Bowling Ball: Boy, 5, Beaten To Death By Teen

A 13-year-old boy has apparently confessed to killing a five-year-old by hitting him in the head with a bowling ball after becoming irritated.

Sida Osman's body was found on Wednesday by police in North Texas, 18 hours after he was last seen riding his bike.

The teenager made the statement after people found him crying, according to a summary of the case read out during a detention hearing, reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Police claim the older boy who cannot be named because of his age, and Sida went into the fenced back garden of a vacant house close to where they lived.

The teenager became irritated with Sida "and hit him multiple times in the head, causing his death".

Several Somali families, many who have spent time in Kenyan refugee camps after fleeing unrest in their native country, live in the complex.

Although Sida's parents are Somali refugees, he was born in the US and was due to start kindergarten later this year, according to the local newspaper.

The suspect faces a capital murder charge but is not eligible to stand trial as an adult as he is a juvenile.

Sida's mother, Dahabo Abdi, told Dallas-Fort Worth television station KTVT that she did not know the suspect.

As the family gathered outside the apartment on Thursday, children from the area gave Sida's mother handwritten notes expressing their affection for him.

Some read the notes aloud, including one that read, "you were just an innocent kid".

Muhammad Elmi, the child's uncle, told Dallas-Fort Worth television station KXAS that the family never expected such a tragic outcome.

"We expected to see him alive - you know, coming back to the house smiling, happy," he said.

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Western US Set To Swelter In Record Heatwave

A dangerous heatwave is set to scorch the western United States, with record temperatures possible in parts of the country.

Baking sun will see California's notoriously hot Death Valley reach as high as 54C (129F), not far off the world-record high of 57C (134F) recorded there exactly a century ago.

A series of safety precautions are being put in place, with temporary cooling stations being set up for the homeless and elderly as airlines monitor the soaring temperatures to ensure it remains safe to fly.

In Las Vegas and Phoenix - where tigers at the city's zoo are being fed frozen fish snacks - the strong high-pressure system settling over the region is expected to see the mercury hit up to 48C (118F).

Extreme temperatures are expected in California

Temperatures are expected to be only slightly lower in Utah - marketed as having "the greatest snow on Earth" - parts of Wyoming and Idaho.

And cities in Washington state, which is better known for cool, rainy weather, should get into the mid-30s early next week.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the mercury hit 41C (105F) on Thursday afternoon, the hottest it has been in the state's most populous city in 19 years.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mark O'Malley said: "This is the hottest time of the year but the temperatures that we'll be looking at for Friday through Sunday, they'll be toward the top.

A tourist protects herself from the sun on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

"We'll be at or above record levels in the Phoenix area and throughout a lot of the southwestern United States. It's going to be baking hot across much of the entire west."

Scientists say that the jet stream, the river of air that dictates weather patterns, has been more erratic in the past few years.

It is responsible for weather systems getting stuck, like the current heatwave. Scientists disagree on whether global warming is the cause of the jet stream's behaviour.

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Barack Obama Speaks With Mandela's Wife

Barack Obama has told Nelson Mandela's wife he hopes the ailing former leader "draws peace and comfort from the time he's spending with loved ones".

The US President spoke by telephone to Graca Machel while she stayed at the 94-year-old's hospital bedside.

Mr Obama also met two of the Nobel Peace laureate's daughters and eight of his grandchildren at a private meeting, which lasted 30 minutes, at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in Johannesburg.

In a statement after the visit, he said: "I also reaffirmed the profound impact that his legacy has had in building a free South Africa, and in inspiring people around the world - including me.

"That's a legacy that we must all honour in our own lives."

Mr Obama will not see the former South African president, who is critically ill, "out of deference" to him and the family's wishes.

Mr Mandela is critically ill in hospital

The president is in Pretoria as part of a three-nation Africa tour, which saw him hold bilateral talks with South Africa's president Jacob Zuma.

