Relations between the United States and Russia deteriorated further on Wednesday when Barack Obama abandoned a presidential summit with Vladimir Putin that was due to be held next month, amid fury in Washington over Moscow's decision to grant asylum to the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The White House confirmed that it had decided to snub the Russian leader by pulling out of the planned bilateral meeting in Moscow, but is expected to take part in the broader G20 meeting of international leaders in St Petersburg.

Moscow reacted coolly to the decision, which had been widely expected after Putin infuriated the Obama administration by granting temporary sanctuary to Snowden, who fled to Moscow after the Chinese government allowed him to leave Hong Kong, rather than heed US calls for his arrest.

In a statement, the White House said that it had concluded there was "not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda" to hold a US-Russia summit. It cited a lack of progress on arms control, trade, missile defence and human rights, and added: "Russia's disappointing decision to grant Edward Snowden temporary asylum was also a factor that we considered in assessing the current state of our bilateral relationship. Our co-operation on these issues remains a priority for the United States."

New US drone strikes reportedly killed seven alleged al-Qaida members in southern Yemen on Wednesday after the government in Sana'a claimed to have foiled a large-scale terrorist attack and the US and Britain evacuated their embassy staff.

Security officials told the Associated Press the latest drone attacks hit targets in Shabwa province, where residents reported seeing two vehicles and several bodies on fire.

The news came as details emerged in the capital of an ambitious plan by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a "franchise" of the global terrorist network, to attack oil installations and towns.

Rajeh Badi, press adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa, said the plot involved dozens of fighters in Yemeni army uniforms storming the facilities on Sunday night, and holding them. Yemeni officials spoke of a plan to take control of the Mina al-Dhaba oil terminal, which is run by Canada, in the Mukallah region on the Arabian Sea.

Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, has blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for the "failure" of international talks aimed at resolving Egypt's political crisis, and warned supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi that the government will not make any concessions to them.

"The train of the future has left the station," he said in a televised address on Wednesday night, marking the end of Ramadan and the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr holiday. "It's moving forward, and all of us have to catch it."

Earlier, the presidency announced the end of foreign-led efforts to resolve the turmoil, which has been spiralling since the army toppled Morsi on July 3.

In a statement carried on state news agency MENA, it said: "The Egyptian state ... holds the Muslim Brotherhood fully responsible for the failure of those efforts [by foreign envoys] and what may be the consequences of this failure."

A US institute tracking North Korea's nuclear weapons programme says recent satellite photos show Pyongyang is doubling the size of its uranium enrichment plant.

The imagery comes from two sources - satellite companies Digital Globe and Astrium Geoinformation Services - and was seen by The Associated Press.

The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said the photos of the Nyongbyon nuclear complex show construction under way to "effectively double" the size of the enrichment hall. That would allow North Korea to also double the number of centrifuges now enriching uranium.

Revealing the existence of a uranium enrichment programme three years ago, Pyongyang said the plant contained 2,000 centrifuges.

President Obama freezes relationship with Russia's Putin at a most crucial moment in his presidency. Key foreign policy issues are at stake on Syria, ME peace talks, Iran uranium enrichment, and START negotiations. Obama thinks he is tough? Does he lend his ear to new assistent Susan Rice? This will be an embarassment to John Kerry who is doing an immense job to gain achievements on a broad range of issues. Who is responsible to send McCain and Graham on a fool's errand? This effort was counterproductive to the stance taken by Kerry a few days earlier. The promise by Obama to work closely with Putin during his second term can be put on ice ... return of cold war dogma. Putin will not take this snub lightly, it will be personal. Putin could send Medvedev to the G20 summit and avoid meeting Obama fully. Putin was not willing to offer whistleblower Snowden to the pyre of DC mania in the US. I'll give Putin credit for that. [Not for many troubling domestic issues within Russia, which would have been a better argument - Oui]

Kremlin 'disappointed' Obama calls off Putin talks

(RT.com) - By calling off Obama's visit to Moscow, the US has shown it is not ready to build relations on an equal footing, the Kremlin says. The Snowden situation, on which the decision was based, is not Russia's fault, presidential aide Yury Ushakov stressed.

Earlier today US President Barack Obama canceled a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow which was scheduled for September. The move came after Russia's recent decision to grant temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

The White House cited the lack of progress in "missile defense and arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, and human rights and civil society in the last 12 months" as the grounds for the move, adding that Russia's "disappointing decision" to grant Snowden asylum was also among the factors.  

Washington's decision showed that the US will readily "sacrifice their bilateral relations with Russia" for the issues of their "internal agenda," said Andrey Klimov, vice chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee.

"We shall not forget such a behavior, but it can by no means signal a start of another Cold War," Klimov stressed, adding that there are "too many issues" that Russia and the US still need to be working on together.

Obama chooses Sweden as alternate and 'Green' destination

Before traveling to Russia, the President will travel to Stockholm, Sweden, on September 4 and 5.  Sweden is a close friend and partner to the United States.  Sweden plays a key leadership role on the international stage, including in opening new trade and investment opportunities through the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, advancing clean technologies, and promoting environmental sustainability.

G20 financiers agree to keep global economy more predictable

# Biden spoke about the Obama administration's desire to "reset" U.S.-Russian relations

Even before a formal nomination by John Kerry, the Egyptian people will have none of it - #NotoRobertford.

Robert S. Ford, former US Ambassador to Syria and previous tenure as assistent to Negroponte
In Baghdad in 2005 ... death squads and the Salvador Option.

Robert S. Ford Political Counselor to the U.S. Embassy Baghdad (2004-2006)

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CBS interview with US ambassador to Syria Robert S. Ford

Crossposted from my diary @BooMan - McCain in Egypt: "It's a Coup".

Amnesia and Gaza Genocide