Domestic Glance
The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one of America's largest telecoms providers, under a top secret court order issued in April.
The order, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, requires Verizon on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the US and between the US and other countries.
Revealed: NSA collecting phone records of millions of Americans daily
Building collapses in Philadelphia, rescuers search for victims
A building collapsed in downtown Philadelphia on Wednesday and rescue workers were searching for people trapped in the rubble, a fire department spokesman said.
Local media reported that Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said as many as 10 people were buried in the debris from the four-story building. The local ABC affiliate also said five people had been rescued and taken to area hospitals.
Amazon plans major move into grocery business
Amazon.com Inc is planning a major roll-out of an online grocery business that it has been quietly developing for years, targeting one of the largest retail sectors yet to be upended by e-commerce, according to two people familiar with the situation.
While food is a low-margin business, Amazon could outperform similar online grocery services by delivering orders for higher-margin items like electronics at the same time.
ACLU seeking marijuana law reform
The American Civil Liberties Union is calling on the federal government and law enforcement to end what it termed "the failed War on Marijuana."
Citing a report the group released Tuesday, the ACLU says police made more than 8 million marijuana arrests from 2001 to 2010, more than half of all drug-related arrests. About 90 percent were for marijuana possession, not consumption, the report notes. The cost of prosecuting marijuana arrests over the next six years will cost American courts $20 billion, the ACLU says.
IRS tax scandal in US: new evidence undermines political bias claims
Nearly three-quarters of the political groups subjected to extra tax inspection during a recent IRS scandal were not identifiably opponents of the White House, officials have revealed.
Republicans have called for a special prosecutor to investigate what they call "attacks on American democracy" after it emerged that rightwing groups were singled out for special treatment by the Inland Revenue Service.
Supreme Court upholds DNA testing for serious arrests
The U.S. Constitution does not prohibit states from building large DNA databases by collecting samples from everyone arrested for serious crimes, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision Monday.
The case produced an unusual divide on the court, with liberal Justice Stephen Breyer joining the court’s Republican appointed justices who upheld the practice and conservative Justice Antonin Scalia writing a bitter dissent joined by most of the court’s liberals.
Newtown parents ask to block release of photos, audio
Families of some of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting last December are gathering online signers to a petition asking Connecticut legislators to block the release of gory crime scene photographs and other evidence.
The petition, posted on Change.org, had more than 50,000 signers Monday evening.
It asks state lawmakers "to pass a law that would keep sensitive information, including photos and audio, about this tragic day private and out of the hands of people who'd like to misuse it for political gain.''
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