9/11 panel slams US spy agencies

The independent commission probing the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 has slammed US intelligence agencies for their alleged failure t...

The independent commission probing the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 has slammed US intelligence agencies for their alleged failure to anticipate the strikes on New York and Washington despite warnings.

The 9/11 commission staff on Wednesday presented a memo showing that CIA chief George Tenet and his deputies were presented in August 2001 with a briefing paper labelled ‘‘Islamic extremist learns to fly’’, about the arrest days earlier of Zacarias Moussaoui but they did not act on that information.

The interim report offered a stinging assessment of the CIA under Tenet’s leadership and was made public during a hearing at which Tenet said he had little contact with President George W. Bush during much of the summer of 2001.

Later, the agency phoned reporters to say that Tenet met Bush during the US President’s August vacation at his Texas ranch and later that month in Washington. Tenet himself has said that it would take another five years for the CIA to be ready for all contingencies because of the way it was starved of funds. The administration leaders have admitted that while Al Qaeda was at war with the US, ‘‘we were not at war with them’’ before 9/11.

Disquiet in film board: ‘Censorship raj’, no meeting in 6 years, no reports, term lapsed

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A controversial decision-making process has set off divisions within the CBFC, and cast a long regulatory shadow on the Indian film industry as it aspires to be a global player. The Indian Express spoke to several top filmmakers and board members to find that a not-so-silent storm is brewing within the fraternity — and inside the CBFC, too — over what many call a “one-man show”.

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