by Scott Shane July 8, 2009 WASHINGTON — The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, has told the House Intelligence Committee in closed-door testimony that the C.I.A. concealed “significant actions” from Congress from 2001 until late last month, seven Democratic committee members said.

by William Fisher NEW YORK, Jul 7 (IPS) – New charges filed against private security contractor Blackwater accuse the company of murder, destruction of audio and videotaped evidence, distribution of controlled substances, tax evasion, child prostitution, and weapons smuggling.

by Arundhati Roy July 13, 2009 Is democracy a hit with humans because it mirrors our myopia? While we’re still arguing about whether there’s life after death, can we add another question to the cart? Is there life after democracy? What sort of life will it be? By democracy I don’t mean democracy as an ideal or an [...]

by Diane Bartz (Washington) and Sinead Carew (New York) July 6, 2009 NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has begun looking at big telecom companies such as AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications to try to determine if they have abused their market power, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Monday.

by Frida Berrigan June 30, 2009 The phrase “Obama has a lot on his plate” is the understatement of the year. The president has a to-do list a mile long, and every day a new crisis (like the coup in Honduras) gets added to the list. Can we really fault him if he sneaks the occasional smoke?

by James Ridgeway June 30, 2009 Big Pharma pulled off a first-class PR coup last week with its widely celebrated pledge to support health care reform by offering up a package of discounts they claim will run to $80 billion over the next ten years. The highlight of the package, said to be worth about $30 billion, [...]

by William K. Black July 1, 2009 President Obama’s financial regulation proposal is doomed to fail. Why? Because it was developed by people who don’t believe in regulation.

by Mike Allen July 2, 2009 For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post has offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to “those powerful few”: Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and — at first — even the paper’s own reporters and editors.

There are smart ways to raise money and regulate the market, but Wall Street is working to kill any meaningful financial reform By Dean Baker July 1, 2009 Last month, when the US Congress failed to pass a bankruptcy reform measure that would have allowed home mortgages to be modified in bankruptcy, senator Dick Durbin succinctly commented: “The [...]

Police death squads are out of control in The Philippines say human rights campaigners, murdering slum children, the poor and political enemies with impunity.