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Twitter must give user info in WikiLeaks probe
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal magistrate ruled Friday that prosecutors can demand Twitter account information of certain users in their criminal probe into the disclosure of classified documents on WikiLeaks.
The prosecutors’ reasons for seeking the records remain secret and it’s unknown how important they are to the investigation of the largest leak ever of classified American documents.
The Twitter users argued that the government was on a fishing expedition that amounted to an unconstitutional violation of their freedoms of speech and association.
But in a ruling issued Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa Carroll Buchanan said the government’s request was reasonable and did nothing to hamper the Twitter users’ free speech Read more…
China Taps Antisatellite Weapon for Missile Defense: Cable
China in an early 2010 exercise attempted to intercept a mock enemy missile with the same weapon it had used to shoot down one of its orbiting satellites in a test three years earlier, suggesting the nation’s antisatellite technology was also designed to defend against strategic missiles, the Washington Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 14, 2010).
The apparent multipurpose nature of China’s SC-19 missile — described in a U.S. State Department communication obtained by the transparency organization WikiLeaks — represents a marked stride in China’s efforts to bolster its armed forces, defense officials said (see GSN, Feb. 7).
“The U.S. Intelligence Community assesses that on 11 January 2010, China launched an SC-19 missile from the Korla Missile Test Complex and successfully intercepted a near-simultaneously launched CSS-X-11 medium-range ballistic missile launched from the Shuangchengzi Space and Missile Center,” the State Department document says.
“An SC-19 was used previously as the payload booster for the January 11, 2007, direct-ascent antisatellite (DA-ASAT) intercept Read more…
Pentagon fears Anonymous attack, re: WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning
Tuesday the Pentagon acknowledged fears of an attack by the Internet activist group Anonymous. The Pentagon is worried about what has been dubbed “Operation Bradical” – threats made in the name of the hactivist group Anonymous against the Quantico Virgina base where suspected Wikileaks whistle-blower Private Bradley Manning is currently being held.
The Pentagon fears the loose Internet collective known as Anonymous will stage some sort of cyber attack (Operation Bradical) against those responsible for detaining Manning in a Quantico military brig, keeping him in solitary confinement and forcing him to strip nightly and stand at attention naked each morning.
Private Bradley Manning is a US soldier suspected of giving documents to WikiLeaks. Manning is charged with stealing classified files and is suspected as the source for numerous secret documents published on the WikiLeaks website in recent months.
The WikiLeaks incident has infuriated and embarrassed US officials. Many feel Manning is being treated in a cruel and inhumane way by U.S. authorities because of the embarrassing and damning revelations made possible by Manning’s alleged contributions to WikiLeaks
Andy Greenberg at Forbes reports:
In a crowdsourced document used to coordinate the group’s actions, Anonymous hackers name Department of Defense Press Secretary Geoff Morell and chief warrant officer Denise Barnes as targets and call on members to dig up personal information on both, including phone numbers, personal histories and home addresses. The goal of the operation, for now, is to “dox” the two officials, the typical Anonymous method of publishing personal information of victims and using it for mass harassment.
“Targets established,” reads the document, before naming Morell and Barnes. “We’re in the ruining business. And business is good.”
Biometrics: dream come true or nightmare?
Having previously looked at how biometric recognition is more than a fictional spy-thriller, we didn’t look at biometric technology used in the past which seems like something out of the future. These are some of those past biometrics, followed by a few new biometric recognition technologies being proposed for everything from securing your smartphone, replacing the ID in your wallet, and even required testing to prove paternity.
From WikiLeaks diplomat cables, we discovered that the State Department is more interested in collecting biometric data than was previously disclosed. A cable supposedly from Hillary Clinton told certain embassies in Africa to collect more biographical information like fingerprints, facial images, DNA, and iris scans for U.S. Intelligence. Besides asking for “detailed biometric Read more…
Paul Craig Roberts: CIA May Assassinate Julian Assange
Late last week the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court ordered the extradition of Julian Assange from England to Sweden under a European Arrest Warrant. Assange will likely be extradited to Sweden and questioned about a trumped-up rape allegation, two allegations of sexual molestation, and an allegation of unlawful coercion by two Swedish women who have been variously described as hoenytraps.
