Verizon

Unions representing about 39,000 Verizon workers say they will go on strike Wednesday morning unless a resolution can be reached in the ongoing contract negotiations.

Under a recent settlement approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Verizon can raise rates on residential and business landline phone service. Opposition was staunch and immediate.

President Barack Obama is defending his government's secret surveillance, saying Congress has repeatedly authorized the collection of America's phone records and U.S. internet use.

Moving to tamp down a public uproar spurred by the disclosure of two secret surveillance programs, the nation's top intelligence official is declassifying key details about one of the programs while insisting the efforts were legal, limited in scope and necessary to detect terrorist threats.

The Obama administration on Thursday defended the National Security Agency's need to collect telephone records of U.S. citizens, calling such information "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats."