Obama: 'We Tortured Some Folks After 9/11'

President Barack Obama has said the US "tortured some folks" in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

He was speaking on Friday at the White House about a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into CIA interrogation procedures under president George W Bush.

"In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 we did some things that were wrong," he said.

"We did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks.

"We did things that were contrary to our values."

There are calls for the CIA's director to resign

The Senate investigation focused on tactics such as waterboarding and secret prisons for terrorism suspects after 9/11.

Officials familiar with the report say it concludes the use of coercive interrogations did not produce any significant counter-terrorism breakthrough in the years after the al Qaeda attacks.

The findings are to be released in the coming weeks.

Mr Obama said he believed the methods were used because US security officials were under pressure at the time to prevent another attack.

The CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia

Americans should not be too "sanctimonious" in retrospect, he added.

Mr Obama also said on Friday that he had full confidence in CIA director John Brennan.

His comments came a day after Mr Brennan apologised after admitting his staff had spied on the Senate investigation into his agency.

The CIA's inspector general found the agency had improperly searched the computers of congressional staff.

There have been calls for Mr Brennan to resign because only months ago he strenuously denied his employees had snooped on the Senate inquiry, in a rare public spat with the committee chairwoman.

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Hamas: Israeli Soldier 'May Have Been Killed'

Why Obama's Hands Are Tied Over Gaza

Updated: 4:38am UK, Friday 01 August 2014

By Dominic Waghorn, US Correspondent

On the day the White House said the Israeli military should do more to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the US confirmed it had agreed to supply the same military with more ammunition.

The Obama administration has hardened its criticism of the shelling of a UN school in Gaza calling it "indefensible" and saying there is little doubt the Israelis were responsible.

"We need our allies in Israel," said administration press secretary Josh Earnest "to live up to the high standards they have set themselves". Meanwhile those same allies were being invited to help themselves to more of the US arms stockpiles in Israel.

Duplicitous double standards or another sign of the complexity of US-Israeli relations? Depends on your point of view.

There is no doubt the Obama administration is concerned and frustrated by Israel's conduct. There is also no doubt the administration will continue to support it to the hilt for as long as required.

Frustrated not least because of the trashing of the US Secretary of State John Kerry by Israeli cabinet ministers and media after his efforts to broker a ceasefire.

The Obama administration has not hidden its fury at the personal attacks on America's chief diplomat by senior members of the Netanyahu government.

The mounting civilian suffering is a concern to the US, for humanitarian and diplomatic reasons.

What's left of America's standing in the Arab world is further undermined by gruesome pictures of slaughter caused by US-supplied weaponry being fired into Gaza.  

A lot has been made of the dysfunctional relationship of the two countries' leaders. 

Bibi and Barack have had more than their share of differences, and none of the political intimacy of George W Bush and Ariel Sharon. 

But these days Israel can take US support for granted far more than it could back then.

When Ariel Sharon wanted to send his military into Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank in 2002 he personally asked Bush to let him do so and give him enough time to finish the job.

The destruction in Jenin is nothing compared to what Israel has wrought in Gaza and it has done so without needing to ask for American permission. 

There are many reasons for US support for Israel, some historic, others more current.

The US-Israeli relationship is one of the fundamental constants of American foreign policy in the Middle East. With a region in ferment and in a state of flux, that is more important to Washington than ever.

The Israeli lobby is also hugely powerful in the US. 

Capitol Hill has been called Israeli-occupied territory; such is the sway the Jewish state holds over US politicians.

Multifarious pro-Israel organisations, millions given to Israel supporters at election time and masterful use of the media all mean that is unlikely to change.

Israel has the same hold on everyday Americans as it has on politicians.

US public opinion has been overwhelmingly sympathetic to Israel since the second intifada when the Palestinians began blowing up women and children on buses and since 9/11, which hardened US attitudes to violent Muslims of any description.

More often than not the US media is inclined to accept the Israeli narrative. 

Coverage of tunnels out of Gaza is a case in point.

When Israeli military PR shifted the focus from rockets to tunnels, US coverage followed.

Too much talk of rockets is a threat to Israel economically now the country's main airport is within range.

Israel now claims Hamas tunnels are their main casus belli.

There has been little questioning of Israeli claims they are a terrorist threat to women and children, when thus far they have only been used by Hamas militants for military purposes to target Israeli soldiers. 

US support of Israel is mirrored by the attitude of some Arab nations in the region.

