Moon Over Ecuador: Fugitive NSA Leaker Edward Snowden was seen at the Moscow airport talking with ambassadors from Ecuador, a possible new home. But Snowden was not on a flight to Cuba today, as was expected. He’s getting help from …

 Diving Dow: The Dow Jones is slightly down again this morning after a 353-point drop yesterday. A kneejerk selloff followed the Fed announcement that it will start raising interest rates later this year. That made for a 556-point dive in …

 National: With increased confidence in economic recovery, the Federal Reserve will start dialing back economic stimulus by the end of the year, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday. Stimulus will end early next year when unemployment hits 7%. Short-term interest …

World: Afghan leader Hamid Karzai is refusing to take part in peace talks with the Taliban unless the process is “Afghanized”. Peace talks were announced only yesterday. Karzai is angry that the US took the lead in setting up peace …

World: The Syrian civil war is dominating talks at a meeting of the G8 leaders in Northern Ireland. Seven countries are pressuring Vladimir Putin to ease Russian support for the regime of Bashar al Assad. ➢Representatives of the Taliban in …

 National: President Obama delivered a vigorous defense of the government’s electronic snooping into Internet traffic and telephone calls. “Nobody’s listening to the content of anyone’s phone calls,” the President said. Mr. Obama and some Congressional leaders say the surveillance is …

 Uncle Snoop: The federal government for the last six years has secretly collected information from nine major Internet services in the hunt for national security threats, the government admitted. This comes in addition to the revelation that the government swept …

National: Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, 89, of New Jersey died last night of viral pneumonia. He was the oldest senator and its last WWII veteran. Republican Gov. Chris Christie must appoint a replacement until a special election. Lautenberg’s death leaves …

National: The US and China have agreed to hold regular talks about cyber security. American officials in recent months have accused Chinese hackers of breaking into industrial and defense computers and stealing enormous amounts of valuable information. The Chinese deny …

Monsanto World: Japan and South Korea suspended imports of some American wheat after the discovery in an Oregon field of a genetically engineered strain that was never approved for sale. The wheat is a variety designed to be resistant to …