The Wikileaks founder is afraid that he will be extradited from Sweden to the United States where his lawyers argue he could be sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility or face the Read more…
Wikileaks, Bahrain and Saudi: Concerns over Rising Food Prices Spread
Bahrain, which saw deadly protest this month, is eager to control the price of food according to Wikileaks
Rising food prices have been at the centre of the recent riots to hit the Arab world and so it comes as no surprise that many Arab nations are working hard to avoid similar food price rises.
According to the Wikileak revelations, Bahrain increased government subsidies in an effort to off-set rising prices for lower-income families in 2008 and has promised more generous subsidies recently. Even so, this hasn’t stopped political turmoil as the tiny Gulf state has been rocked by explosive protests this month that left seven dead and hundreds injured when troops opened fire on protesters.
Bahrain, which has a population of just over 1 million, has struggled with rising Read more…
Wikileaks: GMO conspiracy reaches highest levels of US Government
Recent Wikileaks cables are typically associated with information leaks related to U.S. war strategy, and foreign policy, which has led some people to conclude that leaked information of this nature is a possible threat to national security.
But in this case, Wikileaks cables leaked information regarding global food policy as it relates to U.S. officials — in the highest levels of government — that involves a conspiracy with Monsanto to force the global sale and use of genetically-modified foods.
In 2007, then-U.S. ambassador to France Craig Stapleton conspired to retaliate against European countries for their anti-biotech policies. U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal the Bush administration formulated battle plans to extract revenge against Europe for refusing to use genetically modified seeds.
In the leaked cable, Stapleton writes: “Europe is Read more…
Ethiopia will soon arise to protest
WINDS OF CHANGE CONTINUES BLOWING Major developments in 6 African countries and other Arab nations. And Ethiopians fate!
Today, the drama of utmost importance is underway in different parts of the world, specially, in the North African countries. After its beginning in Tunisia, the flammable and miserable peoples voices is fast circulating from country to country. The basic demands of peoples of these nations is clear; the quest for better living conditions, jobs, respect of human and democratic rights and so on.
What makes special the current movement in Africa and the Arab world is women’s and children’s gather out in the streets to oppose the rotten regime of their country. More of less the peaceful demonstration were carried out with fruitful results in Egypt and Tunisia. On the other way, in LIBYA and Lebanon the governments use machine guns to disperse protesters. A people went out bare handed shot by government mercenaries. Though, the protesters are still going on. as the Tunisian protests were still escalating,
What we are observing in North Africa and Middle East are the results of unfolded dramas left on the society for decades. The Bahrain and Libyan Governments uses their special forces to disperse the protesters. They come up against the protesters by hiring foreign mercenaries to fire against the peaceful demonstrators.
Let’s see the blowing winds of change in these Countries
TUNISIA: When the demonstrations started on 17 December, It wasn’t expected. Just before the December protests began, WikiLeaks released internal U.S. State Department communications in Read more…
WIKILEAKS: Mexican President’s Guard Leaked Secrets To Drug Cartels
Image: AP
A Mexican army officer assigned to guard President Felipe Calderon leaked military intelligence to drug cartels, trained hit men and supplied military weapons to Los Zetas, according to a U.S. Embassy cable recently released by Wikileaks.
The U.S. Embassy cable, dated Jan. 20, 2009, says the case was the most serious security breach during the Calderon presidency and indicates that Mexico’s powerful drug cartels have infiltrated large parts of the security apparatus.
One of the main reasons that the Mexican government relies on the army to fight the cartels is Read more…
Cables show China used debt holdings to press US
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| © AFP/File |
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Leaked diplomatic cables vividly show China’s willingness to translate its massive holdings of US debt into political influence on issues ranging from Taiwan’s sovereignty to Washington’s financial policy.
China’s clout — gleaned from its nearly $900 billion stack of US debt — has been widely commented on in the United States, but sensitive cables show just how much influence Beijing has and how keen Washington is to address its rival’s concerns.
An October 2008 cable, released by WikiLeaks, showed a senior Chinese official linking questions about much-needed Chinese investment to sensitive Read more…
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