Germany rocked by surveillance claims

BERLIN – German lawmakers called on the government Friday to respond to reports that the country’s intelligence agency spied on the United States and other allies.

If true, the allegations reported by German media this week would undermine Berlin’s professed indignation at claims that the U.S. eavesdropped on targets in Germany.

Lawmakers from the opposition Greens and Left Party said they would be seeking the release of so-called selectors used by Germany’s BND spy agency for its intelligence gathering. These are lists of phone numbers, email addresses and other information that help intelligence agencies hunt for information among the vast stream of phone and data traffic circling the globe.

Czechs remember victims of Holocaust

PRAGUE – Hundreds of people beat drums in Prague to mark the 74th anniversary of the first Czech Jews sent to Nazi death camps during World War II.

The transports began Oct. 16, 1941, with the first of the five trains heading for Lodz in Poland, which was occupied by the Nazis, as was the former Czechoslovakia, where Prague was located. Of the 5,000 Jews in them, less than 300 survived. Further transports followed.

Nearly 120,000 Jews lived in the country before the war. More than 80,000 of them perished in the Holocaust.

Associated Press