Investigations You Need to Read: Friday

Today in accountability news:

• In the first three months of 2010, 72 Afghan civilians have died in NATO strikes, reports USA Today. That's more than double the number who were killed in the same three months last year.
• Philadelphia Inquirer: School-issued laptops secretly snapped thousands of webcam photos of students at home, according to a lawyer hired by one family.
• The Miami Herald reports that both Democrats and Republicans are raking in special-interest cash this year from the likes of health care companies, utility companies, the gambling industry, prison operators and tobacco companies. Republicans have raised $7.6 million and Democrats $2.6 million.
• Documents show that in 2005, after the CIA destroyed 92 videotapes showing harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects, the agency's executive director was told, "we may have 'improperly' destroyed something." The Washington Post reports that another CIA official had authorized the destruction of the tapes, believing that "the heat from destroying is nothing compared to what it would be if the tapes ever got into the public domain," according to e-mails from the executive director's deputy.

These stories are part of our ongoing roundup of investigations from other news outlets. For more, visit our Investigations Elsewhere page.

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