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Newspaper reports say the latest documents leaked by National Security Agency (NSA) contractor turned whistle-blower Edward Snowden show that British and American intelligence agencies monitored the communications of an Israeli prime minister and European officials, among hundreds of other targets in some 60 countries.Reports from The Guardian, The New York Times and Der Spiegel broke the new revelations Friday, documenting the surveillance of more than 1,000 targets from 2008 to 2011.
Speaking at a press conference Friday, President Barack Obama answered questions about the NSA leaks and spying program, and implicitly addressed the newest revelations without going into specifics or suggesting if changes might be down the line.
"We've had less legal constraint in terms of what we're doing internationally (than domestically)," Obama said. "Just because we can do something doesn't mean we necessarily should."
The newest leaks show how the NSA and Britain's General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) spied on the communications of foreign leaders, including targeting an email address belonging to Israel's then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The vice president of the European Commission, Joaquin Almunia of Spain, who has authority over antitrust issues, also appears on a list of surveillance targets, according to the reports.
Almunia has clashed with the U.S. tech giant Google over how it operates its search engine, and when contacted by The New York Times, he said he was "strongly upset" by the revelations of eavesdropping.
The NSA did not confirm or deny the reports but insisted it does not spy to assist American corporations.
Read more @: New leak shows US, UK spying on heads of state, international orgs | Al Jazeera America
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