Foresight News rounds up the key events that need to be in your news diary this week

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen gives evidence in Parliament on the governments proposed legislation to protect people from online abuse. Haugens appearance before the Draft Online Safety Bill Joint Committee comes after she told a US Senate committee hearing earlier this month that the social media platform was divisive and harmful to childrens mental health. Committee members are likely to be particularly interested in Haugens allegations that Facebook willingly spread hate speech in the wake of calls to toughen up the Bill following the murder of Sir David Amess. Rappler CEO and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Maria Ressa gives evidence to the same committee on Wednesday.

The UNFCCC releases an update to last months Nationally Determined Contributions Synthesis report, which analysed individual nations climate action plans in the lead up to COP26 and concluded that greater ambition was required to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. The updated report covers NDCs submitted between July and October, which include those from Japan, Turkey and Israel, though a contribution from India remains notable for its absence. The update comes ahead of Tuesdays Emissions Gap Report from the UN Environment Programme, which looks at progress towards achieving national pledges and Paris Agreement goals, and the resulting gap in emissions still due to be cut.

Londons 24-hour Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is expanded to cover up to the North and South circular roads, in addition to central London. Londons Transport Commissioner Andy Byford says that the widening of the zone to Londons suburbs on Monday would be a massive tool in our battle against air pollution. Despite the new charges costing ULEZ non-compliant drivers 12.50 per day and larger cars, vans and HGVs 100 per day, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has not ruled out further measures. Khan says he will micro-target hotspots in the outer suburbs beyond the North and South Circular roads and that nothing is off the table in terms of future restrictions on vehicle use.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and the outgoing Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Nick Carter appear before the Defence Committee on Tuesday, in what promises to be a charged session on the UKs withdrawal from Afghanistan. Wallace has blasted his own department in the run up to the session over data leaks for relocated Afghan families, while General Carter has given his own withering assessment of the withdrawal. Former Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is likely to come in for heavy criticism after finding himself in a war of words with Wallace at the peak of the crisis.

Following the publication last week of the bombshell report from the special Brazilian Senate panel investigating the governments handling of the pandemic, senators on the panel are scheduled to vote on whether to adopt its findings. The most serious charges against President Jair Bolsonaro, those of homicide and genocide, were removed at the last minute, making the reports adoption today more likely. Most observers think that a criminal case against Bolsonaro is unlikely under current circumstances, though the inquiry is likely to sway at least some voters when it comes to next years presidential election.

Its a huge day in Japan, as Princess Mako finally ties the knot with her commoner fianc Kei Komuro in what is expected to be a low-key ceremony, followed by a press conference. The couple, who are due to live in New York where Komuro works as a lawyer, will be hoping the marriage puts an end to the years-long saga that is said to have caused the princess to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. Komuro, who was vilified for sporting a ponytail as he arrived back in Japan, has since removed the offending hairstyle.

Rishi Sunak (pictured) told the Conservative conference that the UKs finances needed to be fixed after the economic woes inflicted by the pandemic, and today hell set out how he intends to make the necessary repairs in the autumn Budget. The Chancellor is under pressure to show his party he remains committed to tax cuts, with a reduction to the bank profit levy reportedly in the works. Elsewhere, look out for further business incentives, a minimum wage increase, and COP26-friendly measures to help households with the cost of going green.

Sunak also sets out departmental budgets for the coming year in the Spending Review, which is the third single-year review in a row after the fiscal uncertainties of Brexit and Covid. With spending on the NHS, schools, and defence already allocated, some departments are facing the prospect of operating on even tighter budgets than in 2020/21. The Institute for Government has projected that day-to-day spending will fall in crucial areas such as policing, while local leaders last week issued a plea for long-term funding certainty for councils after dire warnings of the potential impact of rising cost pressures on public services.

The High Court holds a full hearing as the United States appeals against a ruling earlier this year that Julian Assange should not be extradited to face criminal charges. A judge ruled in January that mental health concerns meant the WikiLeaks founder should not be sent to America to face trial after allegedly hacking computers and publishing thousands of classified documents between 2010 and 2011. Numerous supporters of Assange have called on the Biden administration to stop pursing the case, claiming it is politically motivated.

Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the Facebook Connect conference on the future of augmented and virtual reality, where he is expected to formally announce plans to rebrand the company. The address follows a challenging few weeks for Facebook, including damning whistleblower testimony, a $70m (50m) fine from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and Zuckerberg himself being named in a consumer protection lawsuit in the US. Zuckerberg is expected to use the conference as an opportunity to divert attention to the future of the company and development of the metaverse.

In another COP26 warm-up event, Sadiq Khan delivers an address to the London Climate Summit which is jointly hosted by his office and London Councils. The environment has been at the forefront of the mayors policymaking in his time in City Hall; he declared a climate emergency in the capital in 2018 and has committed to making the city carbon-neutral by 2030. Todays speech is an opportunity to set out what Khan sees as Londons role in the COP, where he is due to assume the chairmanship of the C40 cities network.

The World Wildlife Foundation holds its State of the Planet Address, an immersive evening dedicated to the future of the planet held at the Tate Modern in London. This years keynote speech is delivered by former UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, renowned for leading the global diplomatic effort that culminated in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Figueres has praised the Scottish governments efforts on climate change ahead of COP26, saying it has been for many, many years, a leading country on climate change and decarbonisation.

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden meet Pope Francis at the Vatican. Taking place just days ahead of the G20 and COP26, the leaders will discuss climate change, the pandemic, and caring for the global poor. The meeting also comes amid a debate between bishops in the US over whether Biden, a practising Catholic, should be prohibited from receiving communion because of his support for abortion rights. The issue has come to the fore since the passage of Texas heartbeat abortion ban, which is being challenged in court by Bidens Department of Justice. The bishops are set to vote on the issue in November, despite Pope Francis calling on them to act as pastors and not go condemning.

A 30-day notice period to French fishermen operating in Jerseys waters, announced by Jerseys government on September 29, expires. It officially ends the post-Brexit transitional arrangement, after which all French vessels are required to have new licenses. French fishermen have been highly critical of the number of licenses issued so far, and Frances Maritime Minister Annick Girardin has implied France, and even the European Commission, may respond with counter-measures.

Italy hosts this years G20 summit in Rome, though at least four key players Russias Vladimir Putin, Chinas Xi Jinping, Japans Fumio Kishida, and Mexicos Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador arent expected to attend the two-day gathering in person. Theres plenty for leaders to discuss, including economic themes such as inflation fears, energy prices, and supply-chain issues, climate change ahead of COP26, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhat awkwardly, Italys technocratic premier Mario Draghi recently cited the UKs response as a great example of how not to deal with the crisis.

Far from the Grecian gardens of Stowe or Winston Churchills idyllic home at Chartwell, the National Trust holds its Annual General Meeting amid a bitter public power struggle. The AGM gives members the opportunity to vote for candidates to fill six vacancies for the Trusts governing council, positions which are being challenged by a grassroots group, Restore Trust. RT is backed by several high-profile conservative stakeholders and MPs and has vowed to work against perceived wokeness in the Trusts recent policymaking. The Trust has warned of the damage it faces from what it calls an ideological campaign by those who hold extreme positions and are engaged in waging a culture war on a number of fronts.

