The speech by President Barack Obama, which touched upon perpetual war, his authority to carry out drone strikes, the efficacy of drones, closing Guantanamo Bay prison, adhering to the rule of law when fighting terrorism and even national security leaks, was wide-ranging and bewildering. It was longer than the “State of the Union” address he gave this year.

The United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, the New York field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Ray Kelly, the New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, have stopped another individual from committing an act of terrorism. So it seems.

A high court in Pakistan has found that United States drone strikes carried out in Pakistan by the CIA are war crimes, which are “absolutely illegal” and a “blatant violation” of Pakistan’s state sovereignty.

The decision comes in a lawsuit filed by the Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR), a legal charity in Islamabad, which sued the Pakistan government for failing to protect its own citizens from US drone strikes.

An annual report to the United States Senate by the Justice Department shows the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court did not deny one single request made to the court by federal law enforcement. All applications to conduct electronic surveillance or “physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes” were granted.

There are steps President Barack Obama could take right now to expedite the closing of Guantanamo Bay prison camps, where prisoners currently engaged in a major hunger strike continue to be held in detention. Yet, Obama and his defenders insist Congress is solely responsible for why the prison continues to be open and why prisoners cleared for release have not been freed.

Security forces in Canada arrested two people on Monday afternoon and announced a terrorist plot backed by al Qaeda had been disrupted. The Federal Bureau Investigation had been working for the past year with Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which tracked suspects who were allegedly planning to attack a passenger train headed from the United States to Toronto.

It has been more than ten days since the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon took place. Since the bombing, there has been a spike in reported “suspicious packages.”

The dedication for George W. Bush’s presidential library included the presence of one current and four former United States presidents: George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and George W. Bush himself. A number of world leaders, such as Tony Blair, Silvio Berlusconi and Ehud Olmert, were in attendance as well.

When he ran against Republican Senator John McCain, Obama campaigned in 2008 against what he called “eight years of failed policies” from George W. Bush. But, today, Obama spoke reverently about becoming a part of “the world’s most exclusive club,” a group of “living former Presidents” and one that included Bush.

An 18-year-old Muslim from Aurora, Illinois, was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on April 19, for allegedly planning to travel to join an al Qaeda group fighting in Syria. The FBI claims he was about to board a plane to Istanbul, Turkey, and from there would join Jabhat al-Nusrah, which has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda,

Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, who is a US citizen, was, according to the Chicago Tribune, “charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, a felony offense that could bring 15 years in federal prison.”

During the press conference after Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arrested and taken to a hospital seriously injured, FBI Special Agent in Charge Rick Deslauriers told reporters the communities of Boston, Cambridge, Watertown and other cities could “breathe a sigh of relief knowing” there was “no longer a threat to our personal safety and to our communities.” Boston Police Department Commissioner Ed Davis also stated, “I think based upon our investigation at this point in time, the citizens of the city Boston and this area can be confident that the threat has been removed.”