After the meeting, Mr Obama told reporters: "Our thoughts and those of Americans and people around the world are with Nelson Mandela and his family and all of South Africans.

"The struggle here against apartheid, for freedom, Madiba's moral courage, this country's historic transition to a free and democratic nation has been a personal inspiration to me, has been an inspiration to the world."

What has happened in South Africa shows the "power of principle" and people standing up for what's right continues to shine as a beacon, he said.

Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela's condition remains "critical but stable" but the government hopes he will be out of hospital soon.

He added that both leaders were "bound by history as the first black presidents of your respective countries".

Scenes outside the hospital where Mr Mandela is being treated

Later, Mr Obama likened Mr Mandela to the first US President George Washington because of the decision of both to step down at the peak of their power.

"What an incredible lesson that is, he said, calling Mr Mandela "one of the greatest people in history".

Earlier, Mr Obama told reporters in Senegal that he "did not need a photo op" with the anti-apartheid icon and would not be pushing for a visit with him.

The prospect of a public encounter between the first black presidents of South Africa and the US had been eagerly awaited for years, but has now been scuppered by Mr Mandela's failing health.

The president, who has previously called Mr Mandela a "personal hero", is due to make a tour on Sunday of Robben Island, the former prison where the anti-apartheid leader passed 18 of the 27 years he spent in jail.

Mr Obama faced protests by South Africans against US foreign policy, especially American drone strikes.

Mr Mandela with his wife Graca Machel

Police fired stun grenades to disperse several hundred protesters who had gathered outside the Soweto campus of the University of Johannesburg, where Mr Obama addressed a town hall meeting with students.

The visit comes after Mr Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said the former South African president's condition has shown "great improvement" over recent days.

Speaking outside the Pretoria hospital on Friday where Mr Mandela is being treated for a recurring lung infection, she said he remained "unwell".

She said: "It becomes very difficult to understand the seeming impatience and statements like: 'It is time for the family to let go'.

"And statements like: 'We are praying for the family not to pull the tubes'.

"Those are insensitive statements that none of you would want made about your parents and grandparents."

Mr Mandela, South Africa's first black president, was taken to hospital three weeks ago with recurrent lung problems.

He turns 95 next month.

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Egypt Protests: US Citizen Among Three Dead

Violent clashes across the Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Port Said have left three people dead and more than 70 others injured.

Andrew Pochter was a student in Ohio

Two people were killed in Alexandria. One of them was an American citizen, the US State Department confirmed. 

He has been identified as Andrew Pochter, 21, from Maryland, who was a student at Kenyon College in Ohio.

He had been working as an intern at an American non-profit organisation teach where he was teching English to children and improving his Arabic, his family said in a statement.

"He had studied in the region, loved the culture, and planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding," read the statement, that asked for privacy in a time of grieving.

Mr Pochter died from a stab wound to the chest after violence erupted between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi.

General Amin Ezzeddin, a senior Alexandria security official, said the American was using a mobile phone camera near an office of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood in the city's Sidi Gaber neighbourhood when it was being attacked by protesters.

He was rushed to a military hospital, where he died.

A second victim was shot dead during clashes in the city, while a third person died as protests also turned violent in Port Said.

The deaths come as leading clerics warned of "civil war" in Egypt after violence in the last week has left several dead and hundreds wounded.

They backed Mr Morsi's offer to talk to opposition groups ahead of mass protests scheduled for Sunday.

State news agency MENA said 70 people had been injured.

A protester hurls a rock towards riot police in Alexandria

TV footage showed protesters running from the scene as gunshots were heard.

The offices of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of Mr Morsi's party, were also set on fire during the confrontations.

A Brotherhood member was also killed overnight in an attack on a party office at Zagazig, in the heavily populated Nile Delta, where much of the recent violence has been concentrated.

Mr Morsi's movement said five supporters in all had died this week - three in Mansura and two in Zagazig.

