Snowden receives asylum offers

6 July 2013 Last updated at 02:02 ET

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The presidents of Venezuela and Nicaragua explain their offers

The presidents of both Nicaragua and Venezuela have indicated their countries could offer political asylum to US fugitive Edward Snowden.

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro said it would give asylum to the intelligence leaker, who is believed to be holed up in a transit area of Moscow airport.

Meanwhile Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said his country would do so "if circumstances permit".

Wikileaks said Mr Snowden had applied to six additional countries on Friday.

The whistleblowing website said it would not name the countries "due to attempted US interference".

Mr Snowden has already asked 21 countries for asylum, most of whom have turned down his request.

But even if a country accepted the American's application, getting there could prove difficult, the BBC's Steven Rosenberg, in Moscow, reports.

European airspace could be closed to any aircraft suspected of carrying the fugitive, our correspondent says.

Earlier this week, several European countries reportedly refused to allow the Bolivian president's jet to cross their airspace on its way back from Moscow - apparently because of suspicions that Edward Snowden was on board.

Speculation

President Maduro made his announcement in a speech on Venezuela's Independence Day.

"As head of state and government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young US citizen Edward Snowden so he can come to the fatherland of Bolivar and Chavez to live away from the imperial North American persecution," President Maduro said.

The US wants to prosecute Mr Snowden over the leaking of thousands of classified intelligence documents.

Earlier Mr Ortega said Nicaragua had received an application at its embassy in Moscow.

"We are open, respectful of the right to asylum, and it is clear that if circumstances permit it, we would receive Snowden with pleasure and give him asylum here in Nicaragua," Agence France-Presse quoted the Nicaraguan president as saying.

Daniel Ortega was a fierce opponent of the US during his first period as Nicaragua's president in the 1980s, after the left-wing Sandinista movement came to power.

Bolivia, which had also suggested it might offer Mr Snowden asylum, saw its presidential plane barred from European airspace on Tuesday.

There was speculation the 30-year-old was on the plane carrying President Evo Morales back from Russia to La Paz earlier this week.

"Edward Snowden has applied to another six countries for asylum," tweeted Wikileaks, which has been helping the former CIA contractor.

"They will not be named at this time due to attempted US interference."

The US has been blamed for being behind the decision by France, Portugal, Italy and Spain to close its airspace to Bolivia's president, whose plane was grounded in Austria for 13 hours as a result.

Earlier on Friday, Spain's foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo admitted he and the other European countries had been told that Mr Snowden was on board - but refused to say who gave out the information.

He denied Spain had closed its airspace to the presidential plane, explaining that the delay in Austria meant the flight permit had expired and needed to be renewed.

His comment is the first official recognition by the European states that the incident with Mr Morales' plane was connected with the Snowden affair.

It has been widely condemned by President Morales and several other South American nations, who were critical of the US.

Mr Snowden arrived in the Moscow airport from Hong Kong last month.

He revealed himself to be responsible for the leaking of classified US intelligence documents that revealed a vast surveillance programme of phone and web data.

The documents have also led to allegations that both the UK and French intelligence agencies run similarly vast data collection operations, and the US has been eavesdropping on official EU communications.

Profile: Edward Snowden

Where will Snowden end up?

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Top 'mafia boss' caught in Colombia

6 July 2013 Last updated at 03:29 ET

Colombian police say they have caught the alleged boss of Italy's Calabrian mafia, who they described as Europe's most wanted drugs trafficker.

Roberto Pannunzi was detained in a shopping centre in the capital, Bogota, authorities said.

He had been on the run since 2010, when he fled from a clinic in Rome, where he was receiving treatment as a prisoner.

Italian prosecutors accuse Pannunzi of establishing the transatlantic cocaine trade between Italy and Colombia.

As alleged head of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, he is suspected of helping to import up to two tonnes of cocaine into Europe per month.

The Italian was detained on Friday with the help of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Colombian defence ministry said in a statement.

"Pannunzi, known as the Pablo Escobar of Italy, was the most wanted man in the country," the defence ministry said in a twitter post.

"When he was captured, Pannunzi identified himself with a fake Venezuelan identification card bearing the name Silvano Martino," the ministry said.

Roberto Pannunzi was first detained in Colombia in 1994 and extradited to Italy but was released when his detention order expired.