For the first time in almost two years, a capacity crowd will fill Cardiffs Principality Stadium to see Wales open their autumn series campaign against the All Blacks. Scrums outside the venue could prove to be a thing of the past however, with all 74,000 fans now required to produce a Covid pass before entry. Those with tickets to the game will either need to prove their full vaccination status or produce a negative lateral flow test. Once inside the ground the hard work truly begins cheering Wales to their first victory over New Zealand since 1953.

The COP26 summit opens in Glasgow, a year later than scheduled and at the end of two weeks of climate policy announcements and analysis. This years session marks the first review of progress under the 2015 Paris Agreement and will see countries try to agree new targets for 2030 amid stark warnings that serious action is needed to contain global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. The UK governments hopes for a successful summit have been dented by the actions of some of the bigger global emitters, with some world leaders declining to attend and leaked documents showing intense lobbying to water down recommendations on phasing out fossil fuels.

The news diary is provided in association withForesight News.

Top picture: PA Wire/PA Images

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News diary 25-31 October: Autumn Budget announced and US appeals Julian Assange extradition block - Press Gazette

The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, has lost a high court battle to prevent the US government expanding the grounds for its appeal against an earlier refusal to allow his extradition to face charges of espionage and hacking government computers.

On Wednesday, judges said the weight given to a misleading report from Assanges psychiatric expert that was submitted at the original hearing in January could form part of Washingtons full appeal in October.

Sitting in London, Lord Justice Holroyde said he believed it was arguable that Judge Vanessa Baraitser had attached too much weight to the evidence of Prof Michael Kopelman when deciding not to allow the USs appeal.

The expert had told the court he believed Assange would take his own life if extradited. But he did not include in his report the fact that Assange had fathered two children with his partner while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London a fact Assange later used in support of his bail application.

Clair Dobbin QC, for the US, argued the expert misled Baraitser, who presided over the January hearing.

Edward Fitzgerald QC, representing Assange, told the court Baraitser, having heard all of the evidence in the case, was in the best position to assess it and reach her decision.

He said Kopelmans report was given long before any court hearing and against a background of concern for the human predicament in which Assanges partner, Stella Moris, found herself at the time.

Delivering the latest decision, Holroyde said it was very unusual for an appeal court to have to consider evidence from an expert that had been accepted by a lower court, but also found to have been misleading even if the experts actions had been deemed an understandable human response designed to protect the privacy of Assanges partner and children.

The judge said that, in those circumstances, it was at least arguable that Baraitser erred in basing her conclusions on the professors evidence.

Given the importance to the administration of justice of a court being able to reply on the impartiality of an expert witness, it is in my view arguable that more detailed and critical consideration should have been given to why [the professors] understandable human response gave rise to a misleading report.

The US government had previously been allowed to appeal against Baraitsers decision on three grounds including that it was wrong in law. Assanges legal team had described the grounds as narrow and technical. The two allowed on Wednesday were additional.

During Wednesdays hearing, the US government argued Assange, 50, was not so ill that he would be unable to resist killing himself if extradited challenging Baraitsers ruling that the US authorities could not prevent Assange from finding a way to commit suicide if he was extradited.

Dobbin said the US government would seek to show that Assanges mental health problems did not meet the threshold required in law to prevent extradition.

She told the court: It really requires a mental illness of a type that the ability to resist suicide has been lost. Part of the appeal will be that Assange did not have a mental illness that came close to being of that nature and degree.

Holroyde said he would not ordinarily have allowed this to form part of the appeal on its own merits alone. But he said it must be taken in the context of the broader grounds allowed and could be argued at the full hearing.

Assange appeared at the hearing via video link from Belmarsh prison, wearing a dark face covering and a white shirt, with what appeared to be an untied burgundy tie draped around his neck.

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Julian Assange loses court battle to stop US expanding ...

It is an issue of the abuses enabled by powerful men who believe that their power is unlimited, Philip Giraldi writes.

An English friend recently learned about the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plan to either kidnap or kill journalist Julian Assange and quipped Ill bet hes happy to be safe and sound in Belmarsh Prison if he has a chance to read about that! I replied that his time in Belmarsh has been made as demeaning as possible by an English judge and the British are just as capable of executing a Jeffrey Epstein suicide or accident if called upon to do so by their American cousins. He agreed, reluctantly. Indeed, the roles of American allies Britain and Australia in what is turning out to be one of the worlds longest-playing judicial dramas has been reprehensible.

For those readers who have missed some of the fun of the Assange saga, a recap is in order. Julian Assange, an Australian citizen who was living in London, was the Editor in Chief and driving force behind Wikileaks, which debuted in 2006 and was one of the alternative news sites that have sprung up over the past twenty years. WikiLeaks was somewhat unique in that it often did not write up its own stories but rather was passed documentary material by sources in government and elsewhere that it then reprinted without any editing.

Assange attracted the ire of the ruling class when he obtained in 2010 a classified video from an unidentified source that showed an unprovoked 2007 shooting incident involving U.S. Army helicopters in Baghdad in which a dozen completely innocent people were killed. The governments anger at WikiLeaks intensified when, in 2013, Edward Snowden, a National Security Agency contractor, fled to Hong Kong with classified material that demonstrated that the U.S. government wasillegallyspying on Americans. WikiLeaks also reportedly helped to arrange Snowdens subsequent escape to Russia from Hong Kong.

The bipartisan animus directed against WikiLeaks intensified still further in the summer of 2016 when the groups website began to release emails from the Democratic Party and Hillary Clintons campaign. The immediate conclusion propagated by Team Hillary but unsupported by facts was that Russian intelligence had hacked the emails and given them to WikiLeaks.

It was perhaps inevitable that Assanges reporting, which has never been found to be factually inaccurate, was in some circles claimed to be based on information provided to him by Russian hackers. Even though he repeatedly denied that that was the case and there are technical reasons why that was unlikely or even impossible, this led to a sharp Russophobic response from a number of intelligence and law enforcement services close to the United States. Assange was charged in Britain in November 2010 on an international warrant demanding that he be extradited to Sweden over claims that he had committed rape in that country, an accusation which later turned out to be false. He posted bail but lost a legal battle to annul the warrant and then skipped a preliminary hearing in London in June 2012 to accept asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy, which has diplomatic immunity. He stayed in the Embassy for eighty-two months, at which point a new government in Quito made clear that his asylum would be revoked and he would be expelled from the building. He was preparing to leave voluntarily in April 2019 when police arrived and he was arrested on a charge of his failure to appear in court seven years before which was regarded as bail jumping. He was sent immediately to Belmarsh high security prison, where Britains terrorist prisoners are confined.

After his arrest, Assange continued to be incarcerated due to a U.S. Justice Department extradition request based on the Espionage Act of 1918, apparently derived from possible interaction with the Chelsea Manning whistleblower case. Assange has now been in Belmarsh for 29 months in spite of increasing international pressure asserting that he is a journalist and should be released. The British have hesitated to extradite him on the basis of the evidence produced by the U.S. government, which included the claim that Assange aided the former U.S. Army analyst Manning break into a classified computer network in order to obtain and eventually publish classified material, but they have likewise failed to release him. The British judge denied extradition in January, suggesting that if he were to be returned forcibly to the U.S. he would likely commit suicide, but she also denied Assange bail as he was considered to be a flight risk. The U.S. appealed that verdict and the next hearing is scheduled for the end of October. It should be noted that no evidence produced by the Justice Department has plausibly linked Assange to the Russian intelligence services.