Egypt's recent ceasefire plan angered Hamas by including many of Israel's demands and few of the Palestinians'.

The Saudis and Jordanians are also quietly cheering the Jewish state from the sidelines. 

Since the last major Israeli operation in Gaza the faultlines have shifted in the Middle East because of the deepening chasm among Muslims, between Sunnis and Shia. 

On one side, Iran and its allies, the Assad regime in Damascus, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

On the other Tehran's enemies in the Gulf and Egypt who are in no mood to help out Iran's Sunni allies, Hamas in Gaza. 

While much of the Middle East remains silent as the carnage continues in Gaza, Israel will assume it is carrying out the wishes of at least some of its neighbours.

Washington will continue dishing out carefully worded criticism if Israel keeps facing claims it has shelled children sleeping in UN buildings.

But it is not going to be reducing its support for its closest ally in an increasingly troubled region.

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Factory Blast Kills 'At Least 65' In China

At least 65 people have been killed and 120 others injured after a factory explosion in eastern China, according to state media.

The blast reportedly occurred at 7.30am local time at the Kunshan Zhongrong workshop, which makes car wheels for US companies such as General Motors.

Footage showing large plumes of black smoke rising from the factory - which is in the province of Jiangsu - was broadcast on China Central Television (CCTV).

Other images showed the injured. some of whom were badly burnt, lying on wooden pallets and being placed in trucks and ambulances.

Rescuers help an injured man at the scene of the explosion

CCTV reported that more than 200 workers were at the site when the blast occurred.

A rescue operation is under way and authorities are working to confirm the number of casualties.

A preliminary investigation suggested the explosion was caused by negligence after a flame was lighted in a dust-filled room, state news agency Xinhua said.

Two officials from the factory have reportedly been detained.

Authorities have also established an emergency blood-donation drive in the city to assist casualties.

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US Ebola Doctor Gives Serum To Fellow Patient

A US doctor infected with ebola has insisted the only available dose of an experimental serum go to a fellow American patient in Liberia, as one of the countries worst hit by the disease declared a state of emergency.

Dr Kent Brantly and missionary Nancy Writebol are both in a "stable but grave condition", according to an aid organisation, although his condition deteriorated slightly overnight.

The North Carolina-based Samaritan's Purse charity said in a statement: "Yesterday, an experimental serum arrived in the country, but there was only enough for one person. Dr Brantly asked that it be given to Nancy Writebol."

The charity also said Dr Brantly, 33, had been given a unit of blood from a 14-year-old boy who survived ebola because of the American's medical care.

The virus has been fatal in 60% of cases in this outbreak

It is hoped the boy may have developed antibodies that could help Dr Brantly fight off the infection, which has no vaccine or specific treatment.

The ebola outbreak is the worst in history and has killed 729 people in West Africa, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), which announced a $100m plan to tackle the disease.

In Sierra Leone, which accounts for around a third of all deaths from the disease, President Ernest Bai Koroma declared a state of emergency, saying ebola "poses as an extraordinary challenge".

Officials at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, said they expected one of the ill Americans to be transferred to its facility in the coming days, though they declined to say which one.

Health workers' clothing and equipment must be sterilised

Dr Brantly's wife and two children returned to their home in Texas before he displayed symptoms of the disease in the Liberian capital Monrovia.

The husband and fellow missionary of 59-year-old Ms Writebol is only allowed to visit her through a window, or while wearing a protective suit.

US health authorities on Thursday recommended against non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three African nations worst affected by the outbreak.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan plans to meet the presidents of the affected nations on Friday in Conakry, Guinea.

Sierra Leone health workers carry the body of an ebola victim

She said they need to take the response "to a new level".

On Thursday, Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency and called in troops to quarantine ebola victims, a day after Liberia also introduced sweeping measures.

The Sierra Leone football squad has been barred from travelling to the Seychelles for an African Cup of Nations qualifier because of fears over the virus.

So far, one US citizen has died from ebola, in Nigeria, after he took a flight from Liberia.

Hospitals in the UK are taking precautions for any ebola outbreak

That case is prompting the International Civil Aviation Organization to consider introducing passenger screenings for the disease.

Two other American volunteers remain in isolation in West Africa after coming into contact with an ebola sufferer, who later died.

The pair - working for America's Peace Corps movement - have not displayed symptoms but are under observation.

