A senior Democrat has fuelled an acrimonious row over a Senate report into torture by the Central Intelligence Agency, by blaming the abuses on former vice-president Dick Cheney.
Nancy Pelosi on Sunday raised the stakes over the landmark study by shifting responsibility from the agency to Cheney, who steered much of the Bush administration's response to the September 11 2001 attacks.
The House minority leader said Cheney, a Republican, set the tone of CIA actions during an era of harsh interrogation methods, a controversy which has flared anew in the runup to congressional elections in November.
CIA torture report: Nancy Pelosi blames Dick Cheney
Pro-Russians storm offices in 3 east Ukranian cities
Pro-Russian protesters have stormed government buildings in three eastern Ukrainian cities. In Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv they clashed with police, hung Russian flags from the buildings and called for a referendum on independence.
Ukraine's acting president called an emergency security meeting in response.
The unrest comes amid tensions between Russia and Ukraine over the removal of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych and Russia's annexation of Crimea.
CBS' '60 Minutes' admits to faking Tesla car noise
What is it about Tesla and its ability to make major media outlets look like fools?
The latest example came a week ago today when CBS' 60 Minutes aired a report on Tesla and its amazing electric car. It was basically the kind of coverage that any automaker would kill to have (and must have left flummoxed General Motors executives wondering why they never got it for the plug-in Chevrolet Volt).
Heroin addicts face barriers to treatment
As the ranks of heroin users rise, increasing numbers of addicts are looking for help but are failing to find it — because there are no beds in packed facilities, treatment is hugely expensive and insurance companies won't pay for inpatient rehab.
Some users overcome their addictions in spite of the obstacles. But many, like Salvatore Marchese, struggle and fail.
In the course of Marchese's five-year battle with heroin, the Blackwood, N.J., man was repeatedly denied admission to treatment facilities, often because his insurance company wouldn't cover the cost. Then one night in June 2010, a strung-out Marchese went to the emergency room seeking help. The doctors shook their heads: Heroin withdrawal is not life-threatening, they said, and we can't admit you. They gave him an IV flush, and sent him home.
Scientists develop dissolvable electronics
A materials scientist at Iowa has developed electronics and materials able to dissolve on command.
Reza Montazami, assistant professor of mechanical engineering Iowa State University, calls the technology "transient materials" or "transient electronics." He says it could be used to create medical devices that disappear inside the body and are disposed of once they've done their jobs. Or the materials could be used by the military to send and receive top secret information.
2 priests, Canadian nun abducted in Cameroon
Armed groups on Saturday abducted two Italian priests and a Canadian nun working as missionaries in northern Cameroon, Italy's government and Catholic church officials said.
Italy's foreign ministry identified the priests as Giampaolo Marta and Gianantonio Allegri, but declined to give other details, including the Canadian's identity, to avoid compromising efforts for the missionaries' release.
A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said Pope Francis was praying for the three and "expressed hope for a solution."
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Again, Christianity the last to get it right
Eleven years ago, Richard Stearns went to Washington.
Stearns - president of World Vision, the billion-dollar Christian relief organization - joined other faith leaders in lobbying Congress to spend $15 billion combating AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. He acknowledged he and his fellow evangelicals were late to the fight against this pandemic and explained their tardiness with remarkable candor.
At first, he said, Christians perceived AIDS as a disease of gay people and drug users and so, "had less compassion for the victims." This, from followers of the itinerant, first-century rabbi who said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened ..." So Stearns' words offered stark illustration of one of the more vexing failings of modern Christianity: its inability to get there on time.
Md. House Of Delegates Passes Marijuana Decriminalization Bill
The Maryland House of Delegates voted Saturday to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Alex DeMetrick explains what the outcome means for both sides. The House voted 78-55 for the bill. It would eliminate criminal charges for possessing less than 10 grams — or about one-third of an ounce.
The Senate has already approved a similar measure, but changes made by the House will require Senate approval to pass the bill before the legislative session ends at midnight Monday.
Ever Wonder Why Your Local TV News Stations Run the Same Damn Stories?
Everybody knows that most local TV newscasts kind of suck. On television, if it bleeds it leads, and if it's cheesy and trite it wins the night. Local news is a reliable source for late-night comedians—and The Simpsons has been lampooning it forever.
Yet despite all of the genre's shortcomings, local TV news still manages to reach 9 in 10 American adults, 46 percent of whom watch it "often." It may come as a surprise to you internet junkies, but broadcast television still serves as Americans' main source of news and information. Which is why it matters that hundreds of local TV news stations have been swept up in a massive new wave of media consolidation: It means that you, the viewer, are being fed an even more repetitive diet of dreck.
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