Which brings us to the Yahoo news revelation regarding the CIA plot toshoot, poison or kidnap Assangewhile he was sheltering in the Ecuadorian Embassy. It goes something like this: in 2017, Assanges fifth year in the Embassy, the CIA debated going after him to end the alleged threat posed to government secrets by him and his organization, which was still operating and presumed to be in contact with him. WikiLeaks had at that time beenpublishingextremely sensitive CIA hacking tools, referred to as Vault 7, whichconstitutedthe largest data loss in CIA history.

In an April 2017 speech, Donald Trumps new CIA Director Mike Pompeo said WikiLeaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service and has encouraged its followers to find jobs at the CIA in order to obtain intelligence. Its time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia. It was a declaration of war. The label non-state hostile intelligence service is a legal designation which more-or-less opened the door to non-conventional responses to eliminate the threat. CIA Stations where WikiLeaks associates were known to be present were directed to increase surveillance on them and also attempt to interdict any communications they might seek to have with Assange himself in the embassy. A staff of analysts referred to as the WikiLeaks Team worked full time to target the organization and its leaders.

At the top level of the Agency debate over more extreme options prevailed, though there were legitimate concerns about the legality of what was being contemplated. In late 2017, in the midst of the debate over possible kidnapping and/or assassination, the Agency picked up alarming though unsubstantiated reports that Russian intelligence operatives were preparing plans to help Assange escape from the United Kingdom and fly him to Moscow.

CIA responded by preparing to foil Assanges possible Russian-assisted departure to include potential gun battles with Moscows spies on the streets of London or crashing a car into any Russian diplomatic vehicle transporting Assange to seize him. One scenario even included either blocking the runway or shooting out the tires of any Russian plane believed to be carrying Assange before it could take off for Moscow. Pompeo himself reportedly favored what is referred to as a rendition, which would consist of breaking into the Ecuadorian Embassy, kidnapping Assange, and flying him clandestinely to the U.S. for trial. Others in the national security team favored killing Assange rather than going through the complexity of kidnapping and removing him. Fortunately, saner views prevailed, particularly when the British refused to cooperate in any way with activity they regarded as clearly illegal.

So Assange is still in prison and what does it all mean? The only possible charge that would convincingly demonstrate that Assange was spy paid by Russia would be related to his possibly helping Chelsea Manning to circumvent security to steal classified material, but there is no real evidence that Assange actually did that or that he is under Russian control. So that makes him a journalist. That he has embarrassed the United States, most often when it misbehaves, is what good journalists do. But beyond that the disgraceful CIA plans to kill or abduct Assange as an option to get rid of him reveal yet again the dark side of what the United States of America has become since 9/11.

More to the point, getting rid of Assange will accomplish nothing. He worked with a number of like-minded colleagues who have been more than able to pick up where he left off. He has been largely incommunicado since he has been languishing in Belmarsh Prison and it is his associates who have continued to solicit information and publish it on their site. Mike Pompeosunapologetic responseto this assassination or kidnapping story was They were engaged in active efforts to steal secrets themselves, and pay others to do the same Of course, if all that were true Mike and the government lawyers have had an opportunity to demonstrate just that in a British court. They couldnt do so and instead promoted the easier option of just killing someone for publishing something true. And assassination is a blunt instrument that rarely accomplishes anything. One recalls that in January 2020 Pompeo certainly participated in the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi Militia Leader Muhandis in Baghdad. What did that accomplish apart from turning a nominally friendly Iraq hostile to the U.S. presence?

Or, as Assanges lawyer put it more to the point, As an American citizen, I find it absolutely outrageous that our government would be contemplating kidnapping or assassinating somebody without any judicial process simply because he had published truthful information. Unfortunately, that is not all that the Assange case is about. It is not just a question of truth or fiction and journalistic ethics, but rather an issue of the abuses enabled by powerful men who believe that their power is unlimited. That is the real abyss that the United States has fallen into and the only way out is to finally hold such people, starting with Pompeo, accountable for what they have done.

The views of individual contributors do not necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation.

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Silencing Julian Assange: Why Bother With a Trial When You ...

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Three years ago, on 2 October 2018, a team of Saudi officials murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The purpose of the killing was to silence Khashoggi and to frighten critics of the Saudi regime by showing that it would pursue and punish them as though they were agents of a foreign power.

It was revealed this week that a year before the Khashoggi killing in 2017, the CIA had plotted to kidnap or assassinate Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, who had taken refuge five years earlier in the Ecuador embassy in London. A senior US counter-intelligence official said that plans for the forcible rendition of Assange to the US were discussed at the highest levels of the Trump administration. The informant was one of more than 30 US officials eight of whom confirmed details of the abduction proposal quoted in a 7,500-word investigation by Yahoo News into the CIA campaign against Assange.

The plan was to break into the embassy, drag [Assange] out and bring him to where we want, recalled a former intelligence official. Another informant said that he was briefed about a meeting in the spring of 2017 at which President Trump had asked if the CIA could assassinate Assange and provide options about how this could be done. Trump has denied that he did so.

The Trump-appointed head of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, saidpublicly that he would target Assange and WikiLeaks as the equivalent of a hostile intelligence service. Apologists for the CIA say that freedom of the press was not under threat because Assange and the WikiLeaks activists were not real journalists. Top intelligence officials intended to decide themselveswho is and who is not a journalist, and lobbied the White House to redefine other high-profile journalists as information brokers, who were to be targeted as if they were agents of a foreign power.

Among those against whom the CIA reportedly wanted to take action were Glenn Greenwald, a founder of the Intercept magazine and a former Guardian columnist, and Laura Poitras, a documentary film-maker. The arguments for doing so were similar to those employed by the Chinese government for suppressing dissent in Hong Kong, which has been much criticised in the West. Imprisoning journalists as spies has always been the norm in authoritarian countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, while denouncingthe free press as unpatriotic is a more recent hallmark of nationalist populist governments that have taken power all over the world.

It is possible to give only a brief precis of the extraordinary story exposed by Yahoo News, but the journalists who wrote it Zach Dorfman, Sean D Naylor and Michael Isikoff ought to scoop every journalistic prize. Their disclosures should be of particular interestin Britain because it was in the streets of central London that the CIA was planning an extra-judicial assault on an embassy, the abduction of a foreign national, and his secret rendition to the US, with the alternative option of killing him. These were not the crackpot ideas of low-level intelligence officials, but were reportedly operations that Pompeo and the agency fully intended to carry out.

This riveting and important story based on multiple sources might be expected to attract extensive coverage and widespread editorial comment in the British media, not to mention in parliament. Many newspapers have dutifully carried summaries of the investigation, but there has been no furor. Striking gaps in the coverage include the BBC, which only reported it, so far as I can see, as part of its Somali service. Channel 4, normally so swift to defend freedom of expression, apparently did not mention the story at all.

