NSA spying row: bugging friends is unacceptable, warn Germans

The leaders of Germany and France have rounded angrily on the US for the first time over spying claims, signalling that ambitious EU-US trade talks scheduled to open next week could become an early casualty of the burgeoning transatlantic espionage dispute.

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New NSA leaks show how US is bugging its European allies

New NSA leaks show how US is bugging its European allies

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New slides detail how NSA collects data from US internet firms

New slides on spying programme emphasise collection from tech giants, like Google or Yahoo

EU confronts Washington over reports it spies on European allies

The European Union has demanded that the United States explain a report in a German magazine that Washington is spying on the group, using unusually strong language to confront its closest trading partner over its alleged surveillance activities.

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Key US-EU trade pact under threat after more NSA spying allegations

Reports in Der Spiegel that US agencies bugged European council building 'reminiscent of cold war', says German minister

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European officials slam US over bugging report

BERLIN (AP) — Senior European lawmakers say they are shocked at reports that U.S. intelligence agents bugged EU offices on both sides of the Atlantic.

The president of the European Parliament said he was "deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of U.S. authorities spying on EU offices" made in a report published Sunday by German news weekly Der Spiegel.

Martin Schulz said if the reports were confirmed "it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-U.S. relations."

Green Party leaders in the European Parliament, Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, called for an immediate investigation into reports published by Der Spiegel and suggested that further negotiations on a trans-Atlantic trade treaty be put on hold.

They also called for existing U.S.-EU agreements on the exchange of bank transfer and passenger record information to be cancelled.

Germany demands explanation of US 'spying'

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Berlin demands US answers over EU 'bugging' claims

Germany's justice minister called Sunday for an immediate explanation from the United States over a media report that Washington bugged European Union offices, saying it was reminiscent of the Cold War.

"It must ultimately be immediately and extensively explained by the American side whether media reports about completely disproportionate tapping measures by the US in the EU are accurate or not," Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said in a statement.

U.S. taps half-billion German phone, internet links in month

The United States taps half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month and has classed its biggest European ally as a target similar to China, according to secret U.S. documents quoted by a German newsmagazine.

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EU demands clarification over US spying claims

European parliament president 'deeply worried and shocked' by claims published in Der Spiegel that US bugged EU offices

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US senators demand answers on secret surveillance programme

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle attack intelligence officials over scope of snooping

Snowden saga puts spotlight back on Assange and WikiLeaks

The WikiLeaks founder was back in the news last week, but he has never been off the radar of the US government as it builds its case against him

EU concern over Der Spiegel claim of US spying

The head of the European Parliament has demanded "full clarification" from the US over a report that key EU premises in America have been bugged.

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US spies bugged European Union communications

The United States bugged European Union offices and gained access to EU internal computer networks, according to secret documents cited in a German magazine yesterday, the latest in a series of exposures of alleged US spy programmes.

U.S. asked Ecuador not to give Snowden asylum: Correa

Praising Biden's good manners in contrast to "brats" in the U.S. Congress who had threatened to cut Ecuador's trade benefits over the Snowden issue, Correa said during his weekly television broadcast: "He communicated a very courteous request from the United States that we reject the (asylum) request."

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Ecuador cools on Edward Snowden asylum as Assange frustration grows

President Correa revokes Snowden's temporary travel document amid concerns WikiLeaks founder is 'running the show'

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French hand back plundered bronzes to China

French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault on Friday handed back to China two rare bronzes plundered from Beijing's Old Summer Palace during the Second Opium War in 1860.

The Snowden affair: Whatever happened to the blame game?

Edward Snowden's revelations about top-secret U.S. surveillance programs and his globe-trotting flight from prosecution have created an international furore, but there is one place the outcry has been muted: Capitol Hill.

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Is search for Snowden turning into sideshow?

Whisked out of a luxury Hong Kong hotel, vanishing into a mysterious wing of a Moscow airport, Edward Snowden’s continent-jumping, hide-and-seek game seems like the stuff of a pulp thriller — a desperate man’s drama played out before a worldwide audience trying to decide if he’s a hero or a villain.

U.S. request for Snowden arrest was ‘sloppy’

Lawmaker Ip Kwok-him, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said the US government was “shameless” for heaping accusations against Hong Kong to dodge questions about cybersnooping in the city and on the mainland. “The US government is talking nonsense,” he said.

