Guantanamo detainee claims he was tortured by CIA
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A so-called "high-value" terrorism suspect held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, claims he was tortured while being held and interrogated at secret CIA prisons, and his attorneys have requested that a judge bar the agency from destroying evidence of that torture.
The motion filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights attorneys on behalf of Majid Khan is dated Nov. 29 -- a week before CIA Director Michael Hayden acknowledged the agency two years ago destroyed videotapes it made in 2002 of interrogations of al Qaeda suspects utilizing newly approved "alternative" interrogation techniques.
Attorney Gitanjali S. Gutierrez claims in the court documents that Khan, a native of Pakistan who attended high school in Baltimore, was held for more than three years at the secret CIA prisons and "subjected to an aggressive CIA detention and interrogation program notable for its elaborate planning and ruthless application of torture."
Asked about Khan's claims, CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano told CNN, "CIA's terrorist interrogation effort has always been small, carefully run, lawful and highly productive. Fewer than 100 hardened terrorists have gone through the program since it began in 2002, and of those, less than a third required any special methods of questioning. The United States does not conduct or condone torture." (Posted 7:40 p.m.)
Two small aircraft collide over Florida Everglades
(CNN) -- Two small aircraft collided Saturday over the Florida Everglades, just outside of Pompano Beach, authorities said. There was no immediate indication of survivors.
Video footage showed the wreckage scene, with authorities using airboats to navigate the swampy area. No bodies had been recovered as of about 7 p.m. Saturday, said Palm Beach County sheriff's Sgt. Pete Palenzuela.
An infrared, heat-sensing helicopter was to fly over the area Saturday night as part of the rescue effort, he said, but because of darkness and the presence of "dangerous wildlife" such as alligators in the area, divers would not be utilized until Sunday.
The collision was thought to have occurred about 3:20 p.m. Saturday, Palenzuela said. A Piper aircraft flying into Pompano Beach from central Florida was on approach into Pompano Beach Regional Airport when it collided with the second aircraft, thought to be a Cessna 152, he said. (Posted 7:21 p.m.)
Two small aircraft collide over Florida Everglades
(CNN) -- Two small aircraft collided Saturday over the Florida Everglades, just outside of Pompano Beach, authorities said.
Video footage showed the wreckage scene, with authorities using airboats to navigate the swampy area. There was no immediate information on occupants of the aircraft.
The Piper PA 30 and a second unknown aircraft collided about six miles northwest of Pompano Beach about 3 p.m. ET, Federal Aviation Administration Kathleen Bergen told CNN. The Piper was headed from Ocala, Fla., to Pompano Beach, she said. Authorities believe only one person was on board.
A search of registration numbers showed the Piper aircraft is registered to an individual in Waverly, Pa. (Posted 5:59 p.m.)
Shuttle launch to take place Sunday
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (CNN) -- NASA managers have confirmed they will launch space shuttle Atlantis Sunday at 3:21 p.m., Kennedy Space Center spokesman Allard Beutel said.
The launch had been originally scheduled for Thursday but was postponed until Saturday after two of the four engine cut-off sensors for the spacecraft's external fuel tank failed during pre-flight testing. On Friday, Beutel said the Saturday launch would be pushed to Sunday.
Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale said the attempt will be made under very strict flight rules. All the cut-off sensors will have to perform flawlessly during the run-up to launch and pass all preflight checks. The shuttle's launch window will be shortened from 10 minutes to only one in order to put the shuttle on the optimal trajectory to rendezvous with the International Space Station using the least amount of fuel.
The malfunctioning sensors act like a "low fuel" sensor in a car. As the shuttle rockets toward space, the sensors monitor the amount of fuel in the tank and can automatically shut off the main engines if they determine the tank is empty. (Posted 5:24 p.m.)
Two small aircraft collide over Florida Everglades
(CNN) -- Two small aircraft collided Saturday over the Florida Everglades, just outside of Pompano Beach, authorities said.
Video footage showed the wreckage scene, with authorities using airboats to navigate the swampy area. There was no immediate information on occupants of the aircraft.
The Piper PA 30 and a second unknown aircraft collided about six miles northwest of Pompano Beach about 2:40 p.m. ET, Federal Aviation Administration Kathleen Bergen told CNN.
A search of registration numbers showed the Piper aircraft is registered to an individual in Waverly, Pa. (Posted 5:10 p.m.)
Iran's foreign minister says 30 percent of NIE report 'wrong'
(CNN) -- Iran's foreign minister said Saturday a U.S. intelligence report on the country's nuclear program is 70 percent true, but denied the report's assertion that that Iran had a nuclear program before 2003.
"Seventy percent of U.S. intelligence report is true and positive and the remaining 30 percent, in which they claim that Iran had a nuclear weapon program before 2003 is wrong," Manouchehr Mottaki said, according to a translation of remarks he made at Amir Kabir university in Tehran. "They refused to confess about this 30 percent because they did not want to lose all their reputation or for similar reasons."
