Beyond the Bricks

NSA Accused of Spying on Europe

Germany, Spain and other countries are claiming that the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) has been spying on top officials and collecting metadata from ally country citizens. According to CNN, German newspapers are claiming that Chancellor Angela Merkel has had her personal cell phone monitored for over 10 years. Spain is accusing the NSA of spying on over 60.5 million Spanish telephone calls in a month. Both countries have summoned their respective U.S. Ambassadors to explain the alleged spying. At a recent summit in Brussels, involved European parties stated that they still valued their relationship with the United States, but expressed anger over the situation, as reported on The News International.

The NSA has responded to the allegations by saying that they were gathering information in the same way that other countries do. The Obama administration claims that they were not aware of the situation until a mid-year review. During a Congressional Hearing on October 29, top U.S. officials recognized that there is a need to create more constraints on how intelligence is gathered and used. However, as quoted on Reuters, Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said: “We cannot go back to a pre-9/11 mindset and risk failing to connect the dots again.” 

RIT Professor Murder: Suspect Convicted

Edline Chun was an RIT professor in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. Chun was found murdered in a Rochester park on February 6, 2013. On February 3, she was allegedly attacked by Natalie Johnson and Jerrell Henry in her home, forced to sign blank checks to transfer money out of her account and was later left in a ravine with two bullets in her head. On October 28, Johnson was convicted on two counts of second degree murder, and was sentenced to 25 years to life, according to YNN. The jury had deliberated for only two hours before deciding that Johnson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Henry, Johnson’s boyfriend, is due for trial on December 3 for first degree murder, as reported by 13 Wham. In New York State, first degree murder is a mandatory sentence of life without parole or life with parole in 51 years.