BBC News with Iain Purdon.

The army in Egypt has given politicians from all sides a 48-hour ultimatum to resolve the current crisis. In a televised statement, the army said that otherwise it would have to take responsibility for a plan for the future. However, on its Facebook page, the army denied suggestions that the statement was a military coup in the making. Jeremy Bowen reports.

As soon as they heard the army’s announcement, opponents of the president headed for Tahrir Square to celebrate. Their assumption is that the armed forces are on their side and that if the president doesn’t agree to early elections within 48 hours, the generals will make him. It might not be that simple. The statement by the ministry of defence and army chief, Gen Sisi, was worded carefully. He did not say the president must go. The army which has troops in strategic positions across Cairo is saying that the government and opposition have 48 hours to agree a way forward, or it will intervene with its own plan.

Reports from Moscow say the fugitive former American intelligence analyst Edward Snowden has applied for political asylum. He’s been at an airport in Moscow for more than a week. He faces charges of espionage in the United States for disclosing secrets about internet surveillance. Steve Rosenberg reports.

According to a consular official at Moscow airport, Edward Snowden’s asylum application was submitted on Sunday night. It was delivered by Sarah Harrison, a member of the Wikileaks legal team. But will the Kremlin agree to it? Earlier President Putin appeared to suggest otherwise. Mr Snowden, he said, could only remain in Russia if he agreed to stop leaking secrets that were damaging America. And since there was little sign of that, the Kremlin leader added, the American, who’s currently in limbo in an airport transit zone, should choose an onward destination.