He was re-arrested in 2004 and later convicted. But he staged an dramatic escape from a private hospital in Rome in 2010, where he was being treated for heart disease.

Italian authorities have described the 'Ndrangheta as the country's most dangerous and wealthiest crime syndicate, overtaking the Sicilian Mafia and becoming one of the world's biggest criminal organisations.

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Trans-US solar plane starts last leg

6 July 2013 Last updated at 05:18 ET

The Solar Impulse plane has taken off for the final leg of its bid to cross the US on solar power alone.

The craft set off at 04:56 local time (08:56 GMT) on Saturday from Washington DC on a course for New York's John F Kennedy airport.

Pilot Andre Borschberg anticipates a journey time of about 21 hours.

The Across America transcontinental bid began in San Francisco, California, and included stopovers in Phoenix, Arizona, Dallas, Texas, and St Louis, Missouri.

The Solar Impulse HB-SIA has the same wingspan as an Airbus A340 but at a weight of just 1.6 tonnes. By comparison, a fully laden A340 weighs about 370 tonnes.

The plane's wing and stabiliser are covered with nearly 12,000 solar cells, which drive its four propellers and charge the plane's 400kg of lithium-ion batteries for night-time flying.

The project has been billed as the first time that a solar-powered plane capable of flying day and night has attempted a journey across the US.

Mr Borschberg and his fellow pilot of the single-seat craft have been alternating flying duties, with each leg of the trip designed to be under 24 hours in length.

Continue reading the main story

• Wingspan - 63m (208ft)
• Weight - 1,600kg (3,500lb)
• Covered with 11,628 solar cells
• Carries 400kg (900lb) of lithium-ion batteries
• Maximum cruising altitude of 8,500m (28,000ft)

The prior leg was complicated by high winds and air traffic, so it was re-routed via Cincinnati at the last minute in order to stay under this limit.

"It was difficult to find all these 'weather windows' in the States - especially this last one," Mr Borscherg told BBC News prior to the flight.

"We had so much to organise to make it feasible - to integrate an experimental airplane like Solar Impulse in the busiest air traffic in the world, flying from Washington to Kennedy (airport) was extremely hard."

The Across America project is the last outing for the HB-SIA prototype craft.

Mr Piccard's and Mr Borschberg's intention is to finish a larger, two-seat plane, the HB-SIB, and fly it around the world in the spring of 2015.

That, Mr Borschberg said, would be "many times more complex than what we did here in the US".

"Working in one country with one language makes it of course easier than working internationally on different continents with all the logistics," he said.

"The unpredictable side of the project requires a lot of preparation."

The HB-SIA craft carried out the first inter-continental flight in 2012 and holds the world record for the longest manned solar-powered flight at 26 hours.

During the Across America bid, it set the record for the greatest distance of a manned solar-powered flight.

The project coincides with Piccard's and Borschberg's Clean Generation Initiative, an effort to encourage policy-makers and businesses to develop and adopt sustainable energy technologies.

At a welcoming event when the craft reached Washington DC, US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said: "If you look at the Department of Energy's research programmes and technology visions, it involves many of the same kind of technology advances that these gentlemen have put together in an integrated system to accomplish something that would not have been thought of a few years ago.

"I believe in 10 years we're going to see the fruits of all these technologies changing the world."

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Egypt clashes after pro-Morsi deaths

6 July 2013 Last updated at 06:52 ET

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The BBC's Ben Brown reports on clashes between pro and anti-Morsi demonstrators on the fringes of Tahrir Square

More than 30 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in Friday's violence following the ousting of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi, it has emerged.

At least 12 died in Alexandria, and eight in two separate clashes in Cairo, the Health Ministry said.

The army removed Mr Morsi from power on Wednesday after millions of people protested over his leadership.

Mr Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, is in detention.

Some senior figures of his Muslim Brotherhood movement have also been held.

Early on Saturday, state media reported the Brotherhood's deputy leader Khairat el-Shater had been arrested at his Cairo home on suspicion of incitement to violence.

The Tamarod [Rebel] movement - which organised recent anti-Morsi protests - accused the ousted president of pursuing an Islamist agenda against the wishes of most Egyptians, and of failing to tackle economic problems.

