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U.S. senator: CIA interrogation tactics helped get bin Laden

Republicans on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee will soon release a report asserting the CIA's use of harsh interrogation techniques helped bring down Osama bin Laden and disrupt terrorist plots, the panel's top Republican said on Sunday. "Information gleaned from these interrogations was in fact used to interrupt and disrupt terrorist plots, including some information that took down bin Laden," Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said on CBS's "Face the Nation." Democrats who control the Senate Intelligence Committee are expected to issue their own report that alleges the CIA techniques, such as "waterboarding," did not help yield valuable intelligence and were not necessary. The two reports will come five years after the committee authorized a probe into the CIA's possible use of torture after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It is unclear when the Democrats' report will be released because Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs

Obama says CEOs should quit complaining: Economist

President Barack Obama said corporate America has done well under his economic policies, telling the Economist magazine that chief executive officers should stop complaining about regulations and show greater social responsibility. "If you look at what's happened over the last four or five years, the folks who don't have a right to complain are the folks at the top," Obama said in an interview conducted last week and posted on the magazine's website late on Saturday. Republicans have sought to portray Obama as anti-business, and businesses have complained that Obama's signature healthcare law and the Dodd-Frank financial reforms have raised costs. Business groups are lobbying against his new plan to curb climate-changing carbon emissions from power plants. "I would take the complaints of the corporate community with a grain of salt," Obama said, arguing that his policies have been friendly to business. "They always complain about regulatio

Obama: 'Russia doesn't make anything,' West must be firm with China

President Barack Obama dismissed Russia as a nation that "doesn't make anything" and said in an interview with the Economist magazine that the West needs to be "pretty firm" with China as Beijing pushes to expand its role in the world economy. _0"> Obama has tried to focus U.S. foreign policy on Asia, a response to China's economic and military might. But for months, that "pivot" has been overshadowed by a flurry of international crises, including Russia's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer and second-largest natural gas producer. Europe relies heavily on Russian energy exports, complicating the West's response to the Ukraine crisis. Obama downplayed Moscow's role in the world, dismissing President Vladimir Putin as a leader causing short-term trouble for political gain that will hurt Russia in the long term. "I do think it's important to keep perspecti

German magazine reports Israel spied on Kerry last year

German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Sunday that Israel and at least one other intelligence agency were listening in on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's unsecured phone calls last year when he was holding nearly daily negotiations for peace with various leaders in the Middle East. _0"> The magazine cited "several sources from intelligence circles" as saying that although Kerry has a secure phone at his mansion in Georgetown, while he was traveling and needed to make a quick phone call, he sometimes used an ordinary telephone that the intelligence agencies listened in on. "A large number of these conversations, which went via satellite, were listened to by at least two intelligence agencies, including the Israelis," the magazine wrote. "It is probable that the Russians and Chinese were also listening in." The magazine said that Israel thus often knew precisely what Kerry was talking to the other sides about. Kerry, the magazine said,

Radio star Casey Kasem's remains flown to Canada: agent

The body of radio personality Casey Kasem, who even before his June death was at the center of a tug-of-war between his wife and his children from a prior marriage, has been flown to Canada from a Washington state funeral home, his longtime former agent said on Wednesday. _0"> Kasem, the former host of the syndicated program "American Top 40," was moved to Canada by his wife, his agent Don Pitts said, after being kept at the Gaffney Funeral Home in Tacoma, Washington. He died on June 15 at age 82. Candace Corkum, administrative manager for the funeral home, confirmed on Friday that Kasem's body was no longer at the facility. When reached by phone on Wednesday, someone speaking for the home declined further comment. Kasem had been the focus of a dispute between his three children from his first marriage - Kerri, Julie and Mike - and his second wife, Jean Kasem. The children said she prevented them from visiting him as he suffered from Lewy body dementia, an i

CBS keeps Colbert's 'Late Show' in New York in tax-for-jobs deal

CBS' "Late Show" will stay in New York when comedian Stephen Colbert takes over from the late-night talk show's host David Letterman in a deal that will award the network tax credits for jobs commitments, CBS Corp. and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday. _0"> CBS did not immediately commit to keeping the show at its only home, Manhattan's Ed Sullivan Theater, when the network announced in April that Colbert would succeed Letterman. Politicians in California had lobbied for the "Late Show" to move to Los Angeles after NBC's "The Tonight Show" moved to New York from its longtime home in Burbank, California, when Jay Leno stepped aside for Jimmy Fallon in February. CBS said it will be eligible for at least $11 million in state tax credits over five years by keeping the "Late Show" in New York, another example of how states have lured television and film production away from its traditional Los Angeles home

Ex-NFL Redskin Fred Davis sought in domestic violence case

Former Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis is being sought by police on a domestic assault charge, Washington police said on Wednesday. _0"> Davis, 28, is alleged to have approached an ex-girlfriend while she was eating at a Washington restaurant early on June 2 with a man. Davis grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around, police said. When the woman walked outside, Davis followed and threw a handful of dirt and flowers from a plant box at her, police said. The two argued at length, then Davis got in a car and drove off. The woman, 28, was not hurt. She reported the incident to police the following day, police said. Davis, a second-round draft choice from the University of Southern California, played for the Redskins for six years. He was suspended indefinitely in February by the National Football League for violating the league's substance abuse policy. (Reporting by Ian Simpson ; Editing by Eric Beech )