American spy agencies have said their work is likely to be damaged by the latest media revelations based on documents from the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. With more details, here’s Katy Watson in Washington.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said it shouldn’t come as a surprise that intelligence agencies look for ways to counteract activities by their enemies; otherwise, they wouldn’t be doing their job. The comments come a day after UK newspaper, the Guardian, and the New York Times reported that American and British intelligence agencies had developed ways of cracking the technology for secure sites such as internet banking. US intelligence said the leaks, while adding to the public debate, could also damage intelligence efforts.
The authorities in Zimbabwe have arrested five people suspected of killing more than 40 elephants with cyanide poison. The animals were killed in Hwange National Park and had their tusks removed. A spokeswoman for the Zimbabwean parks authority said it was the largest number of elephants poached in a single incident.
Researchers in the United States are starting human clinical trials of a vaccine implant which targets skin cancer. The implant, the size of a fingernail, is placed under the skin and re-programmes a patient’s immune system to destroy cancerous melanoma cells. The technique was trialled successfully in mice in 2009 after the mice that received two doses of the vaccine showed complete regression of their tumours.