The Peace Corps said on Wednesday it was evacuating 340 volunteers from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

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Athlete Tested For Ebola At Commonwealth Games

An athlete competing for Sierra Leone at the Commonwealth Games has revealed he spent four days in isolation over fears he had brought the deadly ebola disease into the UK.

Moses Sesay, who came to Scotland to compete in the cycling time trial, fell ill last week and was admitted to hospital.

"I felt tired and listless," he said. "All the doctors were in special suits to treat me. They dressed like I had ebola. I was very scared."

Tests eventually gave Sesay the all-clear and he was allowed to compete in the event, ultimately finishing last.

Medical staff treating ebola patients have to wear special protective suits

But the 32-year-old said he and his team-mates are worried about returning to their homeland once the Games are over.

More than 220 people have died in Sierra Leone after contracting the disease - more than any other country.

"All of us are scared about going back," Sesay told the Mirror.

"We have a three-month visa in our passports and, if I have the opportunity, I will stay here until this ends."

More than 700 people have died after contracting the disease in Africa

Health officials have been warned to be on the lookout for any unexplained illness in people returning from countries where ebola is present.

One union leader said British border, customs and immigration staff feel unprepared to deal with potential cases of the disease, although the Home Office said there was a "well-established plan to deal with different scenarios".

Dr Colin Ramsay, from Health Protection Scotland, said patients could be screened for ebola if they show symptoms including a fever, headache or sore throat, especially if they have travelled from an affected area within the last three weeks.

Putting such patients in isolation is a "standard precaution" and not unusual, he added.

Games organisers stressed the athletes' village has not been affected

A spokesman for Glasgow 2014 stressed there is "no ebola in the athletes' village", while Dr Ramsay said there is nothing to suggest there is any risk to sports stars competing in Glasgow.

"People have a misconception about ebola," he said.

"It is spread, primarily, through contact with bodily fluids, not casual conflict, so it wouldn't be sufficient just to share a house with someone.

"There has to have been close contact to have a substantial risk of being infected with the disease."

Meanwhile, a US doctor infected with ebola has insisted the only available dose of an experimental serum go to a fellow American patient in Liberia.

Dr Kent Brantly asked for the unit of blood to go to missionary Nancy Writebol, as the World Health Organisation announced a $100m (£59.2m) plan to tackle the outbreak.

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Mystery Gas Blasts Tear Up Streets In Taiwan

A series of underground gas blasts in Taiwan's southern city of Kaohsiung has killed 25 people and injured 267 others.

The explosions sparked a huge fire that tore through the city's Chian-Chen district and were powerful enough to upturn cars and split open paved roads. 

One of the blasts left a large trench running down the centre of a road, edged with piles of concrete slabs.

Residents said the blasts felt like a powerful earthquake.

The force of the explosions overturned fire engines and destroyed roads

Media reports suggest the number of dead is likely to rise sharply.

President Ma Ying-jeou promised measures to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

"The explosions were like thunder and the road in front of my shop ripped open. It felt like an earthquake," Taiwan's Central News Agency quoted an eyewitness as saying.

"I saw fire soaring up to possibly 20 storeys high after a blast, and fire engines and cars being blown away while around 10 bodies lay on the street," another witness said.

The explosions hit Kaohsiung municipality late on Thursday night

The National Fire Agency said four firefighters, who were at the scene investigating gas leaks at the time of the explosions, were among those killed. 

It said the local fire department received calls of gas leaks late on Thursday and then there was a series of blasts around midnight affecting "an area of two to three square kilometres".

They were believed to have been caused by a leak of propene, a petrochemical material not intended for public use, but the source of the gas was not immediately clear, officials said.

Rescue workers at the scene of the disaster

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu said several petrochemical companies have pipelines built along the sewage system in the area.

Xinhua news agency described smoke with a "gas-like smell" seen coming out of drains in the streets before the explosions.

Officials urged people to stay out of the district and people were using schools to take shelter.

Power was also cut off in some areas, making it difficult for rescuers to search for people who might be buried in rubble.

The explosions came just a week after a TransAsia Airways plane crashed in Taiwan during bad weather, killing 48 people.

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Hamas Leader Defiant Over Gaza In Rare Speech

Gaza Conflict 'Like A Never-Ending Horror Film'

Updated: 2:53pm UK, Tuesday 29 July 2014

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent, in Gaza City

"Stay safe," people keep telling us.

"Where?" I always reply.

