Sunday, June 9, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 29-year-old contractor who claims to have worked at the National Security Agency and the CIA allowed himself to be revealed Sunday as the source of disclosures about the U.S. government’s secret surveillance programs, risking prosecution by the U.S. government.

The leaks have reopened the post-Sept. 11 debate about privacy concerns versus heightened measure to protect against terrorist attacks, and led the NSA to ask the Justice Department to conduct a criminal investigation into the leaks.

The Guardian, the first paper to disclose the documents, said it was publishing the identity of Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, at his own request.

“My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them,” Snowden told the newspaper.

Stories in The Guardian and The Washington Post published over the last week revealed two surveillance programs, and both published interviews with Snowden on Sunday.

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5 things to know about the NSA surveillance programs and the man who leaked their details

WASHINGTON (AP) — Edward Snowden identified himself Sunday as a principal source behind revelations about the National Security Agency’s sweeping phone and Internet surveillance programs. Five things to know about the disclosures:

— THE PROGRAMS: The NSA has been collecting the phone records of hundreds of millions of Americans each day, creating a database through which it can learn whether terror suspects have been in contact with people in the U.S. While the NSA program does not listen to actual conversations, the revelation of the program reopened the post-Sept. 11 debate about privacy concerns versus heightened measures to protect against terrorist attacks. Separately, an Internet scouring program, code-named PRISM, allows the NSA and FBI to tap directly into nine U.S. Internet companies to gather all Internet usage — audio, video, photographs, emails and searches. The effort is designed to detect suspicious behavior that begins overseas.

— THE LEAKER: A 29-year-old high school dropout who worked for consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton has claimed responsibility for disclosing the programs to The Guardian and The Washington Post. Snowden told The Guardian that he enlisted in the Army, was dismissed after breaking both legs during a training exercise and later got a job as a security guard at a covert intelligence facility in Maryland. He says he later joined the CIA and was posted under diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland. He later worked for consulting companies and claims he spent four years working as a contractor with the NSA. In a statement, Booz Allen Hamilton said he has worked for them less than three months.

— THE REASON: In interviews with The Guardian and the Washington Post, Snowden said he felt compelled to disclose the program because he wanted “to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.” Snowden says he also was disillusioned with CIA tactics to recruit spies in Geneva and was disappointed President Barack Obama did not do more to curtail surveillance programs after his 2008 election.

— THE REACTION: The government’s response was fierce. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the disclosures were “gut-wrenching to see this happen because of the huge, grave damage it does to our intelligence capabilities” and asked the Justice Department to investigate. Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the journalists who reported on the programs don’t “have a clue how this thing works; neither did the person who released just enough information to literally be dangerous.” Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she wanted to see the leaker prosecuted. Rep. Peter King, a Republican on the intelligence panel, called for Snowden to be “extradited from Hong Kong immediately.” John Negroponte, a former director of national intelligence, called it “an outright case of betrayal of confidences and a violation of his nondisclosure agreement.” Yet some also said Snowden’s revelations should spark a debate about the secret programs and civil liberties. “I am not happy that we’ve had leaks and these leaks are concerning, but I think it’s an opportunity now to have a discussion about the limits of surveillance, how we create transparency, and above all, how we protect Americans’ privacy,” said Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo.

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Some other famous leakers in recent history

Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old American intelligence analyst, has revealed himself as the source who disclosed the U.S. government’s secret phone and Internet surveillance programs. Some other famous leakers in recent history:

DANIEL ELLSBERG

A military analyst, he passed the Pentagon Papers — a secret Defense Department study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam — on to The New York Times and other newspapers in 1971.

W. MARK FELT

An associate director at the FBI, he was Deep Throat, the source who gave information about Watergate to The Washington Post in the 1970s. He unmasked himself in 2005.

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Police: gunman in deadly Santa Monica rampage killed father, brother and 3 others

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — A woman who was critically wounded in the Santa Monica shooting spree died Sunday, bringing the total number of victims killed by the gunman to five.

Marcela Franco, 26, died of her injuries at UCLA Medical Center, according to Santa Monica College spokeswoman Tricia Ramos.

Franco had been a passenger in a Ford Explorer driven by her father, campus groundskeeper Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, who also was killed in Friday’s attack. They were going to the school to buy textbooks for classes the young woman was enrolled in for the summer, president Chui L. Tsang said in a statement posted on the college’s website.

“Her family was with her by her side” when she died, Tsang said.

Police Sgt. Richard Lewis confirmed the suspect’s identity Sunday as John Zawahri. Meanwhile, investigators trying to determine why he planned the shooting spree focused on a deadly act of domestic violence that touched off the mayhem.

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In bid to ease tensions, rival Koreas to hold 2-days of senior-level talks this week in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The rival Koreas agreed Monday to hold senior-level talks this week in Seoul, a breakthrough of sorts after Pyongyang’s recent threats of nuclear war and Seoul’s vows of counterstrikes.

The two-day meeting starting Wednesday will focus on stalled cooperation projects, including the resumption of operations at a jointly-run factory park near the border in North Korea that was the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement until Pyongyang shut the border and pulled out its workers this spring during a period of heightened tensions that followed its February nuclear test.

The details were ironed out in a nearly 17-hour negotiating session by lower-level officials. It was the first such meeting of its kind on the Korean Peninsula in more than two years and took place at the village of Panmunjom on their heavily armed border, where the armistice ending the three-year Korean War was signed 60 years ago next month. That truce has never been replaced with a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically at war.

