Grand Jury Inquiry on Destruction of C.I.A. Tapes 03 Jul 2009
CLG_News
03 July 2009 http://www.legitgov.org/ All items are here:
http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news Breaking: North Korea 'tests
two missiles' 04 Jul 2009 North Korea has tested two short-range
missiles, South Korean media report, as concern mounts in the region
that a long-range test could be days away. It test-fired four similar
missiles earlier this week and has incurred fresh UN sanctions since
holding a second underground nuclear test in May. The latest missiles
were fired from a base near Wonsan into the Sea of Japan, South
Korea's defence ministry said.
Grand Jury Inquiry on Destruction of C.I.A. Tapes --The tapes had
shown C.I.A.
officers using torture, including waterboarding, on two prisoners.
03 Jul 2009 Current and former top Central Intelligence Agency
officers have appeared before a federal grand jury in Virginia as
part of an 18-month investigation into the agencys destruction of
92 videotapes depicting the brutal interrogations of two Qaeda
prisoners. The witnesses recently called by the special prosecutor,
former government officials said, include the agencys top officer
in London and Porter J. Goss, who was C.I.A. director when the tapes
were destroyed in November 2005.
Obama administration delays release of CIA report 03 Jul 2009 The
Obama administration said Thursday that it needs two more months
to review an internal CIA report on the agency's secret detention
and torture program before making it public, drawing criticism from
civil libertarians who say it's past time for Americans to know how
its government treated terrorism suspects. The Justice Department
had originally said it intended to release the report in June as
part of a lawsuit, but department officials now say they need until
the end of August.
U.S. Says It Will Preserve Secret Jails for Terror Case 03 Jul 2009
The government will agree to preserve the secret overseas sites
where a defendant in a terror case was once held and, his lawyers
say, subjected to harsh interrogation techniques torture after his
capture in 2004, a prosecutor indicated in court in New York on
Thursday. Lawyers for the defendant, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, told
a judge this week that they were afraid that the so-called black
sites, which were run by the Central Intelligence Agency, would be
demolished as the agency has said it will discontinue their use...
In asking that the sites be preserved, Mr. Ghailanis lawyers said
they wanted to inspect them as part of their investigation into
what had happened to Mr.
Ghailani during his detention.
Iraq's Maliki rejects U.S. offer on national reconciliation --The
Iraqi prime minister tells visiting Vice President Joe Biden that
U.S. involvement would not be welcome. 03 Jul 2009 Vice President
Joe Biden's mission to promote national reconciliation in Iraq was
rebuffed Friday by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who told him that
the issue was a domestic Iraqi affair and that U.S involvement
wouldn't be welcome. Biden was beginning a two-day visit to Iraq
after President Obama appointed him this week as his special
representative on dealings with the Persian Gulf nation.
US drone goes down in southern Iraq 03 Jul 2009 An unmanned
surveillance aircraft has gone down on the outskirts of al-Kut city
in the southern Iraqi province of Wasit which borders Iran. A local
police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Voices of
Iraq news agency that the drone crashed on Friday close to the Delta
Base of American forces. The base is situated seven kilometers (5
miles) west of al-Kut.
US drone attacks kill 13 in Pakistan 03 Jul 2009 Intelligence
officials say a US drone has fired missiles into Pakistan's South
Waziristan region on the Afghan border, killing at least 13 people
and injuring dozens others. The drone reportedly targeted insurgent
hideouts in the troubled region where US troops are conducting a
major operation against militants, Reuters reported.
U.S. Resumes Surveillance Flights Over Pakistan 30 Jun 2009 The
United States has resumed secret military surveillance drone flights
over Pakistans tribal areas to provide Pakistani commanders with a
wide array of videos and other information on militants, according
to American and Pakistani officials...
Under the intelligence-sharing arrangement, which resumed in the
past few weeks but has not previously been made public, Pakistani
ground forces receive direct support for several hours a day, though
not necessarily every day, from remotely piloted American military
aircraft based in Afghanistan, a senior American defense official
said.
Russia Opens Route for U.S. to Fly Arms to Afghanistan 04 Jul 2009
The Russian government has agreed to let American troops and weapons
bound for Afghanistan fly over Russian territory, providing an
important new corridor for the United States military as it escalates
efforts to win the eight-year-old war, officials on both sides said
Friday. The agreement, to be announced when President Obama visits
here Monday and Tuesday, represents one of the most concrete
achievements in the administrations attempt to ease relations with
Russia after years of tension.
Russia 'agrees US troop transit' 03 Jul 2009 A senior Obama
administration official has told the BBC that Russia has agreed to
let US troops bound for the war in Afghanistan fly through its
airspace. The deal, which opens up an important new corridor for
the US military, is to be officially announced when President Barack
Obama visits Moscow next week. Speaking separately, a Kremlin
official confirmed a deal was on the table but suggested it referred
to weapons only.
UK forces push deep into Taliban territory in Afghanistan 03 Jul
2009 Around 800 British troops have pushed deep into Taliban-held
territory in Helmand province after a ten-day battle to secure river
crossings. The latest wave of two-week-old Operation Panther's Claw
involved one of the most strategically significant operations the
British have carried out in Helmand, a British Army statement said.
