Tech Companies Concede to Surveillance Program  —  SAN FRANCISCO — When government officials came to Silicon Valley to demand easier ways for the world's largest Internet companies to turn over user data as part of a secret surveillance program, the companies bristled.  In the end, though, many cooperated at least a bit.

Government likely to open criminal probe into NSA leaks: officials  —  (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration is likely to open a criminal investigation into the leaking of highly classified documents that revealed the secret surveillance of Americans' telephone and email traffic, U.S. officials said on Friday.

Santa Monica gunman killed father, brother, sources say  —  The two bodies found in a burning Santa Monica house - the starting point in a shooting rampage - are believe to be the brother and father of the suspected gunman, law enforcement sources told The Times.

Intelligence for Dummies  —  Question for the day: Do you feel more secure or less secure, now that you know the government is keeping a gargantuan pile of information about everybody's telephone calls in the name of national security?  —  You have heard, I'm sure, that the National Security Agency …

Why I confronted the first lady  —  Ellen Sturtz is a retired public servant and an advocate for LGBT equality.  —  When Barack Obama was running for President in 2008, I thought he was serious about protecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from workplace discrimination.

Cleta Mitchell: How to Investigate the IRS  —  Cleta Mitchell, the attorney who helped expose the tax agency's abuses, has a road map for identifying the culprits.  It doesn't stop in Cincinnati.  —  Washington  —  The woman who helped expose IRS abuse of conservative activists has more news to share …

Afghanistan: three Americans and one Italian killed in separate attacks  —  Two US troops and one American civilian are shot dead while Italian soldier dies in separate bomb attack on armoured convoy  —  Three Nato soldiers and a civilian have been killed in two separate attacks in Afghanistan.

Nelson Mandela admitted to hospital in ‘serious condition’  —  Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital with a lung infection.  —  The former South African president is in a “serious but stable condition”, a spokesman for the current president, Jacob Zuma, says.

GOP Poll: Massachusetts Senate Race a Statistical Tie  —  A Republican polling firm has found that the Massachusetts special election for the U.S. Senate is in a dead heat.  Democrat Ed Markey, the longtime congressman, leads Republican and first-time candidate Gabriel Gomez by just a point.

Obama: Congress can pass immigration bill by the end of summer  —  President Obama on Saturday argued that the immigration reform bill being considered in the Senate would improve the nation's immigration system.  —  Obama made the comments in his weekly presidential address.

Mindful of Previous Defeat, Cantor Pushes Bill to Increase Pediatric Research  —  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and his staff are working behind the scenes to avoid another embarrassment this month when they bring to the floor a bill that would increase funding for pediatric research.