(Continued from page 22)

• ___

• MOSCOW (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the National Security Agency surveillance is necessary to fight terrorism, but added that the government needs to "limit the appetite" of the agency with a clear set of ground rules.
• Putin's comment at a major news conference was surprising support for President Barack Obama's administration, which has faced massive criticism over the sweeping electronic espionage program.
• Putin, a 16-year KGB veteran and the former chief of Russia's main espionage agency, said that while the NSA program "isn't a cause for joy, it's not a cause for repentance either" because it is needed to fight terrorism.
• He argued that it's necessary to monitor large numbers of people to expose terrorist contacts.
• "On political level, it's necessary to limit the appetite of special services with certain rules," he said.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. officials, frustrated that hundreds of military shipments heading out of Afghanistan have been stopped on the land route through Pakistan because of anti-American protests, face the possibility of flying out equipment at an additional cost of $1 billion.
• More than a week after Pakistani officials promised Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that they would take "immediate action" to resolve the problem, dozens of protesters are still gathering on the busy overland route, posing a security threat to convoys carrying U.S. military equipment out of the war zone before combat ends a year from now.
• U.S. officials said Wednesday they have seen no effort by the Pakistanis to stop the protests, which prompted the U.S. three weeks ago to halt NATO cargo shipments going through the Torkham border crossing and toward the port city of Karachi.
• A Pakistani official says the government is looking for a peaceful settlement but notes that citizens have the right to protest as long as they are not violent.

(Continued on page 24)