1. SNOWDEN LEAVES MOSCOW AIRPORT
After spending more than a month in an airport transit zone, fugitive former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden has left Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. An airport representative told Reuters that Snowden, who leaked details of several secret NSA surveillance tactics and programs, had crossed into Russia. [Reuters]
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2. SENATE PRESSES OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ON PHONE RECORDS PROGRAM
On Wednesday, a Senate panel sharply challenged the NSA's far-reaching counterterrorism program that collects millions of Americans' phone records, even as officials released newly declassified documents. The previously secret material was released by Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper. Read a primer here. [The Washington Post]
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3. KIDNAPPER CASTRO EXPECTED TO BE SENTENCED TODAY
Ariel Castro is expected to make a statement at his sentencing this morning that could help people understand why he held three women captive for a decade. Castro pleaded guilty last week to counts of rape and kidnapping, as well as to two counts of aggravated murder. He is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 1,000 years. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
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4. EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT VOWS TO BREAK UP PRO-MORSI SIT-INS
Egypt's government instructed its security forces on Wednesday to end sit-ins by supporters of the deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Morsi's supporters have occupied two squares in Cairo to protest his July 3 ouster. [The New York Times]
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5. KERRY MAKES UNANNOUNCED PAKISTAN VISIT
The U.S. and Pakistan agreed on Thursday to re-establish a "full partnership," hoping to end years of acrimony over U.S. drone strikes on Pakistani soil, the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and other grievances. The announcement came during Secretary of State John Kerry's unannounced Pakistan visit for talks with the newly elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. [Reuters]
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6. ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION MEETS CONTROVERSY
Zimbabwe's presidential election was a "huge farce," Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said, alleging vote-rigging and disenfranchisement of up to a million people by rival President Robert Mugabe's camp. Tsvangirai said that Wednesday's balloting, in which Mugabe's party claimed a victory, was "null and void." [BBC]
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7. ROUGHLY 50,000 POUNDS OF BEEF ARE RECALLED
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a Kansas company has recalled approximately 50,000 pounds of meat due to possible E. coli contamination. The beef, which was sold by the National Beef Packing Co., was sent to retailers, wholesalers, and food services distributors across the country. [Huffington Post]
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8. APPLE TO FIX CHARGING SECURITY FLAW
A security flaw in Apple's iOS 6 that could allow malware to be uploaded to iOS devices via a malicious power adapter will be resolved in the next version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 7, Apple said Wednesday. The hack was discovered by three researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology. [CNET]
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9. MLB MAY BE PREPARED TO SUSPEND RODRIGUEZ
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig may permanently ban the Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez from baseball. A suspension for Rodriguez would cap weeks of media reports indicating that he was among players who would be suspended for connections to anti-aging clinic Biogenesis. [Huffington Post]
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10. UK DECLASSIFIES FILES OF QUEEN'S COLD WAR SPEECH
The text of a dummy speech to be given by Queen Elizabeth II in the event of nuclear war in the spring of 1983 was released by Britain's National Archives in a cache of declassified documents. The queen likely never saw the emotional rallying cry drafted by British officials during the threat of annihilation from the Soviet Union. [USA Today]
