This is a "WikiLeaks News Update", a daily news update of stories that are obviously related to WikiLeaks and also freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression. All the times are GMT.
New Cables were released today.
02:05 PM Murdoch Leaks is a new website that, as the name indicates, is accepting information on 'wrong doing relating to Rupert Murdoch's affiliated institutions'.
10:40 AM A diplomatic cable from 2009 offers insight into Canada’s approach to foreign policy in Latin America.
Former Australian prime minister John Howard's influence on Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s strategy is described in paragraph 2.
(Harper had caused controversy in 2008 when he copied parts of a Howard speech supporting U.S. led invasion of Iraq.)
…"Harper had long been favorably impressed by Australia's ability to exert outsized influence with the U.S. in particular -- and other powers as well -- by emphasizing its relations in its own neighborhood, observed Lambert, who added that PM Harper hoped to gain similar benefits for Canada by increased attention to Latin America and the Caribbean. When forming his second government after the October 2008 election, PM Harper also created the new position of Minister of State for the Americas, naming former journalist and new Conservative MP Peter Kent."
The cable also provides details on Canada’s free trade agreements with Colombia and Peru, as well as the country’s concerns with Mexico’s deteriorating security.
Finally, on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade official is cited:
"Canada -- as well as Brazil and Chile -- had appreciated U.S. efforts to de-escalate public disagreements with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, believing that the skillful handling of Chavez over the past several years had muted hemispheric criticism of U.S. policy in other areas, especially with regard to Cuba. Lambert said Canada believes that poverty feeds Chavez's success in furthering his populist ambition through ever greater centralization of power. Internationally, Chavez's tentative "alliance" with Iran was increasingly "worrying" to Canada, according to Lambert, since it has the potential to divert global attention from human rights and civil liberties. Nonetheless, with Venezuela as its third largest export market, Canada had no choice but to stay engaged with Caracas, despite increasing concerns for the investment climate in Venezuela."
10:20 AM WikiLeaks and Julian Assange are the recipients of this year’s Voltaire Award.
On the 6th August, the Voltaire Award dinner will be held in Melbourne, during which an auction is to take place. So far the list of prizes to be auctioned includes a copy of 'Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier', signed by Julian.
The event will have a keynote address by Professor Stuart Rees and Julian Assange has recorded a speech for the occasion.
09:55 AM Today marks the anniversary of the release of The Afghanistan War Logs, ‘92,201 internal records of actions by the US military in Afghanistan between January 2004 and December 2009’.
"The significance of this material is both the overarching context, that is it covers the entire war since 2004, and individual events which are also significant, or a thread of events.
So those include something like Task Force 373, an U.S. based assassination squad that goes around Afghanistan killing people on a ‘kill of capture’ list.
It includes significant events where many people were killed. For instance we are looking at an event that killed 181 people at once, some by an AC 130 gunship.
It includes detail about how the war is supported in various ways. How the political class in Kabul interfaces with U.S. military and intelligence. How their corruption is spread through that community, but also how the war is mediated by Pakistan and possibly by Iran." - Julian Assange
* WikiLeaks Press Conference following the release of the Afghanistan war logs.
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