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Edward Snowden, a former U.S. government contractor now in exile in Russia, has caused problems by releasing a great deal of sensitive U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) documents. The latest release of damaging documents alleges that the NSA spied on the phones of 35 world leaders. On that alleged list of overheard conversations is German Chancellor Angela Merkel (she is the equivalent of our president in Germany). And Merkel is not happy. “We need trust," she said yesterday. "Spying among friends is never acceptable." Obama says he has ordered a review of NSA practices. Also his homeland security adviser penned a USA Today opinion piece today that says recent “disclosures have created significant challenges in our relationships.” The president himself received what German officials describe as an angry call from Merkel Wednesday demanding assurances that there is no American eavesdropping on her conversations. Even pro-U.S. newspapers in Europe are writing that: "The government in Washington has apparently not yet understood the level of damage that continues to be caused by the activities of American intelligence agencies in Europe.” The French Prime Minister commented that it was "incredible that an allied country like the United States at this point goes as far as spying on private communications that have no strategic justification, no justification on the basis of national defense.”
In Other News • Iran may only need a month to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb, a U.S.-based anti-proliferation group says in a new assessment of Tehran's enrichment program. That would still not give Iran a nuclear bomb. Turning the enriched uranium into a usable weapon would take a great deal more time, the report suggests. The warning Thursday from ISIS was released as U.S. lawmakers consider legislation that could tighten sanctions on Iran until a deal is reached on the Middle Eastern country's nuclear program. It also comes after talks resumed on the program between Iran and six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain -- known as the P5+1. "This is a huge lie because, according to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, production, storage and use of weapons of mass destruction are haraam (forbidden by Islam)," said Marzieh Afkham, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry. "Weapons of mass destruction have no place in the Islamic Republic's doctrine. This kind of report is totally false.“ • There is little we know about this situation but armed pirates stormed a huge oil rig near Nigeria this week. They seized two men. The hostages may be Americans, officials say. That was two days ago. We have no information on how the hostages are doing. And we don’t know the condition of the U.S.-flagged vessel that the pirates stormed. However, there are U.S. forces on a Dutch vessel floating off West Africa that may be able to help.
