French newspaper claims
agency there spies on citizens


France's external intelligence agency spies on the French public's phone calls, emails and social media activity in France and abroad, the daily Le Monde said Thursday.

It said the agency intercepted signals from computers and telephones in France, and between France and other countries, although not the content of phone calls, to create a map of who is talking to whom. It said the activity was illegal.

“All of our communications are spied on,” wrote Le Monde, which based its report on unnamed intelligence sources as well as remarks made publicly by intelligence officials. “Emails, text messages, telephone records, access to Facebook and Twitter are then stored for years.”

The activities described are similar to those carried out by the U.S. National Security Agency, as described in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The documents revealed that the NSA has access to vast amounts of Internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies such as Facebook and Google, under a program known as Prism.

They also showed that the U.S. government had gathered so-called metadata, such as the time, duration and numbers called, on all telephone calls carried by service providers such as Verizon.

France's intelligence agency was not immediately available for comment.

Le Monde said the French national security commission whose job it is to authorize targeted spying, and the parliamentary intelligence committee, had challenged the paper's report and said it worked in accordance with the law. It said the only body that collected communications information was a government agency controlled by the prime minister's office that monitors for security breaches.

Le Monde's report comes amid a storm over media allegations that Washington regularly spies on European citizens and embassies. The allegations, made in the German magazine Der Spiegel, sparked concern from data protection watchdogs and irked European governments just as major transatlantic trade talks are about to start.

Le Monde said France's Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure, known as the DGSE, was more interested in finding out who was speaking to whom than in combing through the content of private communications. It said the DGSE stored a mass of such metadata in the basement of its Paris headquarters.

France's seven other intelligence services, including domestic secret services and customs and money-laundering watchdogs, have access to the data and can tap into it freely as a means to spot people whose communications seem suspicious, whom they can then track with more intrusive techniques such as phone-tapping, Le Monde wrote.

The Guardian newspaper reported last month that Britain had a similar spying program on international phone and Internet traffic and was sharing vast quantities of personal information with the American NSA.


Snowden low on his options
living in Moscow airport


Edward Snowden should find another country to seek refuge, a Russian official said Thursday, signaling Moscow's growing impatience over the former U.S. agency spy contractor's lengthening stay at a Moscow airport.
 
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia had received no request for political asylum from Snowden and he had to solve his problems himself after 11 days in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.
 
President Vladimir Putin has refused to extradite the American, and Russian officials have delighted in his success in staying out of the United States' clutches since revealing details of secret U.S. government surveillance programs.
 
But Moscow has also made clear that Snowden is an increasingly unwelcome guest because the longer he stays, the greater the risk of the diplomatic standoff over his fate causing lasting damage to relations with Washington.
 
“He needs to choose a place to go,” Ryabkov said. “As of this moment, we do not have a formal application from Mr. Snowden asking for asylum in the Russian Federation.”
 
Ryabkov told Itar-Tass news agency separately that Russia “cannot solve anything for him” and the situation should now be resolved one way or the other.
 
His remarks echoed comments by President Vladimir Putin, who has urged Snowden, 30, to leave as soon as he can.
 
France and Italy, both U.S. allies, said they had rejected asylum requests from Snowden.
 
“Like many countries France has received, via its ambassador in Moscow, an asylum request from Edward Snowden. For legal reasons and given the applicant's situation, it will not be processed,” Interior Minister Manuel Valls said in a statement.
 
Valls said earlier Thursday that France's relations with the United States would not allow it to harbor Snowden.
 
Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said any asylum request would have to be presented in person at the border or in Italian territory which Snowden had not done.
 
“As a result there do not exist the legal conditions to accept such a request, which in the government's view would not be acceptable on a political level either,” she told parliament.
 
Relations between Snowden and the Russian authorities appear to have soured when Putin said Monday that he could only be granted asylum by Moscow if he agreed to stop actions that could harm the United States.
 
Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said Tuesday that Snowden had withdrawn his interest in asylum in Russia after Putin spelled out the terms. His options have narrowed further since then as no country has agreed to grant him asylum.
 
