SUN SUNI KHABAR MARCH 5TH, 2016
CRUZ PROJECTED WINNER IN KANSAS AS FIVE STATES VOTE
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz gained momentum on Saturday, projected as the winner of the nominating contest in Kansas and the winner of a "straw poll" of conservative activists. Cruz, currently in second place in a Republican field that has been winnowed to just four, is seeking to dent the lead of brash New York billionaire Donald Trump. Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton are each looking to strengthen their front-runner status as five states hold presidential nominating contests on Saturday.
APPELLATE JUDGES GARLAND, SRINIVASAN CONSIDERED FOR U.S. TOP COURT: NYT
The White House is vetting federal appellate judges Merrick Garland and Sri Srinivasan as possible nominees to the Supreme Court to replace late Justice Antonin Scalia, the New York Times reported on Friday. The FBI has been conducting background checks on Garland and Srinivasan, the Times said, citing a person with knowledge of the process. Scalia, a long-serving conservative justice, died on Feb. 13. Srinivasan, 49, has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals since he was confirmed on a 97-0 bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate in May 2013.
AMAZON TO RESTORE ENCRYPTION TO FIRE TABLETS AFTER COMPLAINTS
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) said it plans to restore an encryption feature on its Fire tablets after customers and privacy advocates criticized the company for quietly removing the security option when it released its latest operating system. “We will return the option for full-disk encryption with a Fire OS update coming this spring,” company spokeswoman Robin Handaly told Reuters via email on Saturday. Amazon's decision to drop encryption from the Fire operating system came to light late this week. The company said it had removed the feature in a version of its Fire OS that began shipping in the fall because few customers used it.
APPLE CASE EXPOSES ONGOING GOVERNMENT RIFT OVER ENCRYPTION POLICY
Even as the Department of Justice battles Apple in court over access to encrypted data, the Obama administration remains split over backing requirements that tech manufacturers provide law enforcement with a "back door" into their products, according to a dozen people familiar with the internal debate. FBI Director James Comey and the DOJ - who are fighting to access an iPhone tied to the San Bernardino attacks – have long tried and failed to convince other departments to join the broader battle against unbreakable encryption, the current and former government officials said.
U.N. SEEKS TO BUILD PEACE TALKS ON FRAGILE SYRIA TRUCE
A total of 135 people were killed in the first week of a partial truce in Syria in areas covered by the deal, a monitoring group said on Saturday, highlighting its fragile nature just days before the United Nations attempts to reconvene peace talks. U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura said the talks, originally due to begin on Monday in Geneva, would get off to a staggered start later in the week, with delegates arriving from Wednesday onwards. The U.N. said the delay was due to "logistical and technical reasons and also for the ceasefire to better settle down".