A supporter of Mr Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo

The June 30 protest was called by Tamarod, a grassroots movement which says it has more than 22 million signatures for a petition demanding Mr Morsi's resignation and a snap election.

It alleges that Mr Morsi reneged on his promise to be a president for all Egyptians and has failed to deliver on the uprising's aspirations for freedom and social justice. Mr Morsi's supporters have questioned the authenticity of the signatures.

The president himself warned in a televised speech on Wednesday that the growing polarisation threatens to "paralyse" Egypt.

The army, which oversaw the transition from former president Hosni Mubarak's autocratic rule but has been on the sidelines since Mr Morsi's election, warned it would intervene if violence erupts.

Anti-government protesters start a fire outside an FJP office in Alexandria

It has brought in reinforcements to key cities, security officials said.

In an updated travel warning, the State Department cautioned US citizens "to defer non-essential travel to Egypt at this time due to the continuing possibility of political and social unrest".

President Barack Obama said during a visit to South Africa that the "most immediate concern" was to protect US embassies and consulates in Egypt.

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Bus Crash Video Studied By Turkey Police

A CCTV camera has filmed the moment a bus full of tourists veered across a busy road before flipping over and crashing into a pole.

People were seen climbing out of the vehicle as it lay on its side.

Bystanders ran to the scene to help victims following the crash, which happened as the bus turned a corner in the southern Turkish resort city of Alanya.

A 15-year-old Swede and a 68-year-old Dane were killed in the crash.

The "Danish Spies" travel agency said a group of 27 Scandinavians - 11 Swedes, 10 Norwegians and six Danes - were on their way back from a trip to nearby mountains on Friday when it tilted over.

The other tourists were said to have sustained minor injuries in the accident, which is being investigated by police.

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China: US Factory Boss 'Hostage' Speaks Out

An American company boss who is being detained by workers in a Chinese factory has been speaking about his ordeal from behind the metal bars of his office window.

Staff at the Beijing medical supply plant co-owned by Chip Starnes have been holding him for five days in a pay dispute.

He said about 80 workers have been blocking exits around the clock and depriving him of sleep by shining bright lights on his office.

Union officials say Mr Starnes has failed to pay wages for two months, and staff at the factory fear the business is about to close without any promise of severance packages.

Mr Starnes, 42, denied the workers' allegations of unpaid wages and put it down to a "miscommunication".

He said of his "intimidating" captivity: "The first couple of days were very, very tough - nothing physical, more mental type of stuff going on ...

Workers at the factory push journalists away

"Standing around you, anywhere you walk - 14, 16, 18 people following you, walk towards the gate, gate's completely blocked, all accesses.

"They have little shifts where they cover all the exits and entrance points."

He described the dispute as disappointing and said he was keen for it to be resolved internally.

About 100 workers are demanding packages similar to those received by 30 workers at the plastics division of the Florida-based firm, Speciality Medical Supplies, which is moving to India.

One worker, Gao Ping, said she wanted to quit because she had not been paid for two months.

Chu Lixiang, a local union official representing the workers, said they were demanding the portion of their salaries yet to be paid and a "reasonable" level of compensation before leaving their jobs.

Mr Starnes' lawyer visited him on Tuesday.

Similar disputes have happened at other businesses in China after a history of workers sometimes being unprotected when factories close.

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Syria: Rebel Leader Warns Of Weapons Delays

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent in Baba al Hawa, Syria

The leader of Syria's biggest rebel alliance has told Sky News that delays in promised weapons deliveries from abroad is causing dissent and resentment in his ranks that will drive fighters into the ranks of al Qaeda.

General Salim Idris, the chairman of the Supreme Military Council, said that reports that he had received lethal aid from the US but was not delivering it to the front line were "very difficult for me".

He is the channel through whom all lethal aid from the US is supposed to be delivered to the rebels following Washington's decision to send weapons to support the rebellion against Syrian president Bashar al Assad.

