Snowden vanishes again as Russia defies US

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.

Snowden, whose exposure of the US government’s secret surveillance activities raised questions about intrusions into private lives, was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday after Washington asked the Chinese territory to arrest him on espionage charges.

The 30-year-old flew to Moscow as a transit stop before heading elsewhere, sources said. But reports he would fly to Cuba were put in doubt when witnesses could not see him on the plane, despite heightened security before take-off.