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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

After today's hearing, I spoke with one of the members of the House intelligence committee, Republican Mac Thornberry of Texas. He has defended the NSA's surveillance programs as both legal and vital to security. I asked if anything about the amassing of millions of Americans' phone records troubles him.

Protests have erupted in Brazil over the past week. On Monday, there were tens of thousands of demonstrators on the streets of cities across the country. And again on Tuesday, demonstrations have continued. Unlike in Turkey, Brazil's leaders are adopting a conciliatory tone.

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

President Obama has arrived in Berlin after wrapping up the G-8 summit. The visit comes a half century after President Kennedy delivered his famous Ich bin ein Berliner speech after the Berlin Wall went up. For Obama, this is his first visit to Berlin since he was a presidential candidate in 2008, but this time, there's a lot less fanfare. As NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports, the president can expect tough questions from his hosts, especially about cyberspying.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

Women in America's armed services will have new options for what units they can join in coming years, the Pentagon says. The military said in January that it will end its combat exclusion that set a minimum size for units in which women could be deployed; the limit kept many women away from front-line combat units. The shift means women could join elite forces such as the Army Rangers and Navy SEALs.

On Monday we told you about allegations that America's potato growers had banded together in a price-fixing Potato Cartel.

In the past decade, Mexico's tech industry has flourished, growing three times faster than the global average. Most of that growth has been fueled by demand from the United States. But as Mexico's startups strive to make it in foreign markets, they say they need more engineers and ways to finance their growth.

Federal regulators are dropping plans to tightly control a procedure that is becoming increasingly popular for treating people stricken by life-threatening infections of the digestive system.

The Food and Drug Administration says the agency will exercise enforcement discretion and no longer require doctors to get the agency's approval before using "fecal microbiota for transplantation."

The United States and Europe stepped up cooperation on security issues after Sept. 11, 2001. But that doesn't mean they agree on everything. The latest point of friction: What are the rules when it comes to privacy rights?

The revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance programs not only touched off a ferocious debate in the U.S. but also struck a nerve in Europe.