Panama releases former CIA operative wanted by ItalyA former CIA operative detained in Panama this week at the request of Italian authorities over his conviction in the 2003 kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in Milan was released Friday and had boarded a flight to the United States, U.S. officials said.

MIT Moves to Intervene in Release of Aaron Swartz’s Secret Service FileLawyers representing MIT are filing a motion to intervene in my FOIA lawsuit over thousands of pages of Secret Service documents about the late activist and coder Aaron Swartz. I am the plaintiff in this lawsuit.

Manning trial sets execution precedent for future whistleblowersThe decision to pursue a charge of aiding and abetting the enemy against whistleblower Bradley Manning opens the door to future whistleblowers facing execution, Jeff Paterson, director of Courage to Resist told RT. RT: You were actually at the courtroom today – what are your impressions of the conduct of the trial, and of Manning himself?

Utah ISP owner describes the NSA ‘black box’ that spied on his customersThere’s been more pushback on privacy from the private sector ever since leaked documents revealed the existence of massive NSA spying programs that tap into consumer services. But the owner of XMission, a small ISP in Utah, has been especially adversarial towards the secret FISA court orders which force companies to give data to the government.

Judge Challenges White House Claims on Authority in Drone KillingsWASHINGTON – A federal judge on Friday sharply and repeatedly challenged the Obama administration’s claim that courts have no power over targeted drone killings of American citizens overseas. Judge Rosemary M.

Court rules journalists can’t keep their sources secretA federal appeals court ruled Friday that New York Times journalist James Risen must testify in the trial of a former Central Intelligence Agency officer accused of leaking classified national defense information to the media.

FAA warns Colorado town that shooting down drones could lead to prosecutionOn the heels of a Colorado town’s announcement that it was floating the idea of legalized drone hunting, the Federal Aviation Administration has warned that the practice could result in prosecution and fines.

NSA Phone Snooping Cannot Be Challenged in Court, Feds SayThe Obama administration for the first time responded to a Spygate lawsuit, telling a federal judge the wholesale vacuuming up of all phone-call metadata in the United States is in the “public interest,” does not breach the constitutional rights of Americans and cannot be challenged in a court of law.

Chris Hedges Responds to NDAA Defeat, Says It’s a ‘Black Day’ for LibertyChris Hedges Responds to NDAA Defeat, Says It’s a ‘Black Day’ for Liberty AP/Jacquelyn Martin The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has dealt a terrible blow to Chris Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, Noam Chomsky and the other activists and journalists suing to prevent the indefinite military detention of American citizens.

A huge coalition of tech companies unites to petition the US government for more NSA transparencySilicon Valley tech giants have united against a common cause: seeking greater transparency from the US’s National Security Agency and openness when it comes to surveillance activities. According to AllThingsD, an alliance has formed to ask President Obama’s administration and Congress to lift legal restrictions that prevent Internet, telephone, and wireless providers from providing more information about their involvement with the NSA.

Obama wins back the right to indefinitely detain under NDAAThe Obama administration has won the latest battle in their fight to indefinitely detain US citizens and foreigners suspected of being affiliated with terrorists under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012.

Court Orders Declassification of Decision on SurveillanceA secret court overseeing government surveillance programs has sided with Yahoo and ordered the Obama administration to declassify and publish a 2008 court decision justifying Prism, the data collection program revealed last month by the former security contractor Edward J. Snowden. Judge Reggie Walton issued the ruling on Monday, and the government is expected to decide by Aug.

Obama administration drowning in lawsuits filed over NSA surveillanceAttorneys for the Electronic Frontier Foundation have sued the Obama administration and are demanding the White House stop the dragnet surveillance programs operated by the National Security Agency. Both the White House and Congress have weighed in on the case of Edward Snowden and the revelations he’s made by leaking National Security Agency documents.

Detroit police arrest news photographer, lock her up with suspectPolice in Detroit, Michigan have launched an internal investigation after a Detroit Free Press photographer was detained for filming a group of officers as they arrested a suspect on a public street on Thursday, July 11. Mandi Wright was traveling to an assignment with a newspaper reporter when the pair came upon eight officers making an arrest.

Church, Rights Groups Sue NSA Over SpyingAP reports: “Rights activists, church leaders and drug and gun rights advocates found common ground and filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the federal government to halt a vast National Security Agency electronic surveillance program.

Secret move keeps bin Laden records in the shadowsWASHINGTON (AP) – The top U.S. special operations commander, Adm. William McRaven, ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout to be purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public.

The NSA’s Surveillance Is UnconstitutionalDue largely to unauthorized leaks, we now know that the National Security Agency has seized from private companies voluminous data on the phone and Internet usage of all U.S. citizens.

Writing on the wall? ‘United Stasi of America’ artist under police scrutinyGerman artist Oliver Bienkowski, who projected the words ‘United Stasi of America’ together with a picture of Kim Dotcom on to the wall of the US embassy in Berlin, may face criminal charges. Investigation has been launched into whether Bienkowski’s action falls under the category of “slander against the organizations and representatives of a foreign state,” Berlin-based Der Tagesspiegel newspaper reports.

U.S. Actions in Snowden Case Threaten Right to Seek AsylumRevelations about the NSA’s secret surveillance activities continue to make headlines both at home and abroad. In the last week alone, Brazil expressed concern about recent reports of NSA spying on millions of Brazilian citizens, the European Parliament a resolution authorizing its Civil Liberties Committee to launch an “in-depth inquiry” into U.S.

Small Utah ISP firm stands up to ‘surveillance state’ as corporations cowerDespite having fewer resources and a fraction of the customers that broadband giants like Verizon and AT&T boast, one small internet service provider has resisted pressure from the NSA and refused to turn over customer data without a warrant.