WikiLeaks CableGate: December 21, Day 24

Check and update this page often for the latest news and views on the WikiLeaks saga, as well as our special report.

DECEMBER 21, DAY 24

Fact: WikiLeaks has released 1,824 of the reported 251, 287 U.S. diplomatic cables it claims to have in its possession. That means they have only released slightly less than three-fourths of one percent of the total. They have released no new cables since Monday.

[Guardian (U.K.)] Bangladeshi "Death Squad" Trained by UK Government

"The British government has been training a Bangladeshi paramilitary force condemned by human rights organizations as a 'government death squad', leaked US embassy cables have revealed."

[Guardian (U.K.)] How "Hurricane Anna Nicole" Blew Away the Bahamas

"The 'titillating details' of the 'sordid affairs' of the Anna Nicole saga 'enticed' Bahamians and changed the face of the island's politics, two confidential memos sent by the embassy in Nassau reveal."

[Guardian (U.K.)] Vatican Vetoed Holocaust Memorial over Pius XII Row

"The Vatican has withdrawn from a written agreement to join an international Holocaust memorial organization because of tensions over the activity of Pope Pius XII, the pope during the second world war, American diplomatic cables show."

[Guardian (U.K.)] Iraq Security Firms Operate "Mafia" to Inflate Prices

"Halliburton's senior executive in Iraq accused private security companies of operating a 'mafia' to artificially inflate their 'outrageous prices', according to a US cable."

[Guardian (U.K.)] McDonald's Used US to Put Pressure on El Salvador

"McDonald's tried to delay the US government's implementation of a free-trade agreement in order to put pressure on El Salvador to appoint neutral judges in a $24m (£15.5m) lawsuit it was fighting in the country. The revelation of the McDonald's strategy to ensure a fair hearing for a long-running legal battle against a former franchisee comes from a leaked US embassy cable dated 15 February 2006."

[Global Language Monitor] The word "WikiLeaks" has been declared an official English word, joining other new media entries like "Google"; "friending" (via Facebook); and "Twitter." In the case of wikileaks, the word appeared sporadically in the global media in 2006 until it has now been cited more than 300 million times. GLM standards include a minimum of 25,000 citations of a new term in the global media that encompass the English-speaking world, which now encompasses some 1.58 billion people. (In 1960, there were about 250 million English speakers, mostly in former British colonies.)

[Mashable] A generally concise, informative four-minute video on the WikiLeaks saga to date:

[TechDirt] First, the Library of Congress blocked access to Wikileaks' site. Then, the Defense Department crudely blocking access to any website that had Wikileaks in the title. Next, the Air Force blocked access to news sites, such as the NY Times, that are discussing Wikileaks. Now, the federal government is reaching out to security firms to see if they can build a firewall system to block all access to Wikileaks content from within the federal government's computer system.

[NYTimes] Details continue to emerge about the harsh conditions facing accused document leaker Bradley Manning in a military brig:

"His cell is approximately six feet wide and twelve feet in length. The cell has a bed, a drinking fountain, and a toilet. At 5 a.m. he is woken up. He is not allowed to sleep at anytime between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. If he attempts to sleep during those hours, he will be made to sit up or stand by the guards. Pfc. Manning is held in his cell for approximately 23 hours a day. He is prevented from exercising in his cell. If he attempts to do push-ups, sit-ups, or any other form of exercise he will be forced to stop. He does receive one hour of "exercise" outside of his cell daily. He is taken to an empty room and only allowed to walk."

[Der Spiegel] The German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said in an interview: "WikiLeaks is irritating and annoying for Germany, but not a threat. From an international perspective, I see their actions as totally irresponsible. One might also ask, however, if a government is acting intelligently when it organizes its entire diplomatic correspondence on a network that can be accessed by 2.5 million people.

[The Guardian] Julian Assange is understood to have sold his memoirs, to publishers Canongate in the UK and Knopf in the US. The news leaked appropriately enough via a tweet from Spanish publisher Random House Mondadori, with head of the literary division Claudio Lopez telling the world that "Manuscrito listo en marzo" -- the manuscript will be ready in March.

[AFP] Two Jordanian news websites said on Tuesday they have started to translate into Arabic WikiLeaks-released cables issued by the US embassy in Amman about Jordan and the Arab region. "AmmanNet.net and 7iber.com (ink in Arabic) began this week posting... full translations of these cables," a joint statement said.

[Yahoo! News] Upset that The Guardian published leaked information detailing the case against him in Sweden, Julian Assange may cut ties with the U.K. paper WikiLeaks originally worked with on CableGate. Assange claims that The Guardian tarnished his reputation by publishing new details Friday about the rape and sexual assault allegations made against him in Sweden, based on a leaked police report. The Times of London, a Rupert Murdoch newspaper, may become WikiLeaks new primary outlet.

[BBC] Julian Assange defended his decision to not go back to Sweden during an occasionally hostile radio interview with the BBC, saying: "The law says that I also have certain rights. I do not need to go and speak to random prosecutors around the world who simply want to have a chat and won't do it in any other standard way"

[The Guardian] "Sensitive" Canadian officials "repeatedly reminded" US diplomats about their sovereignty and that Canada was responsible for security at the Olympic Games, according to a US diplomatic cable. With the Olympics being held within 30 miles of the US border, there were numerous areas, such as airspace, where security was a shared responsibility, noted the cable, sent by the US consulate in Vancouver in January 2009.

[Vanity Fair] It seems that with every new story about the plight of Julian Assanage, we are introduced to another member of the WikiLeaks leader's legal team. Vanity Fair profiles Assange's current All-Star roster of attorneys before he hires another one and we lose track again.

[TechCrunch] Apple, Inc., has dropped the WikiLeaks app for the iPad and iPhone from its app store. The paid app was selling WikiLeaks content (available for free online) for $1.99.

[CBS via Guardian] WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has expressed doubts that he would be treated fairly under Sweden's court system, and suggests the two women leveling sexual misconduct allegations against him in that country may have been "bamboozled" by police.

Interviewed Monday by the BBC at the English estate where he's currently under "mansion arrest," Assange said he would not travel voluntarily back to Sweden to face a prosecutor's questions in the case because no formal legal proceedings had been filed.

"The law says I... have certain rights, and these rights mean that I do not need to speak to random prosecutors around the world who simply want to have a chat, and won't do it in any other standard way," Assange told the BBC's Today program.

DECEMBER 20, DAY 23

Fact: WikiLeaks has released 1,824 of the reported 251, 287 U.S. diplomatic cables it claims to have in its possession. That means they have only released slightly less than three-fourths of one percent of the total.

[Guardian (U.K.)] US Suspected Allen Stanford Long Before ECB Deal

"More than two years before he touched down in a helicopter at Lord's cricket ground bearing $20m, US diplomats were so concerned about rumors of 'bribery, money-laundering and political manipulation' surrounding Allen Stanford that they avoided contacting him or being photographed with him."

[Guardian (U.K.)] Syria Believed Israel Was Behind Sniper Killing

"It was late in the evening of 1 August 2008 in the Syrian coastal city of Tartous when the sniper fired the fatal shot. The target was General Muhammad Suleiman, President Bashar al-Assad's top security aide. Israelis, the US embassy in Damascus reported, were 'the most obvious suspects' in the assassination."

[Guardian (U.K.)] Bulgarian Nuclear Project "Dogged by Safety Concerns"