- The meeting place of facts, ego, ignorance and politics typically is a messy arena as Tim Weiner illustrates over and over in this powerful account of the Central Intelligence Agency actions since the 9/11 attacks. The title, “The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century,” would seem to suggest a tidy, academic-style analysis. Instead, it’s […]
- (Reuters) -A low pressure area located just offshore of the east coast of Florida has a 40% likelihood of evolving into a cyclone within the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Tuesday. “This system is forecast to move westward across the Florida Peninsula today and tonight, then reach the northeastern […]
- ATLANTA (AP) — Voters head to the polls Tuesday to choose a Democratic nominee for one of the posts on the Georgia Public Service Commission, which oversees utilities including Georgia Power Co. Keisha Waites and Peter Hubbard are competing in a runoff after neither won a majority on June 17. Waites finished first and Hubbard […]
- PHOENIX (AP) — Voters in southern Arizona are selecting nominees Tuesday to succeed the late U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who was one of the most senior and progressive power brokers on Capitol Hill. His death in March left the seat wide open for the first time in over two decades. Grijalva was a champion of […]
- DENVER (AP) — Colorado prosecutors are set to lay out their evidence Tuesday against a man charged with murder, attempted murder and other crimes in a firebomb attack on demonstrators showing their support for Israeli hostages in Gaza. Investigators say Mohamed Sabry Soliman told them he intended to kill the roughly 20 participants at the […]
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- Book Review: ‘The Mission’ reveals troubling political meddling in CIA after 9/11on July 15, 2025 at 5:18 am
The meeting place of facts, ego, ignorance and politics typically is a messy arena as Tim Weiner illustrates over and over in this powerful account of the Central Intelligence Agency actions since the 9/11 attacks. The title, “The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century,” would seem to suggest a tidy, academic-style analysis. Instead, it’s a riveting account of a vital institution that descended into turmoil with agents after 9/11 sometimes creating diabolical tortures and units operating seemingly on their own. The author details an agency that buckled under pressure from the younger President Bush to find evidence that Saddam Hussein had developed chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Compelling evidence was not to be found but Bush pressed on anyway with a military campaign to topple Hussein, killing 4,492 American service members in the process. Weiner leaves no doubt as to who is responsible in every misdeed and operational failure he describes — everyone in this 392-page narrative is identified by name. How Weiner persuaded so many people to talk on the record is a journalistic feat that should make this book impossible to dismiss. If “The Mission” has a fault, it’s that it is light on prescription — how do we insure that the CIA remains faithful — without political meddling — to its mission gathering the intelligence needed to keep America safe ? The CIA must reclaim its original mission, Weiner writes: “Know thy enemies.” To do that work, the CIA has since its inception attracted some of America’s brightest and most dedicated, willing to risk their lives to get the information the nation’s top political and military leaders need. Consider counterterrorism expert Michael D’Andrea, for example. Weiner writes that D’Andrea worked 100 hours per week, obsessively pursuing al-Qaeda. How he managed that pace as a chain smoker is unexplored. Perhaps his vegetarian diet helped. Half of the book details how the CIA swerved far out of its intelligence-gathering lane after the 9/11 attacks and morphed into a paramilitary organization, calling its torture tactics “enhanced interrogation techniques” and killing many thought to be terrorists absent the oversight that governs the military services. For example, one agent let a prisoner freeze to death in a dungeon-like “fetid hellhole” at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. In the agent’s defense, the post 9/11 months and years were a time of pervasive fear of another attack and relentless pressure on the CIA to prevent that. Some notable successes followed; agents penetrated both the Kremlin and Saddam Hussein’s government. Knowledge is the essential tool of national security and peace and “The Mission” makes it clear we let the CIA go off track at our peril. “A new cold war is slowly escalating toward existential danger,” the author writes. “Only good intelligence can prevent a surprise attack, a fatal miscalculation, a futile war.” ___ AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- NHC says 40% chance system will form into cyclone near Floridaon July 15, 2025 at 4:43 am
(Reuters) -A low pressure area located just offshore of the east coast of Florida has a 40% likelihood of evolving into a cyclone within the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Tuesday. “This system is forecast to move westward across the Florida Peninsula today and tonight, then reach the northeastern Gulf by the middle part of this week,” the NHC said in its latest advisory. (Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Georgia runoff to decide Democratic nominee for Public Service Commissionon July 15, 2025 at 4:19 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Voters head to the polls Tuesday to choose a Democratic nominee for one of the posts on the Georgia Public Service Commission, which oversees utilities including Georgia Power Co. Keisha Waites and Peter Hubbard are competing in a runoff after neither won a majority on June 17. Waites finished first and Hubbard finished second in a three-way race. Under Georgia law, when no candidate wins a majority, a runoff is required to choose a winner. Turnout was exceedingly low in early voting, and fewer than 100,000 voters are likely to decide the nominee. The winner will face Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson in November in the District 3 race. Republicans in June chose incumbent Tim Echols, who has been on the Public Service Commission since 2011, to face Democrat Alicia Johnson of Augusta in the District 2 race. Voters statewide cast ballots for each of the five seats on the commission, but candidates must live in a particular district. Debate has centered on bills charged by Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co. Georgia Power customers have seen bills rise six times in recent years because of higher natural gas costs and construction projects including two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, and other factors. A typical Georgia Power residential customer now pays more than $175 a month, including taxes. The commission sets rates and oversees generation plans for Georgia Power, which serves 2.3 million customers statewide. Now, all five commission seats are held by Republicans. Hubbard and Waites argue that breaking the GOP hold on the body will help lower bills. A green energy advocate, Hubbard touts