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Thursday, December 19, 2013 – Daily News 5A WORLD BRIEFING Intelligence panel makes dozens of proposals; doesn't call for ending NSA data collection WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential advisory panel has recommended sweeping limits on the government's surveillance programs, including requiring a court to sign off on individual searches of phone records and stripping the National Security Agency of its ability to store that data from Americans. It was unclear how the changes, if enacted, would impact the scope of the vast government surveillance programs. While President Barack Obama ordered the review board to submit recommendations following government spying disclosures earlier this year, he is under no obligation to accept the proposals. The White House authorized the release of the review group's report Wednesday, weeks ahead of schedule. The president was also conducting an internal review of the government's surveillance programs and planned to announce his decisions in January. The review board's proposals address the government's ability to collect intelligence both in the United States and overseas. The recommendations include tightening federal law enforcement's use of so-called national security letters, which give the government sweeping authority to demand financial and phone records without prior court approval in national security cases. The task force recommended that authorities should be required to obtain a prior ''judicial finding'' showing ''reasonable grounds'' that the information sought is relevant to terrorism or other intelligence activities. people. Rebels say the unusually intense airstrikes have prompted civilians to flee to the countryside and could portend a government ground offensive against the oppositionheld half of the city, which has been divided for a year and half by grueling fighting. The air campaign's timing — five weeks ahead of an international peace conference — also suggests that Syrian President Bashar Assad could be trying to strengthen his position on the ground while exposing the opposition's weaknesses before sitting down at the negotiating table. The stakes are high in the battle for Aleppo, Syria's largest city and a former commercial and industrial hub. For the government, wresting back control of the entire city would deal a devastating blow to the rebels' morale and throw doubt on the opposition's longterm hold on the vast territory in northern Syria that it has captured over the past two years. Since it began on Sunday, the government air assault has hammered more than a dozen neighborhoods in the rebel-held areas of Aleppo. The campaign has killed at least 189 people and wounded 879, the aid organization Doctors Without Borders said in a statement Wednesday. Deal aimed Syrian at ending government showdowns pounds rebel clears areas of Congress WASHINGTON (AP) Aleppo BEIRUT (AP) — In a withering four-day air assault, the Syrian government pummeled opposition-held neighborhoods in the northern city of Aleppo, leveling apartment buildings, flooding hospitals with casualties and killing nearly 200 — Congress sent President Barack Obama legislation Wednesday scaling back across-the-board cuts on programs ranging from the Pentagon to the national park system, adding a late dusting of bipartisanship to a year more likely to be remembered for a partial govern- ment shutdown and nearperpetual gridlock. Obama's signature was assured on the measure, which lawmakers in both parties and at opposite ends of the Capitol said they hoped would curb budget brinkmanship and prevent more shutdowns in the near future. The legislation passed the Democratic-controlled Senate on a vote of 64-36, six days after clearing the Republicanrun House by a similarly bipartisan margin of 33294. The product of intensive year-end talks, the measure met the shortterm political needs of Republicans, Democrats and the White House. As a result, there was no suspense about the outcome of the vote in the Senate — only about fallout in the 2014 elections and, more immediately, its impact on future congressional disputes over spending and the nation's debt limit. ''I'm tired of the gridlock and the American people that I talk to, especially from Arkansas, are tired of it as well,'' said Sen. Mark Pryor, a Democrat who supported the bill yet will have to defend his vote in next year's campaign for a new term. His likely Republican rival, Rep. Tom Cotton, voted against the measure last week when it cleared the House. Fed will begin to reduce bond purchases in January drawing its support for an economy that remains below full health. Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed that the Fed would still work to keep borrowing rates low to try to spur spending and growth and increase very low inflation. At his final news conference as chairman before he leaves in January, Bernanke managed a delicate balance: He announced a long-awaited and long-feared pullback in the Fed's stimulus. Yet he did so while convincing investors that the Fed would continue to bolster the economy indefinitely. Wall Street roared its approval. The Fed said in a statement after its policy meeting ended Wednesday that it will trim its $85 billion a month in bond purchases by $10 billion starting in January. Bernanke said the Fed expects to make ''similar moderate'' cuts in its purchases if economic gains continue. At the same time, the Fed strengthened its commitment to record-low short-term rates. It said for the first time that it plans to hold its key shortterm rate near zero ''well past'' the time when unemployment falls below 6.5 percent. Unemployment is now 7 percent. Poll: Obama foreign affairs ratings mostly top his domestic ones WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's approval ratings for handling foreign policy issues generally top his ratings for most domestic issues, including the economy and health care, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. But the poll also suggests a majority of Americans want the president to pull troops out of Afghanistan faster than he's doing, and many are skeptical about a tentative nuclear deal with Iran. The poll found that 57 percent now say going to war in Afghanistan after the 2001 terror attacks was probably the ''wrong thing to do.'' And 53 percent say the pace of the planned withdrawal is too slow, 34 percent said the pace was just about right and 10 percent said it was too fast. All combat troops are scheduled to leave by the end of 2014. Meanwhile, six in 10 Americans approve of the preliminary deal between Iran and six global powers to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. But that support is soft and many doubt it will lead to concrete results. Even though he garners more disapproval than approval on the handling of Afghanistan and Iran, Obama generally gets better ratings on foreign policy than on domestic issues. Nearly half (49 percent) approve of his handling of U.S. relations with other countries while 50 percent disapprove. In contrast, just 40 percent approve of his handling of the economy, while 59 percent disapprove. And on health care, the approval rating stands at 39 percent, with 61 percent disapproving. His overall job approval is at 42 percent, with 58 disapproving. New trial set for Egypt's ousted Islamist president CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian prosecutors on Wednesday announced a new trial of ousted President Mohammed Morsi and the top leaders of his Muslim Brotherhood, accusing them of conspiring with Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran's Revolutionary Guard and militant groups to carry out a wave of terrorism to destabilize the country. The charges, which carry a potential death penalty, are the most sweeping and heaviest accusations yet in a series of trials against the Brotherhood. The new trial of Morsi, the three top Brotherhood leaders and 32 other defendants appeared aimed at decisively crippling the top echelons of the group that dominated Egypt's political scene during Morsi's one-year presidency. The timing appeared aimed at further tarnishing the Brotherhood among the public ahead of a key January referendum on a new constitution, a substantial rewrite of the charter largely drafted by Islamists under Morsi. The new military-backed government is seeking a strong ''yes'' vote for the constitution to show the legitimacy of the political transition process put in place after the military removed Morsi on July 3. Brotherhood supporters oppose the new document and have vowed protests against it. HAPPY from HOLIDAYS WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has sent its strongest signal of confidence in the U.S. economy since the Great Recession struck six years ago: It's decided the economy is finally strong enough to withstand a slight pullback in the Fed's stimulus. 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