China accuses US of cyber security hypocrisy amid Snowden dispute

China accused the United States on Thursday of "double standards" and hypocrisy in the area of cyber security as tension flared between Beijing and Washington over the flight of fugitive former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

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No reply from US on hacking claims disappointing, says security minister

Hong Kong’s security minister on Wednesday repeated calls by the government for the United States to clarify claims made by Edward Snowden that it had been hacking into computers in the city.

Request for Asylum from Edward J. Snowden

I, Edward Snowden, citizen of the United States of America, am writing to request asylum in the Republic of Ecuador because of the risk of being persecuted by the government of the United States and its agents in relation to my decision to make public serious violations on the part of the government of the United States of its Constitution, specifically of its Fourth and Fifth Amendments, and of various treaties of the United Nations that are binding on my country.

As a result of my political opinions, and my desire to exercise my freedom of speech, through which I’ve shown that the government of the United States is intercepting the majority of communications in the world, the government of the United States has publicly announced a criminal investigation against me. Also, prominent members of Congress and others in the media have accused me of being a traitor and have called for me to be jailed or executed as a result of having communicated this information to the public.

Some of the charges that have been presented against me by the Justice Department of the United States are connected to the 1917 Espionage Act, one of which includes life in prison among the possible sentences.

Ecuador granted asylum to the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, in relation to this investigation. My case is also very similar to that of the American soldier Bradley Manning, who made public government information through Wikileaks revealing war crimes, was arrested by the United States government and has been treated inhumanely during his time in prison. He was put in solitary confinement before his trial and the U.N. anti-torture representative judged that Mr. Manning was submitted to cruel and inhumane acts by the United States government.

The trial against Bradley Manning is ongoing now, and secret documents have been presented to the court and secret witnesses have testified.

I believe that, given these circumstances, it is unlikely that I would receive a fair trial or proper treatment prior to that trial, and face the possibility of life in prison or even death.

— Edward J. Snowden

‘Happy ending’ massages not considered prostitution by Chinese court

Are massage parlour “happy endings” illegal?

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Hani terraces garner UNESCO status

The rice terraces of Yuanyang (元阳), which have been under continuous cultivation for thirteen centuries, were officially granted World Heritage status on June 22. The mountainous paddy fields in southeast Yunnan became the fifth such area to be recognized in the province.

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Yuanyang's rice terraces

In US, Asian immigrants 'better off than whites'

Asian immigrants tend to live in highly segregated enclaves in the United States and their income level is often higher than that of white Americans, said a US study out Wednesday.

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Japan dumbfounded by ex-PM over China island row claim

Japan's top government spokesman on Wednesday declared himself dumbfounded after a recent prime minister said he understood China's claim to islands at the centre of a bitter row between Tokyo and Beijing.

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Hong Kong chief hits back in war of words on Snowden cyberspying claims

Chief executive says US must address Snowden’s hacking claims, as justice chief denies accusation that city stalled over request for fugitive’s arrest

Australian spy bosses brief government on possible Asian fallout over Snowden

Australia's main intelligence and spying agencies have briefed the government on the PRISM internet surveillance program amid fears former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden may release information damaging to Australia's relations with Asian neighbours, local media reported on Wednesday

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China Brushes Aside U.S. Warnings on Snowden

She reiterated official Chinese criticism of the United States for public statements that have accused China of cyberattacks against American interests. “I’d like to advise these people to hold up a mirror, reflect and take care of their own situation first,” she said.

For Snowden, a Hasty Exit Started With Pizza Inside a Hong Kong Hideout

For Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has acknowledged leaking numerous documents about American surveillance operations around the world, the path to a sudden departure from Hong Kong late Sunday morning began over a dinner last Tuesday of a large pizza, fried chicken and sausages, washed down with Pepsi.

Snowden’s last 72 hours in Hong Kong: dramatic events prompted whistleblower’s flight

New details have emerged about Edward Snowden’s final days in Hong Kong, including the identity of the man who escorted the whistle-blower to Chep Lap Kok airport on Sunday morning to board a Moscow-bound flight.

Top China paper hits back at U.S. accusations on Snowden

China's top state newspaper praised fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden on Tuesday for "tearing off Washington's sanctimonious mask" and rejected accusations that it had facilitated his departure from Hong Kong.

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China outsmarted US in Snowden chess game

China interceded to allow Edward Snowden’s dramatic flight from Hong Kong, calculating that infuriating the United States for now was necessary to prevent longer-term corrosion to their relationship, analysts and media said on Monday.

Snowden sought Booz Allen job to gather evidence on NSA surveillance

Edward Snowden tells the Post he took a job at NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton to collect proof of surveillance programme.

