Brazil has called an unscheduled meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over reports of the US National Security Agency (NSA) spying on the financial institution. ON Wednesday, Brazil’s IMF representative, Paulo Nogueira Batista, called on the IMF executive board to convene to ask for explanations on the reported NSA espionage. The official declined to divulge what was said at the meeting,... 

Congress has taken the first step towards expanding the abilities of the United States intelligence community by advancing a draft bill that will ensure the government’s spy budget stays intact into next year. A Senate commitee approved the 2014 Intelligence Authorization Act during a closed door session on Tuesday, a bill that if signed into law will allow the US National Security Agency and other... 

A new survey shows that Germans’ trust in Washington has plummeted with only one-third viewing their longtime ally as a reliable partner, amid recent reports showing the US extensively spied on the country. The study, commissioned by the public broadcaster, ARD, and the daily Die Welt, showed that only 35 percent of Germans consider the US government trustworthy. In addition, the poll showed that... 

Brazil and Germany have formally presented an anti-spying draft resolution to the UN General Assembly amid the US surveillance scandal. On Thursday, the jointly sponsored Brazilian-German resolution was introduced to the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee. “Today, there seem to be hardly any technical limitations for accessing, storing or combining personal data. But should everything... 

Japan Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera says reports of the US spying on Tokyo, if proved to be true, could hurt the ties between the two countries. Onodera made the remarks two days after The New York Times reported that US National Security Agency (NSA) has spied on Japan, adding that the NSA had used its surveillance powers to achieve economic advantage on Japan, Brazil and a number of other nations. On... 

Human rights groups warn David Cameron against pressure on media over Snowden leaks. Human rights groups have raised concerns about pressure exerted by British Prime Minister David Cameron on media covering intelligence leaks from American whistleblower Edward Snowden. Some seventy rights organizations from across the world have written to Cameron to warn that the government’s reaction to media... 

In a closed session, the US Senate Intelligence Committee approved draft legislation that would codify into law the NSA’s bulk collection of domestic telephone metadata. The bill, sponsored by committee chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), cements bulk phone metadata collection into the business records provision (Section 215) of the Patriot Act, strengthening NSA surveillance legality allowed under... 

Malaysia has summoned the heads of US and Australian diplomatic missions in the country to protest at an alleged US-led spying network. Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said his country had summoned the US and Australian envoys to “hand over a protest note in response to the alleged spying activities carried out by the two embassies in Kuala Lumpur.” The Malaysian foreign minister... 

NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, is ready to go to Germany and testify over the US wiretapping of Angela Merkel’s phone on condition of granting him political asylum, a German MP who met Snowden has said. He also revealed the text of Snowden’s letter. Former contractor of the US National Security Agency, Snowden on Friday indicated he is ready to testify over the facts about the American snooping... 

General Keith Alexander, director of the US National Security Agency (NSA) has defended his agency’s surveillance of friendly foreign governments but he said the orders came from American diplomats and policymakers. Gen. Alexander tried to justify the NSA’s programs based on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He said they only keep the phone calls in addition to their date, time and duration,... 

US President Barack Obama has called on the National Security Agency to halt spying on the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in conjunction with a review of surveillance activities, Reuters reported. A US official told the news agency that President Obama curbed the spying within the last few weeks, around the same time he told the NSA to stop eavesdropping on the United... 

China has demanded explanation from the US after a report revealed that Australian embassies, including the one in Beijing, have been used in Washington’s spying operations. “China is extremely concerned about this report and demands that the United States offers a clarification and explanation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told reporters on Thursday. “We... 

US spymaster James Clapper has said that learning foreign leaders’ intentions is a “top tenet” of overseas surveillance operations. “Leadership intentions is kind of a basic tenet of what we collect and analyze,” Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. The Director of National Intelligence was reacting to growing international outrage over reports that the US National... 

The European Union is considering a possible imposition of sanctions on the United States as a response to Washington’s massive spying activities on its closest European allies. German officials said Monday that the EU is considering suspending a data-sharing agreement between the EU and the US. The agreement allows the United States access to funds transferred through the private, Belgium-based... 

Spain’s public prosecutor has opened a preliminary inquiry into allegations that the US spy agency has conducted illegal surveillance operations on millions of Spanish citizens. Spain’s Attorney General Eduardo Torres-Dulce called for an information gathering process to determine whether a crime was committed and if Spain should consider opening a formal investigation, his office said in a statement...