A former chief of Venezuela’s intelligence service, Eliecer Otaiza, was killed on Saturday, officials have revealed. http://www.bbc.com/news/27202809 Maj Otaiza, a friend and ally of the late president Hugo Chavez, was shot dead outside the capital, Caracas. President Nicolas Maduro said police would investigate the “suspicious” circumstances of his death. Maj Otaiza was elected in December […]

The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether police may search a suspect’s mobile phone without a warrant during an arrest. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27209463 The high court is weighing appeals by two people convicted based on evidence found on their phones. The defendants argue their constitutional protections against unreasonable searches were violated. But the government argues […]

Whether Edward R. Lane, a former director of a youth program at a public community college in Alabama, could be fired for responding to a subpoena and giving trial testimony in one of the most egregious public corruption situations in Alabama’s history was considered by the US Supreme Court Monday.   http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/29/us/justices-appear-willing-to-give-a-fired-public-worker-only-half-a-victory.html?ref=us A majority of the […]

A military judge ordered prosecutors on Tuesday to turn over never-revealed details about the time a Guantánamo Bay detainee spent in secret C.I.A. prisons after his arrest in connection with the deadly attack on the destroyer Cole in Yemen. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/us/politics/judge-demands-details-on-detainees-time-in-secret-cia-prisons.html?src=rechp The order was a victory for defense lawyers representing the detainee, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who […]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the West of wanting to “seize” Ukraine, amid escalating rhetoric between Russia and the US. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27153909 American officials say Russia is behind unrest in eastern Ukrainian cities. Ukraine has warned it will consider any crossing into its territory by Russian troops stationed on the border as a “military […]

The United States says about 20 of its military personnel will leave Ecuador by the end of April, to comply with an order from the government. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27165203 Earlier this month, President Rafael Correa told the US Department of Defense to leave amid concerns of meddling in Ecuador’s internal affairs. The order does not affect the […]

Protests over EU-imposed austerity have overshadowed the 40th anniversary of democracy in Portugal. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27166719 Several thousand people marched in central Lisbon and listened to speeches criticising government cuts. Participating in the protest marches were some of the leaders of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, which ended almost five decades of dictatorship. Portugal has had to implement […]

A meeting to determine how the internet should be governed is under way in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The country’s president, Dilma Rousseff, organised the two-day NetMundial event following allegations the US National Security Agency (NSA) had monitored her phone and emails. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27108869 The US currently determines who runs the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the […]

Three protesters acquitted of terrorism for plotting Molotov cocktail attacks in Chicago during a NATO summit were sentenced to prison terms Friday of between five and eight years on lesser arson and mob-action charges.  http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/04/25/us/ap-us-nato-summit-trial-sentencing.html?ref=us&_r=0 Despite their acquittals during a February trial on all terrorism counts — brought under a rarely used Illinois statute — […]

The workers of Silicon Valley have won an important victory over their bosses. What they did not win is a lot of money. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/technology/settlement-silicon-valley-antitrust-case.html?ref=us Four of the largest technology companies tentatively settled on Thursday a class action brought by 64,000 of their engineers, who accused them of agreeing not to solicit one another’s employees. The […]

Allegations that Syrian government forces have used toxic chemicals are false, Russia said on Friday, and accused President Bashar al-Assad’s foes of fabricating such claims to provoke foreign military intervention. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/04/25/world/europe/25reuters-syria-crisis-russia-chemicalweapons.html?ref=world “Accusations against government forces of supposed cases of the use of poisonous chemicals continue to be fabricated,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, apparently referring […]

The FBI has released about 175 pages of heavily blacked-out documents from the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre investigation. http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-sandy-hook-fbi-files-20140424,0,3591921.story Of the 175 pages released in response to a Courant Freedom of Information request, 64 were completely redacted and most of the other 111 pages were heavily redacted. The Courant submitted the request in January […]

The Pakistani journalist shot last week has issued his first statement, once again blaming the country’s intelligence agency for the attack. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27153234 Hamid Mir, a popular and sometimes controversial anchor for the country’s leading news channel Geo TV, was shot and wounded on Saturday in Karachi. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) dismissed the accusation as baseless […]

An Albuquerque police officer fatally shot a suspected car thief on Monday during a foot chase in which, officials said, the suspect pointed a gun at the officer as he closed in on her. The shooting occurred 11 days after the Justice Department rebuked the Police Department for engaging in a “pattern or practice of […]

The Obama administration has barred officials at 17 agencies from speaking to journalists about unclassified intelligence-related topics without permission, according to a newly disclosed directive.  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/us/politics/intelligence-chief-issues-limits-on-press-contacts.html?ref=us The directive, issued by James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, also requires the agencies’ employees to report any unplanned contact with journalists. Officials who violate the […]

The F.B.I. conspired to leak a manifesto by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to The Huffington Post. It came to light last week that agents had approached a member of the defense team for a detainee facing trial before a military commission over the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/us/politics/official-denies-fbi-was-investigating-manifesto-leak.html?ref=us  The […]

A federal appeals panel in Manhattan ordered the release on Monday of key portions of a classified Justice Department memorandum that provided the legal justification for the targeted killing of a United States citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, who intelligence officials contend had joined Al Qaeda and died in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/nyregion/panel-orders-release-of-document-in-targeted-killing-of-anwar-al-awlaki.html?ref=world&_r=0 The […]

Google has bought US high-altitude drone maker Titan Aerospace for an undisclosed sum. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27029443 Titan Aerospace, which is building two types of solar-powered drones that can fly for years, says it expects “initial commercial operations” by 2015. The firm, which has about 20 employees, will continue to be based in Moriarty, New Mexico. “It’s still […]

Bloomberg News reports the NSA used and exploited the Heartbleed online security flaw in OpenSSL to harvest data.http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27004713 OpenSSL is online-data scrambling software used to protect data such as passwords sent online. Last year, NSA leaker Edward Snowden claimed the organisation deliberately introduced vulnerabilities to security software. The bug, which allows hackers to snatch chunks […]

Campaigners have raised privacy concerns over a facial recognition database being developed by the FBI. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27037009?print=true The civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) obtained information about the project through a freedom of information request. It said it was concerned that images of non-criminals would be stored alongside those of criminals. The facial recognition database […]