British regiment commander killed in 'huge' bomb attack in Afghanistan
03 Jul 2009 The commander of a British regiment has been killed in
Afghanistan, the first to have died in active service since the
Falklands war 27 years ago.
Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards,
was killed on Wednesday by what defence officials described last
night as a "huge bomb"
that shattered the armoured Viking tracked vehicle he was travelling
in.
New IAEA chief sees no proof of Iran N-bomb 03 Jul 2009 Incoming
IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano says there is no conclusive
evidence to prove that Iran is enriching weapons-grade uranium.
Amano, who was narrowly elected as the new head of the UN nuclear
watchdog on Thursday, however, urged Iran to follow Security Council
demands regarding its nuclear activities.
Falk slams Israel, says relief boat seizure 'unlawful' 03 Jul 2009
Israel's two-year blockade of the Gaza Strip is a continuing crime
against humanity, and its seizure of a ship carrying humanitarian
aid for Gaza was "unlawful", says a UN human rights investigator.
Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the
Palestinian territories, said Thursday that the blockade restricted
vital supplies such as food, medicine and fuel to "bare subsistence
levels."
In Israel, former US lawmaker remains imprisoned 03 Jul 2009 Former
US lawmaker Cynthia McKinney and several other human rights activists
remain in an Israeli prison after refusing to sign a deportation
form that they claim is self-incriminating. In a press release from
McKinney's Green Party, she said the form states that the their
relief boat carrying 21 activists, medial supplies, cement, olive
trees and children's toys en route to Gaza, was violating the Israeli
blockade and trespassing its territorial waters.
Big brother is watching: The technologies that keep track of you
02 Jul 2009 CCTV, RFID tags and GPS-enabled phones are among the
technologies that can be used to keep track of your movements. Here,
we list seven of the technologies that can be used to keep track
of your movements.
WHO says flu is unstoppable 03 Jul 2009 The World Health Organization
head, Margaret Chan, has addressed a meeting in Mexico to say that
the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus worldwide is now unstoppable.
As the summit opened, the UK alone projected more than 100,000 new
cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer.
800 at San Quentin quarantined for swine flu 03 Jul 2009 About 800
San Quentin State Prison inmates have been quarantined - banned
from having visitors starting this weekend - as officials await
testing on 30 inmates suspected of having swine flu, authorities
said Thursday. So far, four of the 30 minimum-security inmates have
tested positive for having a strain that has a 97 percent probability
of being the H1N1 virus, said Luis Patino, spokesman for the federal
receiver who runs state prison medical care.
CDC: US swine flu cases rise to nearly 34,000 02 Jul 2009 The number
of U.S.
swine flu cases has reached nearly 34,000, and deaths have risen
34 percent in the past week to 170, federal health officials reported
Thursday. The numbers mark an increase from the 127 deaths and
nearly 28,000 confirmed and suspected swine flu cases reported last
week.
Ohio Reserve unit wages war on ND mosquitoes --The Air Force's
aerial spray unit based at Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna,
Ohio, has found North Dakota an 'ideal place for practice.' 03 Jul
2009 An Ohio Air Force Reserve unit charged with controlling
mosquitoes during wartime is using bug-bitten North Dakota as a
practice ground again this summer. Huge gray military airplanes
flying as low as 100 feet from the ground sprayed Minot and, for
the first time, Williston to kill mosquito larvae this spring.
Another mission aimed at adult mosquitoes, is planned for later
this month.
Gag me with a chainsaw! Palin plans to stay visible 03 Jul 2009
Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin plans to remain extremely visible and will give serious
consideration to running for president in 2012, but has made no
decision, a close friend said after her startling announcement
Friday that she will resign her office. Friends say Palin plans to
spend time writing her book, which is due this fall, then promote
it heavily when it comes out in spring 2010.
Palin resigns as governor, leaves plans secret 03 Jul 2009 Alaska
Gov. Sarah Palin abruptly announced Friday she is resigning from
office at the end of the month, a shocking move that rattled the
Republican party but left open the possibility she would seek a run
for the White House in 2012. Palin and her staff kept her future
plans shrouded in mystery, and it was unclear if the controversial
hockey mom would quietly return to private life or begin laying the
foundation for a presidential bid.
Sarah Palin will not seek re-election 03 Jul 2009 Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin has told associates that she will not seek re-election next
year, freeing her to pursue a White House bid in 2012, according
to two GOP sources. Leaving office at the end of next year, the
former vice presidential hopeful will be able to travel the country
more freely without facing the sort of repeated ethics inquiries
shes been fending off since returning to Alaska earlier this year.
[Alaska's polar bears and wolves rejoice!]
Everything suggests American bonds seized at Chiasso are real 30
Jun 2009 Four weeks have passed since American bonds were confiscated
from two Japanese who were travelling on a direct train to Chiasso,
Switzerland. While there has been clarification of some points,
very few, Italian authorities have remained silent on the rest of
the episode. In addition, a strange coincidence in the timing of
the arrest of a director of an internet radio who had made revelations
regarding the incident increases the already strong oddities
surrounding the case. This added to the revaluation of the fact
that among the evidence seized there were "Kennedy Bond" all points
toward the authenticity of the items seized by the Guardia di Finanza
(GdF) in early June.
