WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and the CIA’s internal watchdog announced Saturday a joint inquiry into the spy agency’s destruction of videotaped interrogations of two suspected terrorists as the latest scandal to rock U.S. intelligence gathered steam. The review will determine whether a full investigation is warranted. “I welcome this inquiry and the CIA will cooperate fully,” CIA Director Mike Hayden said. “I welcome it as an opportunity to address questions that have arisen over the destruction back in 2005 of videotapes.”
@3. Headline Briefs 14 no:Republicans likely to keep seats
Republicans are favored to keep two conservative congressional districts in Ohio and Virginia in special elections Tuesday that were set up by the deaths of the incumbents. The winners will complete the terms of Rep. Paul Gillmor, who was first elected in a northwest Ohio district in 1988, and Rep. Jo Ann Davis, who represented southeastern Virginia for seven years. Gillmor died in a fall in September. Davis died of breast cancer in October. Neither race will change the makeup of the House, which Democrats gained control of a year ago by a 233-202 margin.
California: Satellite blasts off
A rocket carrying a satellite for civilian and military use successfully blasted off Saturday. The Boeing Delta II rocket was carrying the Thales Alenia-Space COSMO-SkyMed 2 satellite, Vandenberg Air Force Base officials said. They said it was the second time this year a satellite of this type was launched from Vandenberg. The satellite will be used to observe the Earth. No further details were provided.
Arizona: Alien-hiring law stands
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking to block a new Arizona law that prohibits people from hiring illegal immigrants and requires businesses to verify whether applicants are eligible for employment. The law takes effect Jan. 1. Under the law, any business that is found to have knowingly hired an illegal worker is subject to sanctions ranging from probation to a 10-day suspension of its business licenses. A second violation would bring permanent revocation of the license.
Florida: Two airplanes collide
Two small planes collided over the Everglades on Saturday, crashing into the swamp, and authorities said there were no survivors. A Piper aircraft and another unknown aircraft crashed at about 3 p.m., a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said. Authorities believe there was only one person onboard the Piper, but they had no information yet on the second plane, she said. The area where the planes went down is accessible only by airboat. There were no survivors.
South Carolina: Whooping cough
Sixteen students at Bob Jones University in Greenville have or are suspected of having whooping cough, leading officials to end the fall semester about a week early, officials said. The college ended its semester Friday and canceled several public events. “Based on information from health officials we do not believe the illness will spread as our students go home to their families,” a university spokeswoman said.
Pennsylvania: Students rebuked
Two Penn State students pictured on the Internet dressed as victims of the Virginia Tech massacre were rebuked by their university this week but won’t face disciplinary action, officials said. Pictures of the students in a Halloween costume of Virginia Tech shirts covered in bullet holes and fake blood were posted on Facebook.com, the social networking site. Penn State condemned the actions in a letter sent to Virginia Tech officials.
Iraq: Suicide bomber kills eight
A suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden truck filled with sand struck a police station north of Baghdad on Saturday, the latest in a week of bombings that have killed nearly 80 people. The truck was allowed through the main gate of the complex in Beiji, the site of Iraq’s largest refinery, after the driver told the guards he was delivering the sand to a construction site inside. The driver detonated his payload when two policemen approached him as he tried to enter a parking lot, police said. The blast killed eight people and wounded 16, police said.
Suriname: Peace Corps death
A Peace Corps volunteer was killed in Suriname when she accidentally set off a gun rigged as an animal trap, police said. The woman, identified as 25-year-old Blythe Ann O’Sullivan, of Bloomingdale, Ill., was shot in the leg Thursday and apparently bled to death before she could get medical treatment, a police spokesman said Saturday. Gun traps are illegal in Suriname, but many locals still use them to hunt for food. Police said the owner of the trap could face prosecution even if the death is ruled accidental.
From Herald news services
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