China Said to Have Made Call to Let Leaker Depart

The Chinese government made the final decision to allow Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, a move that Beijing believed resolved a tough diplomatic problem even as it reaped a publicity windfall from Mr. Snowden’s disclosures, according to people familiar with the situation.

Key questions never asked in graft probe of ex-railways chief Liu Zhijun

Length of probe into Liu Zhijun indicated scale of misdeeds, but murky details of a web of corruption were not clarified in swift trial

Anti-graft campaign in China claims another big fish

A former vice-governor of Sichuan province, who for years was the aide of the Communist Party’s former top security official, has been placed under investigation.

Snowden leaves Hong Kong on Commercial Flight to Moscow

US whistle-blower Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong and is due to arrive in Moscow by this evening, the South China Morning Post can confirm.

The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, who was last known to be hiding in Hong Kong, took off from the city’s airport at 10.55am on Sunday morning and was en route to Moscow’s Shermetyevo International Airport. He is scheduled to arrive at 5.15pm.

The Post was able to confirm that Snowden had been on an Aeroflot SU213 flight and headed to Moscow. Moscow will not be his final destination. Possible final destinations are either Iceland and Ecuador, according to previous media reports.

The Russian embassy in Beijing would neither confirm nor deny Snowden is on a flight to Moscow. The Russian consulate in Hong Kong declined to comment.

US to Hong Kong: Don't delay Snowden extradition

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US hacked Pacnet, Asia Pacific fibre-optic network operator, in 2009

According to information provided by Edward Snowden to the Post, computers owned by Pacnet in Hong Kong were attacked by the US National Security Agency in 2009, but the operation has since been shut down

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NSA targeted China's Tsinghua University in extensive hacking attacks, says Snowden

Tsinghua University, widely regarded as the mainland’s top education and research institute, was the target of extensive hacking by US spies this year

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US spies on Chinese mobile phone companies, steals SMS data: Edward Snowden

The US government is stealing millions of text messages in their hacking attacks on major Chinese mobile phone companies, Edward Snowden has told the Post

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Snowden reveals more US cyberspying details

Text messages mined, while servers at Tsinghua University attacked

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U.S. seeks Snowden's extradition, urges Hong Kong to act quickly

The United States said on Saturday it wants Hong Kong to extradite Edward Snowden and urged it to act quickly, paving the way for what could be a lengthy legal battle to prosecute the former National Security Agency contractor on espionage charges.

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China fury at new Snowden claims as US seeks extradition

China on Sunday attacked the United States as an espionage "villain" after former spy Edward Snowden raised new allegations about the far-reaching extent of US cyber-snooping against Chinese targets.

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US is 'biggest villain' for IT spying

The United States is the world’s “biggest villain” for IT espionage, China’s official media said on Sunday after new allegations of anti-Beijing snooping emerged.

US hacks Chinese mobile phone messages: Snowden

The United States government is hacking Chinese mobile phone companies to gather data from millions of text messages, former intelligence technician Edward Snowden told the South China Morning Post in a report published on Saturday.

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British spy agency taps cables, shares with U.S. NSA - Guardian

Britain's spy agency GCHQ has tapped fibre-optic cables that carry international phone and internet traffic and is sharing vast quantities of personal information with the U.S. National Security Agency, the Guardian newspaper said on Friday.

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China’s big challenge is social, not financial

China may be a long way from its “Minsky moment”. Rising leverage has prompted many to predict the kind of financial meltdown theorised by economist Hyman Minsky. But China’s closed, state-controlled system is well placed to postpone such market panics. The bigger challenge is managing social tensions arising from slowing growth.

Different kind of clubbing back then

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Club Street was named for Chinese clan groups and businessmen’s clubs

Spyware claims emerge in row over Chinese dissident at NYU

When Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng arrived in the United States in May last year he was given a fellowship at New York University, use of a Greenwich Village apartment, and a pile of gifts from supporters, including smartphones and an iPad.

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Not act of nature but man-made: NEA chief

The haze triggered by fires raging across Sumatra is not an act of nature, but man-made, National Environment Agency (NEA) chief executive Andrew Tan said yesterday.

Palestinian children tortured, used as shields by Israel - UN

A United Nations human rights body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Palestinian children, including by torturing those in custody and using others as human shields.

Palestinian children in the Gaza and the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, are routinely denied registration of their birth and access to health care, decent schools and clean water, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said.

"Palestinian children arrested by (Israeli) military and police are systematically subject to degrading treatment, and often to acts of torture, are interrogated in Hebrew, a language they did not understand, and sign confessions in Hebrew in order to be released," it said in a report.

