Two years after the revolution in Tahrir Square, Egypt braces for what could be a tumultuous day of anti-government protests; The US was spying on its closest friends, according to secret documents revealed by the fugitive Edward Snowden; The Stones play Glasto.

Already massive crowds are growing in Egypt’s cities before Sunday’s planned rallies against President Mohammed Morsi.  Military troops and cops are planning to keep the peace, and good luck with that.  Several protesters have already died in the last 24 hours.  22 million Egyptians have signed petitions to dump the increasingly unpopular Islamist leader.  Two years after the last revolution, Egyptians complain of unrest, rising prices, and food and fuel shortages that have only gotten worse since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown.

US Vice President Joe Biden has held talks with Ecuador over fugitive Edward Snowden’s asylum request.  President Rafael Correa confirmed the talks but didn’t give details other than to say the US wants Ecuador to reject Snowden, who leaked secrets about America’s vast telecom surveillance programs. 

Meanwhile, the hits keep coming from Snowden’s treasure trove of top-secret and embarrassing details.  Der Spiegel reports it has seen one of Snowden’s classified documents showing how the US has bugged European Union offices in Washington, DC and at the United Nations.  An EU official said the claim could have a "severe impact" on EU-US ties, and the US is not commenting.

Far from the humiliation of American spies being caught eavesdropping on friends, President Obama is hailing anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela as an “inspiration to the world”, during his visit to South Africa.  94-year old Mandela is critically ill, and out of respect for the elder’s health, there will be no meeting of the two men who were the first black presidents of their respective nations.  But members of the Mandela family did make time to gather with Mr. Obama separately.  Obama also took questions from African youth in a live telecast.

The missing schooner “Nina” with six Americans and one Brit on board is presumed to have sunk in the Tasman Sea somewhere between Oz and New Zealand.  The last known communications from the 85-year old boat were on 3 and 4 June, when it left the North Island in rough seas.

A Pakistani girl who was detained in a maximum-security prison for allegedly burning pages of the Koran (like anyone would actually do that in Pakistan) has made it to safety in Canada along with her family.  Even though the government dropped blasphemy charges against the 14-year old, they were inundated with death threats following her release.  The family is Christian, and a local Islamic cleric is accused of framing the girl.

A roadside bomb killed eight soldiers in Thailand, in the insurgency-plagued, Muslim majority south.  Two more soldiers were hurt in the worst attack on the military of the year.  240 people have been killed in attacks this year, and the targets are mostly authorities or Muslims who cooperate with the government, such as teachers.

Russian officials will greet North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator in Moscow next week, and try to convince him to rejoin the Six Party Talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.  Despite a lot of tough talk from Pyongyang in a year that began with a nuclear weapon test, the North has in recent days signaled willingness to rejoin talks.

The Rolling Stones have played their first gig at the Glastonbury Music Festival in the southwest UK.  Opening with “Jumping Jack Flash”, the Stones tore into a list of their greatest hits from the past 50 years, including “It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)”, '”Paint it Black”, “Wild Horses”, and “Gimme Shelter” for 135,000 fans.  Former lead guitarist Mick Taylor joined the boys for “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”, “Midnight Rambler”, and the encore performance of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”.  And I can’t wait for the bootlegs to come out.