NSA leaker Edward Snowden finally has a country that will take him, but does he want to go?  But first, the losing side in Egypt’s latest government change strikes back, the UN prepares for the spread of a new virus, and so far those new F1 tyres are holding at Nurburgring.  Vrooom.

The death toll is rising in Egypt as the Muslim Brotherhood’s “Day of Rejection” of the military ouster of Mohamed Morsi has turned violent.  State TV says at least 17 people have been killed, but independents estimates run much higher, saying at least 30 people are dead.  A bridge in Cairo turned into a major flashpoint as Morsi supporters attempted to cross to Tahrir Square but were literally beaten back several times by Egyptians who support the military.  The violence is taking place throughout the country, such as in Alexandria where a dozen people were killed.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour has dissolved the upper house of parliament in steps to reset the revolution of two years ago.  He also appointed a new head of intelligence.  The African Union has suspended Egypt, standard operating procedure done to any nation whose elected government is deposed by the military.  Morsi indeed was Egypt’s first freely-elected leader, but was accused of pursuing an anti-Democrat Islamist agenda, and of unconstitutional power grabs.

A fifth of Syria population is unable to produce or buy enough food for their needs because of the civil war, according to a new United Nations reports.  Those four million people will face even greater hardships in the next year because Syria food production capability is severely compromised.  Farmers themselves are among the most vulnerable, as are internal refugees unable to cross closed borders, the poor, sick, and elderly.

The UN World Health Organization is setting up an emergency committee to determine whether the novel coronavirus that emerged in the Middle East last year constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern.”  It would give the WHO power to issue temporary recommendations on travel restrictions or other ways to control the spread of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, which has infected 79 people and killed 42 of them.  The good news is that MERS doesn’t appear to be as fast or as widespread as the SARS virus was in 2002-03.

Pope Francis cleared Pope John Paul II for sainthood, approving a miracle attributed to his intercession and setting up a remarkable dual canonization along with another beloved pope, John XXIII.  In JP2’s case, Costa Rican grandmother Floribeth Mora claims that praying to the former Karol Wojtyla cured potentially fatal swelling in her brain.

Fears of a driver boycott of the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring have all by evaporated.  Drivers completed almost 1,400 laps without the tyre blowouts that turned Silverstone in the UK into chaos last weekend.  Pirelli brought in a thousand new rears with Kevlar inner belts instead of steel.

Snowden-Palooza

Leading off today’s Snowden-palooza, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday he will offer asylum to fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.  Not sure how the conservative libertarian Snowden will take the offer from South America’s most-Left-leaning leader.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega also says he’s willing to grant political asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden, “If circumstances allow it”.  The former Sandinista didn’t specify those circumstances.  Snowden is still believed to be holed-up in the Moscow Airport transit area, although officials are making it clear he’s overstayed his welcome.  The US wants to arrest him for leaking gobs of classified information, and few countries have entertained helping Snowden, lest they be treated like Bolivia was this week.

So why did several European nations appear to act in-concert to ground the Presidential Aircraft of Bolivia’s leader Evo Morales earlier this week?  Who told them that Edward Snowden was inside (he wasn’t)?  Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo says, “They told us that the information was clear, that he was inside.”  He didn’t say who “they” were.  France profusely apologized.  An Austrian newspaper said it was America’s outgoing Ambassador to Vienna William Eacho who spread the false information.  No comment from the USA.

By the way, one little detail that could have saved a lot of countries a LOT of embarrassment:  Evo’s plane used Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport.  Snowden is in the international transit area of Sheremetyevo International Airport, 50 kilometers clear across town.  Whoops.