NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants  —  National Security Agency discloses in secret Capitol Hill briefing that thousands of analysts can listen to domestic phone calls.  That authorization appears to extend to e-mail and text messages too.

Cheney calls Snowden a ‘traitor,’ defends NSA surveillance programs  —  Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday defended the National Security Agency's data surveillance programs and labeled admitted leaker Edward Snowden as a “traitor.”  —  “I think he's a traitor...I think he has committed crimes …

Bill Schools Barry on Syria  —  WASHINGTON — NOT only is President Obama leading from behind, now he's leading from behind Bill Clinton.  —  After dithering for two years over what to do about the slaughter in Syria, the president was finally shoved into action by the past and perhaps future occupant of his bedroom.

A 13-point gap with 10 days to go, but disengaged voters remain unpredictable  —  Democrat Edward J. Markey holds a solid lead over his Republican rival, Gabriel E. Gomez, as the two enter the final week of the special US Senate campaign, according to a new Boston Globe poll.

Palin slams military intervention in Syria: ‘Let Allah sort it out’  —  Former GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin told a Washington audience Saturday that the U.S. should not get involved in the Syrian civil war.  —  Palin argued that the U.S. should not intervene …

Eric Holder has been an excellent attorney general  —  We were disappointed to read David Ignatius's June 9 op-ed column, “A mediocre attorney general,” purporting to represent the views of a number of unnamed Washington lawyers about Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s tenure.

North Korea Proposes High-Level Talks With U.S.  —  SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Sunday proposed high-level talks with the United States, saying that it was ready to discuss easing tensions and eventually denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.  —  The North's proposal indicated …

Iran will send 4,000 troops to aid Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria  —  World Exclusive: US urges Britain and France to join in supplying arms to Syrian rebels as MPs fear that UK will be drawn into growing Sunni-Shia conflict  —  Washington's decision to arm Syria's Sunni Muslim rebels …

U.S. surveillance architecture includes collection of revealing Internet, phone metadata  —  On March 12, 2004, acting attorney general James B. Comey and the Justice Department's top leadership reached the brink of resignation over electronic surveillance orders that they believed to be illegal.

Kraft: Putin stole Bowl ring  —  New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft revealed the real story behind a 2005 meeting with Vladimir Putin, during which the Russian president pocketed his Super Bowl ring, worth more than $25,000.  Kraft, at the time, claimed the diamond-encrusted bauble was a gift …

SECRET TO PRISM PROGRAM: EVEN BIGGER DATA SEIZURE  —  You are here  —  Home » United States government » Secret to Prism program: Even bigger data seizure  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — In the months and early years after 9/11, FBI agents began showing up at Microsoft Corp. more frequently …