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Officials to get tough on polluters as public anger rises over environmental scandals

Legal interpretation spells out tougher action against polluters in move seen as addressing seething public anger over environmental disasters

Friends fear right-wing connections will hit Chen Guangcheng’s credibility

Friends fear Chen Guangcheng’s credibility will suffer because he has become too politicised

Edward Snowden speaks out on webchat

Edward Snowden uses a webchat to excoriate the Obama administration and Dick Cheney and declare that his message will not be silenced

Snowden vows more disclosures about US surveillance

Defiant and apparently unbowed by threats of prosecution, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden vowed Monday to release more secrets about U.S. intelligence surveillance systems that he described as “nakedly, aggressively criminal.”

Huawei, ZTE see vindication amid US cyber-spying scandal

No Chinese telecoms equipment makers named as co-operating with US surveillance system

New Leak Indicates U.S. and Britain Eavesdropped at ‘09 World Conferences

A new set of classified documents disclosed Sunday suggested that Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has provided a trove of documents to The Guardian newspaper, had obtained a wider range of materials about government surveillance than had been known, including one document revealing how American and British intelligence agencies had eavesdropped on world leaders at conferences in London in 2009.

America’s prying eyes have been focused on China ‘for years’

State media denounce a long-running US campaign of hacking and espionage

Britain’s spying claims outrage Russia, Turkey and South Africa

Allegations that GCHQ spied on foreign delegates embarrassing for UK as it hosts G8 summit

Guardian: NSA leaker Snowden live chats in hiding

Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency leaker, is defending his disclosure of top-secret U.S. spying programs in an online chat Monday with The Guardian and attacking U.S. officials for calling him a traitor.

GCHQ intercepted foreign politicians' communications at G20 summits

Exclusive: phones were monitored and fake internet cafes set up to gather information from allies in London in 2009

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France condemns attack on Chinese wine students

France's interior minister has condemned as racist an assault on six Chinese students by drunken locals in the Bordeaux wine-producing region that left one seriously injured.

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Chinese tourists carving out a bad reputation abroad

Child’s graffiti on an Egyptian temple has sparked debate about bad behaviour and the need for mainlanders to spruce up their image

China must investigate links between White House and businesses

The mainland government should launch an immediate investigation into connections between US companies and the White House, a cyber security expert in Shanghai says.

Chinese army newspaper hits out at US Internet surveillance programme

China’s official army newspaper on Sunday branded the United States Internet surveillance programme exposed by former spy Edward Snowden as “frightening”, and accused the US of being a “habitual offender” when it comes to network monitoring.

Hong Kongers 'don't want Snowden extradited to US'

Half of Hong Kongers believe the city's government should not extradite former US spy Edward Snowden, according to a poll published on Sunday a day after hundreds protested in his support.

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Six Chinese students in France attacked in violent ‘xenophobic’ act

One victim suspected to be ‘daughter of retired Chinese political figure’, says French newspaper

Hong Kong rally backs Snowden, denounces allegations of U.S. spying

A few hundred rights advocates and political activists marched through Hong Kong on Saturday to demand protection for Edward Snowden, who leaked revelations of U.S. electronic surveillance and is now believed to be holed up in the former British colony.

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Six Chinese students in France attacked in 'xenophobic' act

Six Chinese oenology students were attacked in the early hours of Saturday in France's wine-producing southwest region of Bordeaux, the interior ministry said, describing the violence as an act of xenophobia.

America owes explanation for hacking, says editorial

The United States should explain to internet users around the world why it accessed their private conversations, credit cards and emails, one of China’s leading dailies said in an editorial on Thursday.

Edward Snowden: Classified US data shows Hong Kong hacking targets

Top-secret US government records shown to Post by whistle-blower give details of computer IP addresses hacked by NSA in HK and mainland

Snowden claims raise alarms on internet security upgrades in China

US whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s claims about Washington surveillance will prompt China to upgrade its internet security, experts said on Thursday.

Protesters rally in Hong Kong to support Snowden

Hundreds of protesters staged a rally in rain-hit Hong Kong Saturday to urge the city's government not to extradite former spy Edward Snowden, and slam the United States for its surveillance programmes.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs sets up cyberdiplomacy office

The mainland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up an office to deal with diplomatic activities involving cybersecurity, a spokeswoman announced yesterday.

Hong Kong lawmakers demand answers on cyberspying

Alleged hacking of computer networks unites lawmakers; US consulate issues security warning to Americans living in Hong Kong

NSA cyber spying on China not a surprise, but it's not ho-hum, either

NSA chief says leaks about US cyber spying on China, and techniques for doing it, will impair intelligence-gathering. Others play that down, saying the more significant hit will be to relations with China and to US global work on behalf of a free and open Internet.