The US State Department issued a condemnation of Friday's violence and called for all leaders to put a stop to any further aggression.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also expressed alarm at the violence, saying that it was for the people of Egypt to determine the way forward - and all people, including women, needed to be part of that process.

He referred to "horrifying reports of sexual violence".

In a separate development, former president Hosni Mubarak appeared in court on charges of corruption and involvement in the deaths of protesters during the 2011 revolution that ousted him and ultimately brought Mr Morsi to power.

The trial was adjourned until 17 August.

Anger and passion

Most of those killed during fighting in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, died from gunshot wounds, said Amr Nasr, head of emergency services in the city.

He told the official Mena news agency that 200 people were injured during clashes in Egypt's second-largest city.

Earlier, after midday prayers, Islamist supporters of Mr Morsi staged a series of marches across Cairo - including outside Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque where tens of thousands massed.

Continue reading the main story

The scenario many had feared materialised on Friday evening. There were running battles in Cairo between those who oppose Mohammed Morsi and those who support him.

Through the day the Muslim Brotherhood crowds that gathered across the city had been largely peaceful. We followed protesters as they marched to the Republican Guard Officers' Club.

Earlier in the day pro-Morsi demonstrators had been killed there, but by late afternoon things had settled into a stand-off between soldiers and thousands of protesters.

But a separate crowd of Morsi supporters decided to march on the state TV building. We were with them as they stood only a few hundred metres away from the anti-Morsi crowds in Tahrir Square.

It was almost inevitable that clashes between the two groups would ensue. This was the first big security test for the army since their takeover of the country - and, after several hours, troops restored calm in the capital.

Tensions escalated when a crowd advanced on the nearby headquarters of the Republican Guard, where Mr Morsi is believed to be held.

Troops then opened fire on crowds. Four people were killed and dozens wounded, including the BBC's Jeremy Bowen whose head was grazed by shotgun pellets.

In the evening, tens of thousands of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood filled the square near the mosque, as well as nearby streets.

The Brotherhood's supreme leader, Mohammed Badie, told the crowd: "We shall stay in the squares until we bring President Morsi back to power."

He said their protests would remain peaceful and called on the army not to "direct your arms against us".

Shortly afterwards, Brotherhood supporters surged across the 6th October Bridge over the Nile river, towards Tahrir Square where anti-Morsi protesters were gathered.

The rival groups hurled fireworks and stones at each other. A car was set on fire and stones and fireworks were thrown. Four people were killed in the clashes.

The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Cairo says there is anger and passion on both sides - as well as a determination to win a battle for the streets which is making the capital a dangerous and volatile place.

Late on Friday, tanks arrived at the bridge to separate the clashing protesters and the violence died down.

'Glorious revolution'

There were clashes in other parts of Egypt on Friday.

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Jeremy Bowen witnessed the shooting, and was also hit by shotgun pellets above the ear

Islamist attacks on the Sinai peninsula left five police and one soldier dead, security officials said.

The Health Ministry said one protester was killed in the central city of Assiut, and one in Suez. Another three people died in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya.

In Qina in the south, troops opened fire on pro-Morsi activists trying to storm a security building. At least two people were injured.

Ahead of Friday's protests, the army command said it would not take "arbitrary measures against any faction or political current" and would guarantee the right to protest, as long as demonstrations did not threaten national security.

"Peaceful protest and freedom of expression are rights guaranteed to everyone, which Egyptians have earned as one of the most important gains of their glorious revolution," it said.

On Thursday the head of Egypt's constitutional court, Adly Mahmud Mansour, was sworn in as interim head of state, and he promised to hold elections soon.

On Friday Mr Mansour dissolved the upper house - or Shura Council - which had been dominated by Morsi supporters and had served as sole legislative body after the lower house was dissolved last year.

Mr Mansour also appointed a new intelligence chief, Mohamed Ahmed Farid.

Bowen: Egypt's failed democratic experiment

Two years in the life of Tahrir Square

Gardner: Dangerous moment for the Middle East

Optimism for Egypt economy

Key players in the Egyptian crisis

Q&A: Crisis explained

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China and Russia conduct joint drill

5 July 2013 Last updated at 01:06 ET

China and Russia are beginning joint naval drills which Beijing has described as the country's largest with a foreign partner.

The drills, which are taking place in the Sea of Japan, last from 5-12 July.

