MOSCOW // Venezuela emerged as Edward Snowden's best hope of finding refuge outside the United States yesterday after the whistle-blower's asylum applications to 20 other countries were mostly met with refusals.
The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, in Moscow to meet the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said his country had not received an application for asylum from Mr Snowden and dodged the question of whether he would take the former US National Security Agency systems analyst with him when he left.
But he defended Mr Snowden's leaking of sensitive documents on the US intelligence-gathering operations.
"He did not kill anyone and did not plant a bomb," Mr Maduro said. "What he did was tell a great truth in an effort to prevent wars. He deserves protection under international and humanitarian law."
Mr Snowden is trapped in legal limbo after the US revoked his passport and he is believed to be in a Moscow airport transit zone after flying there from Hong Kong on June 23.
Another option for Mr Snowden might be Bolivia, whose president also was meeting Mr Putin during a summit of major gas exporters in the Kremlin. The president, Evo Morales, said that Bolivia would be willing to consider granting him asylum.
Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Mr Snowden had withdrawn his bid for asylum in Russia after being told he could stay as long as he stopped leaking US secrets.
At the same time, Mr Putin has said he had no plans to turn over Mr Snowden to the US.
WikiLeaks, the information-sharing website that has been advising Mr Snowden, said he had applied for asylum in Venezuela, Bolivia and 18 other countries.
Many European countries on the list - including Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland - said he would have to make his request on their soil.
WikiLeaks said asylum requests had also been made to Poland and India - both of which yesterday said they would refuse - Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Iceland, Italy, Ireland and Nicaragua.
WikiLeaks also posted a statement from Mr Snowden in which he slammed the US president, Barack Obama, for "using citizenship as a weapon".
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
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- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
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Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
What is 'Soft Power'?
Soft power was first mentioned in 1990 by former US Defence Secretary Joseph Nye.
He believed that there were alternative ways of cultivating support from other countries, instead of achieving goals using military strength.
Soft power is, at its root, the ability to convince other states to do what you want without force.
This is traditionally achieved by proving that you share morals and values.
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.