In the News: Aug-27

Contractor accused of threats to kill witnesses - 27 Aug 2009 at 2:49pm - LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A military contractor under investigation on allegations he overbilled and did faulty repair work on Navy and Army aircraft has been charged with threatening to kill witnesses in the case, according to a complaint unsealed Thursday.

Man dies after being Tasered at L.A. subway station - 27 Aug 2009 at 2:17pm - The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says a man has died after a deputy shocked him three times with an electric stun gun at a subway station. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore says the man, who was not immediately identified, was at the North Hollywood Red Line station Wednesday night when a deputy repeatedly asked if he had a ticket.

US fears Yemen next staging ground for al-Qaida - 27 Aug 2009 at 1:51pm - WASHINGTON -- American authorities are pressuring Yemen to counter a rising internal al-Qaida threat more aggressively and improve intelligence-sharing amid growing worries that the country could become the next significant terrorist staging ground.

New jobless claims fall in latest week - 27 Aug 2009 at 9:06am - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to 570,000, and those collecting long-term unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level since April, government data showed on Thursday.

CIA interrogators used Transport Canada documents - 27 Aug 2009 at 7:04am - A survival manual produced by Transport Canada was used by U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to set limits on dousing detainees with cold water, according to documents released this week.

Memos: CIA pushed limits on sleep deprivation - 27 Aug 2009 at 6:30am - WASHINGTON -- A year after the Bush administration abandoned its harshest interrogation methods, CIA operatives used severe sleep deprivation tactics against a terror detainee in late 2007, keeping him awake for six straight days with permission from government lawyers.

U.S. soldier killed; August tied for deadliest month in Afghanistan - 27 Aug 2009 at 5:36am - NATO says a U.S. service member has been killed in a militant attack involving a roadside bomb and gunfire.

Thought for the day:
Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder. -Arnold Toynbee (1889 - 1975)