Busy morning? Here are five stories that will help you catch up on what's going on in the world right now.
NSA surveillance powers lapse after no deal in U.S. Senate
The National Security Agency lost its authority at midnight to collect Americans’ phone records in bulk, after Republican Sen. Rand Paul stood in the way of extending the fiercely contested program, The Associated Press reports.
But that program and several other post-Sept. 11, 2001
counter-terror measures look likely to be revived within
days.
Although the lapse in the programs may be brief,
intelligence officials warned that it could jeopardize
Americans’ safety. But civil liberties groups applauded the
move, which forced the expiration of the once-secret
program made public by NSA contractor Edward
Snowden.
China mulls air defence zone over disputed sea
Chinese media reports a Chinese admiral as saying that Beijing could set up an air defence zone above disputed areas of the South China Sea if it felt it was facing a large enough threat, The New York Times reports.
The creation of an air defence zone would be viewed by the United States and Southeast Asian nations as a huge provocation. The existence of such a zone would further solidify China’s military presence in the waters.
Canadian efforts on marine protection areas woefully inadequate: report
A new report on marine conservation efforts says Canada is severely lacking in the quantity and quality of its protection for ocean ecosystems, The Canadian Press reports.
In a report released Monday, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society points to flaws in Canada’s marine protected areas — zones intended to conserve aquatic species and habitats under various provincial and federal legislation.
Arab air strikes pound Houthi strongholds across Yemen
Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on Monday against Yemen’s Houthi militia positions in the north, center and south of the country, Reuters reports.
An Arab alliance has been bombing the fighters for more than two months in a bid to restore Yemen’s exiled president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, currently in exile in Saudi Arabia, to power.
South Korea fights to contain MERS outbreak
South Korea struggled to contain an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome on Monday as health authorities announced three more cases, bringing the number of infections to 18 in just over 10 days, Reuters reports.
South Korea’s Health Ministry confirmed three more cases on Monday, but declined to identify the location of any of the cases.
All 18 cases have been linked to a 68-year-old man - who returned from Bahrain via Qatar on May 20 - who were either patients or visitors to the hospital where he was being treated.