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.
As the world mourns the Putin critic and the WikiLeaks founder faces extradition to the U.S., Spanish journalist Juan Carlos Laviana argues that while the men may not be “ordinary” journalists, they both used investigative means and technological capacity to shine a light on those in power. And they were right.
It was Jane Austen, back in 1816, who wrote that “every man is surrounded by a neighborhood of voluntary spies.” That neighborhood is getting quite a bit bigger these days as our digitized lives and economies extract ever-deepening rivers of private data from the daily lives of citizens. Of course, with that has also come […]
-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 […]
Today, the top United Nations human rights official declared that the targeting of eastern Aleppo in Syria constituted war crimes rarely seen before. “The violations and abuses suffered by people across the country, including the siege and bombardment of eastern Aleppo, are simply not tragedies; they also constitute crimes of historic proportions,” Zeid Ra’ad al […]
SPOTLIGHT: THE WORLD TUNES IN TO VEGAS It’s a favorite trope in U.S. presidential campaign coverage to say “the world is watching.” In this campaign, it comes with a heavy dose of close-the-shades embarrassment, between Donald Trump’s treatment of women and Hillary Clinton’s treatment of her emails. But as the two candidates prepare for what […]
It has finally begun. More than two years since ISIS conquered Iraq’s third-biggest city, a coalition of local ground forces, supported by U.S. air power, has launched a coordinated attack to recapture Mosul. “The time of victory has come and operations to liberate Mosul have started,” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a televised […]
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. […]
MUNICH — Over a year ago, an anonymous source contacted Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) with the following exchange: Hello. This is John Doe. Interested in data? SZ: We’re very interested. JD: There are a couple of conditions. My life is in danger. We will only chat over encrypted files. No meeting, ever. The choice of stories […]
After a devastating leak and allegations of working with oppressive regimes, the Milan technology firm’s founder responds to the critics.
Few are shocked by revelations that U.S. intelligence spied on French presidents. But if Washington wants to be a good ally, it should start with a loud and clear apology to all its snooped-on friends.
SYRIZA WINS GREEK ELECTIONAs expected, Greece’s anti-austerity party Syriza secured a resounding victory in yesterday’s general election but came just two seats short of an absolute majority in the parliamentary assembly. But the far-left party has already struck a coalition agreement with the right-wing Greek Independents, which also rejects the austerity policies that have plunged […]
The current President of the Republic mulls whether to stand against his old ally Prime Minister Erdogan in upcoming direct presidential elections. Turkey’s political future is at stake.
Western sources say Russia sought out the American whistleblower when he was on the run in Hong Kong. The Kremlin denies it.
TWITTER, WIKILEAKS Worldcrunch Bradley Manning, the heroic whistleblower for Wikleaks and devious traitor for the Pentagon, was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison by a U.S. military court in Fort Meade, Maryland. Manning had been convicted last month of 20 charges — including espionage — for handing hundreds of thousands of battlefield reports and […]
THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch Speaking at his sentencing hearing, U.S. soldier Bradley Manning, convicted of leaking a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks, said he now regrets his actions and that he was “sorry that they hurt the United States,” the Guardian reported. “I am sorry for unintended consequence of my actions. When I made […]
Worldcrunch A day after a U.S. military court convicted Bradley Manning of 20 charges — including espionage, theft and computer fraud — the world press reacted Wednesday to the WikiLeaks whistleblower judgment. Some newspapers chose to emphasize the fact that Manning was found not guilty on the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. UK […]
Duped like other international reporters, Kommersant’s correspondent took the phantom flight to Havana. Now he’s back in Moscow, as the search for Snowden continues.
– Op-Ed – BERLIN – Two people recently “disappeared” into the vastness that is China. The whole world is talking about one of them: Edward Snowden whose revelations about digital spying by the National Security Agency have fueled fear and indignation. Big Brother, your name was and is USA. Nobody is talking about photographer and […]
The National Security Agency’s spying on both its own citizens, and foreigners, has turned the idea of the “open web” on its head.
Horacio Cartes won a comfortable victory in last weekend’s election, putting the long-ruling Colorado Party back in power. But this time it may be a new brand of personality politics.
ESPRESSO (Italy); BBC, THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT (UK) Worldcrunch LONDON – Whistleblowing website WikiLeaks is back making worldwide waves, publishing 1.7 million United States government records, covering diplomatic and intelligence reports on virtually every country in the world on Monday morning. The vast collection spans from the beginning of 1973 to the end of 1976, […]
AP, CNN, REUTERS, NEW YORK TIMES (U.S.), THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch FORT MEADE– Wikileaks whistleblower, Bradley Manning pleaded guilty on Thursday to 10 of the 22 charges he is accused of in what the U.S. government calls the largest leak of classified documents in the nation’s history, writes CNN. There are many moving parts to […]
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 […]