his experience testifying before the commission and developing alternative plans that emphasize a shift toward solar power stored in batteries, rather than building more natural gas plants. Waites is a former state House member and former Atlanta City Council member. She emphasizes that she would give representation to Black people and Democrats on the commission. In a statement Wednesday, Waites said her previous experience in office would help her work with others to lower rates. The five-member commission, currently all Republicans, also oversees some natural gas rates for Atlanta Gas Light and Liberty Gas. Georgia usually doesn’t have statewide elections in odd-numbered years, but these were pushed back after elections were delayed by a lawsuit that unsuccessfully challenged the statewide voting scheme as discriminatory to Black people. No Georgia Public Service Commission elections have been held since 2022 because of the lawsuit. Fitz Johnson was appointed to the commission in 2021 by Gov. Brian Kemp and has never faced voters. He was supposed to run for the last two years of his predecessor’s term in 2022. Instead, the District 3 winner can run again next year for a six-year term, after lawmakers rewrote the terms. Echols was supposed to run for a six-year term in 2022. Instead, the District 2 winner will serve for five years, with the next election in 2030. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Southern Arizona voters are poised to select nominees to succeed late US Rep. Raúl Grijalvaon July 15, 2025 at 4:19 am
PHOENIX (AP) — Voters in southern Arizona are selecting nominees Tuesday to succeed the late U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who was one of the most senior and progressive power brokers on Capitol Hill. His death in March left the seat wide open for the first time in over two decades. Grijalva was a champion of environmental protections and reliably went to bat for immigrants and Native American tribes. He routinely breezed past GOP challengers in the deep-blue district, which stretches across most of the state’s border with Mexico and includes parts of Tucson and nearby counties. A handful of Democratic hopefuls — including Grijalva’s daughter — are seeking the nomination in the primary for the 7th Congressional District seat. Adelita Grijalva, a progressive, is regarded as the frontrunner. Also in the running are former state lawmaker Daniel Hernandez; digital strategist and reproductive rights advocate Deja Foxx; Indigenous activist and scholar Jose Malvido Jr.; and retired health care executive Patrick Harris Sr. Painting company owner Daniel Butierez, off-road vehicle businessman Jimmy Rodriguez and restaurant owner Jorge Rivas are vying for the GOP bid. Butierez captured more than one-third of the vote in the 2024 election against Raúl Grijalva. The winners of Tuesday’s primary will face off for the seat in the special general election on Sept. 23. The seat will not decide control of the U.S. House, but it is one of three vacancies in heavily Democratic districts that, when filled in special elections this fall, will likely chip away at Republicans’ slender 220-212 majority in the chamber. Democrats enjoy a nearly 2-1 ratio registration advantage over Republicans in the 7th District. Lee Ziesche, a 36-year-old climate justice organizer, said climate and affordability are among the top issues for her in this election. She said she is voting for Adelita Grijalva. “I do think that Adelita has organized and been a part of this community for a very long time and would carry on her father’s progressive legacy,” Ziesche said. Rosalyn Carrillo is supporting Foxx, the youngest candidate at 25 years old who has said she’s an alternative to a “legacy” last name and will be an obstructionist to President Donald Trump. “We need something different. We need to change it up,” said Carrillo, a 19 year-old college student in Tucson. Jim Chilton, an 86-year-old rancher who owns a ranch on the Arizona-Mexico border, said he is supporting Butierez because he feels he’d make decisions in line with securing the border if elected. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Colorado prosecutors to lay out evidence in firebomb attack on demonstration for Israeli hostageson July 15, 2025 at 4:18 am
DENVER (AP) — Colorado prosecutors are set to lay out their evidence Tuesday against a man charged with murder, attempted murder and other crimes in a firebomb attack on demonstrators showing their support for Israeli hostages in Gaza. Investigators say Mohamed Sabry Soliman told them he intended to kill the roughly 20 participants at the weekly demonstration on Boulder’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall on June 1. But he threw just two of more than two dozen Molotov cocktails he had with him while yelling, “Free Palestine!” Police said he told them he got scared because he had never hurt anyone before. Federal authorities say Soliman, an Egyptian national, had been living in the U.S. illegally with his family. The purpose of Tuesday’s preliminary hearing in state court in Boulder is for District Judge Nancy Woodruff Salomone to determine if there’s enough evidence for Soliman to go on trial there. Soliman already faced dozens of charges in state court as well as hate crime charges in federal court when state prosecutors added murder charges following the death of an 82-year-old woman who was injured in the attack died as the result of her injuries. Karen Diamond helped at her synagogue and volunteered for several local groups, including the University of Colorado University Women’s Club and a local music festival. Last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Cramer-Babycz told U.S. District Judge John L. Kane that federal prosecutors have not decided yet whether to file additional charges against Soliman related to Diamond’s death. Federal prosecutors allege the victims were targeted because of their perceived or actual connection to Israel. But Soliman’s federal defense lawyers say he should not have been charged with hate crimes because the evidence shows he was motivated by opposition to Zionism, the political movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel. An attack motivated by someone’s political views is not considered a hate crime under federal law. Soliman has pleaded not guilty to the hate crime charges. He has not been asked to enter a plea to the state charges yet. State prosecutors have identified 29 people who are considered victims of the attack, including 13 who were physically injured. The others were nearby and are considered victims because they could have been hurt. A dog was also injured in the attack, so Soliman has also been charged with animal cruelty. Tuesday’s hearing was set to move ahead over the objections of Soliman’s state public defenders, who asked to delay it after Diamond died and Soliman was charged with murder. In a court filing last week, they said they were not aware of an autopsy report being done for Diamond yet and asked to delay the hearing until October so they would be be able to review “significant medical records” in advance. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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