The agreement to hold the talks was announced in a statement early Monday by South Korea’s Unification Ministry. North Korea’s official news agency, KCNA, also reported the agreement.

Dialogue at any level marks an improvement in the countries’ abysmal ties. The last several years have seen North Korean nuclear tests, long-range rocket launches and attacks blamed on the North that killed 50 South Koreans in 2010.

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AP sources: US leaning toward OK on lethal aid to Syrian rebels this week; no-fly zone unclear

WASHINGTON (AP) — Moved by the Assad regime’s rapid advance, the Obama administration could decide this week to approve lethal aid for the beleaguered Syrian rebels and will weigh the merits of a less likely move to send in U.S. airpower to enforce a no-fly zone over the civil war-wracked nation, officials said Sunday.

White House meetings are planned over the coming days, as Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government forces are apparently poised for an attack on the key city of Homs, which could cut off Syria’s armed opposition from the south of the country. As many as 5,000 Hezbollah fighters are now in Syria, officials believe, helping the regime press on with its campaign after capturing the town of Qusair near the Lebanese border last week.

Opposition leaders have warned Washington that their rebellion could face devastating and irreversible losses without greater support, and the warnings are prompting the United States to consider drastic action.

Secretary of State John Kerry postponed a planned trip Monday to Israel and three other Mideast countries to participate in White House discussions, said officials who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

While nothing has been concretely decided, U.S. officials said President Barack Obama was leaning closer toward signing off on sending weapons to vetted, moderate rebel units. The U.S. has spoken of possibly arming the opposition in recent months but has been hesitant because it doesn’t want to al-Qaida-linked and other extremists fighting alongside the anti-Assad militias to end up with the weapons.

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Turkey’s leader denounces nation’s anti-government protesters as thousands return to streets

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — In a series of increasingly belligerent speeches to cheering supporters Sunday, Turkey’s prime minister demanded an end to the 10-day anti-government protests that have spread across the country, saying those who do not respect the government will pay.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his patience was running out with the protesters, who have occupied Istanbul’s main Taksim Square for more than a week and have held hundreds of demonstrations in dozens of cities across the country.

Raising the stakes for those opposing him on Turkish streets and squares, Erdogan said he plans to bring out his supporters for rallies in Ankara and Istanbul next weekend.

Erdogan’s increasingly fiery tone could inflame tensions, with tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in the country’s largest city, Istanbul, and thousands in the capital, Ankara, remaining on the streets. On two occasions, including one in the southern city of Adana on Saturday night, clashes have been reported between Erdogan supporters and protesters.

Protests have been held in 78 cities across the country since May 31, sparked by a violent police crackdown on a peaceful protest objecting to the redevelopment of Taksim Square and its Gezi Park.

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Nelson Mandela’s family visits him in South African hospital as citizens pray for ex-leader

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nelson Mandela received visits from family members on Sunday at a hospital where the former president and anti-apartheid leader was being treated for a recurring lung infection, while South Africans expressed their appreciation for a man widely regarded as the father of the nation.

There was no official update on 94-year-old Mandela after his second night in the hospital. His condition was described as “serious but stable” on Saturday.

The office of President Jacob Zuma had said that Mandela was taken to a Pretoria hospital after his condition deteriorated at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.

The anti-apartheid leader has now been taken to a hospital four times since December, with the last discharge coming on April 6 after doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia and drained fluid from his lung area.

Members of Mandela’s family on Sunday were seen visiting the Pretoria hospital where he is believed to be staying. They included Makaziwe Mandela, the eldest of the ex-leader’s three surviving children, and Ndileka Mandela, one of his 17 grandchildren.

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Energetic Tony Awards begin with a win for Courtney B. Vance and Judith Light

NEW YORK (AP) — Courtney B. Vance and Judith Light have won the first Tony Awards of Sunday’s night telecast, one that opened with a high-octane song that boasted this night would be bigger than ever.

Vance won for best featured actor in a play for portraying a newspaper editor opposite Tom Hanks in “Lucky Guy.” He dedicated his award to his mother.

Light won her second Tony in two years, cementing the former TV star of “One Life to Live” and “Who’s the Boss?” as a Broadway star.

She followed up her win last year as a wise-cracking alcoholic aunt in “Other Desert Cities” with the role of a wry mother in “The Assembled Parties,” in which she goes from about 53 to 73 over the play’s two acts.

“I want to thank every woman that I am in this category nominated with: you have made this a celebration, not a competition,” she said.

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Heat, Spurs tied 22-22 after 1st quarter in Game 2 of NBA Finals

MIAMI (AP) — Danny Green scored nine points early on three 3-pointers and the San Antonio Spurs finished the first quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals tied 22-22 with the Miami Heat on Sunday night.

Kawhi Leonard grabbed six rebounds for the Spurs, who lead the best-of-seven series 1-0. Four of Leonard’s rebounds came on the offensive end to help the Spurs overcome 38 percent shooting.

Chris Bosh had six points and two steals for the Heat. LeBron James was off to a quiet start with two points on 1-for-4 shooting.

Game 3 is Tuesday night in San Antonio.

Green hit his first three 3-pointers of the night and Duncan’s 17-foot jumper gave the Spurs an 11-6 lead. But the Heat jumped back into it with some stellar halfcourt defense and Bosh’s putback of a miss by James gave the Heat an 18-15 lead with 2 minutes to play in the first period.