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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.