Yahoo, Watchin' You; Stalled Gender; Killing Wins the Day; Russia is Awesome!; 40 Million Prep for the Bomb; Aleppo is Not the End; Iraq Wants Turkey (Out); U.S. Blasts Israel; Tractoring Around; and Bees Dance Ahola

Privacy

Yahoo 'secretly monitored emails on behalf of the US government' theguardian

The company complied with a classified US government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency (NSA nsa.gov) or FBI fbi.gov, two former employees and a third person who knew about the program told Reuters.

Some surveillance experts said this represents the first known case of a US internet company agreeing to a spy agency’s demand by searching all arriving messages, as opposed to examining stored messages or scanning a small number of accounts in real time.

Also see Has Yahoo been reading your emails and what should you do about it? telegraph.co.uk

Society

Gender-neutral bathrooms, high-quality ethnic studies class and other changes coming to California schools latimes

North Carolina sparked a national furor by requiring transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates, citing risks to children in schools as a primary justification. California has been shifting the other way with little fanfare.

Abortion

After mass protests, Poland won't back total abortion ban sfgate

The vote in a chaotic and emotional session on Wednesday evening came after the abortion ban proposal sparked massive protests against it, with large numbers of women across the nation donning black on Monday, boycotting work and school and demonstrating in the streets.

Propaganda

Russian media could almost be covering a different war in Syria theguardian

When warplanes bombed a hospital in rebel-held east Aleppo last week, causing rubble to fall on patients in the intensive care unit, the deaths of yet more innocent people made headlines in many countries.

But the airstrike was not on the news agenda in Russia, where the media focused on the Syrian government’s battle for the city, backed by Moscow. “The Syrian air force conducted massive strikes on militants near Aleppo,” read a headline from state news agency RIA Novosti ria.ru.

Russia

Russia launches huge nuclear war training exercise that 'involves 40 million people' independent.co.uk

Amid growing international tensions, particulary over Russia's conduct in Syria, the Defence Ministry-run Zvezda TV network announced last week: "Schizophrenics from America are sharpening nuclear weapons for Moscow."

Also see Russia suspends plutonium deal with U.S. washingtonpost

Syria

Aleppo will eventually fall, but Syrian war will go on in.reuters

The opposition to Assad, [Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria in 2011-14] told Reuters, will "go from holding territory ... to being an insurgency, a guerrilla war, and that will continue a long time."

Turkey-Iraq

Iraq warns Turkey of 'regional war' in row over troop deployment middleeasteye.net

Turkey cites the invitation of Massoud Barzani, the president of the autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), to justify the presence of its troops in the country's Kurdish-run north. Turkey and the KRG are allies, but Baghdad is opposed to the presence of Turkish forces.

Also see Iraq summons Turkey ambassador over military presence reuters

Israel

Obama administration blasts Israel for new settlement project politico

The Obama administration is in yet another public spat with Israel -- and is all but calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government a bunch of liars.

Also see US hints at linkage between military assistance and settlement building jpost

Automation

Test driving a driverless tractor in Southampton bbc v

Creatures

For the First Time, Bees Declared Endangered in the U.S. news.nationalgeographic w!

"What we saw was really alarming—the bees were doing a lot worse than we thought," says Cynthia King, an entomologist with Hawaii's Division of Forestry and Wildlife hawaii.gov.