Germany should protect former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, the former Guardian reporter who broke many of the recent stories about secret U.S. surveillance programs said Monday.

"Germany is precisely one of the countries that has benefited most from Snowden's revelations, from the start," Glenn Greenwald said on ARD public TV, according to a statement.

The National Security Agency stopped spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders after the White House learned of the snooping, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

President Barack Obama learned of the electronic surveillance in an internal review he ordered at mid-year, the Journal reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

The National Security Agency denied German press reports Sunday that President Barack Obama was personally informed of U.S. spies tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phones.

NSA chief General Keith Alexander "did not discuss with President Obama in 2010 an alleged foreign intelligence operation involving German Chancellor Merkel, nor has he ever discussed alleged operations involving Chancellor Merkel," spokeswoman Vanee' Vines said.

Republican lawmakers urged President Barack Obama on Sunday to repair U.S. ties with Saudi Arabia, after the critical Gulf ally protested against Washington's policy on Syria and Iran.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said the rift with Riyadh has been developing over the past two years, pointing to a 2011 U.S. decision to keep the Syrian conflict at bay and the "quick rush to the sweet talk" from Iran on its suspect nuclear program in recent months.

U.S. President Barack Obama was personally informed of mobile phone tapping against German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which may have begun as early as 2002, German media reported Sunday as a damaging espionage scandal widened.

Bild am Sonntag newspaper quoted U.S. intelligence sources as saying that National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander had briefed Obama on the operation against Merkel in 2010.

President Barack Obama Saturday acknowledged problems with the rollout of a key health website, adding he had people "working overtime" to fix the glitches that have marred a flagship domestic policy.

Obama has faced a tsunami of criticism over this month's sputtering debut of healthcare.gov, through which millions of Americans are expected to buy insurance.

German spy chiefs will travel to the United States next week to demand explanations following allegations that U.S. intelligence has been tapping Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.

"High-ranking government representatives will go rapidly to the United States in order to push forward discussions with the White House and the NSA on the allegations raised recently," said Georg Streiter, the chancellor's deputy spokesman, on Friday.

Lawyers for the five accused 9/11 plotters urged President Barack Obama Friday to declassify a detention and interrogation program used in secret CIA prisons where their clients were allegedly tortured.

Navy commander Walter Ruiz, who represents Saudi suspect Mustapha al-Hawsawi, asks in the joint letter with other defense attorneys for access to details, invoking international law.

A Moroccan court on Friday jailed a teenager for three months for threatening to kill U.S. President Barack Obama on Twitter, judicial sources said.

The 17-year-old identified as Soufiane I. pleaded guilty at a Casablanca court to "electronic crimes" and "calling for violence via electronic media," after posting the death threat last year.

An advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama sought Thursday to assure the American people that the country's surveillance program is legitimate, but acknowledged it created "significant" challenges with allies.

"Though we collect the same sort of intelligence as all nations, our intelligence community has more restrictions and oversight than in any other country in history," Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president on homeland security and counterterrorism, wrote in an op-ed piece in the American daily USA Today.