U.S. SPYING ON U.N.? The U.S. government has a plan to snoop on members of the United National Security Council, the Observer claims. The British paper says that it has obtained a leaked e-mail message directing National Security Agency officials to step up surveillance efforts against Security Council member states Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria and Guinea. The idea, according to the message, is to give the Bush Administration maximum leverage in the ongoing U.N. debate about invading Iraq.

The authenticity of the message is being called into question, however. It's highly unlikely that a U.S. official would use the British spelling of "favourable," the Drudge Report points out. (The Observer contends that it Anglicized the spellings to make the message more palatable to a British audience.) The Washington Times chimes in with its critique here.