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• The last such analysis, in January, had documented nearly 60,000 killings through the end of November. The latest figures add more killings to that time period, plus some 27,000 more between December and April.
• "The constant flow of killings continues at shockingly high levels, with more than 5,000 killings documented every month since last July," said Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights. "This is most likely a minimum casualty figure. The true number of those killed is potentially much higher."
• Among the victims were at least 6,561 children, including 1,729 children younger than 10.
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NSA director says surveillance programs disrupted dozens of terrorist attacks
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Once-secret surveillance programs were crucial in enabling the U.S. government to thwart dozens of terrorist attacks, says the director of the National Security Agency in a forceful defense of spy operations that have stirred fears of government snooping and violations of privacy rights.
• Army Gen. Keith Alexander, in his first congressional testimony since disclosure of the secretive programs, offered few details on Wednesday about the disrupted terror plots but asserted that the two government programs -- they have collected millions of telephone records and kept tabs on Internet activity -- were imperative in the terror fight.
• The director of national intelligence has declassified some details on two thwarted attacks -- Najibullah Zazi's foiled plot to bomb the New York subways and the case of David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American who used his U.S. passport to travel frequently to India, where he allegedly scouted out venues for terror attacks on behalf of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist organization.
• Alexander said he is pressing for the intelligence community to provide details on the other plots.
• "I do think it's important that we get this right and I want the American people to know that we're trying to be transparent here, protect civil liberties and privacy but also the security of this country," Alexander told a Senate panel.
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AP Exclusive: Building inspections in wake of Bangladesh disaster show other factories at risk
• DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- Bangladeshi garment factories are routinely built (Continued on page 28)
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