National

Will Surveillance Disclosure Lead To More Oversight Of NSA?

5:23am June 11, 2013

by Larry Abramson

When surveillance laws were revised in 2012, Congress expressed great concerns that without proper oversight intelligence agencies would engage in the sort of monitoring that has been uncovered in recent days. Congress put a number of safeguards in place, but rejected others that would have guarantee more public discussion about what the NSA does.

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National

50 Years After The Equal Pay Act, Gender Wage Gap Endures

8:18pm June 10, 2013

by Yuki Noguchi

President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 in an effort to abolish wage discrimination based on gender. Half a century later, the Obama administration is pushing Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, designed to make wage differences more transparent.

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President Bill Clinton with Walter and Leonore Annenberg at the entrance of the historic estate on Feb. 14, 1995.

Sunnylands: Where Movie Stars And Presidents Play (And Work)

5:38pm June 10, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

President Obama heads to the 200-acre California estate on Friday for a meeting with the Chinese president. He'll be the eighth president to visit the former winter home of Walter and Leonore Annenberg. It has also entertained the likes of Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart and Frank Sinatra.

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National

Opinion Roundup: Edward Snowden And The NSA Leaks

4:07pm June 10, 2013

The man who leaked details of two secret U.S. surveillance programs told The Guardian that he hopes to trigger a national debate about the NSA programs that gathered phone and Internet records. NPR's Neal Conan reads from a range of reaction to the leaks and the motives of the leaker.

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Rail Project At Los Angeles Port Draws Environmentalists' Ire

12:21pm June 10, 2013

by Kirk Siegler

In California, activists and environmentalists are seeking to halt construction of a new $500 million rail yard next to the Port of Los Angeles. Activists say the massive project would mean even more pollution for nearby neighborhoods that already have some of the worst air in the country.

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A National Security Agency data center is under construction in Bluffdale, Utah. When this data center opens in the fall, it will be the largest spy data center for the NSA.

National

Amid Data Controversy, NSA Builds Its Biggest Data Farm

10:01am June 10, 2013

by Howard Berkes

The Utah Data Center, 26 miles south of Salt Lake City, will begin operations in September. Though the NSA director has said it won't hold data on U.S. citizens, privacy advocates worry about the agency's expanding capabilities.

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Michael and Katharine Powers don't expect to be able to retire. Here, they are with two of their daughters and Michael's grandfather.

Golden Years Tainted As Retirement Savings Dwindle

8:58am June 10, 2013

by NPR Staff

Forty-seven-year-old Michael Powers says he expects to be working for a long time. He and fellow members of Generation X, ages 38 to 47, are on track to be the first generation to do worse in retirement than their parents. Assuming they retire at all.

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Confessed NSA Leaker Holed Up In Hong Kong Hotel

7:08am June 10, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

The Guardian has identified its source for a series of reports it published in recent days on secret U.S. surveillance activity. The paper says the source is Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA who now works for a private-sector defense and technology consulting firm.

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National

Jury Selection To Begin In Trayvon Martin Case

7:08am June 10, 2013

by Greg Allen

In Sanford, Fla., Monday, jury selection begins in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer charged with shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. Police at first declined to charge Zimmerman after the shooting because of Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which gives immunity to people who, fearing for their lives, use deadly force in self-defense.

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NSA Scandal Looms Over Obama's Talks With China's Xi

5:39am June 09, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

The goal of the meeting between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping is for the leaders of the world's largest economies to find common ground and build trust. But the summit threatens to be overshadowed by revelations about secret NSA surveillance programs.

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