Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who leaked secret material on US surveillance programmes, has been granted temporary asylum in Russia despite intense pressure from the US.
The decision, which was immediately criticised by the White House and US lawmakers, will provide a new source of tension in the already difficult relations between Washington and Moscow.
The one-year visa allows Mr Snowden to live and work in Russia while he continues to evade efforts by US prosecutors to extradite him to face charges for leaking a series of documents about National Security Agency surveillance programmes.
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