In the event, the embassy attack never took place, despite the advanced planning. There was a discussion with the Brits about turning the other cheek or looking the other way when a team of guys went inside and did a rendition, said a former senior US counter-intelligence official, who added that the British had refused to allow the operation to take place.

But the British government did carry out its own less melodramatic, but more effective measure against Assange, removing him from the embassy on 11 April 2019 after a new Ecuador government had revoked his asylum. He remains in Belmarsh top security prison two-and-a-half years later while the US appeals a judicial decision not to extradite him to the US on the grounds that he would be a suicide risk.

If he were to be extradited, he would face 175 years in prison. It is important, however, to understand, that only five of these would be under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, while the other 170 potential years are under the Espionage Act of 1917, passed during the height of the patriotic war fever as the US entered the First World War.

Only a single minor charge against Assange relates to the WikiLeaks disclosure in 2010 of a trove of US diplomatic cables and army reports relating to the Iraq and Afghan wars. The other 17 charges are to do with labeling normal journalistic investigation as the equivalent of spying.

Pompeos determination to conflate journalistic inquiry with espionage has particular relevance in Britain, because the home secretary, Priti Patel, wants to do much the same thing. She proposes updating the Official Secrets Act so that journalists, whistle-blowers and leakers could face sentences of up to 14 years in prison. A consultative paper issued in May titledLegislation to Counter State Threats (Hostile State Activity)redefines espionage as the covert process of obtaining sensitive confidential information that is not normally publicly available.

The true reason the scoop about the CIAs plot to kidnap or kill Assange has been largely ignored or downplayed is rather that he is unfairly shunned as a pariah by all political persuasions: left, right and centre.

To give but two examples, the US government has gone on claiming that the disclosures by WikiLeaks in 2010 put the lives of US agents in danger. Yet the US Army admitted in a court hearing in 2013 that a team of 120 counter-intelligence officers had failed to find a single person in Iraq and Afghanistan who had died because of the disclosures by WikiLeaks. As regards the rape allegations in Sweden, many feel that these alone should deny Assange any claim to be a martyr in the cause of press freedom. Yet the Swedish prosecutor only carried out a preliminary investigation and no charges were brought.

Assange is a classic victim of cancel culture, so demonised that he can no longer get a hearing,even when a government plots to kidnap or murder him.

In reality, Khashoggi and Assange were pursued relentlessly by the state because they fulfilled the primary duty of journalists: finding out important information that the government would like to keep secret and disclosing it to the public.

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The CIA Plot to Kidnap or Kill Julian Assange in London is ...

Julian Assange 2021

The government is accusing him of violating federal espionage laws, a move that's raising questions for journalists in the digital age. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects. Ecuador has decided to grant julian assange political asylum, in a move meant to prevent the wikileaks founder from being extradited to sweden where he is. By mikael rickns idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's e. By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's. The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven years. Federal prosecutors say assange should be sent to the us to answer charges of working with former army intelligence analyst chelsea manning to steal and publish secrets. The washington post reports that. The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven yea.

The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven yea. Ecuador has decided to grant julian assange political asylum, in a move meant to prevent the wikileaks founder from being extradited to sweden where he is. Assange and ecuador have been at loggerheads for some time. While today is a major victory for assange, it is believed the u.s. These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroomdefining topics of seismic importance to the global economy.

Julian Assange: Pressefreiheit vor Gericht The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven years. Ecuador has decided to grant julian assange political asylum, in a move meant to prevent the wikileaks founder from being extradited to sweden where he is. Federal prosecutors say assange should be sent to the us to answer charges of working with former army intelligence analyst chelsea manning to steal and publish secrets. By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's. The government is accusing him of violating federal espionage laws, a move that's raising questions for journalists in the digital age. Assange and ecuador have been at loggerheads for some time. These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroomdefining topics of seismic importance to the global economy.

The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven years. These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroomdefining topics of seismic importance to the global economy. The government is accusing him of violating federal espionage laws, a move that's raising questions for journalists in the digital age. Ecuador has decided to grant julian assange political asylum, in a move meant to prevent the wikileaks founder from being extradited to sweden where he is. Federal prosecutors say assange should be sent to the us to answer charges of working with former army intelligence analyst chelsea manning to steal and publish secrets. By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's.

Assange and ecuador have been at loggerheads for some time. By mikael rickns idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's e. Ecuador has decided to grant julian assange political asylum, in a move meant to prevent the wikileaks founder from being extradited to sweden where he is. Whether you prefer the convenience of an electric can opener or you're perfectly fine with the simplicity of manual models, a can opener is an indispensable kitchen tool you can't live without unless you plan to never eat canned foods.

Amal Clooney " Wikipdia The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven years. Assange and ecuador have been at loggerheads for some time. Federal prosecutors say assange should be sent to the us to answer charges of working with former army intelligence analyst chelsea manning to steal and publish secrets. By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's. The washington post reports that. The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven yea. The government is accusing him of violating federal espionage laws, a move that's raising questions for journalists in the digital age. Ecuador has decided to grant julian assange political asylum, in a move meant to prevent the wikileaks founder from being extradited to sweden where he is. Will move quickly to appeal the ruling. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects.

These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects. Ecuador has decided to grant julian assange political asylum, in a move meant to prevent the wikileaks founder from being extradited to sweden where he is. By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's. The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven yea. These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroomdefining topics. Federal prosecutors say assange should be sent to the us to answer charges of working with former army intelligence analyst chelsea manning to steal and publish secrets. Will move quickly to appeal the ruling. By mikael rickns idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's e. Wikileaks founder juilan assange is unlikely to face charges by the u.s.

These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroomdefining topics. Wikileaks founder juilan assange is unlikely to face charges by the u.s. Assange and ecuador have been at loggerheads for some time. By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's. Will move quickly to appeal the ruling. Wikileaks founder julian assange has requested political asylum from the government of ecuador, and is under the protection of the country's embassy in london.

Bilderstrecke zu: Fotoalben von Wehrmachtssoldaten Federal prosecutors say assange should be sent to the us to answer charges of working with former army intelligence analyst chelsea manning to steal and publish secrets. The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven yea. These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroomdefining topics. While today is a major victory for assange, it is believed the u.s. Whether you prefer the convenience of an electric can opener or you're perfectly fine with the simplicity of manual models, a can opener is an indispensable kitchen tool you can't live without unless you plan to never eat canned foods. By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's.

These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroomdefining topics. The washington post reports that. The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven yea. Ecuador has decided to grant julian assange political asylum, in a move meant to prevent the wikileaks founder from being extradited to sweden where he is.

Julian Assange 2021 - New $484B Relief Bill Lacks Funds for Food Aid, Rent. Wikileaks founder juilan assange is unlikely to face charges by the u.s. By mikael rickns idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's e. Will move quickly to appeal the ruling. The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven yea. The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven years.

By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects.

These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroomdefining topics of seismic importance to the global economy. Whether you prefer the convenience of an electric can opener or you're perfectly fine with the simplicity of manual models, a can opener is an indispensable kitchen tool you can't live without unless you plan to never eat canned foods. By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's.

By john ribeiro idg news service | today's best tech deals picked by pcworld's. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects. While today is a major victory for assange, it is believed the u.s.

