WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Increased use of English in videos by Islamic extremists and a rising flow of recruits from Europe to fight in Syria and on other battlegrounds is disturbing U.S. officials who fear some could return to Europe or come to the United States to plot attacks.

Only last week, a man who spoke English and Arabic and called himself Abu Ahmed al-Amriki (Arabic for ‘the American’) starred in a new video message posted on jihadist websites and produced by al Shabaab, the Islamic militant group based in Somalia.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans took to the floor of the Senate on Wednesday and kept talking for hours in an attempt to block the confirmation of President Barack Obama’s counterterrorism advisor, John Brennan, as director of the CIA.

Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, began shortly before noon, and talked for more than three hours in an old-fashioned filibuster – in which a senator speaks until he can continue no longer – to prevent a vote on Brennan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate Intelligence Committee voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to approve John Brennan as President Barack Obama’s new CIA director, after the committee resolved a dispute with the White House over access to classified legal opinions on the targeted killings of U.S. citizens overseas.

The vote clears a major hurdle for Brennan, currently Obama’s top counter-terrorism adviser. While he seems likely to ultimately win confirmation by the full Senate, his nomination still could face further delays from Republican lawmakers.

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) – The Senate Intelligence
Committee voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to approve John
Brennan as President Barack Obama’s new CIA director, after the
committee resolved a dispute with the White House over access to
classified legal opinions on the targeted killings of U.S.
citizens overseas.

The vote clears a major hurdle for Brennan, currently
Obama’s top counter-terrorism adviser. While he seems likely to
ultimately win confirmation by the full Senate, his nomination
still could face further delays from Republican lawmakers.

WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) – One day after “Zero Dark
Thirty” failed to win major awards at the Oscars, a
congressional aide said on Monday the Senate Intelligence
Committee has closed its inquiry into the filmmakers’ contacts
with the Central Intelligence Agency.

The intelligence committee gathered more information from
the CIA, film director Kathryn Bigelow, and screenwriter Mark
Boal and will not take further action, according to the aide,
who requested anonymity.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic leaders are hoping for a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee vote next week on the confirmation of John Brennan to become Central Intelligence Agency director, although the White House and committee are still feuding over the disclosure of politically sensitive documents.

Under pressure from Senate Republicans, the White House in recent days has reluctantly agreed to allow Congress access to documents and emails related to the attacks by militants last September 11 on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, congressional officials said.

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. and allied spy agencies have found no traces of telltale nuclear-related particles from North Korea’s February 12 nuclear bomb test, leaving unresolved basic questions about the device’s design, according to officials in the United States, Europe and South Korea.

This lack of scientific evidence suggests that key questions may remain unanswered about the type of fissile material used in the test, which was detected by seismic sensors. It also leaves unaddressed questions about how far the North has advanced in its bomb design.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. spy agencies are making preparations for potentially sweeping budget cuts that could drastically limit their ability to respond to crises, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday.

In an interview, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Reuters that cuts required under a budget sequestration plan which Congress approved in 2011 would be the “budgetary equivalent of emergency amputations.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate Intelligence Committee will delay a vote on the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director at least until the last week in February, committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said on Wednesday.

Democrats on the committee had hoped to hold the vote on Thursday, following a public hearing last week and a closed-door hearing on Tuesday at which Brennan testified before the panel.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. intelligence agencies are scrambling to collect technical data on the type, design and explosive power of the nuclear device North Korea tested on Tuesday, officials said.

A senior U.S. official said it could take a week or two for the United States and others to collect and study data about the test before coming up with a consensus on the device’s design and power.