People's Liberation Army chief Gen Fang Fenghui said on Tuesday the drills did not "target any third parties", but aimed to deepen ties with Russia.

However they come amid tensions with regional neighbours including Japan and the Philippines over maritime disputes.

China has overlapping claims with Tokyo and Manila in the East China and South China Sea respectively - something which has led to a marked deterioration in ties in recent years as China has pressed its claim more assertively.

Last month the US and Japanese navies held joint exercises off San Diego.

'No aggression'

Earlier this week, China's Defence Ministry said the drills marked the navy's "single biggest deployment of military force in a China-foreign joint exercise".

"Assertions have been made that this drill has a symbolic significance in terms of safeguarding the sovereignty of islands in the area, and represents a response to the US-Japan alliance," Communist Party newspaper People's Daily wrote on Friday.

But, the paper said, it was part of series of routine exercises, with the drill focusing on joint escort and the recovery of kidnapped vessels.

"There will be no aggressive element to the joint drill," it said.

The Chinese fleet comprises four destroyers, two guided missile frigates and a support ship, Chinese state media say.

The fleet left its base on Monday in China's Qingdao port for the Peter the Great Bay in Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia is expected to deploy 11 warships, a submarine and three planes during the drills, reports say.

China and Russia conducted naval drills for the first time last year. Both countries have participated in military exercises since 2005.

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Tutu: Don't besmirch Mandela name

5 July 2013 Last updated at 05:15 ET

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Denis Goldberg said his friend Nelson Mandela looked better than expected

Two leading South Africans have called for an end to a bitter row among members of Nelson Mandela's family over the reburial of three of his children.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said he hoped the public dispute could be resolved in a "dignified manner".

Archbishop Desmond Tutu pleaded with the family not to "besmirch" Mr Mandela's name with their squabble.

President Jacob Zuma has meanwhile denied reports that Mr Mandela, 94, was in a vegetative state.

South Africa's first black president has spent the past four weeks in a Pretoria hospital with a recurrent lung condition.

"Madiba remains in a critical, but stable condition. The doctors deny that the former president is in a vegetative state," said a statement from Mr Zuma, who visited Mr Mandela on Thursday.

Continue reading the main story

Nelson Mandela's children

With Evelyn Mase:

• Thembekile born 1945, died 1969
• Makaziwe born 1947, died aged nine months
• Makgatho born 1950, died 2005
• Makaziwe, born 1954

With Winnie Madikizela-Mandela:

• Zenani born 1959
• Zindziswa born 1960

The statement came after court papers filed on behalf of Mr Mandela's eldest daughter, Makaziwe, on 26 June said his health was "perilous" and that he was "assisted in breathing by a life-support machine", the AFP news agency reports.

However, subsequent court papers seen by the BBC also on behalf of Makaziwe Mandela, do not mention that he was in a "vegetative state".

One of Mr Mandela's friends and fellow former prisoners, Denis Goldberg, who visited the anti-apartheid icon on Monday, also said he was responsive but was prevented from speaking because he had tubes in his mouth.

"I'm quite satisfied he was responsive to what I was saying," he said.

His wife, Graca Machel, on Thursday said he is sometimes "uncomfortable, but he has never been in pain".

'Very sad'

Correspondents say there has been a long-running battle over Mr Mandela's legacy, but that it has intensified as his health has deteriorated.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It's almost like spitting in Madiba's face"

End Quote Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The feud over the reburial of Mr Mandela's children is linked to the decision about where he will eventually be buried, as it is thought he would like to interred alongside them.

The legal documents were filed by Makaziwe and several other relatives last week in order to persuade a judge to make a speedy decision over whether to exhume the children.

On Thursday, the three bodies were reburied, following a court order, back in the village of Qunu, where Mr Mandela was brought up and where he is said to want to be laid to rest.

Earlier, forensic tests confirmed the identity of the bodies which had been exhumed by police from the homestead in the village of Mvezo owned by Mr Mandela's grandson, Mandla.

An affidavit filed by Mandela family members alleged that Mandla had relocated the graves in 2011 to ensure that his grandfather would be buried in Mvezo, against his wishes.

At a news conference on Thursday, Mandla accused some of his relatives of washing their dirty linen in public and battling for control of his grandfather's assets.

