USA

“Our views are far apart”€™: German chancellor slams US, UK over spying
Countries spying on their allies sow distrust that could result in less, rather than more security, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned. She particularly referred to the surveillance and spying activities by the US and the UK. [...]
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GCHQ chief to step down by year’€™s end following Snowden leaks
The head of GCHQ, Britain's electronic intelligence agency, will step down by year’s end, the Foreign Office said. Officials denied his departure was linked to public outrage over mass surveillance revelations by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. [...]
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Top lawyer to MPs: GCHQ mass surveillance largely illegal
A substantial part of the GCHQ's dragnet snooping program is most likely illegal and was approved by government ministers despite breaching human rights and surveillance laws, a legal analysis requested by British MPs has found, The Guardian reports. [...]
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NSA is after industrial spying -€“ Snowden to German TV
The NSA agency is not preoccupied solely with national security, but also spies on foreign industrial entities in US business interests, former American intelligence contractor, Edward Snowden, has revealed in an interview to German TV. [...]
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Independent panel denounces “€˜chilling”€™ NSA program as illegal, demands end
An independent review board has labeled NSA hoarding of phone data "€˜illegal"€™, adding that while it poses a serious threat to civil liberties, it was unable to find a "€œsingle instance"€ of a threat to the US where the program made any difference. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) released an acerbic report stating that the statute upon which the NSA program was [...]
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Maybe the Most Orwellian Text Message a Government’s Ever Sent
"€œDear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance." That's a text message that thousands of Ukrainian protesters spontaneously received on their cell phones today, as a new law prohibiting public demonstrations went into effect. It was the regime's police force, sending protesters the perfectly dystopian text message to accompany the newly minted, perfectly dystopian [...]
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A new poll says these nations are the top 4 threats to world peace. Guess who’s number one.
The global survey, conducted by WIN/Gallup International, polled residents in 68 countries on everything from the global economy to politics and living conditions. According to the poll, 24 percent of the surveyed countries ranked the United States as the greatest threat to world peace today, followed by Pakistan at 8 percent, China at 6 percent and four countries (Afghanistan, Iran, Israel [...]
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Washington State Moves To Block NSA Surveillance
Washington State Rep. Matt Shea (R) has introduced a “Fourth Amendment Protection Act" that would block all unlawful NSA surveillance and lay the groundwork for other states to follow suit. House BIll 2272 (PDF), which also received bipartisan backing from Representatives Taylor, Moscoso, Overstreet, Scott, Blake, and Condotta, would codify Washington State’s refusal to allow the federal gover [...]
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Ex-cop acquitted of beating homeless man to death now wants his job back
One of the former California police officers acquitted this week of beating to death a mentally ill homeless man wants to get his job back on the force. He and his partner were fired amid the investigation back in 2012. [...]
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Science – Latest Technology News and Pictures
The US military is testing a radical "smart rifle" that can automatically aim itself, it has been revealed. The army is believed to have acquired six $27,000 "smart rifles" from Texas firm Tracking Point. It uses a built in Linux computer to aim at a target, and can even "lock on" top targets and automatically track them. [...]
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€‹US govt attempts to block lawsuit against NSA
Lawyers from the Justice Department have urged a judge to halt a lawsuit against the NSA's spy programs. This comes after the judge'€™s previous ruling that the NSA'€™s collection of metadata was likely unconstitutional and "almost Orwellian" in nature. [...]
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NSA snooping failing to prevent terrorist attacks, watchdog group says
Out of 225 terrorism cases on the territory of the United States since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the NSA'€™s PRISM program did little to protect the nation from terrorism, according to a new study. The bulk collection of metadata phone records by the National Security Agency “has had no discernible impact on preventing acts of terrorism,” according to a study by the New America Foundati [...]
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The 5 Worst Problems with 60 Minutes’ Love Note to the NSA
"It is often said NSA stands for "never say anything," but tonight the agency breaks with that tradition," John Miller, the reporter behind Sunday night's 60 Minutes report on the National Security Agency, announced bravely in the program's introduction. [...]
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The Fast, Free, Easy Way to Find Doctors in Your Area
There are few relationships as intimate as the one between a doctor and patient. Now a new service lets you find a great doctor with ease. In this shifting healthcare landscape, the challenge is finding the right physician for you. [...]
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Former NSA whistleblowers plead for chance to brief Obama on agency abuses
A group of former National Security Agency insiders who went on to become whistleblowers have written a letter to President Barack Obama, requesting a meeting with him to offer "€œa fuller picture"€ of the spy agency's systemic problems. The group of four intelligence specialists - William Binney, Thomas Drake, Edward Loomis and Kirk Wiebe [...]
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NSA stands for “€˜No Such Amendment”€™: Intelligence agency violates US Constitution
For the first time in history, all three branches of American government are complicit in violating the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution by facilitating illegal surveillance, Ray McGovern, a former CIA officer, told RT. [...]
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US the biggest threat to world peace in 2013 €“ poll
The US has been voted as the most significant threat to world peace in a survey across 68 different countries. Anti-American sentiment was not only recorded in antagonistic countries, but also in many allied NATO partners like Turkey and Greece. [...]
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Not Socially Acceptable: NSA boss video “most hated”€™ on YouTube in 2013?
A YouTube video in which NSA boss Keith Alexander tries "€œto set the record straight"€ on the agency's spying antics has nosedived. The half-hour interview triggered a wave of criticism from users, branding it the "€œmost hated"€ video on YouTube. [...]
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Israeli PM slams US spying activities as “€˜unacceptable”€™, demands investigation
Israel'€™s Prime Minister has condemned the US spying on Israeli leaders, saying such things are "€œunacceptable"€ and "€œmust not be done"€ between close allies. Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded investigation into the matter. [...]
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