‘US intelligence agency monitoring emails in India'

New Delhi: India is reportedly one of the top five countries being thoroughly monitored by US foreign surveillance agency National Security Agency (NSA), a UK newspaper has reported.

India is placed fifth on the list with 6.3 billion pieces of intelligence being recorded from computer networks in March this year, the Guardian stated, as per a newspaper report.

Iran was placed on the top of the list with 14 billion pieces of intelligence collected, Pakistan came close second with 13.5 billion followed by Jordan, and Egypt with 12.7 billion and 7.6 billion respectively in March, the report states.

The monitoring is a part of US government’s data surveillance programme initiated to prevent terrorist attacks. US President Barack Obama has defended the newly revealed government surveillance programmes as a small price to pay for keeping America safe from terror attacks.

He acknowledged that the public may be uncomfortable with the broad reach of the formerly secret programmes, but he said he believed the government had struck the right balance between the need to fight terrorism and the need to protect privacy.

"You can't have 100 percent security and then also have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience," Obama was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

Sweeping up Americans' telephone records and monitoring Internet activity from overseas are "modest encroachments on privacy" that can help US intelligence analysts disrupt terror activity, he said.

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Six dead as gunman goes on rampage in California

Washington: At least six people were killed as a gunman went on a rampage in Southern California, before being shot down by the police at a college library, some three miles away from where US President Barack Obama was attending a fundraiser.

According to Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks, the gunman as 25 to 30 years old and dressed all in black, wearing what appeared to be a ballistic jacket. Another person of interest is said to be in police custody.

"We are not convinced 100 per cent that the suspect who was killed operated in a solo or alone capacity," Seabrooks said at a hurriedly convened news conference.

It was not immediately clear where all the deceased victims were killed. In all six people -- all women -- were taken to two hospitals, including two in critical condition, one of whom died, local media reported.

Seabrooks said there were at least six incidents across the city ending in the Santa Monica College.

An eyewitness on the college campus, Jason Garrett, told CNN the suspected shooter was dressed in black and appeared to be wearing a tactical vest and carrying a rifle.

A female witness said she heard a noise, realized it was a gunshot, then took off running. Then, in a hallway, she saw a dark-haired man whom she initially mistook for a police officer but later realized was the shooter.

The man -- who she said was wearing black combat boots and what appeared to be a bullet-proof vest -- was quiet and walking casually. "(He had) a big shotgun," the woman told the CNN.

Jeff Furrows of the Santa Monica Fire Department said there was extensive fire damage at a house near the college, and one of the wounded women was found with a gunshot wound in a car nearby.

Jerry Cunningham Rathner, who lives near the house, said she heard gunshots and came out onto her porch to see a man shooting at the residence. Soon, the building erupted in flames and was billowing smoke, Fox News reported.

"He fired three to four shots into the car -- boom, boom, boom, right at her," said Rathner, who went to the woman's aid and saw she was wounded in the shoulder.

The alleged gunman abducted the woman in the first car and drove away, Rathner said. From there, the scene shifted to Santa Monica College, where the gunman was eventually shot dead.

Nearby schools and campuses were put on lockdown, police said amid confusion over whether an additional gunman could be at large.

Obama, on his way to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, was in Santa Monica speaking at a Democratic fundraiser several miles from the scene of the shooting.

The US President, who had been due to fly back to Los Angeles airport, instead went in a motorcade, to avoid any impact on police action around the shootings, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

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Barack Obama defends telephone, Internet snooping

Washington: President Barack Obama on Friday defended the newly revealed government surveillance programmes as a small price to pay for keeping America safe from terror attacks.

Sweeping up Americans' telephone records and monitoring Internet activity from overseas are "modest encroachments on privacy" that can help US intelligence analysts disrupt terror activity, he said during a four-day trip to the West Coast.

"Nobody is listening to your telephone calls," he reassured Americans worried about the prospect of government agents listening in on private conversations, CNN reported.

"That's not what this programme is about," he said in his first comments since the media revelations of programmes to collect information about phone calls and Internet traffic.

Obama said the programmes help prevent terrorist attacks and they are kept in check by rigorous judicial and Congressional oversight.

He acknowledged that the public may be uncomfortable with the broad reach of the formerly secret programmes, but he said he believed the government had struck the right balance between the need to fight terrorism and the need to protect privacy.

"You can't have 100 percent security and then also have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience," Obama was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

He repeatedly stressed that the lawmakers from both parties and federal judges were aware of the efforts. "You know, we're going to have to make some choices as a society."

"If the intelligence community actually wants to listen to a telephone call, they have to go back to a federal judge," Obama was quoted as saying.

The collection of information from Internet companies like Google and Apple does not apply to American citizens or people living in the United States, he said.

Obama also repeatedly stressed that the surveillance programmes were subject to Congressional oversight, according to the Times.

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