"I have not received a single thing. So this is very difficult for me," said the rebel chief who was visibly angered by a meeting with top commanders from across Syria.

They had converged on his headquarters in the border town of Baba al Hawa, which nestles relatively safely under the anti-aircraft umbrella of neighbouring Turkey.

General Idris: 'Frustrations are growing, we need help now'

He sat incredulous as one after another, and often all at once, the loose coalition of guerrilla fighters unloaded their frustrations.

Colonel Abdul al Aygedi, the commander of the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo resigned his seat on its Supreme Military Council officially to "focus on the defence of the city".

But he candidly told Sky News that the council "is a waste of time and has no role to play here [in Syria]".

Offers of American assistance through the council was "just talk, just promises, nothing will happen. The Americans never deliver".

This level of resigned cynicism was matched by anger from others at the meeting with General Idris as commanders tried to drive home the desperation of their situation.

A Syrian rebels' weapons factory

"I have had no resupply for 42 days - how can I expect to take ... we are running out of ammunition just to hold our own positions," said a commander from the east of the rebel held swathe of territory in northern Syria.

"Why can't you put it on TV when you have got a delivery of weapons? Then we will all know what there is and be able to know that it is being distributed fairly?" demanded the eastern commander.

Some rebel 'brigades' are led by defectors from Mr Assad's army, like General Idris, but many are run by untrained fighters who have won their spurs in battle but have little understanding of wider military affairs.

They do know, or believe, that the US has delivered substantial stockpiles of small arms to Syria - and that Qatar and Saudi Arabia have also stepped in, the latter with anti-tank and even possibly anti-aircraft missiles.

Free Syrian Army fighters launch a rocket

General Idris' problem is that the Saudi weapons have only been delivered to selected small groups with close links to the Saudi royal family - and the US weapons haven't been delivered at all.

Indeed, he doesn't even know what weapons to expect, he said.

"It seems that every person who has a Kalashnikov feels that he is entitled to come to me personally and ask for arms and ammunition. They don't seem to want to accept that they should go through their unit commanders, that we have structures.

"And they can't understand why I won't advertise what weapons we have on TV. They won't accept that there have to be secrets, that in a military organisation you have to keep secrets.

"They just don't understand," said the general after bellowing these truths into the ears of unimpressed ground commanders.

A Free Syrian Army fighter in the Ain Tarma neighbourhood of Damascus

But it is the threat posed by al Qaeda-related groups, who have funding from networks outside Syria, that he warned would get greater the longer the non-Jihadist rebels waited for arms and ammunition supplies.

"This is very serious. If we don't get help for the rebels who are secular and non-Jihadi religious, then al Qaeda will grow in strength," he said.

"They will attract people from your countries people who we have no idea about their ideology will come here and then maybe go home and cause problems. In Syria people are being driven into the hands of al Qaeda because they can't get help anywhere else.

"If we get weapons we can keep them out of the hands of al Qaeda because we have no relationship with them whatsoever and they don't have anything to do with us."

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Qatar: Influential Emir Hands Power To Son

One of the richest and most influential leaders in the world, the Emir of Qatar, has abdicated his crown in favour of his son.

Dozens congratulated the Emir (l) and his son after the abdication ceremony

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani handed power to his 33-year-old son, Sheikh Tamim, in a televised ceremony on Tuesday, in a first for the Arab world.

"I announce handing the rule over to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani," the 61-year-old Emir said, adding the decision opened the way for a "young leadership".

Sheikh Hamad handed to his son power over a state that owns one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, which itself owns major property holdings in London.

The move had been rumoured for months. Qatar has given no official explanation, but it is widely believed that Sheikh Hamad is suffering from health problems.

British-educated Sheikh Tamim is expected to begin the process of putting together a new government that may be in direct contrast to the old guard leaders in other Gulf Arab states.