One of the harsh realities of this war is that there seem to be no red lines or boundaries.

People here are locked inside a tiny, cramped territory while the Israeli army bombs their homes, businesses, schools and hospitals.

Some 23,160 buildings have been damaged in the past three weeks, including 560 houses that were specifically targeted, according to the Health Ministry.

Most of the time there is no electricity, so at night you can only listen to what's happening around you in the dark.

Parents watch as their children die, children watch as their parents die - it's like a horror film.

The hardest part is how to convey the emotion and explain the events you are witnessing to people who live thousands of miles away and have likely never been to Gaza.

How do you do the story justice, remaining calm and fair?

Journalists are obsessed with the idea of balance, but what throws us off is that this is not an equal battle.

Israel says it is defending its civilians from rockets indiscriminately fired at them and underground tunnels used to infiltrate and kill soldiers.

Hamas says it is defending their civilians from an Israeli imposed siege that has strangled Gaza and affects every part of daily life.

The sad reality is that this war will likely end with Israel keeping Gaza under a blockade, which means Hamas will continue to resist - if not with rockets then tunnels, if not with tunnels then something else.

And if it's not Hamas it will be another group. The violence will continue as long as there is a cause.

Covering this war has been just as devastating as in 2008/9, the last time Israel launched a ground assault and I was inside Gaza.

Back then, people felt they were paying the price for a battle between Hamas and Israel.

This time, after seven years of living under siege, many sound hopeless and support Hamas (they call it "the resistance") because they feel there is no other way to end the misery they are living in.

My parents tell me stories of going on holiday to Gaza when they were young.

It has a beautiful coastline and when the drones and jets are quiet you can hear the waves crashing on the beach.

But the last few years of the blockade have been especially tough and Gaza is now a ghetto of 1.8 million people with many living in refugee camps surrounded by bombed out buildings.

Yesterday, at a UN school turned shelter, a woman asked me where I was from.

"Egypt," I replied, expecting her to lecture me about the country's complicity in the siege and how much she hates Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi.

But instead she said in a strong, sad voice: "Take me back with you."

It's simple really: people in Gaza, like elsewhere in the world, just want a chance to live with dignity.

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Top Ebola Doctor Falls Victim To Deadly Virus

A doctor who was hailed as a national hero in Sierra Leone after risking his life to treat dozens of ebola patients has himself died from the disease.

Dr Sheik Humarr Khan had been hospitalised in quarantine but died on Tuesday, officials said.

Health workers are particularly vulnerable to ebola, which has killed more than 670 people since February.

Two Americans are currently being treated for the disease in Liberia, where all football activities have been stopped in a bid to halt the spread of the deadly virus.

Texan GP, Kent Brantly, who also contracted ebola while treating patients with the virus, is said to be in a grave condition in Monrovia and "terrified" he will not survive.

A Canadian doctor has also put himself in quarantine in Liberia as a precaution after spending several weeks in the region treating ebola patients.

The family of Patrick Sawyer, Nigeria's first Ebola virus victim

Azaria Marthyman of Victoria, British Columbia, was working with the Christian relief organisation Samaritan's Purse.

Samaritan's Purse and SIM USA have now decided to evacuate all non-essential personnel from Liberia as a result.

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Level Two travel alert, warning travellers to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to avoid contact with body fluids of people who might be affected.

The symptoms of the severe acute viral illness include sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and a sore throat.

This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and internal and external bleeding. 

Kent Brantly with his wife Amber and children

The major West African carrier, ASKY, has stopped its flights to Liberian capital Monrovia and Freetown, Sierra Leone, because of outbreak.

The airline's decision came after Patrick Sawyer, a 40-year-old American of Liberian descent, died of ebola in Nigeria after taking several ASKY flights, travelling through an international hub.

Mr Sawyer, a top official for Liberia's finance ministry, had travelled to Nigeria from Liberia, via Ghana and Togo. He collapsed on arrival at Lagos airport.

It was the first record case of ebola in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.

At the ministry where he worked, several senior officials have been placed under observation for three weeks.

Passengers at ASKY's hub in Lome, Togo, will also be screened by medical teams.

Arik Air had already cancelled flights in the region.

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Strikes Kill 43 In Gaza As UN School Hit

Gaza Conflict 'Like A Never-Ending Horror Film'

Updated: 2:53pm UK, Tuesday 29 July 2014

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent, in Gaza City

"Stay safe," people keep telling us.