Russian officials have kept Snowden at arm's length since he landed from Hong Kong on June 23, saying the transit area where passengers stay between flights is neutral territory and he will be on Russian soil only if he goes through passport control.
 
Moscow has also done nothing to trumpet his presence or parade him before cameras, and Putin has avoided the temptation to mock Obama when asked about the affair in public. He said last week he would prefer not to deal with it at all.
 
Relations with Washington have been strained since Putin's return to the presidency last year. He has accused the United States of backing protesters demanding his removal, and Washington is worried that he is cracking down on dissent.
 
But there have been signs of an improvement as the sides try to cooperate more on security since the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings, in which two ethnic Chechens are the main suspects. The United States has also shown some restraint in its remarks.
 
“We continue to talk with the Russian government every day, absolutely every day, including myself,” U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul told reporters. “We hope to resolve this . . . in a way that we want to have it ended and so far we're very happy with our interactions with the Russian government.”
 
Russia's Interfax news agency underlined Washington's own determination to keep ties on an even keel, quoting an unnamed source as saying Snowden's case had not been raised by U.S. Justice Department officials at recent talks in Moscow.
 
Russia has, however, reveled in the diplomatic fallout since Bolivian President Evo Morales, a Putin ally, was held up on his way home from an energy meeting in Moscow because a number of European countries refused initially to let his plane into their airspace over suspicions that Snowden was on board.
 
Bolivia blamed the delays on Washington and the Russian Foreign Ministry criticized three European Union member states.
 
“The actions of the authorities of France, Spain and Portugal could hardly be considered friendly actions towards Bolivia,” it said. “Russia calls on the international community to comply strictly with international legal principles.”


British firm denies bugging
Ecuador's London embassy


A British private surveillance company denied on Thursday that it had bugged the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living for over a year.

Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino made the allegation against the Surveillance Group Ltd. in Quito Wednesday, adding that Ecuador would seek help from the British government to get to the bottom of the matter.

In a statement, the Surveillance Group's CEO Timothy Young rejected Patino's allegation as completely untrue.

“The Surveillance Group do not and have never been engaged in any activities of this nature,” Young said.

“We have not been contacted by any member of the Ecuadorean government, and our first notification about this incident was via the press this morning,” he said.

The Foreign Office in London declined to comment.

Patino described the Surveillance Group as “one of the biggest private investigation and undercover surveillance companies in the United Kingdom.”

On its Web site, the company says it combines “the practices, skills and experience of special forces, police and commercial surveillance to create an entirely new form of surveillance.”

It says its clients include British law enforcement agencies, other government bodies and financial institutions, and that it has teams in Europe and Canada.

Services on offer include digital forensics, corporate investigations, professional witness surveillance and intelligence reports, according to the company Web site.

Patino has said a microphone was found in the office of Ambassador Ana Alban at the time of his visit to the embassy June 16 to meet with Assange, who has been granted asylum by Ecuador but cannot make his way to that country.

Assange risks arrest if he steps out of the embassy because he has breached his bail terms in Britain. He sought refuge inside the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Assange fears that if sent to Sweden he could be extradited from there to the United States to face potential charges over the release of thousands of confidential U.S. documents on WikiLeaks.

The anti-secrecy Web site described the alleged bugging of the embassy as an example of imperial arrogance but did not elaborate.

The topic of covert state surveillance has been at the top of the global news agenda since a series of leaks last month by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about secret U.S. and British espionage programs.

WikiLeaks is trying to assist Snowden, who is believed to be stranded at an airport in Moscow and seeking asylum in a variety of countries including Ecuador.


Mandela family disputes
degenerate into soap opera


A feud between factions of Nelson Mandela's family descended into soap opera farce Thursday when his grandson and heir, Mandla, accused relatives of adultery and milking the fame of the revered anti-apartheid leader.
 
In a news conference broadcast live on TV that stunned South Africans, Mandla Mandela confirmed rumors that his young son, Zanethemba, was in fact the child of an illicit liaison between his brother Mbuso and Mandla's now ex-wife Anais Grimaud.
 
With Mandela on life-support in a Pretoria hospital, the escalating feud has transfixed and appalled South Africa in equal measure as it contemplates the reality that the father of the post-apartheid Rainbow Nation will not be around forever.
 