Qatar, an ally of the West, is an absolute monarchy under the leadership of the al Thani family, which have been in power since 1825. It has no parliament and political parties are banned.

Qatar's abdicating Emir Sheikh Hamad and new Emir Sheikh Tamim

Sheikh Hamad is listed on Muslim500, an independent internet-based list of major Islamic figures, as the fifth most influential Muslim in the world.

In 1995, soon after taking over from his father, he provided a loan to set up and subsequently bankrolled the satellite news channel Al Jazeera, which has increasingly significant influence in the Middle East and Asia

Sheikh Hamad's personal wealth was listed at £2.5bn, but the amount of assets possessed by his country is considerably greater.

The new Emir will head up a country which, according to Global Finance, has the highest per capita income in the world at an average of £66,000 each. Other lists put Qatar only behind Luxembourg, Monaco and Liechtenstein.

Qatar has the world's third largest gas reserves

Its vast wealth comes from huge supplies of gas. It is the world's largest exporter of liquified natural gas and sits on the world's third largest gas resource, after Iran and Russia.

Qatar's £115bn sovereign wealth fund has made huge investments in industry, finance and property around the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East.

The Qatar Investment Authority owns Harrods, is the largest shareholder in Sainsbury's, owns 15% of the London Stock Exchange, and 12% of Barclays.

Despite its riches, Qatar is surrounded by much bigger oil states

The fund possesses considerable property holdings, including London's The Shard and major shares in the owners of Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf.

At the point it invested in Heathrow operator BAA, now known as Heathrow Airport Holdings, Qatar Holding said the UK was an "attractive investment destination".

It also owns a stake in Royal Dutch Shell, around 6% of Swiss bank Credit Suisse and in 2012, bought the football club Paris St-Germain for £110m, making an investment that led to David Beckham coming on board.

Qatar is the majority owner of London's The Shard skyscraper

Its investments in world football led to Qatar being award the 2022 Fifa World Cup, despite the fact that matches will be played in 40C plus heat if it takes place in the summer.

In 2010, Qatar brought a 110-year tradition to an end by brokering an agreement to sponsor Barcelona Football Club, with Qatar Airways replacing the Qatar Foundation on shirts in 2013.

Despite being an ally of the US, Qatar is a supporter of Hamas and in 2012, Sheikh Hamad became the first world leader to visit Gaza where the Palestinian nationalist party is in power.

Lionel Messi plays in a Qatar Foundation sponsored Barcelona FC shirt

Qatar was the second country to pledge support for Libya's transitional government and is thought to have spent millions supplying weapons to rebels.

It is also believed to be funding militant rebels in war torn Syria and hosts that country's transitional government.

In the last few days, it has also allowed the Afghanistan Taliban to set up an embassy in Doha, the capital, designed to allow negotiations to take place.

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North And South Korea Hit By Cyber Attacks

Official websites in South and North Korea have been hit by apparently coordinated attacks on the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.

The affected websites included those belonging to the South's presidential Blue House and a number of the North's state-run media groups.

Seoul raised its five-stage national cyber alert from level one to two in the morning and then to three after the scope of the attack became clear.

Park Jae-Moon, director of the Science Ministry's IT Strategy Bureau, said 11 media outlets, four government agencies and a political party had been shut down.

"It's like an endless fight between spears and shields," the director told reporters, adding that it was too early to say who was responsible.

Some sites were operating normally again in a matter of hours, while some remained offline well into the evening.

The hacking coincided with the 63rd anniversary of the start of the Korean War on June 25, 1950.

Investigations into past large-scale cyber assaults on South Korean media groups and financial institutions have concluded that they originated in North Korea.

The broadcaster YTN was shut down by the last attack

A number of posts left on the hacked South Korean sites claimed to be the work of the global "hacktivist" group Anonymous and included messages praising North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

Anonymous denied any involvement on its official Twitter account, but said it had succeeded in hacking a number of North Korean media websites on Tuesday.

