Briefly . . . NATION/WORLD

BOSTON

- Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev downloaded bomb-making instructions from an al Qaeda magazine, gathered online material on Islamic jihad and martyrdom, and later scrawled anti-American messages inside the boat where he lay wounded, a federal indictment charged yesterday.

The 30-count indictment contains the bombing charges, punishable by the death penalty, that were brought in April against the 19-year-old Tsarnaev, including use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death.

It also contains many new charges covering the slaying of an MIT police officer and the carjacking of a motorist during the getaway attempt that left Tsarnaev's older brother, Tamerlan, dead.

BAGHDAD

- Iraq is open to greater American military cooperation as U.S. commanders explore ways to boost security assistance to the country, a top Iraqi official said yesterday as a fresh wave of bombings killed 16.

The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, has recommended that American military commanders look for ways to help improve the military capabilities of Iraq and Lebanon, which both face the risk of spillover from the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Dempsey said Wednesday that the assistance would not involve sending U.S. combat troops, but could involve the U.S. sending in training teams and accelerating sales of weapons and equipment.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration gathered U.S. citizens' Internet data until 2011, continuing a spying program started under President George W. Bush that revealed whom Americans exchanged emails with and the Internet Protocol address of their computer, documents disclosed yesterday show.

The National Security Agency ended the program that collected email logs and timing, but not content, in 2011 because it decided it didn't effectively stop terrorist plots, according to the NSA's director, Gen. Keith Alexander, who also heads the U.S. Cyber Command. He said all data was purged in 2011.

The collection appears similar to the gathering of U.S. phone records, and seems to overlap with the Prism surveillance program of foreigners on U.S. Internet servers, both revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

WASHINGTON - President Obama announced yesterday the suspension of U.S. trade privileges for Bangladesh because of concerns over labor rights and worker safety that intensified after hundreds died there earlier this year in the global garment industry's worst accident.

In a proclamation, Obama said Bangladesh was not taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights to employees in the South Asian country. The measure stems from an April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka that killed 1,129 people.

U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman said the U.S. will, however, start new discussions with Bangladesh on improving workers' conditions so the duty-free benefits that cover some 5,000 products can be restored. He didn't say when that might be, noting that it would depend on Bangladesh's actions.

NEW YORK - In the chaotic days after Superstorm Sandy, nobody thought to look inside the tiny construction trailer rusting away in a junk-filled lot at the corner of Beach 40th Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard. If they had, they would have found the body of Keith Lancaster, who appeared to have been using the trailer as a home.

It took until April 5 before an acquaintance finally went to check on the 62-year-old's whereabouts and found his partially skeletonized remains. His body lay near a calendar that hadn't been turned since October and prescription pill bottles last refilled in the fall.

New York City's medical examiner announced this week that Lancaster had drowned, making him the 44th person ruled to have died in New York City because of the storm.

JOHANNESBURG - Nelson Mandela's health improved overnight and although his condition remains critical it is now stable, the South African government said yesterday. One of the former president's daughters said he is still opening his eyes and reacting to the touch of his family even though his situation is precarious.

The report that the health of the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader had taken a turn for the better came amid a growing sense in South Africa that Mandela was approaching the end of his life. Well-wishers have delivered flowers and messages of support to the Pretoria hospital where he is being treated, and prayer sessions were held around the country yesterday.

President Jacob Zuma's office said in a statement that he received the encouraging update from the medical team that is treating Mandela. Zuma had canceled an international trip yesterday, instead visiting Mandela for the second time in two days.

-Daily News wire services