Will move quickly to appeal the ruling. While today is a major victory for assange, it is believed the u.s.

The washington post reports that.

Whether you prefer the convenience of an electric can opener or you're perfectly fine with the simplicity of manual models, a can opener is an indispensable kitchen tool you can't live without unless you plan to never eat canned foods.

The government is accusing him of violating federal espionage laws, a move that's raising questions for journalists in the digital age. The wikileaks founder was taken into custody from the ecuadorian embassy in london where he had spent nearly seven yea. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects.

Assange and ecuador have been at loggerheads for some time. The government is accusing him of violating federal espionage laws, a move that's raising questions for journalists in the digital age.

Link:

Julian Assange 2021 - New $484B Relief Bill Lacks Funds ...

Living through a once-in-a-century pandemic has certainly been taxing, even more so for the progression of womens rights. When times get tough, sometimes the ultimate pick-me-up can only be found in thought-provoking women empowerment quotes.

Dont be discouraged by thinking these powerful phrases are only of benefit to women. Everyone has so much to profit from dismantling age-old gender norms the world could even be US$12 trillion better off.

A McKinsey Global Institute report in 2015 found that by narrowing the global gender gap there could be great multitrillion-dollar economic benefits to be shared where a 26 per cent boost could be added to the global gross domestic profit by 2025.

From increasing diversity in the workplace (which leads to increased productivity) to boosting business, equality creates opportunities for everyone.

Take it from these celebrated trailblazers who have overcome barriers to reach extraordinary heights. Let these women empowerment quotes inspire you to make a positive difference and fuel your vision for greater success.

Gained notoriety as: the worlds youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate (at 17 years old) having survived a Taliban attack on her school in Afghanistan.

I raise up my voice not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.

Known as: an esteemed human rights lawyer who took the first case against terrorist organisation ISIS to court for genocide crimes as well as representing several high profile clients including WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange.

The worst thing that we can do as women is not stand up for each other, and this is something we can practice every day, no matter where we are and what we do women sticking up for other women, choosing to protect and celebrate each other instead of competing or criticising one another.

Influential for: being an Academy Award winning actress and outspoken activist on world affairs including the Vietnam War and aligning herself with African Americans against police brutality in the 1970s.

Feminism is not just about women; its about letting all people live fuller lives.

An influential: author who worked as a civil rights activist for Dr Martin Luther King Jr and was the first female inaugural poet in US presidential history when she recited her poem for former president Bill Clintons 1993 inauguration.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

Influential for: becoming the US Supreme Courts second female justice (there have only ever been four), advocating for womens rights and the first justice to officiate a same-sex marriage.

Women belong in all places where decisions are made It shouldnt be that women are the exception.

Renowned for: her stellar tennis career where she has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles in her career.

Every womans success should be an inspiration to another. Were strongest when we cheer each other on.

Influential for: Co-founding the worlds largest private charitable foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, being a passionate advocate for children living in poverty and becoming the first woman to donate more than US$40 billion, as reported by CNBC.

Gender diversity is not just good for women; its good for anyone who wants results.

Gained notoriety as: one of the worlds most renowned feminists when she published an article in 1969 called After Black Power, Womens Liberation sparking the US feminist movement.

Weve begun to raise daughters more like sons but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.

Influential for: extraordinary supermodel career where she holds a record of five cover appearances for Sports Illustrated swimsuit Issue starting in the 1980s, giving her the nickname The Body.

Im pro everyday equality, everyday celebration and everyday respect. I feel fortunate that we are not back in the days where men were seen as more powerful.

Known for: her feminist literature where her quote (below) gained global traction in 2014, which went on to be used by Victorias Secret model Adriana Lima propelling it to the Womens March in 2017.

Feminism isnt about making women stronger. Women are already strong. its about changing the way the world perceives that strength.

Influential for: being the former CEO of Pepsico, now Amazon Director an inspiring career given she was brought up during a time when Indian girls were taught only enough to get them married.

The glass ceiling will go away when women help other women break through that ceiling.

Influential for: becoming the worlds youngest self-made female billionaire in 2012 more than a decade after she founded Spanx, which promotes body positivity.

When you help a woman fulfil her potential, magic happens.

Known as: an actor who, despite starring in the Harry Potter films for 10 years, went on to graduate from Brown University, became a UN Women Goodwill ambassador and joined the board at Kering.

We need to live in a culture that values and respects and looks up to and idolises women as much as men.

Influential for: being former First Lady of the US where she advocated for poverty awareness, education and wellbeing.

Strong men, strong men, men who are truly role models, dont need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful.

Influential for: trailblazing women in Hollywood by acting, writing and directing films that showcase women supporting women while also fighting gender stereotypes through comedy.

Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Dont just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.

Influential for: her role as Facebooks COO, being the first woman on Facebooks board of directions, and leading the way in the tech industry having held senior positions at Google.

In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.

Gained notoriety as: the first woman and first woman of colour to be elected as US Vice President, also making her the highest-ranking female official in US history.

You never have to ask anyone permission to lead. When you want to lead, you lead.

Influential for: creating prominent fashion label, Tory Burch, which empowers female entrepreneurs through the Tory Burch Foundation by providing funding to tackle stereotypes holding women back.

If it doesnt scare you, youre probably not dreaming big enough.

Renowned for: being the first African American to own her own production company where she created her popular daily talk show, and her philanthropic actions such as reportedly donating US$25 million to Morehouse College.

You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.

Influential for: being the first female UK Prime Minister and was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century who was dubbed the Iron Lady due to her uncompromising leadership style.

Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you arent.

Influential for: being a multi award-winning musician and the Founder of Fenty Beauty, where LVMH bought 50 per cent of the company, making her the wealthiest female musician in the world.

Theres something so special about a woman who dominates in a mans world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no as an answer.

Gained notoriety for: redefining and influencing womens clothing after World War I by pioneering womens trousers along with innovating the womens suit and the little black dress, ultimately changing the course of fashion.

The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.

Influential for: establishing her renowned beauty business by taking bold chances such as creating a fragrance women could buy themselves all year round, opposed to only receiving perfume as a birthday gift from ones husband.

No one ever became a success without taking chances One must be able to recognise the moment and seize it without delay.

Influential for: writing the dystopian novel The Handmaids Tale , which was recently turned into an award-winning television series translated into several languages, leading her to winning a Literary Peace Prize 35 years after first publishing the book.

Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.

Influential for: becoming the first woman to serve as US Speaker of the House and for her efforts towards fighting for the people of the US by working to lower healthcare costs, increase workers pay and clean corruption.

Women are leaders everywhere you look from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes.

Influential for: being first the first female Governor of South Carolina, the first female Asian-American Governor and the first Indian American in presidential cabinet.

Some people think that you have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference. That is just not true. Often, the best thing we can do is turn down the volume. When the sound is quieter, you can actually hear what someone else is saying. And that can make a world of difference.

Influential for: paintings that audaciously touched on womens issues including abortion, birth and miscarriage, and is one of Mexicos earliest feminists.

Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.

View post:

27 of the most inspiring women empowerment quotes - The CEO Magazine

Frances Haugen. (Photo: Video Grab)

By Jonathan Cook

The enthusiasm with which much of the media and political establishment have characterized Frances Haugen as a Facebook whistleblower requires that we pause to consider what exactly we think the term whistleblower means.

