Online News Paper

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers on Sunday demanded a probe into allegations that former vice-president Dick Cheney gave direct orders to the CIA to conceal from Congress a covert counter-terrorism programme.
The existence of the programme, set up after 9/11, was hidden for eight years and even now its nature is not known. But some US media reports suggest that the programme may have involved torture and possibly assassinations.
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, called the failure to inform Congress ‘illegal’.
‘We have a system of checks and balances. There is accountability in our Constitution. The executive branch cannot create these kinds of programmes ... and leave Congress in the dark. (It) is not only inappropriate, it is illegal.’
Senator John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ he believed Mr Cheney should respond since the accusations were aimed squarely at him.
‘I think it’s frankly too early for me to reach any conclusion,’ Mr McCain said, adding, ‘If I know Washington, this is the beginning of a pretty involved and detailed story.’
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told ‘FOX News Sunday’ that Congress should have been informed about the eight-year programme sooner so that it could have oversight of the spy agency’s actions.
‘I think you weaken your case when you go outside of the law,’ Senator Feinstein said. ‘We were kept in the dark. That’s something that should never, ever happen again.’
The senator insisted that the law was very clear on this issue; the administration needs to report all such matters to Congress.
The news of Mr Cheney’s alleged involvement in a plot to hide the CIA operation from Congress came the day Attorney-General Eric Holder hinted he might allow prosecution of those Bush-era officials who endorsed excessive interrogation techniques against terror detainees.
Also, The Washington Times quoted an unnamed US official as telling its reporters that the covert programme might have involved assassinations overseas.
The leaks to the media followed CIA Director Leon Panetta’s briefing to Congress on June 24 about the still classified programme. Although it was an ‘in-camera’ briefing, some lawmakers spilled the beans, telling the media that Mr Cheney had ordered CIA officials to hide the covert programme from Congress.
Mr Panetta’s June 24 briefing to lawmakers led Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee to demand the CIA director retract his May 15 claim that the CIA never lied or misled Congress, a remark Mr Panetta made in May after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the agency of lying to her about the now-defunct enhanced interrogation programme.
Director Panetta is said to have abandoned the project when he learnt of it last month.
Mr Panetta -- who took over directorship of the CIA under President Obama’s administration -- is said to have learnt about the programme only on 23 June.
The next day he called an emergency meeting with congressional intelligence committees to tell them about its existence and to say that it was being cancelled, the reports say.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that the programme was launched by anti-terror operatives at the CIA soon after the 2001 attacks, and involved planning and training but never became fully operational.
Another unnamed official told AP it was an embryonic intelligence-gathering effort, aimed at yielding intelligence that would be used to conduct covert operations abroad.

LOS ANGELES: The memorial service for the 'King of Pop' Michael Jackson has ended with an emotional goodbye from the star's only daughter. Paris Katherine Jackson, 11, fought tears as she told an audience of millions her father had been great since the day she was born."I just want to say, ever since the day I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. I just want to say I love him so much." Afterwards she burst into tears and was helped off the stage by her aunt Janet Jackson.Her brothers Prince Michael, 12, and Blanket, 7, were also on stage with their uncles and aunts but did not speak. The Staples Centre in Los Angeles erupted into song for renditions of Jackon's hit songs We Are The World and Heal The World. The stage, filled with Jackson's family and performers such as Lionel Richie, Usher, Smokey Robinson, Mariah Carey, sung the iconic songs along with the thousands of fans crammed into the stadium for the memorial service.Jackson's brother, Marlon Jackson said he would "treasure the good memories of his brother." "I hurt". "I stand here trying to find words of comfort, trying to understand why the world has taken our brother to return home after such a short visit here on earth.Ad Feedback "Michael when you left, a part of me went with you and a part of you will live forever within me." Marlon Jackson said people would never be able to understand what his brother had endured."Being judged, ridiculed, how much pain can one take? Maybe now Michael they will leave you alone. "I thank you Michael, I thank you for all the smiles you have placed in people's hearts." Marlon said his last request was for Jackson to give his late brother Brandon a hug for him.

Live Coverage of Michael Jackson memorial, Michael Jackson’s memorial service is to be streamed live at London’s O2 Arena today (July 7). Fans will be able to watch full coverage of the event, which is being held at Los Angeles’ Staples Center and is expected to feature a host of celebrities and live performances. No tickets are required for the stream, and entry to the O2 Arena’s Peninsula Square is free. Coverage starts at 5:30pm (BST). Jackson, who died on June 25.