“Mbuso impregnated my wife,” Mandla said in Mvezo, the Eastern Cape village 700 km (450 miles) south of Johannesburg where Mandela, now 94 years old and critically ill, was born and where Mandla serves as the formal chief of the clan.
 
Mandla, 39, first raised questions about his son's paternity last year when he split from French-speaking Ms. Grimaud, who has since moved back home to the Indian Ocean island of Reunion. He also revealed then that he was unable to have children.
 
His attempts to get the family to address the questions of Zanethemba's paternity had been rebuffed in the interests of preserving a semblance of unity in South Africa's most famous family, Mandla said.
 
“This matter has never been discussed by the so-called members of the family who say that they want to ensure there is harmony in this family,” he said, challenging reporters to conduct DNA tests to confirm his allegations.
 
“The facts are there. You may go and find out, do the necessary tests that are needed,” he said. His brother Mbuso has denied being the father of the child.
 
Newspapers have plastered “Mandela vs. Mandela” headlines across their front pages and editorials have bemoaned the cruel irony of bitter divisions inside the family of a man lauded the world over as the epitome of reconciliation between races.
 
The government said that Mandela remained critical but stable after nearly four weeks in hospital.
 
The sleepy community of Mvezo, set amid the rolling hills of the eastern Cape, has been at the center of a vicious dispute that may ultimately determine where South Africa's first black president will be laid to rest.
 
Two years ago, Mandla exhumed the bodies of three of Mandela's children from Qunu, where Mandela grew up, and moved them the 20 kms. to Mvezo, where Mandla has built a visitor center and a memorial center dedicated to his grandfather.
 
Mandla said he moved the bodies based on his right as chief to decide the final resting place of family members, especially his father Makgatho who died of an AIDS-related illness in 2005.
 
“I hold the right to determine where he is buried. I am the chief of Mvezo, as a traditional leader and the head of the royal house of Mandela,” said Mandla, dressed in a black leather jacket and red shirt.
 
Despite his assertions, many of South Africa's 53 million people believe the exhumations were part of a deliberate plan to ensure Mandela was buried in Mvezo.
 
Last week, a rival faction of the family, led by Mandla's aunt Makaziwe and including Mbuso, won a court order for the bodies to be returned to Qunu, an edict carried out late on Wednesday after a last-minute legal bid by Mandla failed.
 
Speaking calmly and deliberately in front of a bank of cameras, Mandla lashed out at Makaziwe and members of the wider family, accusing them of trying to cash in on the legacy of one of the 20th century's most respected political figures.
 
“This is the very family that has taken their own father, their own grandfather, to court for his monies,” he said, referring to a long-running legal bid by Makaziwe to remove the guardians of a Mandela charitable trust.
 
“It seems like anyone and everyone can come and say 'I am a Mandela' and demand to be part of the decision-making in this family,” he said. “Individuals have abandoned their own families and heritage and decided to jump on the Mandela wagon.”
 
Makaziwe has declined to comment on the graves dispute, telling reporters that it is a private family matter.
 
The three Mandela children exhumed from Mvezo are an infant girl who died in 1948, a boy, Thembi, who died in a car crash in 1969, and Mandla's father, Makgatho. In all, Mandela fathered six children from his three marriages.


Bi-national, same sex pairs
relieved by court ruling


Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the federal government must recognize same-sex marriages just as it does for heterosexuals. The ruling has special significance for thousands of gay Americans married to foreign nationals or who plan to do so.

Swede Anna Olsson and American Michelle Bailey met two years ago, fell in love, and built a life together near Washington. Swedish pancakes have become a shared morning ritual.
 
Neither said they can imagine life without the other.

"I just feel lucky. I mean, I never knew I could feel this good," said Ms. Bailey.

"This is the love of my life, and I cannot wait to marry her," said Ms. Olsson.

Michelle is a Web designer, Anna a university instructor. Until last week, the couple feared U.S. law would force them apart or to move to Sweden when Anna’s work visa expires.
 
"It is almost torture living under the threat of having to uproot yourself. It is not just a little right that is taken away from you, it is a life," said Ms. Olsson.
 
