By MARTIN WALKER, UPI Editor Emeritus
WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) --
If Edward Snowden had surfaced first in Brussels rather than in Hong Kong, maybe everything would have been different. He could have applied for asylum at the European Parliament.
They are already calling him to testify, along with National Security Agency chief Gen. Keith Alexander and two other NSA whistle-blowers, Tom Drake and William Binney, in hearings designed to lead to new data privacy rules and data-sharing agreements between Europe and the United States.
KAESONG, North Korea, July 22 (UPI) -- Delegates from North and South Korea failed again Monday to agree on ways to prevent future shutdowns of a jointly operated factory park.
IDYLLWILD, Calif., July 22 (UPI) -- Heavy rains that fell on Mount San Jacinto in California helped firefighters battling the Mountain Fire and prompted the lift of an evacuation, officials said.
BRUSSELS, July 22 (UPI) -- Belarus needs to show it's serious about political and human rights reform before it works on courting the European Union, Human Rights Watch said.
WOODBURY, N.J., July 22 (UPI) -- A 20-year-old New Jersey woman, adrift for 16 hours after suffering a cramp while snorkeling off the coast of Honduras, was rescued by kayakers, officials said.
KABUL, Afghanistan, July 22 (UPI) -- Members of the Afghan Parliament fired the country's interior minister Monday over growing corruption and insecurity in the country, officials say.
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 22 (UPI) -- Pope Francis, saying he was "full of joy," flew to Brazil for a weeklong visit church leaders said they hope will slow the an exodus of people from the church.
BAGHDAD, July 22 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Interior Ministry said it was able to thwart an attack on two prison facilities near Baghdad.
BRUSSELS, July 22 (UPI) -- The European Union's 28 foreign ministers voted to add the military unit of the militant Hezbollah to a list of terrorist organizations Monday.
PHOENIX, July 22 (UPI) -- Rescue crews saved nine people who became stranded during floods brought on by monsoon rains in the Phoenix-area, meteorologists said.
ANKARA, Turkey, July 22 (UPI) -- Jailed leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party said he wants to speak with the Turkish media to discuss the peace process in person.
TULA, Russia, July 22 (UPI) -- Vyacheslav Dudka, the former governor of Russia's Tula region, was sentenced Monday to 9 1/2 years in prison for accepting a $1.2 million bribe.
BEIJING, July 22 (UPI) -- A 6.6-magnitude earthquake in China's Gansu province Monday killed at least 75 people, injured hundreds and caused major damage, authorities said.
ARLINGTON, Texas, July 22 (UPI) -- An investigation into the death of a woman who fell from the Texas Giant roller coaster could take months, an expert on amusement ride safety said.
BALTIMORE, July 22 (UPI) -- The driver of a car sent careening off of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge, falling 40 feet, said she "went from panic to calm" during the ordeal.
BAGHDAD, July 22 (UPI) -- Thirteen people died Monday when a suicide bomber drove into an army patrol in Mosul, Iraq, a security source said.