'Rogue broker' blamed for oil spike 02 Jul 2009 The startling spike
in oil prices to their highest level this year on Tuesday was caused
by a rogue broker [terrorist] who placed a massive bet in the Brent
oil market, triggering almost $10m (7m) of losses for his company.
PVM Oil Associates, the worlds largest over-the-counter oil brokerage,
said on Thursday it had been the "victim of unauthorised trading".
Seven banks fail, pushing 2009 tally to 52 --Regulators close six
Illinois banks and one Texas bank, setting the FDIC back a total
of $314.3 million. 03 Jul 2009 Seven banks were shut down by
authorities Thursday, pushing the tally of failed banks for 2009
to 52, more than doubling the failures in 2008. Six regional banks
in Illinois and one in Texas closed their doors, according to the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The rash of Illinois failures
are interlinked: All six banks were controlled by one family and
followed a similar business model that "created concentrated exposure
in each institution," according to the FDIC.
Aircraft repair jobs sold to foreign workers, resumes not important
--It's a huge facility in the middle of San Antonio International
Airport, but a large number of mechanics are temporary workers from
foreign countries. 01 Jul 2009 A News 8 investigation found that
hundreds of aircraft mechanics have been brought into the United
States to work at aircraft repair facilities. Insiders say the
companies that are importing the mechanics are so eager to save
money, theyre overstating their qualifications. The result may be
a threat to safety, abetted by lax enforcement of immigration law.
ExxonMobil continuing to fund climate sceptic groups, records show
--Records show ExxonMobil gave hundreds of thousands of pounds to
lobby groups that have published 'misleading and inaccurate
information' about climate change 01 Jul 2009 The world's largest
oil company [terrorists] is continuing to fund lobby groups that
question the reality of global warming, despite a public pledge to
cut support for such climate change denial, a new analysis shows.
Company records show that ExxonMobil handed over hundreds of thousands
of pounds to such lobby groups in 2008. These include the National
Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) in Dallas, Texas, which received
$75,000 (#45,500), and the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC,
which received $50,000.
Sea Ice At Lowest Level In 800 Years Near Greenland 02 Jul 2009 New
research, which reconstructs the extent of ice in the sea between
Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present indicates
that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now. The
research results from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, are
published in the scientific journal, Climate Dynamics.
Scientists solve mystery of Scotland's shrinking sheep --Shorter,
milder winters caused by global warming to blame for steady decrease
in size of St Kilda sheep, experts say 02 Jul 2009 The mysterious
shrinking sheep of St Kilda... involves a rare herd of wild sheep
on the remote Scottish island - known in Scottish Gaelic as Hirta.
They have steadily decreased in size since the 1980s. Scientists
have fingered the culprit as the new Moriarty of mankind: global
warming. The experts say shorter and milder winters mean that lambs
do not need to put as much weight on during their first few months
of life. The average weight of the sheep has dropped by 81g each
year.
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Previous lead stories: Court Filing Shows Evidence Cheney Swayed
White House Response to CIA Leak --Discussions of CIA Agent Listed
in Filing 03 Jul 2009 A document filed in federal court this week
by the Justice Department offers new evidence that former vice
president [sic] Richard B. Cheney helped steer the Bush administration's
public response to the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson's employment
by the CIA and that he was at the center of many related administration
deliberations. A list of at least seven related conversations
involving Cheney appears in a new court filing approved by Obama
appointees at the Justice Department. In the filing, the officials
argue that the substance of what Cheney told special prosecutor
Patrick J. Fitzgerald in 2004 must remain secret.
Obama Administration to Involve NSA in Screening Civilian Agency
Networks 02 Jul 2009 The Obama administration will proceed with a
Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening
government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T
as the likely test site, according to three current and former
government officials. President Obama said in May that government
efforts to protect computer systems from attack would not involve
"monitoring private sector networks or Internet traffic." Under a
classified pilot program approved during the Bush regime, NSA data
and hardware would be used to 'protect' the networks of some civilian
government agencies. Part of an initiative known as Einstein 3, the
pilot called for telecommunications companies to route the Internet
traffic of civilian government agencies through a monitoring box
that would search for and block malicious computer codes... The
pilot was to have been launched in February.
"To be clear, Einstein 3 development is proceeding," DHS spokeswoman
Amy Kudwa said.
Al-Sadr demands full U.S. withdrawal from Iraq --About 131,000 US
troops remain in Iraq, on bases and in outposts outside of population
centers. 01 Jul 2009 The ongoing presence of U.S. troops in Iraq
"shows that the (Iraqi) government and the occupation are not serious
about the withdrawal," a key Shiite cleric in the country said
Wednesday. Muqtada al-Sadr made the statement on his Web site a day
after U.S. forces withdrew from Iraqi cities and towns in accordance
with the security agreement between the United States and Iraq.
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