 23 Jan 2015 | Mayor Marty Walsh has said he will not enforce an agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee that not only bans all city employees from criticizing the Boston bid, but also orders them to actively promote it. Despite his assurances, the ACLU of Massachusetts is concerned. Deputy legal director Sarah Wunsch said Walsh's promise might not be good enough and the agreement is "troubling" and "ridiculous."

Olympic documents show Boston city employees barred from speaking negatively about Olympics, IOC, USOC | 21 Jan 2015 | Documents obtained by MassLive show that Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh signed an agreement with the United States Olympic Committee that blocks city employees from making negative comments about the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee, or the USOC. The documents obtained through a public records request indicate that city employees are barred from making comments that "reflect unfavorably upon, denigrate or disparage, or are detrimental to the reputation." The documents indicate that not only must all city employees not speak negatively about the games or the organizations connected to them but that they must actively promote the games. [See:Boston 2024 Joinder Signed by Mayor of Boston and Boston 2024 2015-17 Policy Summary - w Binders.]

H5N8 avian influenza confirmed in California turkey flock | 24 Jan 2015 | The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic (HPAI) H5N8 avian influenza in a commercial turkey flock in Stanislaus County, California. This is the first finding of HPAI in commercial poultry during the ongoing disease incident in the Pacific Flyway. Samples from the flock, which experienced increased mortality, were tested at the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS) and the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa confirmed the finding.

Avian flu outbreaks in Taiwan trigger human monitoring | 22 Jan 2015 | In the wake of widespread poultry outbreaks caused by three different highly pathogenic avian flu strains, Taiwanese health officials are monitoring more than a thousand farm workers and public health workers, though so far there have been no signs of transmission to humans. Animal health officials in Taiwan are battling multiple outbreaks of H5N8 and H5N2 avian influenza, along with H5N3, which the region's veterinary experts have said is a novel strain. Yesterday regions reported several new outbreaks involving all three strains.

GOP drops 'civil rights and human rights' from subcommittee name | 24 Jan 2015 | The new GOP chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee changed the name of the panel, dropping "civil rights" and "human rights" from its title. The subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights is now simply the subcommittee on the Constitution. The subcommittee names are chosen by its chair, so Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) is responsible for the switch...Civil rights leaders are displeased. Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, called it "a discouraging sign" in a news release Friday.

Mega barf alert *and* gag me with a chainsaw: Palin says she's 'seriously interested' in 2016 campaign | 24 Jan 2015 | Former Alaska [half] governor Sarah Palin told The Washington Post in an interview Friday that she is "seriously interested" in running for the White House in 2016. "You can absolutely say that I am seriously interested," Palin said, when asked to clarify her thinking about a possible presidential bid. Palin, the GOP's 2008 vice-presidential nominee, said she stood by comments she made Thursday in Las Vegas to ABC News, where she first expressed enthusiasm about potentially competing for the Republican presidential nomination.

Jay Leno defends women alleging sexual assault by Bill Cosby – video | 22 Jan 2015 | "In Saudi Arabia you need two women to testify against a man. Here you need twenty-five."

Blizzard-Like Conditions Possible in Northeast's Next Storm | 25 Jan 2015 | A major snowstorm with blizzard-like conditions could drop a foot or more of snow across most parts of the Northeast as they gear up for the workweek right after the first real storm of the winter hit them with rain, several inches of snow and messy slush. A storm system diving out of the Midwest has the potential to slowly coat from Philadelphia up to Massachusetts and Maine with snow beginning late Sunday night into Monday and intensifying greatly well into Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. "There's the potential for a significant snowstorm to impact the entire Northeast U.S.," meteorologist Patrick Maloit said.

ENDS

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