russia

In addition to targeting suspected terrorists, it appears the National Security Agency also spent time spying on foreign heads of state.

A leaked document from the explosive NSA document deluge shows that the U.S. government was spying on former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the London G20 summit in 2009, according to the Guardian.

Apparently, the NSA document shows that U.S. spies got their hands on top-secret communications between Medvedev and his delegation and then shared the information with government officials from the U.K., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

The NSA document, titled "Russian Leadership Communications … Read more

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee are in the middle of proposing a new cybertheft law that would target hackers based in other countries, according to Reuters.

The bill, which doesn't yet have a name, is to be introduced on Thursday by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc). These lawmakers have said that the intent of the law will be to go after hackers from "offending nations" and deliver "real consequences and punishments."

Of those countries said to be cyber spying on the U.… Read more

The meteor that slammed into Russia in February injured about 1,000 people and freaked out many more. Recent months have highlighted the danger of larger space objects that could bring doomsday if they collide with our planet.

We've seen potential proposals that involve vaporizing asteroids and capturing them.

Bong Wie, director of the Asteroid Deflection Research Center at Iowa State University, says we should nuke them. … Read more

Russian "Cheech and Chong" fans, rejoice! The Russian language Wikipedia page for "smoking Cannabis" is no longer under the gun from government censors, but to get totally free and clear of the law, it did have to hand over all of its paraphernalia.

Last week, Russian communications watchdog Roscomnadzor confirmed to RT that the page had been added to an Internet blacklist of sites with banned content launched by the Russian government last year.

The pot page is apparently just one of a handful on Wikipedia deemed to be in violation of Russian law (other includes an online library hosting "The Anarchist Cookbook" and its recipe for marijuana soup), but it appears that it may have been the last spliff straw for the government. Possession of marijuana is illegal in Russia, and penalties can often include harsh prison sentences.… Read more

The Russian government has turned to censorship on the Web.

According to the New York Times, the government is utilizing a new law, which the Russian parliament approved in July and which took effect in November, that allows the government to selectively censor Web pages within its borders because of content that it believes is illegal or harmful to children. The law's supporters have said that it protects against child pornography and other harmful content, but detractors say that it's giving the government too much power to block whatever it deems unfit for its citizens.

Although smaller sites … Read more

A good hearty conspiracy theory can shine a sharp light on two of humanity's most enduring traits.

One, of course, is humanity's boundless imagination. The other is humanity's essential suspicion of humanity.

So while you might be deeply immersed in Bill Nye's explanation of the Russian meteorite, those with darker sensibilities have filled the Web with their fears and hauntings about the phenomenon.

There are few nations with greater awareness of dark sensibilities than Russia. The fact that there seems to be little evidence of meteorite fragments on the ground has encouraged some Russians to offer their own suspicions.… Read more

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This week on Crave, William Shatner has some choice words for J.J. Abrams, and we toss one back in the greatest drinking game ever invented. Cheers! Plus, we dodge a bullet the size of a football field as an asteroid nearly collides with Earth. Phew. … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Fiery meteor explodes over Russia's Ural Mountains; 1,100 injured as shock wave breaks windows.

- Watch asteroid 2012 DA14 fade out via streaming video.

- Iceland wants to ban Internet porn.

- Chubby Checker in a twist over an old app.

- One Direction's new toothbrush streams sound vibrations through your teeth.… Read more

The latest tally of meteorite-related injuries in Russia's Chelyabinsk region has reached about 1,000 -- most suffered from shards of glass that went flying when the meteor entered the atmosphere and sounded loud, window-shattering booms on its way to the ground earlier today.

Today has been an unusually active day for news involving big rocks from space. While the large Asteroid 2012 DA14 is passing closer to the surface of Earth than many of our satellites, an apparently unrelated meteorite streaked across the early morning Siberian sky, damaging buildings and thus injuring people in its path.

A Russian … Read more