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Mandla Mandela: "It seems like anyone and everyone can come and say 'I am a Mandela'"

"In the past few days, I have been the target of attacks from all sorts of individuals wanting a few minutes of fame and media attention at my expense," he said.

His family rivals were motivated by revenge as he had refused to support their legal case to oust three of Mr Mandela's aides from companies the ex-president had set up, Mandla added.

Later, Deputy President Motlanthe criticised the behaviour of Mr Mandela's family on a radio chat show in Johannesburg.

"It's all very sad, but we've got to continue keeping the family and Madiba in our prayers and hope, continue to hope, that Madiba will recover and also that the family will manage its own affairs in a dignified manner," he said.

Archbishop Tutu, who, like Mr Mandela, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the struggle against white minority rule, appealed to the family to overcome their differences.

"Please, please, please may we think not only of ourselves? It's almost like spitting in Madiba's face," he said in a statement.

"Your anguish, now, is the nation's anguish - and the world's. We want to embrace you, to support you, to shine our love for Madiba through you. Please, may we not besmirch his name?"

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Bolivia 'could close' US embassy

5 July 2013 Last updated at 05:58 ET

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President Evo Morales (L): "If necessary, we will close the US embassy"

President Evo Morales has threatened to close the US embassy in Bolivia after his official plane was banned from European airspace.

The warning came as four other South American leaders offered him support at a special summit on Thursday.

His plane was forced to land in Austria on Tuesday after France, Portugal, Italy and Spain apparently barred it from flying through their airspace.

There were unfounded suspicions that US fugitive Edward Snowden was on board.

The Bolivian president blamed Washington for pressurising European countries into refusing him passage.

"My hand would not tremble to close the US embassy," Mr Morales said.

"We have dignity, sovereignty. Without America, we are better off politically and democratically."

'No reason to apologise'

His presidential jet was rerouted as he travelled from a meeting in Russia where he had suggested he would be willing to consider an asylum application from Mr Snowden.

The former CIA contractor is believed to be holed up at the transit area of Moscow airport after leaking details of a vast US surveillance programme.

Mr Morales was joined by the presidents of Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Venezuela and Suriname at a meeting to discuss the plane dispute in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba on Thursday.

The leaders issued a statement after the meeting demanding an explanation from France, Portugal, Italy and Spain over their actions.

The US was not mentioned in the statement, but several of the leaders criticised the Americans in comments after the meeting.

"If this had happened to the president of the United States, it probably would have been grounds for war," said Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa.

"They think they can attack, crush, destroy international law."

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said in a TV interview on Friday that Madrid had "no reason to apologise".

He said airspace was never closed to Mr Morales' plane, but that the delay in Austria meant the flight permit had expired and had to be renewed.

He also said in reference to Mr Snowden: "They told us he was inside [the plane]."

Mr Garcia-Margallo's comment is the first official recognition by the European states that the incident with Mr Morales' plane was connected with the Snowden affair.

However, he did not say who had given the information to the Spanish authorities.

France earlier apologised for the plane incident, blaming it on "conflicting information".

The US state department has not commented directly on the latest claims, saying only that Washington had "been in touch with a broad range of countries" over the Snowden case.

Demonstrators marched on the French embassy in La Paz on Wednesday, burning the French flag and demanding the expulsion of the ambassador to Bolivia.

Mr Morales' plane took off from Vienna on Wednesday morning and arrived back in La Paz on Wednesday night.

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Egypt army allows 'peaceful protest'

5 July 2013 Last updated at 06:23 ET

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Mr Mansour praised the armed forces and the Egyptian people

Egypt's army has said it will guarantee the right to peaceful protest, ahead of the traditional day for major rallies.

Muslim Brotherhood supporters are expected to rally on Friday after the army deposed President Mohammed Morsi.

New interim leader Adly Mahmud Mansour, the top judge of Egypt's constitutional court, has pledged to hold elections based on "the genuine people's will".

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad al-Haddad said it refused to co-operate with the new regime.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

A couple of months ago, people were sceptical of the army. However, we have now seen our faith restored "

End Quote Reem Shalan Cairo

Mr Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, is in detention, as are senior figures in the Brotherhood, the Islamist group of which he is a member. Arrests warrants have been for some 300 others.

Early on Friday, one soldier was reported killed after Islamist militants attacked military and police checkpoints in the Sinai Peninsula with rockets and mortar fire.

