By: Wunderground.com, 01/03/2014

LONDON -- High winds, waves and tides lashed the western coasts of Britain and France on Friday, flooding seaside towns and low-lying areas. Wales, southwest England and Northern Ireland were the worst-hit U.K. regions by the latest in a recent series of extreme winter storms. Parts of northwestern France also suffered flooding. "This is the latest in a series of powerful storm systems that have pounded the UK and Ireland since Christmas Eve," said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce. "A break is expected on Saturday before yet another storm approaches Sunday with more soaking rainfall and gusty winds." A combination of heavy rain, winds gusting up to 90 mph and exceptionally high tides sent water flooding Friday into several British seaside towns. Some western rivers also burst their banks.

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By: Alex Kane, 01/02/2014

The New York Times editorial board has come out strongly for clemency or a plea deal for Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency private contractor-turned-whistleblower.  

In an editorial, the New York Times pointed out that Snowden’s actions have shed unprecedented light on the actions of the National Security Agency (NSA), a branch of government once jokingly referred to as “No Such Agency” because of its penchant for secrecy.  But now that Snowden blew the whistle on their efforts at mass surveillance, Americans--and the world--know much more about the NSA.  Snowden revealed that the NSA is collecting the metadata from millions of Americans’ phone calls and e-mails, among other revelations.

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