"Where?" I always reply.

One of the harsh realities of this war is that there seem to be no red lines or boundaries.

People here are locked inside a tiny, cramped territory while the Israeli army bombs their homes, businesses, schools and hospitals.

Some 23,160 buildings have been damaged in the past three weeks, including 560 houses that were specifically targeted, according to the Health Ministry.

Most of the time there is no electricity, so at night you can only listen to what's happening around you in the dark.

Parents watch as their children die, children watch as their parents die - it's like a horror film.

The hardest part is how to convey the emotion and explain the events you are witnessing to people who live thousands of miles away and have likely never been to Gaza.

How do you do the story justice, remaining calm and fair?

Journalists are obsessed with the idea of balance, but what throws us off is that this is not an equal battle.

Israel says it is defending its civilians from rockets indiscriminately fired at them and underground tunnels used to infiltrate and kill soldiers.

Hamas says it is defending their civilians from an Israeli imposed siege that has strangled Gaza and affects every part of daily life.

The sad reality is that this war will likely end with Israel keeping Gaza under a blockade, which means Hamas will continue to resist - if not with rockets then tunnels, if not with tunnels then something else.

And if it's not Hamas it will be another group. The violence will continue as long as there is a cause.

Covering this war has been just as devastating as in 2008/9, the last time Israel launched a ground assault and I was inside Gaza.

Back then, people felt they were paying the price for a battle between Hamas and Israel.

This time, after seven years of living under siege, many sound hopeless and support Hamas (they call it "the resistance") because they feel there is no other way to end the misery they are living in.

My parents tell me stories of going on holiday to Gaza when they were young.

It has a beautiful coastline and when the drones and jets are quiet you can hear the waves crashing on the beach.

But the last few years of the blockade have been especially tough and Gaza is now a ghetto of 1.8 million people with many living in refugee camps surrounded by bombed out buildings.

Yesterday, at a UN school turned shelter, a woman asked me where I was from.

"Egypt," I replied, expecting her to lecture me about the country's complicity in the siege and how much she hates Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi.

But instead she said in a strong, sad voice: "Take me back with you."

It's simple really: people in Gaza, like elsewhere in the world, just want a chance to live with dignity.

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Ukraine Rebels 'Getting More Powerful Weapons'

The US has accused Russia of preparing to give "even more powerful rocket launchers" to Ukrainian separatists blamed for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines plane.

The rebels are said to have used a BUK missile, supplied by Moscow, to hit flight MH17 over the east of the country, mistaking it for a Ukrainian plane.

The US has warned of a significant build-up of Russian troops along the border amid fears of a possible "peacekeeping" incursion to support the increasingly embattled separatists fighting government forces.

It comes as President Barack Obama and leaders from Britain, Germany, France and Italy agreed to impose a wider set of sanctions against Russia's financial, defence and energy sectors.

Fighting is continuing in eastern Ukraine

Until now, the EU sanctions have not been as tough as the American ones as Europe is more reliant on deals with Russia.

The new penalties are aimed at putting more pressure on President Vladimir Putin.

Tony Blinken, a national security adviser to Mr Obama, said: "We've seen convoys of tanks, multiple rocket launchers, artillery, and armoured vehicles.

"There's evidence it's preparing to deliver even more powerful multiple rocket launchers."

Armed pro-Russian separatists stand guard in Shakhtarsk, Donetsk

He added: "We've seen a significant rebuild up of Russian forces along the border, potentially positioning Russia for a so-called humanitarian or peacekeeping intervention in Ukraine."

The US earlier released satellite images it claimed show rockets have been fired at Ukraine from within Russia.

The images, which come from the US Director of National Intelligence and have not been independently verified, also purport to show that heavy artillery for pro-Russian separatists has crossed the border.

Flight MH17 suffered a massive explosive decompression, says Ukraine

The rebels deny they were responsible for the July 17 downing of the airliner, which killed all 298 people on board, including 10 Britons, whose families are set to meet Prime Minister David Cameron.

Moscow has also denied allegations of involvement in eastern Ukraine, claiming the US is conducting "an unrelenting campaign of slander against Russia, ever more relying on open lies".

Black box data from the plane reveals it crashed due to a "massive explosive decompression" after being hit by shrapnel from a missile, claims a Ukrainian security official.

And the UN has said the shooting down of the airliner may amount to a war crime.

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