A big step towards defusing the tension on the Korean Peninsula, South America weighs its options after one of its presidents was treated rather shabbily in Europe, and what could be one last glimmer for the NSA leaker to avoid US justice is already looking mighty dim.

North Korea agreed to hold talks with the South about reopening the joint Kaesong Industrial Park.  If they actually do come to an accord, it will be a major ratcheting down of this year’s tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which began with Pyongyang’s nuclear weapon test.  Talks take place Saturday on the North Korean side of the neutral border village of Panmunjom.

South American leaders gathered in Bolivia to voice their support for President Evo Morales, whose plane was diverted in Europe this week on ultimately suspicions that fugitive US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was aboard (he totally wasn’t).  Virtually every South American leader has condemned what they call a “virtual kidnapping” and the gross double standard.  Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa said if any country had denied airspace to a US or European president, it “probably would’ve been grounds for war.”  Morales is threatening to shut the US Embassy in La Paz.

And what of the target for that embarrassingly ill-fated search?  Edward Snowden’s time in Moscow appears to be running out.  Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says Snowden had to solve his problems himself and he needs to find another place to go.  Snowden is believed to be hunkered down in the transit area of the Moscow Airport.  Vladimir Putin won’t turn him over to the US, but is clearly sick of the drama. 

NSA Leaker Snowden might have one last lifeline:  A group of lawmakers in Iceland have proposed a bill to grant immediate citizenship to Snowden, although it doesn’t seem to be getting much support.  The few countries that have entertained the notion of granting asylum to Snowden pretty much get treated like Ecuador, in the first item on today’s briefs.  The US would like to arrest Snowden for stealing a bunch of secrets and running around the world blabbing.

A British firm is denying planting a bug in Ecuador’s London Embassy, where whistleblowing website WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has taken refuge for the past year. Ecuador’s Foreign Minister blames “The Surveillance Group”, which it describes as “one of the biggest private investigation and undercover surveillance companies in the UK.”  The company claims it has never “engaged in any activities of this nature”.

China’s government is investigating price fixing among infant formula companies, most of which are huge multinational food and pharmaceutical corporations.  Mead Johnson Nutrition, Danone of France, Abbot Labs of Chicago, and the Chinese Biostime company are all said to be targets.  Nestle’s Wyeth Nutrition, has already agreed to lower prices 11 – 20 percent.  Chinese families have been buying more and more foreign formula after quality control scares amongst their domestic brands, but high prices had many crying “foul” at the cash register.

The 2030 World Cup appears to be heading to Uruguay and Argentina.  Argentine Football Association chief Julio Grondona confirms that FIFA will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the World Cup in the South American neighbors, in honor of the 1930 Tournament in which Uruguay bested Argentina in Montevideo.  Presidents Cristina Fernandez (Argentina) and Jose Mujica (Uruguay) signed off on the deal.

The Statue of Liberty in New York City reopened on Thursday morning, the Fourth of July.  It’s the first time since Hurricane Sandy last fall that America’s Liberty Lady has been open to the public.