Summary: Washington puts mass surveillance under the microscope - as lawmakers there struggle to deal with the fallout from the Edward Snowden files. The US Patriot Act is the legislation that enabled the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct mass surveillance on American citizens - as revealed by one if its former contactors, Edward Snowden nearly two years ago - and on June 1, 2015 one of the most controversial sections of that act will expire. It will be up to the US Congress to decide on whether or not to renew the law. If undecided, there is a piece of legislation lying in wait called the USA Freedom Act which will reform the NSA and effectively end aspects of the surveillance programme as we know it. But is this really Congress' decision to make? And Japan: where the media are proving to be no match for a prime minister who wants to push his story, Shinzo Abe.
