Former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has not yet formally accepted asylum in Venezuela, the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said after a Russian lawmaker posted a statement to that effect on Twitter and then deleted it.

Whistleblower Edward Snowden has accepted Venezuela’s offer of political asylum, according to the head of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

An influential Russian parliament member who often speaks for the Kremlin is encouraging NSA leaker Edward Snowden to accept Venezuela’s offer of asylum.

Russia defied White House pressure to expel former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden to the US before he flees Moscow on the next stop of his globe-crossing escape from US prosecution.

Russia denied entry to a former commander of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in retaliation against US moves to punish Russian human rights violators, said deputy foreign minister Andrei Denisov yesterday.

At least eight people have been reported killed in Syrian government shelling of rebel-held areas as the United States, Europe and Arab nations met in Tunisia to seek ways to end President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on the uprising.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has no reason to step down, a top Russian politician has said after visiting Damascus.

Russian politicians voiced strong support today for the Kremlin's action to shield Syrian president Bashar Assad's regime from international sanctions over its crackdown on an 11-month old uprising.