A U.S. appeals court in New York ruled Thursdaythat the National Security Agency's program tocollect phone records of Americans is illegal.

　　The program collected "metadata" from millions ofphone calls from American citizens. The metadatarecorded the times when the phone calls were madeand the phone numbers called.

　　The surveillance program was not known to thepublic until two years ago. NSA contractor EdwardSnowden leaked the information about the programto reporters in June of 2013.

　　The NSA claimed that the spying program was legal under the Patriot Act, which Congresspassed following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

　　The appeals court ruled that the spying program was not authorized by Congress. The three-judge panel of the court wrote,"Congress cannot reasonably be said to have ratified a progamof which many members of Congress - and all members of the public - were not aware."

　　Close elections in Great Britain

　　British voters are voting in a close election that could oust Prime Minister David Cameron fromoffice.

　　Public opinion studies show that 33 percent of British voters support Mr. Cameron'sConservative Party. The Labor party, led by Ed Milliband, is only one point behind.

　　Observers are calling the election Britain's most unpredictable and consequential in ageneration.

　　Mr. Cameron has promised to hold a referendum if he is re-elected. The referendum will ask ifBritain should remain in the 28-nation European Union.

　　Iran releases seized Maersk vessel

　　Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that its government released the Maersk Tigris cargoship today.

　　On April 28, Iranian forces seized the ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The seizure followed a legalcomplaint from a private Iranian company.

　　The incident took place while Iran and the U.S. are negotiating Iran's nuclear program andinternational economic restrictions. At the same time, the U.S. is supporting Saudi Arabia in itsair campaign against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.

　　After the Maersk seizure, the U.S. announced that its Navy will escort all U.S.-registeredvessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

　　The strait is the path for one-fifth of the world's oil transport.