A privacy advocacy group has swayed Congress to hold a hearing next week into the Department of Homeland Security's practice of monitoring social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as media reports and organizations, including The Drudge Report.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) recently obtained close to 300 pages of documents, as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, detailing the federal agency's "intelligence gathering" practices on the web.

Among the documents were guidelines from DHS instructing outside contractors to monitor the web for media reports and comments that "reflect adversely" on the agency or the federal government.

As Reuters reported last month, in early 2010 contractors were asked to spend 24 hours monitoring news media coverage on popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks, as well as news sites including the Huffington Post and The Drudge Report. The contractors were required to provide the DHS with feedback on any potential "threats and hazards", as well as "any media reports that reflect adversely on the U.S. Government and the Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S.) ability to prevent, protect and respond, to recovery efforts or activities related to any crisis or events which impact National Planning Scenarios."

The documents obtained by EPIC indicate that following the exercise, a procurement official awarded an $11.3 million contract to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in order to carry out the monitoring on a "24/7/365 basis".

"The language in the documents makes it quite clear that they are looking for media reports that are critical of the agency and the U.S. government more broadly," said McCall. "This is entirely outside of the bounds of the agency's statutory duties."

As we have also previously reported, The DHS has openly announced that it is actively monitoring social media for signs of "social unrest", in a bid to pre-empt any sign of social dislocation within the United States.

In his fifth programmatic article detailing what he will do if he wins a new six-year presidential term in elections that are now less than two weeks off, Mr. Putin pledged, among other things, the biggest rearmament program in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Over the next decade, Putin writes, $772 billion to be spent on 400 new intercontinental ballistic missiles, 2,300 late-generation tanks, 600 modern combat aircraft - including at least 100 military-purpose space planes - eight nuclear ballistic missile submarines, 50 surface warships as well as a whole new inventory of artillery, air defense systems, and about 17,000 new military vehicles.

"The processes of global transformation currently underway may carry all sorts of risks with them, many of them unpredictable," Putin wrote Monday in the government-owned Rossiskaya Gazeta. "In a situation of global economic and other kinds of hardships, it may be very tempting for some to resolve their problems at others' expense, through pressure and coercion. It is no wonder that we already hear some voices saying that it is 'only natural' that resources of global significance should soon be declared as being above national sovereignty." We must exclude any such possibility, even a hypothetical one, with respect to Russia. This means that we should not tempt anybody with our weakness."

Moscow has firmly opposed any kind of international action on the current crisis in Syria, and is actually preparing to stage war games in southern Russia this summer to prepare for possible fallout from a feared US military strike against Iran.

The Temple of Understanding was founded in 1960 by an American lay woman from Connecticut, Juliet Hollister. Appalled at inter-religious conflict around the globe, Hollister was inspired to start an organisation to promote understanding among the major world faiths.

Initially Hollister called the project 'A Centre for World Religions'. But when she reached India, she discussed it with Harriet Bunker, wife of the American Ambassador, who suggested the name the Temple of Understanding. Her logic was that while 'centre for ...' sounded particularly Western, the word 'temple' is a common denominator for all religions.

Hollister's original vision was to construct a physical temple, with wings for each major religion, a large library and a central pool and flame for meditation and prayer. An 18 acre site was purchased near Washington DC, an architect drew plans, and a model was made. But the building never went ahead.

In the beginning, the focus was on organising big international conferences for religious leaders from different faiths. The first meeting was held in India in 1968. Subsequently they took place in Switzerland and at several locations in the USA. The final one took place in Oxford, England in 1988.

After this the Temple changed direction. Its leadership decided the message needed to be taken to the grassroots. Now its focus is on providing educational opportunities for ordinary people to experience other cultures and faiths. Kirby's contribution to this is in organising and mentoring interns from the US and other countries who spend time at the UN in New York. The Temple of Understanding is now based in an office building just a few blocks from the UN headquarters, and much of Kirby's time is spent there. In 2010 she was honoured with the Temple's Interfaith Visionary Lifetime Achievement Award.

In his congratulatory message for the award, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon wrote that he was mindful of the special role she had played 'in interfaith and intercultural dialogue, as well as confronting climate change. I am also thankful that you have taken the time to nurture young global citizens from all parts of the world. Your leadership has been exemplary. Your influence profound.'