Mottaki was referring to the National Intelligence Estimate's report on Iran, released earlier this month. Among other findings, the report stated that Iran halted work toward a nuclear weapon while under international scrutiny in 2003 and is unlikely to be able to produce enough enriched uranium for a bomb until 2010 to 2015.
Earlier this week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed the report as "a declaration of victory" for Iran in the face of international pressure to suspend his country's production of nuclear fuel. (Posted 5:10 p.m.)
Shuttle launch to take place Sunday
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (CNN) -- NASA managers have confirmed they will launch space shuttle Atlantis Sunday at 3:21 p.m., Kennedy Space Center spokesman Allard Beutel said.
The launch had been originally scheduled for Thursday but was postponed until Saturday after two of the four engine cut-off sensors for the spacecraft's external fuel tank failed during pre-flight testing. On Friday, Beutel said the Saturday launch would be pushed to Sunday.
The focus of the shuttle's upcoming 11-day mission is delivering the long-awaited European addition to the International Space Station -- a 23-foot-long laboratory module named "Columbus," after the 15th century explorer.
The high-tech lab has been in the works for 25 years and is considered a huge milestone toward the completion of the space station. (Posted 4:39 p.m.)
CIA, Justice officials to probe destruction of tapes
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department and CIA will do a preliminary inquiry into the spy agency's destruction of videotapes taken during interrogations of two al Qaeda suspects, a DOJ official said Saturday.
The announcement was made in a letter from Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein to the CIA's acting general counsel, John Rizzo. Wainstein said the purpose of the probe will be to determine "whether further investigation is warranted."
On Friday, a former intelligence official told CNN that Rizzo opposed the destruction of the tapes. The ex-official, who did not want to be identified, told CNN that Rizzo didn't know they had been destroyed until after it was already done.
"I welcome this inquiry, and the CIA will cooperate fully," said CIA Director Mike Hayden in a written statement from the agency.
Osama bin Laden lieutenant Abu Zubayda was one of two al Qaeda suspects whose interrogations were videotaped, according to a government official with knowledge of the tapes. (Posted 3:57 p.m.)
Darwin faces two charges, to appear in court Monday
(CNN) -- John Darwin, the British man who reappeared five years after he was believed to have drowned, has been charged with obtaining a money transfer by deception and making an untrue statement to procure a passport, police Detective Sgt. Iain Henderson said Saturday in Cleveland, a town in northern England.
Darwin will appear in Magistrates Court on Monday, and he will remain in police custody at least until then, Henderson said.
The 57-year-old former prison officer and teacher was presumed to have died in 2002 after the remains of a kayak he paddled into the North Sea washed up on shore.
He walked into a central London police station last week, and told police officers he was suffering from amnesia, and that he had no memory of the last five years.
Police arrested Darwin Tuesday on suspicion of fraud, and he was taken from London to northeast Britain for questioning. (Posted 1:48 p.m.)
Shoppers return to Omaha mall with sad memories
(CNN) -- Christmas shoppers streamed into Omaha's Westroads Mall Saturday, just days after a troubled teen went on a shooting spree, killing eight people before turning the gun on himself.
The Von Maur store where the shootings occurred remained closed, and spokeswoman Megan Hakes said no reopening date had been set. There was work going on inside this weekend, she said. She did not specify what type of work.
Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, who was greeting shoppers, said he passed along this message: "Welcome back. Thank you for coming here, for your support."
Robert Hawkins, 19, entered the Von Maur store about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, left and returned about six minutes later, police said. He took an elevator to the third floor and began firing an AK-47 as employees and holiday shoppers scrambled for cover. (Posted 1:25 p.m.)
Violence across Iraq kills at least nine
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A leader in the political movement of radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was killed Saturday, along with three members of his family, when a bomb exploded in their house, an official with the An Numaniyah police told CNN.
Uday Hamid Ali -- a leader in al-Sadr's office in An Numaniyah -- and his wife and two children died, the official said. Police are investigating attack, he said.
In northern Iraq, a suicide car bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol, killing six people, including four police officers, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. Fourteen people were wounded, including 12 police, the official said.
Several houses and cars were damaged by the blast, which happened on the northern outskirts of Baiji in Salaheddin province. (Posted 11:34 a.m.)
ISAF soldier killed, another wounded in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A soldier with the International Security Assistance Force was killed Saturday and another was wounded in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, ISAF reported.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who have died or been injured today while working to ensure a more stable future for the people of Afghanistan," said Wing Cmdr. Antony McCord, Regional Command South spokesperson.
ISAF said it wouldn't release the casualty's nationality until authorized to do so. (Posted 9:38 a.m.)
