Worldcrunch
After spending the past five years in prison in the UK and nearly 15 years battling for his freedom, the founder of WikiLeaks is set to be released. Nonetheless, his case sends a terrifying message to any sources sitting on evidence of abuses by the government and its agencies.
-Analysis- For press-freedom advocates, Julian Assange has long been a polarizing figure. And his arrest Thursday in London once again ignited the seemingly endless debate: Is the WikiLeaks founder, who until Thursday had been holed up in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London for years, essentially a publisher — though a notably strange one — who believes in taking radical steps to expose government secrets, and who thus should be afforded the same First Amendment protections given to news organizations? Or is he a reckless traitor — and by no means a journalist — who deserves no such consideration and who […]
The first instinct is to make the connection. During the referendum in the UK back in June, the cooler heads, the let’s-try-to-work-together folk, the conventionally wise were supposed to win. But, in the end, the people advocating for Britain to “Remain” in the European Union lost. And those calling for Britain’s exit, or “Brexit,” prevailed. […]
SYRIANS FLEE ALEPPO AMID FIGHTING Up to 70,000 Syrians may be heading north to Turkey as a consequence of heavy fighting near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the figure was more likely around 40,000. “Now 10,000 new refugees are waiting in […]
SYRIA TALKS COLLAPSE Opposing sides in the Syrian conflict have accused each other of being responsible for the collapse of peace talks in Geneva yesterday. French French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that the Syrian government’s offensive near Aleppo, backed by Russia, had “torpedoed the peace efforts.” The head of the Syrian delegation, Bashar al-Jaafari, […]
EU LEADERS TO DISCUSS REFUGEE SOLUTIONS EU leaders are set to meet in Brussels today to discuss measures that could help stem the flow of refugees, with a focus on countries outside of Europe such as Turkey, Euronews reports. In a speech to German parliament this morning, Chancellor Angela Merkel said providing more support to […]
Take a tour of what the world has been saying this week…
Thursday, June 19, 2014 U.S. WANTS MALIKI GONE U.S. officials are increasing pressure on the Iraqi government, warning that the U.S. won’t intervene militarily to stop the barbaric ISIS fighters until Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki steps down, British newspaper The Independent reports. Speaking to the BBC this morning, Maliki’s spokesman rejected calls for his […]
THE CANBERRA TIMES (Australia) Worldcrunch CANBERRA – Though still holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has declared his intention to run for the Senate in his native Australia, and to launch a WikiLeaks party early next year, reports the Canberra Times. Photo – Mataparda/espenmoe In an exclusive interview with […]
Worldcrunch LONDON – Lady Gaga, fresh from a public presentation of her new perfume Fame at London’s Harrods, paid WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a five-hour visit at the nearby Ecuadorian embassy, where the famous whisteblower has been granted asylum since June. The meeting between the undisputed Queen of Twitter — Lady Gaga has recently reached […]
ANALYSIS – The announcement by Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño at a press conference that Ecuador would grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum met with cries of approval and applause from assembled journalists. As always, whenever the government of Ecuador calls an official press conference, mostly only journalists close to the government are invited. The […]