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Revelation that 6,000 ‘super landlords’ each own 300 flats in Beijing sparks controversy

The recent revelations made by senior Beijing venture capitalist Cha Li that at least 6,000 “super landlords” each own 300 flats in the Chinese capital has sparked a controversial debate among China’s real estate professionals and property owners.

2 Living ETs Working with US Government

UFO Alien Disclosure by Canadian Minister of Defence

Leaker mysterious despite hours of interviews

Mostly through his own words, a picture of Edward Snowden is emerging: fresh-faced computer whiz, high school dropout, wanna-be Army commando, disillusioned cog in a secret bureaucracy.

Ex-CIA man’s snooping claims raise alarm bells in Hong Kong

Fresh revelations by former CIA employee Edward Snowden have raised concerns that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) may have hacked into Hong Kong’s key internet exchange, which handles nearly all the Chinese territory’s domestic web traffic.

Why Chinese University of Hong Kong? Data centre, satellite station may be targets of cyber attacks

Several advanced academic and research facilities at the Chinese University of Hong Kong may have been targeted by foreign intelligence agencies for cyber attacks.

Edward Snowden: US government has been hacking Hong Kong and China for years

We knew all along that US is the biggest cyber thief in the world.

Across Asia, officials’ e-mails may be vulnerable to eavesdropping

Government and security officials in parts of Asia have been sending sensitive information and policy documents via e-mail services offered by US Web giants, and concerns are spreading that these may have been monitored and collected by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Inside the NSA’s ultra-secret China hacking group

US is the biggest cyber thief in the world.

TAO has successfully penetrated Chinese computer and telecom systems for almost 15 years. TAO’s operators [are] tapping into thousands of foreign computer systems and accessing password-protected computer hard drives and e-mails of targets around the world.

China grapples with attacks on teachers after cheating halted on college exam

Days after dozens of Hubei teachers were attacked by angry students whose attempts at cheating on China’s highly competitive national college entrance exam were foiled, the nation is struggling to understand what exactly went wrong.

Patriot or traitor?

Amid China's Boom, Fake Wines Proliferate

Bruno Paumard, the cellar master at a vineyard in China, cannot stop laughing while describing a bottle of supposedly French wine a friend gave him two years ago.

Ex-Worker at C.I.A. Says He Leaked Data on Surveillance

A 29-year-old former C.I.A. computer technician went public on Sunday as the source behind the daily drumbeat of disclosures about the nation’s surveillance programs, saying he took the extraordinary step because “the public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong.”

Fire officials put the nation at risk as they rake in bribes

To get a business off the ground, the right people must be paid - so safety is neglected

Anti-graft teams cause stir as they prepare to fan out across China

Inspectors' best tool may be a simple one, but some question value of party investigating itself

Former Red Guard apologises to his victims of Cultural Revolution

In an advert and letters, Liu Boqin confesses that he beat teachers and terrorised families, and now understood 'sins of the Cultural Revolution'

US spy chief clarifies internet tapping policy

US spy chief James Clapper has admitted the government collects communications from internet firms, but says the policy only targets “non-US persons”.

Internet tapping aimed at non-US people outside US, says official

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Information collected through a US government surveillance programme that taps into the servers of internet companies targets only non-US persons living outside the United States, a senior administration official said.

The US law that allows the collection of data under this programme does not allow the targeting of any US citizen or of any person located in the United States, the official said on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"This programme was recently reauthorised by Congress after extensive hearings and debate," the official said.

"Information collected under this programme is among the most important and valuable intelligence information we collect, and is used to protect our nation from a wide variety of threats."

US secretly mining data from Internet giants

US intelligence agencies are accessing the servers of nine Internet giants as part of a secret data mining programme likely to fuel fresh debate about government surveillance, The Washington Post reported.

Some of the biggest firms in Silicon Valley were involved in the programme, including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Apple, PalTalk, AOL, Skype and YouTube, reports said.

Dr Yaacob’s incorrect and embarrassing New Zealand comparison

This morning, my eyes nearly popped out of my skull when I read in the ST that Minister for Communications and Information (MCI) had compared the MDA Licensing Regime to recommendations made by a New Zealand Law Commission Report on new media.

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AP admits its mistake in Shane Todd article

American news agency Associated Press (AP) has admitted its mistake in a story last week on the death of American researcher Shane Todd, saying it was “erroneously reported”.