Tags: U.S. Politics

In his first congressional testimony since disclosure of the secretive programs, the director of the National Security Agency gave a forceful defense of spy operations that have stirred fears of government snooping and violations of privacy rights

President Obama defended the U.S. policy's long-standing Internet and phone monitoring programs as valuable tools in an effort to fight terrorism, deflecting criticism that government intrusion to people's phone calls has been too overreaching.

The U.S. military brass came under tough criticism from senators who slammed them for their handling of repeated allegations of sexual assault cases by military personnel.