These included the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and the ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.

Both sites were briefly inaccessible on Tuesday morning but appeared to be running normally a few hours later.

There was no immediate statement from the North, either confirming or denying the attack.

South Korea has sought to beef up its cyber defences since an attack on March 20 attack completely shut down the networks of e TV broadcasters KBS, MBC and YTN, and brought financial services to a halt.

An official investigation determined North Korea's military intelligence agency was responsible, with a joint team of civilian and government experts tracing the origin to six personal computers used in North Korea.                 

The attack coincided with heightened military tensions on the Korean peninsula, following Pyongyang's nuclear test in February.

North Korea was also blamed for cyber attacks in 2009 and 2011 that targeted South Korean financial entities and government agencies.

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Edward Snowden In Russia: No Extradition

The US whistleblower Edward Snowden is in a Moscow airport and Russia will not extradite him, President Vladimir Putin has said.

Mr Putin said the man behind the high-profile National Security Agency (NSA) leaks was in a transit area of Sheremetyevo airport and had not crossed into the Russian border.

He is free to go anywhere he likes, Mr Putin said.

Reports on Monday had said Snowden was staying in a 'pod'-style hotel room in an airport VIP area.

Speaking during a visit to Finland, Mr Putin said Russian security agencies "didn't work and aren't working" with Snowden - dismissing any such claims as "ravings and rubbish".

He said the fact that Russia has no extradition agreement with the US meant it would not be meeting the American request to send him there.

However, he said he is hoping the 30-year-old will leave soon and that the stopover at the airport will not affect its relationship with the US.

Snowden's route since leaving Hawaii, with possible destinations

The former CIA technician, who has worked for the NSA, has been charged with espionage by US authorities after he leaked details of American telephone and internet surveillance programmes.

He revealed the existence of a surveillance system called Prism that was set up by the NSA to track the use of the web directly from internet providers.

The Prism revelations sparked outcry in the UK when The Guardian reported that the GCHQ eavesdropping agency had been accessing information about British citizens.

Evidence given to the paper by Snowden also suggested that GCHQ has been scanning the network of fibre-optic cables that carry vast numbers of emails and other internet traffic.

Earlier, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Snowden had not crossed into Russian territory - and he said any suggestion that Russia was involved in "some sort of conspiracy" was "absolutely ungrounded and unacceptable".

His comments came after China's top state newspaper - the voice of the communist party - praised the whistleblower for "tearing off Washington's sanctimonious mask".

The People's Daily, which reflects the official thinking of the Chinese government, criticised America for attacking Hong Kong's decision to allow him to flee.

Snowden is said to have been staying in a 'pod' room at Moscow airport

US Secretary of State John Kerry has called for Russia to be "calm" and hand over Snowden. He said Washington was not looking for "confrontation."

Snowden left Hong Kong on Sunday, hours after the US had provided the territory with a request for extradition.

He was widely expected to fly from Moscow to Cuba and then on to Ecuador, possibly via Venezuela. Ecuador's foreign minister said on Tuesday he did not know where Snowden was.

On Monday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Hong Kong had made a "deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the US-China relationship".

Mr Kerry has dubbed Snowden a traitor, and warned both Russia and China that their relations with the US might be damaged by their refusal to extradite him.

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Whistleblower Snowden 'Healthy And Safe'

Snowden Affair: The Who And The Why

Updated: 11:45am UK, Monday 24 June 2013

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

A look at the different players in the Edward Snowden controversy as the whistleblower tries to evade US justice.

China

There's no hard evidence that China has played a role in this affair but it's difficult to argue against the idea.

Beijing had a man and had a problem. The problem was that hanging on to Mr Snowden could damage its relationship with Washington DC which is its biggest foreign policy challenge.

If it had done, a long-running dispute over the issue would mean that relationship would be complicated.

