NSA Continues Defending Surveillance, Judge Allows Defendant to Demand Federal Phone Records, Turkey Blames Protests on Social Media: P.M. Links

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  Credit: AMERICANVIRUS / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

  NSA officials claim its broad surveillance efforts have prevented 50 terrorist attacks in 20 countries. Meanwhile, the FBI is seeking the public's help in trying to solve an actual bombing that happened in 2008 at a Times Square armed forces recruiting center.

• A judge has ordered the federal government to respond to a request by a robbery case defendant of any NSA phone records connected to him in order to possibly prove his innocence.
• G-8 leaders, faced with the stern, uncooperative visage of Vladimir Putin, have called for peace talks in Syria without demanding President Bashar al-Assad's ouster.
• Turkey's government is responding to protests over its authoritarian behavior by trying to control social media and giving police more power.
• A National Council on Teacher Quality report has described America's system of teaching teachers as an "industry of mediocrity" and recommends, among other things, tougher standards on who is accepted into programs to become a teacher.
• Russia's near-visceral dislike of the gays continues apace as lawmakers approve a ban on adoptions by foreign same-sex couples.

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