Obama hopes 'Oprah-bama' attracts pro-Clinton women
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) -- Political endorsements rarely translate into votes, but sometimes the timing of one can carry great significance.
That's what Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is hoping for as they pick up the backing of Oprah Winfrey less than one month from the Iowa caucuses.
The three-state "Oprah-bama" tour starts at a Des Moines, Iowa, rally Saturday in a space that can accommodate thousands, and then moves east to Cedar Rapids for an event expected to bring in close to 8,500 people.
The two will travel to South Carolina and New Hampshire on Sunday. (Posted 9:37 a.m.)
Former official: CIA lawyer unaware videotapes destroyed
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former intelligence official said Saturday that the CIA's top lawyer, John Rizzo, opposed the destruction of videotapes showing the interrogations of some al Qaeda suspects.
The ex-official told CNN that Rizzo didn't know they had been destroyed until after it was already done.
President Bush and Vice President Cheney learned about the videotaped interrogations Thursday, when CIA Director Michael Hayden briefed them about the existence of the tapes and their subsequent destruction, administration officials said Friday.
The interrogations -- using newly approved "alternative" interrogation techniques -- of two al Qaeda suspects were recorded in 2002, Hayden said Thursday in a letter to CIA employees. They were destroyed three years later when the agency determined they had no intelligence value and could pose a security risk, he said. (Posted 9:03 a.m.)
Afghans used as human shields killed in Taliban attack
(CNN) -- Two Afghan children died and four civilians were wounded in a battle between an Afghan military patrol and Taliban fighters who were using them as human shields, an NATO spokesman said.
A soldier assigned to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in the same area -- the Musa Qaleh district of Helmand province -- by a land mine, according to Maj. Charles Anthony.
The Afghan National Army, with support from ISAF, launched a major operation Friday to retake the Musa Qaleh district from Taliban forces who have controlled the area for "quite some time," Anthony said. (Posted 7:54 a.m.)
Suicide bomb kills 6, hurts 14, mostly police
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A suicide car bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol in northern Iraq, killing six people, including four police officers and wounding 14 others Saturday morning, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.
Twelve of the wounded were police officials, the official said.
Several houses and cars were damaged by the blast, which happened at about 8 a.m. on the northern outskirts of Baiji, a town in the Salaheddin province about 120 miles north of Baghdad, the official said. (Posted 6:15 a.m.)
FAA: Continental jets come close to collision on Newark runway
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two Continental Airlines jets came close to colliding on a runway at Newark Liberty International Airport Thursday night, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration said.
A source close to the investigation said a passenger jet that was landing came within 300 feet of another plane taxiing across the runway.
Continental Express Flight 2558, an Embraer 145, was crossing the end of runway 22 just as Continental Flight 573, a Boeing 737, flew over it on an instrument approach about 9 p.m. Thursday, according to FAA spokesman Jim Peters. The flight crew of the taxiing plane had acknowledged an air traffic controller's instruction to hold short at the end of the runway but the plane continued anyway, Peters said.
Peters said investigators were examining radar, radio transmissions and other information to determine what happened. (Posted 6: 14 a.m.)
Gates: NIE findings support more international pressure on Iran
MANAMA, Bahrain (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates called on the international community to step up pressure on Iran to vow not to develop nuclear weapons, suspend uranium enrichment and to open up its nuclear facilities for inspection.
Gates, addressing a Gulf states' security conference Saturday, sarcastically noted that Iran celebrated the U.S. intelligence community's recent report that said Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
He said it marks a "watershed" that "Iran has, for the first time, embraced as valid an assessment of the United States intelligence community - on Iran's nuclear weapons program."
He said "since that government now acknowledges the quality of American intelligence assessments, I assume that it also will embrace as valid American intelligence assessments" that Iran is funding militia groups in Iraq; deploying lethal weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan; supporting terrorist organizations; and continued development of missiles to carry nuclear warheads. (Posted 4:33 a.m.)
Suicide bomb kills 4 police, hurts 12 in northern Iraq
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A suicide car bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol in northern Iraq, killing four police officers and wounding 12 others Saturday morning, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.
The blast happened at about 8 a.m. on the northern outskirts of Baiji, a town in the Salaheddin province about 120 miles north of Baghdad, the official said. (Posted 3:31 a.m.)
Talks to end Hollywood writers' strike collapse
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Talks to end Hollywood's writers' strike abruptly ended Friday evening as studio negotiators walked out, accusing Writers Guild of America (WGA) leadership of putting their personal political agendas above the interest of their membership.
The writer's negotiators said they remain ready to continue talks "no matter how intransigent our bargaining partners are."
Statements from each side suggested they were far from a settlement to the five-week-long walkout, as they became more entrenched in their differences over what share of residuals writers would get for Internet and DVD distribution of shows and as new demands emerged.
Production on dozens of television series and movies halted last month and more are expected to shut down in December unless a new three-year contract between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is reached
