World/Nation Briefs August 2, 2013

Defiant Russia grants Snowden asylum

MOSCOW - Defying the United States, Russia granted Edward Snowden temporary asylum on Thursday, allowing the National Security Agency leaker to slip out of the Moscow airport where he has been holed up for weeks in hopes of evading espionage charges back home.

The 30-year-old former NSA contractor now has plenty of room to roam throughout the sprawling country and continue the bizarre journey that has already stretched across half the planet - from Hawaii to Hong Kong to the Russian capital.

The move infuriated the U.S. administration, which said it was "extremely disappointed" and warned that the decision could derail an upcoming summit between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The asylum offer places a significant new strain on already-corroded relations with Washington amid differences over Syria, U.S. criticism of Russia's human rights record and other disputes. But Russia appears to have reckoned that ending Snowden's airport limbo was worth intensifying the political standoff. The decision gives Russia cover to depict itself as a defender of human rights, pointing a finger to deflect criticism of its own poor record and tough crackdown on dissent.

Snowden himself made that argument. In a statement issued by WikiLeaks, which has been assisting him, Snowden was quoted as saying that "over the past eight weeks we have seen the Obama administration show no respect for international or domestic law, but in the end the law is winning."

Man who held, raped 3 women gets life term

CLEVELAND - Standing before the man who kidnapped her and raped her for a decade, Michelle Knight described how the world had changed in the three months since they last saw each other. The captive, she said, was now free and the oppressor would be locked away forever to "die a little every day."

Ariel Castro's fate had been determined long before he was sentenced Thursday to life in prison plus 1,000 years. But Knight's words in a crowded courtroom put a final seal on the kidnapping case that horrified the nation and subjected three young women to years of torment in Castro's ramshackle house.

"You took 11 years of my life away and I have got it back," Knight said. "I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."

A short time later, the 53-year-old former school bus driver apologized to his victims briefly in a rambling, defiant statement. He repeatedly blamed his sex addiction, his former wife and others while claiming most of the sex was consensual and that the women were never tortured.

"These people are trying to paint me as a monster," he said. "I'm not a monster. I'm sick."

Obama facesNSA critics

in Oval Office

WASHINGTON - Struggling to salvage a massive surveillance program, President Barack Obama faced congressional critics of the National Security Agency's collection of Americans' telephone records Thursday as snowballing concerns made new limitations on the intelligence effort appear increasingly likely.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden joined lawmakers on both sides of the issue for an Oval Office meeting designed to stem the bleeding of public support and show Obama was serious about engaging. Among the participants were the NSA's most vigorous congressional supporters - the top Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate intelligence panels - alongside its most stern critics, including Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado.

The lawmakers departed the rainy White House grounds without speaking to reporters. But in interviews later, they said there was a consensus that the surveillance efforts are suffering from perception problems that have undercut trust among the American people.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, top Republican on the Senate's intelligence panel and a strong NSA defender, said Obama and the lawmakers didn't agree to take specific steps but brought up a number of proposals that will be fleshed out over the August congressional recess.

Morsi supporterssnub offer to end their protests

CAIRO - Egypt's military-backed government offered protection Thursday to supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi who end their two sit-ins - widely seen as a first step toward dispersing the vigils on opposite sides of Cairo.

But the protesters responded defiantly: "Over our dead bodies!"

The standoff underscored the ongoing political crisis since the armed forces toppled Egypt's first democratically elected leader on July 3: thousands in the streets demanding Morsi's reinstatement, a government unable to exert its authority, and recurrent violence that has killed more than 260 people.

Rights groups, activists and politicians from rival camps, fearful of more bloodshed, tried to ward off any use of force, including a suggestion of putting a human chain around the protest sites.

- The Associated Press