America’s top intelligence chiefs have defended the activities of the national security agency in the wake of allegations that it’s been spying on European allies and unlawfully monitoring American citizens. Johnny Diamond reports.

If anyone was expecting apologies or embarrassment from the leaders of America’s intelligence community, they were in for disappointment. Mistakes had been made said James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, but they were human or technical. There is, he said, no other country on this planet that has the magnitude of oversight that the US does. He said that what he described as the torrent of disclosures about American surveillance had been extremely damaging and he anticipated even more. And asked whether America’s allies spied on the US, he replied with just one word, ‘Absolutely’.

The head of the NSA said reports about mass phone surveillance in France, Italy and Spain were false.

President Putin’s most high-profile political opponent in Russia is facing new criminal charges Alexei Navalny who’s stood for election as mayor of Moscow has already been given a five-year suspended sentence for embezzlement. Now he’s been charged with money laundry along with his brother. Alexei Navalny has always insisted accusations against him are politically motivated.

World News from the BBC

The Supreme Court in Argentina has ruled that a controversial media bill passed four years ago is constitutional clearing the way for the breakup of large media groups. Argentina’s biggest broadcasting and newspaper company Clarin had appealed against the law starting a bitter dispute with the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Following the ruling, Clarin’s share prices fell sharply.