Haugen has brought to the surface a fuzziness in what many of us understand by the idea of whistleblowing.

Even Russell Brand, a comedian turned soothsayer whose critical and compassionate thinking has been invaluable in clarifying our present moment, joined in the cheerleading of Haugen, calling her a brave whistleblower.

But what do Brand and other commentators mean when they use that term in relation to Haugen?

Manipulated Feeds

There are clues that Haugens whistleblowing may not be quite what we assume it is, and that two different kinds of activities are being confused because we use the same word for both.

That might not matter, except that using the term in this all-encompassing manner degrades the status and meaning of whistleblowing in ways that are likely to be harmful both to those doing real whistleblowing and to us, the potential recipients of the secrets they wish to expose.

The first clue is that there seems to be little Haugen is telling us that we do not already know either based on our own personal experiences of using social media (does anyone really not understand yet that Facebook manipulates our feeds through algorithms?) or from documentaries like The Social Dilemma, where various refugees from Silicon Valley offer dire warnings of where social media is leading society.

We did not call that movies many talking heads whistleblowers, so why has Haugen suddenly earned a status none of them deserved? (You can read my critique of The Social Dilemma here.)

But the real problem with calling Haugen a whistleblower is indicated by the fact that she has been immediately propelled to the center of a partisan political row yet another example of tribal politics that have become such a feature of the post-Trump era.

Democrats see Haugen as a hero, blowing the whistle not only on overweening tech corporations that are taking possession of our childrens minds and subverting social solidarity but that are also fuelling dangerous Trumpian delusions that paved the way to Januarys riot at the Capitol building.

Republicans, by contrast, view Haugen as a Democrat partisan, trying to breathe life into a liberal conspiracy theory about Republicans. In their view, she is bolstering a leftwing cancel culture that will see wholesome conservative values driven from the online public square.

Deep, Dark Dungeon

Lets set aside this tribalism for the moment (we will return to it soon) and consider first what we imagine whistleblowing involves.

Haugen has indeed used her position as a former employee in a hyper-powerful corporation the globe-spanning tech firm Facebook to bring to light things that were supposed to be hidden from us.

That meets most peoples basic definition of a whistleblower.

But it is significant that whistleblowers are taking on institutions far more powerful than they are. Those institutions will try to fight back, and do so in the dirtiest ways possible when their core interests are under threat. Whistleblowers typically face a cost for what they do precisely because of the position they hold in relation to the institutions they are trying to hold to account.

That is all too evident in the treatment of the bravest whistleblowers and those who assist them. Some are prosecuted, jailed and near-bankrupted (Chelsea Manning, John Kiriakou, Craig Murray), others are driven into exile (Edward Snowden), while the unluckiest are vilified and disappeared into the modern equivalent of a deep, dark dungeon (Julian Assange).

It is by virtue of their treatment that there can be little doubt all these people are whistleblowers. It is because they are telling us secrets those in power are determined to keep concealed that they are forced to go through such terrible ordeals.

We might go so far as to argue that, as a rule of thumb, the more severe the penalty faced by a whistleblower, the greater threat they pose in bringing to light what is supposed to remain forever in the dark.

Hidden Secrets

One problem with thinking of Haugen as a whistleblower is that it is far from clear that she has paid or will pay any kind of price for her disclosures.

And maybe more to the point, it seems that when she turned to 60 Minutes to help her blow the whistle on Facebook she knew she would have powerful allies right up to those occupying the White House offering her protection from any meaningful fallout from Facebook.

If reports are to be believed, she has already been signed up with the public relations firm that has represented Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman.

The support Haugen is being offered, of course, does not mean that she is not drawing attention to important matters. But it does mean that it is doubtful that whistleblowing is a helpful term to describe what she is doing.

This is not just a semantic issue. A lot hangs on how we use the term.

A proper whistleblower is trying to reveal the hidden secrets of the most powerful to bring about accountability and make our societies more transparent, safer, fairer places. Whistleblowing seeks to level the playing field between those who rule and those who are ruled.

At the national and international level, whistleblowers expose crimes and misdemeanors by the state, by corporations and by major organizations so that we can hold them to account, so that we, the people, can be empowered, and so that our increasingly hollow democracies gain a little more democratic substance.

But Haugen has done something different. Or at least she has been coopted, willingly or not, by those same establishment elements that are averse to accountability, opposed to the empowerment of ordinary people, and stand in the way of shoring up of democratic institutions.

Competing Visions

To clarify this point, we need to understand that in our societies there are two kinds of ways power can be challenged: from outside the establishment, the power structure, that dominates our lives; or from within it.

These are two different kinds of activity, with different outcomes both for the whistleblower and for us.

Scholars often refer to elites rather than one monolithic establishment to better capture the nature of power. We, as outside observers, often miss this important observation.

The establishment, in fact, any major organization, is likely to have at least two major competing groups within it, unless it is entirely authoritarian. (Even then, leaders of dictatorial regimes have to worry about plots and coups.)

There are rival visions of what the organization or state should do, how best to manage its interests and maximize its success or profits, and how best to shield it from scrutiny or reform. Those inside the organization are united in their motivation to maintain their power, but they are often divided over how that can best be achieved.

In western societies, these opposing visions typically revolve around ideas associated with liberal and conservative values. In the case of states, that simple binary is often reinforced by electoral systems that encourage two parties, two political choices, two sets of values: Democrats versus Republicans; Labour versus Conservatives; and so on.

It is part of the establishments success the way it preserves its power that it can present these two choices as meaningful.

But in reality, both choices largely support the status quo. Whichever party you vote for, you are voting for the same ideological system currently a neoliberal version of capitalism. However you cast your vote, the same set of elites stay in power, with the same kinds of corporations funding them, and with the same revolving door between the political, media and business establishments.

Elite Battles

So how does this relate to Haugen?

Our Facebook whistleblower is not helping to blow the whistle on the character of the power structure itself, or its concealed crimes, or its democratic deficit, as Manning and Snowden did.

She has not turned her back on the establishment and revealed its darkest secrets. She has simply shifted allegiances within the establishment, making new alliances in the constantly shifting battles between elites for dominance.

Which is precisely why she has been treated with such reverence by the 60 Minutes programme and other liberal corporate media and feted by Democratic party politicians. She has aided their elite faction over a rival elite faction.

Manning and Snowden challenged the very basis on which our societies are organized. They hurled a big rock into the placid lake that is the ideological background to our lives.

Manning exposed the elite consensus in support of the wests voracious war industries industries determined to control the resources of others at a terrible cost in human lives and blow to the ethical values to which we pay lip service.

Snowden, meanwhile, showed that ultimately these same elites whether Democrats or Republicans are formally in charge view us as the enemy, surveilling us in secret to ensure we can never organize to replace them.

Both Manning and Snowden threatened the national security state, and were vilified by both sides of the aisle for doing so.

No Left-Right Divide

Haugens relationship to power is different, and we can make sense of it only by understanding what Facebook is.

This tech giant stands at the center of a major elite battle: between old media and new media; between traditional, analog corporate power and new models of digital corporate power; between elites that benefit from unregulated free markets and those who gain their power from regulation.