Security checkpoints at al-Arish airport, near the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip, and a police station in Rafah were targeted, officials said.

Sinai has seen a series of militant attacks on security installations and oil pipelines over the past two years and it is unclear whether the latest attacks are linked to the political upheaval.

'Back to dictatorship'

The removal of Mr Morsi followed days of mass protests, organised by the Tamarod [Rebel] movement.

Protesters accused Mr Morsi and the Brotherhood of pursuing an Islamist agenda against the wishes of the majority and of failing to tackle economic problems.

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Mohamed ElBaradei: "We were between a rock and a hard place"

The army said it had to respond after Mr Morsi "failed to meet the demands of the people".

The army command has said it will not take "arbitrary measures against any faction or political current" and would guarantee the right to protest, as long as demonstrations did not threaten national security.

"Peaceful protest and freedom of expression are rights guaranteed to everyone, which Egyptians have earned as one of the most important gains of their glorious revolution," it said.

Mohamed ElBaradei - a leading opposition figure who backed the overthrow of Mr Morsi - said the army's intervention had been "a painful measure" but was on behalf of the people and ultimately averted civil war.

"Mr Morsi unfortunately undermined his own legitimacy," he told the BBC.

He said the army had no intention of ruling the country and that elections would be held within a year at the most.

Continue reading the main story

Army's post-Morsi roadmap

• Constitution to be suspended temporarily and interim president sworn in
• "Strong and competent" civilian technocratic government to be installed
• Supreme Court to pass a draft law on parliamentary election and prepare for parliamentary and presidential polls
• "Charter of honour" to be drawn up and followed by the media
• Measures taken to empower young people and a national reconciliation committee to be formed

Mr ElBaradei also said he had urged the military to treat Mr Morsi with "full dignity as a former president" and that he hoped Muslim Brotherhood members would be released from prison soon.

Some of those held, including Mr Morsi, are being charged with "insulting the judiciary", and the public prosecutor's office told AFP news agency travel bans had been placed on 35 senior leaders.

At his news conference, Mr Haddad declared the Brotherhood's "full refusal and revoking of the military coup" and said it would take part in all "peaceful, people-led protest".

He demanded Mr Morsi's immediate release, along with the other detainees.

Mohamed Soudan, foreign relations secretary for the Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), said the army action was moving Egypt "back to the dictatorship regime".

"As soon as they start to arrest the people without any court verdict or prosecution verdict, order, then this is away from democracy," he told the BBC.

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters are camped outside Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, vowing to protest.

"We came from all of Egypt for one goal only, to return the democratically elected president to the palace," said one man.

A coalition of Islamist parties - the National Coalition in Support of Legitimacy - has called for mass demonstrations to denounce the army's actions following Friday prayers.

Continue reading the main story

Egypt's revolution - key events

• 11 February 2011 - Hosni Mubarak resigns as president after two weeks of massive street protests and violent clashes
• January 2012 - Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party wins parliamentary elections with almost half of the vote
• June 2012 - Mohammed Morsi becomes Egypt's first freely elected president
• 22 November 2012 - Mr Morsi issues a controversial decree granting himself extensive powers - after angry protests, he eventually rescinds most of it
• 3 July 2013 - The army suspends the constitution and removes Mr Morsi from power

The African Union's Peace and Security council is meeting in Friday in Addis Ababa to discuss Egypt. Officials have indicated it could suspend Egypt's membership, in line with its policy on unconstitutional changed in government.

Arrest warrants

Some 50 people have died since the latest unrest began on Sunday.

There are continuing fears of confrontation between the pro- and anti-Morsi blocs, with reports that Morsi supporters in a town north of Cairo have been set upon and badly beaten.

The army's roadmap for the post-Morsi era includes:

• Suspension of the constitution
• A civilian, transitional technocratic government
• Supreme constitutional court to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections
• A "charter of honour" to be drawn up and followed by national media

Mr Mansour was sworn in as interim head of state on Thursday, vowing to safeguard "the spirit of the revolution" which had removed Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011.

He invited the Brotherhood "to participate in building the nation".

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Developers raze ancient Peru pyramid

3 July 2013 Last updated at 17:32 ET

Authorities in Peru say an ancient pyramid at the oldest archaeological site near the capital, Lima, has been destroyed.

