U.S. Government

BERLIN (AP) — Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats.

By Clare Hutchison LONDON (Reuters) - The UK's highest court has ruled that the government was wrong to have imposed sanctions on an Iranian bank in 2009 over alleged links to Iran's nuclear programme. The Supreme Court decision on Wednesday mirrored a January ruling by the European Union's General Court, which overturned sanctions imposed in 2010, and could result in the bank suing Britain for damages. ...

By Christian Lowe and Jana Mlcochova PRAGUE (Reuters) - It was a moment of high drama: the Czech prime minister stood up in parliament to try to salvage a political career torpedoed by the arrest of an aide, and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, sitting next to him, had dozed off. Schwarzenberg's habit of napping has, instead of being a liability, made him popular among Czechs fed up with their political class and its endemic corruption, and desperate for someone who breaks the mould. ...

BERLIN (AP) — President Barack Obama will renew his call Wednesday to reduce the world's nuclear stockpiles, including a proposed one-third reduction in U.S. and Russian arsenals, the White House said.

By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A former Cleveland school-bus driver accused of holding three women captive in his home and torturing them for a decade is scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday. Ariel Castro, 52, pleaded not guilty last week to more than 300 charges and was scheduled for an initial hearing before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo. He is being held in a county jail on an $8 million bail. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The obscure oversight board that President Barack Obama wants to scrutinize the National Security Agency's secret surveillance system is little known for good reason. The U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has operated fitfully during its eight years of low-profile existence, stymied by congressional infighting and, at times, censorship by government lawyers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers have a message for those who want the party to soften its emphasis on social conservatism in hopes of reaching a wider national audience: Not so fast.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supporters of a far-reaching immigration bill in the Senate see fresh momentum from a report by the Congressional Budget Office that says the measure would boost the economy and reduce federal deficits by billions of dollars.

By Richard Valdmanis BOSTON (Reuters) - Attorneys for accused mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger will seek on Wednesday to paint star witness John "The Executioner" Martorano as a heartless killer whose testimony cannot be trusted in the trial of one of Boston's most feared men. Martorano, a former altar boy who has confessed to 20 murders, has spent two days on the stand for federal prosecutors describing chilling executions he said were either ordered or conducted by Bulger, head of the ruthless Winter Hill Gang during the 1970s and 1980s. ...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court has assigned an investor lawsuit seeking about 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in damages from Porsche SE to a court specializing on cartel matters, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The regional court in Braunschweig, Germany, will delegate the case, brought by U.S. investment funds, to a Hanover-based court specializing in cartel matters, the source said on Wednesday on condition of not being identified because the matter is confidential. The court declined to comment. ...

BERLIN (AP) — Five years and 50 years. As President Barack Obama revisits Berlin, he can't escape those anniversaries and the inevitable comparisons to history and personal achievement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.