Within Facebook itself there are battles: between those who hold to its original ambition to monetize an endlessly connected world where we all get an online loudspeaker, and those who want the platform to become even more deeply embedded within the national security state and serve its purposes.

This is not a simple Democrat versus Republican divide. Facebook and other social media platforms with their raucous effects on public discourse and their ability to amplify non-elite voices have had a polarising impact that has cut across the usual left-right lines.

The complex skirmishes between elites have been further complicated by the increasingly libertarian, free market impulses within the current Republican party establishment (in tension with the rights traditional focus on conservative and family values) and the Big Government, identity politics-obsessed impulses within the current Democratic party establishment (in tension with the lefts traditional attachment to more liberal, free speech values).

Paradoxically for many of us, Democratic elites often appear more visibly wedded to the national security state and have stronger allies within it than Republican elites. Just ask Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi how they respectively feel about the intelligence agencies.

Silicon Valley elites similarly straddle this divide, with some in favor of profiting from an online free-for-all and others in favor of tight regulation.

Secret Algorithms

Haugens whistleblowing on Facebook is simply her going public that she favors one side of this elite competition over the other. She is not batting for us, the public, she is assisting one set of elites against another set of elites.

Which is precisely why her message to 60 Minutes and Congress reduces to a simple one: more regulation of social media, more use of secret algorithms, more darkness rather than light.

Those politicians who want greater regulation of social media platforms to keep out independent voices and critical thinking; the billionaires who want to reassert their gatekeeping media power against the tech upstarts; the Silicon Valley visionaries who want to poke their digital tools deeper into our lives have all found an ally in Haugen.

She does not threaten the status quo, a status quo that continues to plunder the planets finite resources to exhaustion, that wages endless resource wars around the globe, that is driving our species to the edge of extinction. No, she is upholding a status quo that will ensure the same psychopaths remain in power, their crimes even further out of view.

That is why Haugen is not really a whistleblower, brave or otherwise. Because there is a price to pay for standing up for truth, for humanity, for life. She is simply shoring up one elite path of several to more corruption, more deceit, more suffering, more death.

Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His books include Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press) and Disappearing Palestine: Israels Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books). Visit his website http://www.jonathan-cook.net. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.

Read more:

Haugen isn't Really a 'Facebook Whistleblower' and It's Dangerous to Imagine She is - Palestine Chronicle

Julian Assange founded WikiLeaks on this day in 2006.

This article is part of Yahoo's 'On This Day' series.

Julian Assange founded WikiLeaks, an international nonprofit organisation that openly published news leaks and classified information, 15 years ago.

The move shook the media industry, changing the nature of whistleblowing and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "freedom of information".

WikiLeaks describes its goal as to bring important news and information to the public.

One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth, its website says.

The website, which is not associated with Wikipedia, features an anonymous "drop box", with a goal of ensuring that whistleblowers can submit classified information to the site without fear of prosecution.

On this day in 2006, the wikileaks.org domain name was registered.

A series of controversial leaks soon made their way to the site.

In November 2007, operating procedures for Guantanamo Bay were published on the site, showing that the US army were keeping prisoners from Red Cross inspectors and holding new prisoners in isolation for two weeks to make them more compliant.

In 2008, sensitive information from the Church of Scientology was featured on the site, including secret Bibles and notes from founder L Ron Hubbard. The church threatened legal action following the leak.

In 2009, more than 500,000 confidential messages regarding the 9/11 terrorist attacks made their way to the site, including exchanges from the Pentagon, the FBI, FEMA and the NYPD, showing their response to the disaster.

In 2010 WikiLeaks released leaked video from a US helicopter showing an airstrike that killed civilians in Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff.

Later that same year saw half a million documents relating to the US Iraq and Afghanistan wars being published, including information about civilian deaths and sensitive data pertaining to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

Story continues

Famously, a 2016 leak also saw 20,000 Democratic National Committee emails make their way to WikiLeaks, which US intelligence later determined had been stolen by Russian hackers.

The emails showed that Democratic representatives favoured Hillary Clinton over opponent Bernie Sanders, and had provided her with debate questions in advance.

Assange, born in Townsville, Australia, had long been interested in computers and hacking.

In 1987, at the age of 16, Assange began hacking under the name Mendax, which would put him on the polices radar.

By 1993, Assange was using his computing skills to help the Victoria Police Child Exploitation Unit to track down individuals responsible for the publishing and distribution of child pornography.

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Assange was inspired by Daniel Ellsbergs 1971 release of the Pentagon Papers, but noted that two years had passed between Ellsbergs "leak" and media coverage.

Seeking to streamline the whistle-blowing process, Assange built a design for WikiLeaks in Australia, but quickly moved servers to Sweden, before expanding to several other countries in response to press-protection laws.

On October 4, 2006 Assange registered the wikileaks.org domain name and by December, WikiLeaks had published its first document a decision to assassinate government officials, signed by a prominent Somali political figure.

The International Federation of Journalists has called WikiLeaks a new breed of media organisation that offers important opportunities for media organisations".

Even now, 15 years since its inception, WikiLeaks still remains a point of contention with many who cannot agree whether Assange is a champion of the press, or a dangerous threat to national security.

Regardless, Julian Assange has been subject to a number of investigations since the site's inception, and has recently been the target of an alleged kidnapping plot.

Following two sexual assault accusations in Sweden, Assange sought political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012.

In April 2019 he left the embassy and was arrested by UK authorities for skipping bail.

He has remained in Belmarsh maximum security prison in London ever since.

The investigation into the sexual assault allegations has now been dropped by Swedish authorities.

In June 2019, the US Justice Department formally asked Britain to extradite Assange to the US to face charges that he conspired to hack government computers and violated an espionage law.

Watch: Julian Assange's partner seeks an end to 'nightmare'

In April 2010, when Julian Assange appeared at the National Press Club to release a classified video depicting a U.S. military helicopter killing 18 people, he was hailed in some circles as a hero.

More than a decade later, new reporting revealed the depths of the CIAs war against Assange and WikiLeaks during the Trump administration.

Read more: Kidnapping, assassination and a London shoot-out: Inside the CIA's secret war plans against WikiLeaks

In January 2021, a UK court concluded it would be oppressive to extradite him to the US because of his frail mental health, saying there was a real risk he would take his own life.

The US has since appealed this ruling and the court case continues and a full appeal hearing is scheduled for 27 October.

In spite of the controversy, the WikiLeaks site is still live, and continues to be accessed by millions of people around the world.

The rest is here:

What have been the biggest revelations to come from WikiLeaks? - Yahoo News UK

1539: Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves.

1669: Death of Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn aged 66.

1777: General George Washingtons troops attack and are defeated by the British at Germantown, Pennsylvania.

1809: Spencer Perceval becomes Prime Minister after William Cavendish Bentinck, Duke of Portland, retires due to ill health.

1824: Mexico becomes a republic.

1854: Abraham Lincoln makes his first political speech at the Illinois State Fair.

1883: The Orient Express departs on its first official journey from Paris to Istanbul.

1910: Portugal becomes a republic and King Manuel II flees to England.

1911: The first escalator installed on the London Underground at Earls Court Station.