They are pressing criminal charges against two real-estate companies blamed for tearing down the structure, which was 6m (20-ft) high.

An archaeologist said those responsible had committed "irreparable damage".

The building was one of 12 pyramids found at the El Paraiso complex and is thought to be at least 4,000 years old.

The site, which dates back to the Late Preceramic (3500-1800 BC) period, is situated several kilometres north of Lima.

Continue reading the main story

We are not going to be able to know in what ways it was constructed, what materials were used in it and how the society in that part of the pyramid behaved"

End Quote Marco Guilen Director of excavation project, El Paraiso

According to Peru's tourism ministry, it was a religious and administrative centre long before the pre-Columbian Inca civilisation.

Rafael Varon, deputy minister of cultural patrimony, said the destruction had taken place over the weekend. He said company workers using heavy machinery had attempted to destroy three further pyramids, but had been stopped by onlookers.

Mr Varon said criminal complaints had been lodged against two companies.

Marco Guilen, director of an excavation project at El Paraiso, told Associated Press news agency the people who tore down the pyramid "have committed irreparable damage to a page of Peruvian history".

"We are not going to be able to know in what ways it was constructed, what materials were used in it and how the society in that part of the pyramid behaved."

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France apology in Bolivia jet row

3 July 2013 Last updated at 18:02 ET

France has apologised to Bolivia for refusing to allow President Evo Morales' jet into its airspace, blaming "conflicting information".

Bolivia accused France, Italy, Spain and Portugal of blocking the plane.

It said some wrongly believed US fugitive Edward Snowden was on board.

Speaking in Berlin, French President Francois Hollande said he granted permission as soon as he knew it was Mr Morales' plane.

President Morales was flying back to Bolivia from Moscow when the plane was forced to stop in Vienna.

Angry reactions

The French foreign ministry issued a statement on the incident.

Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said: "The foreign minister called his Bolivian counterpart to tell him about France's regrets after the incident caused by the late confirmation of permission for President Morales' plane to fly over [French] territory."

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Footage shows Bolivian President Evo Morales waiting inside Vienna airport, as Steve Rosenberg reports

The episode sparked angry reactions from heads of state across Latin America.

• Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner referred to "not only the humiliation of a sister country, but of the South American continent".
• Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Twitter: "I reaffirm all our solidarity with Evo [Morales] and from Venezuela, with dignity, we will respond to this dangerous, disproportionate, and unacceptable aggression"
• Ecuador's President Rafael Correa tweeted: "We express our solidarity with Evo [Morales] and the brave Bolivian people."
• A statement by Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said: "The embarrassment to President Morales hits not only Bolivia, but all of Latin America."

Demonstrators marched on the French embassy in La Paz, burning the French flag and demanding the expulsion of the ambassador to Bolivia.

President Correa asked that the Unasur group of South American nations call an urgent meeting over the matter.

The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza, expressed his "deep displeasure" with the "lack of respect" shown by the countries that denied airspace to Mr Morales' jet.

Bolivia's Vice-President Alvaro Garcia said a group of Latin American leaders would meet in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on Thursday over the case.

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• Rejected: India, Poland, Brazil
• Considering: Bolivia, Italy
• Has to be in the country for request to be considered: Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland, Ecuador, Germany
• Unconfirmed: China, France, Venezuela
• Withdrawn: Russia
• Pending: Nicaragua, Cuba

Austrian officials said the airport authorities had searched the plane, but with Mr Morales's permission.

But the Bolivian government denied any search had taken place.

The plane took off from Vienna on Wednesday morning, having landed there late on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, France urged EU-US trade talks be delayed amid the fallout from secrets leaked by Mr Snowden.

The talks are due to begin on Monday but claims that the US bugged EU diplomatic offices in the US, and spied on internal computer networks, have upset transatlantic relations.

However, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Berlin did not back a delay to the talks, which correspondents say if successful will deliver the biggest trade deal in history.

Mr Snowden is still believed to be in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, from where he is seeking asylum in Bolivia and several other countries.

He is wanted by the US on charges of leaking secrets he gathered while working as a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), America's electronic spying agency.

The leaking of thousands of classified intelligence documents prompted revelations that the US has been systematically seizing vast amounts of phone and web data.

China, Russia and several European countries have expressed anger with the US over the apparent scale of its surveillance programme.

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