In March, Michelle and Anna stood outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments over the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as solely between a man and a woman under federal law. Last week’s ruling, striking it down, brought euphoria and relief.
 
"It was unbelievable joy. Thrilling and exciting and tears," said Michelle.
 
"It was indescribable the feeling. It felt like I was flying for the rest of the day," said Anna.
 
For years, immigration attorney Thomas Plummer has fought to keep bi-national gay couples together.
 
"These families are now going to be treated equally under U.S. immigration law, which means that families here in the United States can begin planning their lives together. Couples in exile can plan their return, and families that are apart can reunite in the United States," said Plummer.
 
Already, the Obama administration is weighing in. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that immigration petitions for a same-sex spouse will be reviewed "in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse."
 
Michelle and Anna took part in U.S. Independence Day celebrations with added joy.

"I have had my status elevated from second-class citizen. So I am feeling pretty darn good," said Michelle.
 
"Having lived here for 10 years, I have never been as proud of America as I was on June 26," said Anna.  That was the date of the U.S. Supreme Court decision.
 
And what now for the couple?
 
"We are planning to get married in the very near future. And yeah, we are staying. That is the main thing. It does not sound too exciting but it is," said Anna.
 
"We are just going to stay living our lives. Fixing the house up and whatever we normally do," said Michelle.

　
Special Los Angeles program
keeps close track of air quality


For decades, scientists have been able to measure air quality and look at its impact on human health. Now, scientists are testing new ways of measuring those climate changing greenhouse gases in the air.

One of the places that is participating in a new effort called the Megacities Carbon Project.
 
With more than 18 million people living, working and driving in Los Angeles, the city often is covered in a hazy layer of smog. Stan Sander, senior research scientist at the U.S. space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, describes this layer of visible air.
 
"That haze is caused by the fact that the air is trapped inside a layer that’s a few hundred meters to a thousand meters in altitude above the LA basin. So it collects those emissions from the cars and other sources and forms that layer," said Sander.
 
Jet Propulsion Lab scientist Riley Duren says these pollutants include greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and they do not just hang over the city.
 
"So these gases have a small local effect but the bigger impact is on the climate. We’re all in this together. It takes several weeks or months for these gases to mix, but they end up in the atmosphere and they affect everywhere, not just in the local city," said Duren.
 
Los Angeles is part of a complicated experiment called the Megacities Carbon Project. The goal is to monitor greenhouse gases and look for long-term trends to see if environmental policies to lower these pollutants actually work.
 
Sixteen highly sensitive monitoring devices are being installed throughout southern California on rooftops and media towers. These instruments work continuously to analyze what is in the air.
 
Scientists also use what is called remote sensing to monitor the air. Instruments placed on airplanes and a satellite look at sunlight bouncing off the surface of the earth. By looking at how the air changes the quality of that light, scientists can see the fingerprints of carbon dioxide and methane in the air.
 
There is one more remote sensing instrument on top of historic Mount Wilson northeast of Los Angeles. NASA’S Stan Sander says this remote sensing equipment looks down throughout the LA Basin and analyzes the air.
 
"What we’re hoping to do here on Mount Wilson is create a sort of pattern or model for the way other cities might be able to measure their greenhouse gas emissions in a very similar way," he said.

Riley Duren says that while developed countries are trying to reduce emissions...

"In the developing world, particularly in South America, Africa and Asia, we’re seeing explosive growth in cities because of the combined effects of urbanization and economic growth," he said.
 
He says many of these growing cities are at higher risk for the impact of climate change.


Inventor of computer mouse
is reported dead at 88


U.S. technology visionary Douglas Engelbart, who revolutionized computing with the invention of the mouse, has died at the age of 88.

Engelbart first demonstrated his invention, along with video teleconferencing, at a computer conference in San Francisco in 1968, where other experts gave him a standing ovation. Two years later, he won a patent on the mouse, a wood box with two metal wheels in its earliest design.

While the computer mouse is now a fixture in offices and many homes throughout the world, it did not become commercially available until 1984 with the introduction of Apple's Macintosh computer.  

During his career, Engelbart won 20 other patents, and played a key role in the development of the Internet, word processing and navigating online through links to other Internet sites.