Now it doesn't have a man, it doesn't have problem, and has been able to poke the US in the eye without leaving much of a fingerprint.

It can also claim the somewhat dubious moral high ground, arguing that Mr Snowden's revelations proved that the Americans, who have long complained about Chinese hacking, was in fact spying on China.

China may have granted Hong Kong more autonomy than most of its regions, but foreign policy remains in Beijing's hands.

And it is almost certain China and Hong Kong liaised to smooth the path of Mr Snowden out of their jurisdiction.

Hong Kong

The only quandary for the Hong Kong authorities was how to keep up appearances.

This was a legal matter which quickly turned into a geo political struggle.

It had to preserve its dignity and the rule of law, but also make sure that what Beijing wanted, Beijing got.

Hence the repeated response to the Americans that the case was 'under review' and that more paperwork was needed.

In fact, very little paperwork was required, not even a valid passport. Mr Snowden travelled out of Hong Kong with a revoked passport.

Russia

The Kremlin says it is 'unaware' of any contact with the Russian authorities and Mr Snowden.

However, the idea that Aeroflot would allow a former American spy, whose name was making global headlines, onto one of their flights bound for Moscow, on a revoked passport, without a Russian visa, does not tally with the way the world works.

That Ecuador may have given him a 'travel document' is just part of the pretence.

Moscow is also busy poking Washington DC in the eye, whilst maintaining a modicum of 'not me guv'.

Mr Snowden did not leave Moscow's airport, thus allowing the pretence of him not passing through a border.

Cuba

If Mr Snowden was passing through Cuba, it does not present Havana with a dilemma.

A transit trip would not sour Washington-Havana relations any more than they already are.

Were he to stay there, that would be a different matter. He was checked in for a flight from Moscow to Havana, had a seat, but the plane left, apparently without him.

Venezuela

Hugo Chavez may be gone but the spirit of his 'Bolivarian Revolution' lives on.

Just last month the successor to Chavez, President Nicolas Maduro, referred to Barack Obama as 'the grand chief of devils'. 

Venezuela is part of the Bolivarian Alliance which includes Cuba, and Bolivia, the country named after the 18th century revolutionary Simon Bolivar.

Members tend to be 'anti-imperialist' and take a delight in tweaking the nose of the US and its perceived global arrogance. 

Venezuela can handle the heat of allowing Snowden to transit through its territory; after all, despite the rhetoric between Caracas and Washington DC, the US buys 900,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil every day.

Ecuador

Ecuador is also in the Bolivarian Alliance and President Rafael Correa has impeccable 'anti-imperialist' credentials having granted Wikileaks founder Julian Assange asylum in his country and refuge in the London embassy until Mr Assange can get there.

So far Ecuador is assessing Mr Snowden's asylum request.

As he is an American citizen this case if even more sensitive than the Assange affair, and Ecuador, a poverty stricken country has fewer cards to play than Venezuela.

The signs are it will stay within the spirit of the Bolivarian bloc, and keep quiet about its own trampling over the basic tenets of free speech.

The US

Fail.

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Bunga Bunga Trial: Silvio Berlusconi Guilty

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been found guilty of paying for sex with an underage prostitute.

The 76-year-old was sentenced to seven years in prison and banned from holding public office by a panel of three judges in Milan.

He previously denied having sex with Karima El Mahroug, also known as Ruby the Heart Stealer, after what prosecutors claimed were erotic "bunga bunga" parties at his Milan mansion in 2010.

His defence claimed he believed the dancer, who was 17 at the time, was the niece of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and wanted to avoid a diplomatic incident.

Berlusconi has been involved in Italian politics for nearly two decades

Berlusconi was also found guilty of abuse of office by arranging to have Miss El Mahroug, now 19, released from police custody when she was arrested on suspicion of theft.

Under the Italian justice system, Berlusconi has two levels of appeal.

His sentence will not take effect until the appeals process has been exhausted, which could take several years.

More follows...

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