5 Things that happened this week
Week of February 19, 2016
February 20, 2016
- A Federal Magistrate judge granted a Department of Justice request on Tuesday for an order demanding that Apple assists the FBI in its investigation of the San Bernardino shooting. Apple CEO Tim Cook has called the demand “chilling” and “an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers.”
- US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away in the night of Feb. 12. Scalia, who was appointed to the Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, is widely regarded as the Justice who provided the intellectualist foundation for the originalist position in the Court’s conservative wing.
- An airstrike in Libya which took place Thursday night killed dozens of people, local officials said. US fighter jets launched the airstrike against an ISIS compound and killed Noureddine Chouchane, a terrorist linked to the March 2015 tourist massacres in Tunisia.
- The hole left in the Supreme Court after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia has sparked a nationwide debate of whether or not the Senate should approve a nominee appointed by President Obama. Many members of the Republican-majority Senate say that they will rather wait and approve a candidate nominated by the next president.
- President Barack Obama will become the first sitting US President in 88 years to visit Cuba. The announcement, which has been criticized by many Republican lawmakers, comes during an effort by the administration to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba.
