Snowden Defends Query to Putin on Surveillance

Edward J. Snowden insisted that he had been trying to hold Russia’s government to account over its surveillance practices, as he did with the Obama administration.



Media Decoder: Toledo Blade Sues Over Detention of Journalists at Tank Plant

The lawsuit claims that a reporter and a photographer were detained by military police officers outside a General Dynamics tank plant after taking photographs of it.



On Children’s Website, N.S.A. Puts a Furry, Smiley Face on Its Mission

The National Security Agency uses cartoon characters to try to teach young people about its work, and to encourage them to someday join the agency.

    

Air Force Invites Youths to Help Solve Problems

The initiative involves a digital “Collaboratory,” in which young people will be challenged to develop new technologies for tasks like search and rescue.

    

Soldier’s Lawyers Rest Case With a Defense of WikiLeaks’ Journalistic Role

A Harvard law professor testified that WikiLeaks performed a legitimate journalistic function when Pfc. Bradley Manning gave it vast archives of secret government files.

    

Leaked Report Cites Pakistan’s Failings Before U.S. Killed Bin Laden

A report that cited “collective incompetence” of the country’s security forces was leaked after Pakistani authorities had suppressed it for months.

    

Michael Hastings, 33, Winner of Polk Award, Dies

Mr. Hastings, an intrepid war zone reporter in Afghanistan and Iraq, won a Polk Award in 2010 for his Rolling Stone magazine cover story, “The Runaway General.”

    

William Miles, Maker of Documentaries About Black History, Dies at 82

Among other topics, Mr. Miles, who specialized in unearthing lost material about forgotten subjects, made films about the history of Harlem and a black regiment that fought in World War I.

    

Manning to Face More Serious Charges in Leak

Despite a guilty plea, military prosecutors decided to proceed with a court-martial that could result in a sentence of life without parole for Pfc. Bradley Manning.