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Torture

The logo for ExxonMobil appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Top US oil executives to testify before Congress

Top of The World

Top oil executives testify before Congress in a landmark hearing before the US House Oversight Committee. Also, the African Union suspends Sudan over its military coup. And, a new report reveals that Myanmar’s junta tortures its detainees in a systematic way.

A police officer drives a large blue and white police vehicle through town

Federalism in violence: Part II

Critical State
Syrian defendant Eyad A. hides himself under his hood prior to the first trial of suspected members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's security services for crimes against humanity, in Koblenz, Germany, April 23, 2020.

Syrian officials on trial for war crimes in Germany

Conflict & Justice
A large portrait photograph is show of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad with several Syrian flags flying behind it.

First Syria torture trial opens in Germany

Violence
Animation of a person lying in the dark in what seems to be a jail cell. Light shines in from a window with bars.

At a clinic for torture survivors, an Iranian refugee works to build a new life

Justice
CIA director nominee and acting CIA Director Gina Haspel is sworn in to testify at her Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill,

CIA Director Gina Haspel’s memos detailing torture declassified

Conflict

Haspel oversaw a CIA “black site” in Thailand in 2002.

CIA Director Gina Haspel, wearing dark rimmed glasses, looks right in the medium cropped portrait.

Senators ‘kept in the dark’ as CIA director vote draws near

Gina Haspel, who is expected to be confirmed early Wednesday, controls which information on her clandestine career the CIA declassifies. On Monday, the Senate intelligence committee restricted access to a report that gave senators some insight into the torture program she ran.

CIA director nominee Gina Haspel raises her right hand as she is sworn in to testify at her Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation, May 9, 2018.

For some, Haspel for CIA head ‘would be promoting a torturer’

Conflict & Justice

Trump’s pick to lead the CIA oversaw some of the “black sites” that used torture against terrorism suspects in the wake of 9/11. Can she lead one of the nation’s top agencies? Some say no.

A man's image is blurred as he walks across a giant marble seal in the floor of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

What we know — and what we don’t — about Trump’s controversial pick to lead the CIA

Conflict & Justice

If she can muster enough votes, Haspel, who is 61, would be the first woman to run the intelligence agency. She would replace Mike Pompeo, newly confirmed secretary of state.

Nominee to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel arrives for meetings with Senators on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, May 7, 2018.

Haspel is Trump’s chance to reset his bad start with the CIA

Commentary

If the president wants to benefit from the best information about the most important challenges facing America, he needs to believe the CIA is doing its job well. That trust starts at the top.

Latest Episode

Gina Haspel Faces Tough Confirmation to Head C.I.A.