JAMES MITCHELL

The Detroit Lions stunned Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, winning 15-6. Rodgers and the offense struggled in big spots.

The SNP’s achievements in government have "limped lamely behind their soaring rhetoric", a leading expert on the party has said, as the latest opinion poll registered a dip in support for Scottish independence. James Mitchell, professor of public policy at Edinburgh University who is widely considered a leading authority on the SNP, said that the nationalists "would be struggling" in the current campaign were it not for the pandemic and the constitution. However, he said the party had managed to present itself as being "in government and opposition at the same time" and had been "blessed" with weak opposition parties and the fact that independence was a dominant campaign issue. A poll for Survation recorded a slight dip in SNP support in constituencies ahead of Thursday’s vote - with the party down three points to 47 per cent. However, the party's predicted share of the vote on the regional lists was up by two, to 37. The poll found that support for Scottish independence had fallen two points to 47 per cent, with 53 per cent now in favour of the union. However, the figures show the SNP will easily win Thursday’s election and a majority is within reach. Prof Mitchell said that a revival for Labour would "create problems for the SNP" and said Nicola Sturgeon would far rather the Tories remained as Holyrood’s second-largest party.

Liberty's CJ Yarbrough catches a touchdown pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Virginia Tech, Saturday, Nov. 7 2020, in Blacksburg, Va. (Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times via AP, Pool)

25 Liberty to a 38-35 victory over Virginia Tech. But officials ruled that Virginia Tech had called a timeout before the kick. “I’ve always done this,” Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said. Hendon Hooker paced Virginia Tech, throwing for 217 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 156 yards and a touchdown. Virginia Tech: The Hokies play Miami at home on Saturday.

James Mitchell, the psychologist who devised the CIAs post-Sept. 11 interrogation program, is a complicated figure. Mitchell has become the face of the interrogation program that critics have deemed torture in large part because of a combative personality. He acted, he said, out of a deep sense of loss and for those whose relatives were killed on Sept. 11. After Sept. 11, the entirety of the American national security apparatus was reoriented to a single task: stopping the next attack. He said the CIA threw him and Jessen under the bus, basically blaming them for the torture program.

A CIA psychologist testified here Monday that he told self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed that if there was another attack on America, he would kill Mohammeds son. Mitchell said he was trying to ensure that Mohammed continued to cooperate after the harshest interrogation methods had been discontinued. I later told interrogators that their methods were stupid and counterproductive.The lies, no matter how wild they seemed, had to be investigated. AdvertisementThe Senate investigation found the interrogation program was brutal and ineffective. The CIA report described the program as well-intentioned, but amateurish and inconsistent.

The first person to be subjected to the method was Abu Zubaydah, an Al Qaeda functionary and the first so-called high-value detainee captured after 9/11. He testified that waterboarding was a step in a process; he urged the end of it for Abu Zubaydah because it had served its purpose. For example, he says that the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah helped the CIA locate Ramzi Binalshibh, one of Mohammeds fellow defendants. Joseph Margulies, a law professor at Cornell University who once represented Abu Zubaydah, said the brutal methods helped numb America to wrongdoing. In at least one of the instances, the information thought to be classified a CIA officers name can be discovered in a simple Google search.

Let me tell you just so you know, said James Mitchell, who personally waterboarded Mohammed at a black site, or secret prison, in Poland. The bipartisan report found that the CIA had actively avoided congressional oversight and that the interrogation program had made the nation less secure, not more. They later formed a company that was paid about $81 million to help operate the interrogation program over several years. Mitchell said the torture techniques the CIA calls enhanced interrogation were applied much less extensively than normally understood. Human rights organizations around the world have condemned the interrogation program.

Defense lawyers are seeking to bar confessions that all five defendants gave to FBI interviewers, called clean teams, in 2007. The prosecution has said those confessions are untainted by the prior torture and key elements in their case. In addition to Mohammed, the defendants are his nephew Ammar Baluchi, Ramzi bin Shibh, Mustafa Hawsawi and Walid bin Attash. The hearings have gone on so long several military lawyers have retired. Defense lawyers are unable to talk with their clients about anything the government decides is classified.

Tencent shares slumped as much as 3.88% on Thursday after the Chinese technology giant reported a mixed bag of second-quarter results. Revenue rose 21% year-on-year to 88.82 billion yuan ($12.92 billion, according to the exchange rate published in the earnings statement). However, profit attributable to shareholders beat analyst forecasts, rising 35% year-on-year to 24.14 billion yuan. The company's gaming division returned to growth, posting revenue of 27.3 billion yuan, up 8% year-on-year. That was welcomed given that the Chinese government froze video game approvals last year, hurting Tencent's business badly and wiping billions off the company's market capitalization.