21 June 2014 Last updated at 07:56
Reauthorisation is fifth since the Guardian revealed existence of Section 215 telephony metadata program in June last year
Iraq crisis: Shia militia show of force raises tensions
Thousands of Shia militia loyal to the powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have paraded through the streets of Baghdad, raising sectarian tensions amid continued fighting in areas of Iraq.
The cleric, whose Mehdi Army fought the US in Iraq for years, had called for a military parade across the country.
Correspondents say the show of force will be seen as a very disturbing development by the Baghdad government.
Sunni extremists have seized control of large swathes of territory across Iraq.
The militants, led by jihadist group Isis, are battling pro-government forces for the Baiji oil refinery and Tal Afar airport in northern Iraq.
Fisa court grants extension of licence for bulk collection of US phone records
Reauthorisation is fifth since the Guardian revealed existence of Section 215 telephony metadata program in June last year
US intelligence agencies have made a fifth attempt to extend their bulk collection of American telephone records – more than a year after the controversial practice was first revealed by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Despite repeated calls from Congress and President Obama for the mass gathering of private US phone records to be banned, a court has approved the request in secret, allowing the NSA to continue collecting metadata until 12 September 2014.
In a joint statement released late on Friday afternoon, the justice department and director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said it was necessary to continue seeking such legal extensions because the Congressional reform process supported by Obama was not yet complete.
Edward Snowden rejects German plans for meeting in Moscow
Whistleblower Edward Snowden has rejected a German request for a meeting in Moscow, where he is living under temporary asylum. Snowden's lawyer told DW that German intelligence has downplayed its ties to the NSA.
In a letter to German lawmakers, Snowden's Berlin-based lawyer, Wolfgang Kaleck, dismissed theirrequest for an informal meeting with the former intelligence official in Russia.
There was "no room or need for an oral, 'informal' meeting in Moscow," Kaleck wrote, adding that a hearing "in the desired form" is only possible in Germany.
The German parliamentary inquiry was set up to investigate alleged operations by the US National Security Agency (NSA), under which Snowden had worked as a contractor. Snowden's various revelations on NSA surveillance caused a worldwide public outcry about intrusions of privacy.
13 'thugs' shot dead after bombing Xinjuang police station
June 21, 2014 - 2:59PM
Beijing: Chinese police have shot dead 13 "thugs" in the restive autonomous region of Xinjiang after they drove into a police building and set off an explosion.
"Today thugs crashed a car into the public security building of Kargilik county in Xinjiang's Kashgar prefecture and set off an explosion. Police took decisive action and shot dead 13 thugs," the regional government website Tianshan reported on Saturday.
Three police officers suffered injuries but no other casualties occurred, the report said, without providing further details. It was unclear if the attackers used one or more explosive devices.
Nigeria avoids human trafficking status downgrade
Nigeria avoided a status downgrade Friday in the annual US State Department's human trafficking report, despite concerns about kidnappings amid a growing terrorist threat, meaning it will avoid trade sanctions and economic pressure from the US for now.
The decision to keep Nigeria at Tier 2 status comes despite the headline-grabbing April kidnapping of more than 220 girls from their dormitory in the northern town of Chibok on April 14 by Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist terrorist group.
Many of the girls are still hostages, with the group allegedly planning to traffic them or put them into slavery. Fifty-seven of the abducted girls have since been reunited with their families, Nigeria says, but about 200 remain missing.
People who are making sense about Iraq
You can listen to the people who started the Iraq war. Or you can listen to people who've devoted their lives to studying war and the region.
There has been a lot of writing about Iraq's crisis, much of it awful. This is an attempt to shout out some people and pieces that can help you get behind the headlines.
Let's start with Marc Lynch, the George Washington University political science professor who writes at the Washington Post's Monkey Cage. Today, he points out that helping Iraq's Nouri al-Maliki fight the Sunni Arab uprising against him would in effect be fighting on the side of Bashar al-Assad. Should the United States actually intervene militarily in support of the Iraqi government, it will also find itself on the opposite side of many of the Arab networks that support the Syrian uprising," he writes.
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