The White House says Hong Kong made a "deliberate choice" to release the man who leaked details about National Security Agency surveillance programs. Hong Kong says the decision to allow Edward Snowden to leave for Russia was a technical one. Obama spokesman Jay Carney says the Administration isn't buying that explanation.

 

　　No final answer on affirmative action from the Supreme Court. The 7-1 ruling ordered the federal appeals court in New Orleans to take another look at the case.

 

　　South Africa's president says doctors are doing everything they can for Nelson Mandela. But the anti-apartheid hero remains in critical condition for a second straight day today. President Jacob Zuma described Mandela as being "asleep" when he visited him yesterday.

 

　　And a court in Italy has convicted former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of paying for sex with an underage prostitute during parties at his villa, then using his inflence to try to cover it up. Berlusconi was sentenced to 7 years in prison and is barred from public office for life. There are two chances to appeal before the sentence becomes final.

 

　　Noel Waghorn, the Associated Press with AP News Minute.