1914: French & British fleet bombards Turkish forts in the Dardanelles.

1921: The League of Nations refuses to assist starving Russians.

1922: Austria gains independence.

1927: Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting Mt. Rushmore.

1933: Esquire magazine is first published.

1940: Hitler and Mussolini confer at the Brenner Pass in the Alps.

1943: Corsica is freed by the Free French.

1944: British troops land on the Greek mainland.

1953: Briton Jim Peters sets a world marathon record of 2:18:34.8 in the Turku Marathon in Finland.

1955: Rev Sun Young Moon leaves prison in Seoul.

1957: Russian satellite Sputnik is launched into space the first man-made object ever to leave the Earths atmosphere.

1958: The French Fifth Republic is established.

1959: Soviet space probe Luna 3 sends back the first pictures of the dark side of the moon.

1962: Singles chart:

1963: The Beatles make their first appearance on the ITV show Ready Steady Go.

1965: Pope Paul VI becomes the first pope to visit the western hemisphere.

1966: Lesotho (Basutoland) gains independence from Britain.

1970: Singer Janis Joplin is found dead at the Landmark Hotel, Hollywood, after an accidental heroin overdose.

1976: British Rail begins its new 125mph High Speed Train (HST) service, the Intercity 125.

1978: Country singer Tammy Wynette is abducted, beaten and held in her car for two hours by a kidnapper wearing a ski mask.

1982: Helmut Kohl is confirmed as the new chancellor of West Germany. On the same day, The Smiths make their live debut at the Ritz in Manchester, supporting Blue Rondo A La Turk.

1983: Richard Noble driving Thrust2 reaches new land speed record of 650.88mph at Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

1989: Monty Python comic Graham Chapman, dies from cancer aged 48.

1992: An Israeli Boeing 747 cargo plane crashes in the outskirts of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, setting two blocks of flats on fire and killing dozens of people.

1994: Guitarist Danny Gatton commits suicide aged 48.

2001: A Siberian Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.

2006: WikiLeaks is launched, created by internet activist Julian Assange.

2009: Album chart:

2010: Death of comedy actor Norman Wisdom aged 95.

2011: The US State Department lists the leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist with a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

2012: Michael Schumacher announces his retirement from motor racing at the end of the season.

2014: Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier, former president of Haiti, dies of a heart attack aged 63.

2017: Prime minister Theresa May suffers a nightmare speech at the Conservative Party Conference as her voice fails, a prankster interrupts and the set collapses.

BIRTHDAYS: Anne Rice, author, 80; Susan Sarandon, actress, 75; Jim Fielder, bassist, (Blood Sweat and Tears) 74; Ann Widdecombe, politician, 74; Christoph Waltz, actor, 65; Anneka Rice, TV presenter, 63; Chris Lowe, musician (Pet Shop Boys) 62; Liev Schreiber, actor, 54; Reggie Lee, actor, 46; Alicia Silverstone, actress, 45; Richard Reed Parry, multi-instrumentalist, 44; Caitriona Balfe, actress, 42; Tom Rosick, footballer, 41; Ryan Shawcross, footballer, 37; Melissa Benoist, actress, 33; Dakota Johnson, actress, 32.; Stacey Soloman, singer/TV personality, 32.

Read more:

It happened today - this day in history - October 4 - Yellow Advertiser

Cosmic Wire has Rescheduled this Exclusive Auction for Friday, October 8, 12PM-5PM, PST

Published: Oct. 4, 2021 at 9:03 PM EDT|Updated: 18 hours ago

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Because of torrential web traffic overloading and crashing its website and auction servers, Cosmic Wire has rescheduled its auction of the only remaining remnants of the original Banksy Spy Booth wall mural as a hybrid NFT to Friday, October 8 from 12pm PST 5pm PST. For more information, or to make a bid, please visit http://www.banksyspyboothnft.com.

"The crash was equal parts exhilarating and anxiety-inducing to live through in real time," says Cosmic Wire CEO Jerad Finck. "We knew there was a lot of interest surrounding the piece, we felt the energy, but had no idea it would be like this. Our server CPU hit 98% within two minutes of starting the auction causing the site to go down, followed by intermitten

t blips of life over the next several hours with hundreds of millions of hits steadily rolling in. So, we had to call it off because we didn't want legitimate bidders to miss out on this opportunity. We're back up on a designated server and look forward to the auction."

All week, Finck will be joined by "The Queen of Clubhouse" and digital marketing guru Swan Swit in various Clubhouse rooms to discuss the auction. You can follow them both on the app, or the Cosmic Wire Clubhouse here for updates and scheduled events: https://www.clubhouse.com/club/cosmic-wire

Banksy's famed Spy Booth mural appeared overnight on a wall in Cheltenham, England in 2014. The street art featured three spies with listening devices on either side of an actual telephone booth, and mysteriously vanished two years later in 2016. Two of the three eavesdropping spies are thought to be representations of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange.

In 2016, worldwide art platform Artnet published in an article by Naomi Rea, "Spy Booth was a demonstrably political work, appearing just a stone's throw away from the British Government Communications Headquarters a year after former NSA contractor and notorious whistle-blower Edward Snowden exposed the British intelligence and security organization for mining online and telephone data."Artnet also noted that the Cheltenham Borough Council had "granted the artwork retrospective planning permission and elevated the building to listed status."

Long suspected to have been destroyed, the heads of the three Spy Booth spies have been found and are included in Cosmic Wire's unique and exclusive auction. The winning bidder will receive nine original brick pieces of the wall depicting all three spies' heads, along with the provenance documents of ownership, authenticity, and chain of custody, as well as a brand new original one-of-one NFT made from a photogrammetry file created from the remaining bricks.

Cosmic Wirehas announced a partnership with Raiinmaker on the release of six additional Spy Booth inspired NFTs in support of climate change charities. 100% of the NFT royalty downstream proceeds from this partnership will be donated to Laudato Tree,American Forests, and the Coalition for Rainforest Nations whose mission is to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) to stop deforestation.

"Right now, it's critical that we all step up and do our part to help turn the tide at this important moment with climate change," said Raiinmaker founder J.D. Seraphine. "We're honored to support all the important work of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, Laudato Tree, and American Forests."

Finck says, "Banksy is one of the most infamous and provocative artists of our generation. The fact that Cosmic Wire is involved in this at all is profoundly humbling. We wanted to pay homage to the original Spy Booth, so we created a new piece of digital art based on what remains of the wall. We are genuinely excited to play a small part in time capsuling this historic moment in human culture and bringing it back to the people."

For more information, please visit http://www.banksyspyboothnft.com or http://www.cosmicwire.com.

View a mini documentary on the mural and auction here: https://youtu.be/I2Pf5JApuw4

Images (courtesy of Cosmic Wire): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qwdgo2x1c847nfg/AAC9sn0yyjJfRP-v-rwBaSLRa?dl=0

About Cosmic Wire:Cosmic Wire is a full-service entertainment company combining a marketplace, creative space and multi-platform media stage to connect artists with their fan base."Best-in-Class, Kick-Ass IP and the Iconic Artists who Create It."

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Banksy's Spy Booth Brick + NFT Auction Crashes Servers with Overwhelmingly Heavy Web Traffic - WSAZ-TV