Thousands of people packed a Los Angeles arena Tuesday to say a final goodbye to Michael Jackson, the man known as the King of Pop. The star-studded public memorial for Jackson began Tuesday with Smokey Robinson reading comments from friends of the pop star, including former South African president Nelson Mandela. Jackson's golden casket, draped with flowers, was placed in front of the stage at the Staples Center sports complex in downtown Los Angeles for the service. Speaking at the event, actress Queen Latifah said Jackson was the "biggest star on Earth," and had a global impact. Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records, said Jackson was "simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived." Performers at the service included singers Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder. The memorial service was aired live over dozens of television networks around the world and the Internet. Earlier, the Jackson family and close friends attended a private memorial at the Forest Lawn Memorial cemetery - the final resting place for scores of American entertainment celebrities. An online drawing for free tickets to the memorial at the Staples Center attracted more than 1.6 million people, but only 8,750 people were randomly selected. Each winner received two tickets for the Staples Center ceremony or for the simulcast at the nearby Nokia Theater. In addition to the fans who received tickets, huge crowds gathered in the area, with many people from various parts of the world. Thousands of police provided security around the Staples Center, keeping fans without a ticket from reaching the event. An entertainment company, Cinedigm Corporation, broadcast the service live at about 50 movie theaters across the U.S. free of charge. The 50-year-old Jackson died suddenly on June 25 in Los Angeles. A cause of death has not been determined, and authorities are investigating whether medications are to blame. Toxicology results are not expected for weeks.

President Obama in Moscow, US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev reach a deal in Moscow to cut back their stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
In an interview with Russian TV broadcast over the weekend, Obama said only that he hoped to win agreement on the “framework” of a treaty during the four hours of meetings. He also emphasized the importance of sending a message of general agreement as the two sides work toward crafting a strategic arms reduction treaty to replace the one that expires in December.
“For us to send a strong signal that we want to reduce our stockpiles I think would help us internationally, to give people a sense that we’re moving into a new era and we want to get beyond the Cold War,” Obama told Itar-Tass TV.
Speaking to reporters Sunday, Gary Samore, the White House point man on weapons of mass destruction, said he expects Obama and Medvedev will announce progress after their meeting. But Samore acknowledged that a major issue is the continued U.S. movement toward construction of a missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Russian officials consider a stumbling block to the larger agreement.
Samore spoke of the missile shield in terms of an ongoing debate, referring to the “very good argument” the U.S. has to make to the Russians about why they shouldn’t feel threatened by the shield project.
“Our current missile defense . . . is designed exclusively to deal with threats from countries like North Korea and Iran,” Samore said. “We don’t believe that it poses a threat to Russian strategic systems.”
Russia still has to be convinced, he said, “so obviously parallel to these strategic arms talks, we’ve had discussions with the Russians about missile defense in order, we hope, to demonstrate to them that what we’re doing on missile defense doesn’t pose a threat to their nuclear deterrent.”
Medvedev, in his own weekend interviews, did not sound open to the argument that the shield was meant to protect against North Korea and Iran.
“In terms of missile defense, Poland and the Czech Republic are one thing, Iran is a different one altogether,” he said. “They are too far apart geographically.”
What’s more, Medvedev told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper that he considers the missile shield “interrelated” with any talks of reducing strategic weapons. Nuclear arms, he said, “do not exist by themselves, rather they exist together with the means for defending against them, that is antimissile defense.”
Obama will also meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is considered the most influential figure in Moscow.
As he prepared for his visit, Obama said his overarching agenda was to “reset” relations between the two nations.
As a sign of reconciliation, Kremlin officials signaled they will formalize plans this week to allow the U.S. to use Russian airspace to reach forces in Afghanistan. That and other concessions could be announced at a news conference today after meetings between Obama and Medvedev and before a dinner with their wives.
Even as they sounded a positive note, U.S. officials were leaving room for the possibility that an agreement wouldn’t be reached on a replacement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty — or “New Start” — before year’s end.
That wouldn’t be a tragedy, Samore said, making an extension sound like a small matter.
The “most ideal situation” would be to complete the treaty this year, he said. But if that doesn’t happen, he said, “we’ll have to look at arrangements to continue some of the inspection provisions, keep them enforced on a provisional basis.”