News

Eviction

Today around 6:30 in the morning, a large police presence, consisting of national police and local police, appeared in Sol square, where the info point Sol still was present, as well as a great oil painting which some called the “new Guernika”(new version of Picasso's one at Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid) and the metal plate that read “We were asleep, we woke up, square taken”.

Since the people's assembly of Sol decided to dismantle the encampment, the info-point was a permanent stand to provide information related to the movement in the Square. Cleaning services arrived escorted by 20 riot police vans, their job was to clean everything up and leave no sign of the 15 May Revolution Movement at Sol.

Police blocking access to #Sol Square.

Reaction of people

During the day, people organized in Assemblies in Madrid to plan what to do after the eviction of Sol. It was decided to organize an attempt of re-occupation of the square at 20:00 local time.

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.

01:20 PM The Pentagon will invest up to 42 million dollars in a program that will monitor and influence social media websites, such as twitter.

The program has four specific goals:

1. Detect, classify, measure and track the (a) formation, development and spread of ideas and concepts (memes), and (b) purposeful or deceptive messaging and misinformation.
2. Recognize persuasion campaign structures and influence operations across social mediasites and communities.
3. Identify participants and intent, and measure effects of persuasion campaigns.
4. Counter messaging of detected adversary influence operations.

12:40 PM Worth reading : live tweets from today’s discussion Bradley Manning vs. the Culture of Revenge have been converted into a chirpstory by @JLLLOW.
The event took place in New South Wales, Australia, and speakers included Wendy Bacon (Centre of Independent Journalism), Dr Ben Saul (Sydney Centre for International Law) and Professor Stuart Rees (Sydney Peace Foundation).

Tennessee is planning a 'Day of Rage' at the state capitol on Tuesday, August 2 at 9:00 am, 600 Charlotte Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee.. WL Central writer, Alexa O'Brien, spoke with the organizer of the Tennessee Day of Rage, Lara Jennings, on August 1, 2011 as Jennings prepares for the protest tomorrow.

Important Information:

• USDayofRageTN on Twitter
• US Day of Rage Tennessee Facebook Event
• US Day of Rage Tennessee Facebook Group
• Email: tennessee@usdayofrage.org

One citizen. One dollar. One vote.

The US Day of Rage, a movement launched on March 10 of this year, appears to be taking off with the anger and frustration surrounding the ongoing debt crises this week. The movement describes itself as an "assymetrical self organizing political movement of ordinary citizens", believes in non-violence and principles before parties (they are not affiliated with any political organization) and is volunteer only. They encourage individual state, city, and federal demonstrations to be autonomous, except in matters affecting the whole.

Tomorrow is the first US Day of Rage protest, in Tennessee. "I have an army of teens who will help me....good kids wanting to do something about all this," said Tennessee Organizer Lara Jennings. More states are organizing every day. Currently, Kansas, Tennessee, Idaho (September 16 Day of Rage), Indiana, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Seattle, Portland and Oregon are officially planning protests, and on September 17 the #occupywallstreet protest is scheduled to create an encampment protest at what is seen by many to be the epicentre of the problem. This is being planned here on reddit as well as Twitter. The official Twitter account is announcing all of the upcoming events and has just announced 8/2 at 4:30pm Gather at the Charging Bull (Bowling Green Park) Logistics for #Sept17 #OccupyWallStreet.

Some sites are encouraging occupation of financial districts around the world on the same day.

18 year old Jake Davis was charged with five offenses under the Computer Misuse Act, the Serious Crime Act and the Criminal Law Act. He was released on bail.

Davis' lawyer admitted that his client was linked to Anonymous, but said that there was no evidence he took part in hacks.

After the court hearing, @AnonymousIRC tweeted: "http://bit.ly/obmiaW | Stay strong, @atopiary. We will continue this, as your last tweet is truth. We, the people, silent no more. #AntiSec", identifying Davis as Topiary. Shortly after his arrest, @atopiary associate @AnonymouSabu had already confirmed Topiary's arrest by tweeting: "RIP Topiary Fuck the police And as for the "doxers" you proved how clueless you ALL were when you posted he was from Sweden over 9000 times."

According to the Guardian, Davis had been arrested at a residential address in Mid Yell, a tiny settlement on Yell, a part of the Shetland Islands, on Wednesday afternoon.

There are two different types of broadband on the Shetland Islands, a BT operated connection available to the residents, which appears to be inadequate, and a system called Pathfinder North that provides some key infrastructure with fast broadband access. In Mid Yell, the junior high school has such a connection. Its website does not mention any public access to these facilities.

UPDATE:

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 Cable(s) were released today.

05:45 PM Julian Assange is scheduled to appear at the Sydney Opera House’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas on September 30, for an hour-long discussion titled ''WikiLeaks has not gone far enough''.
The appearance is likely to happen via live video link although, if possible, Julian will travel to Australia. 1 , 2

05:10 PM Free Bradley Manning rally today in Minneapolis, outside Senator Klobuchar's Office. For more information :
Free Bradley Manning Minneapolis on facebook.

04:30 PM A U.S. embassy official was told of a bribe to revoke Rio Tinto’s mining licences for the Simandou deposit in 2008, according to a report of The Times on a U.S. State Department cable, where it can be read :

"A contact at the International Finance Corporation in Washington DC said that someone had paid $US7 million to someone in the presidency as a bribe to get the Rio Tinto contract cancelled. After the contract was terminated, the $US7m cheque bounced."

MALAYSIA - A US diplomatic cable 08KUALALUMPUR806 released by WikiLeaks on July 29, 2011 documents the arrest of controversial Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, as well as how the US would respond to the arrest. Kamaruddin, a contentious figure in Malaysia, had been quite outspoken with his criticism of the incumbent government at that time.

On September 12, 2008 Kamaruddin was arrested at his residence under the Internal Security Act (ISA) – which allows for detention without trial. Kamaruddin’s arrest came days after Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi threatened to use the ISA to repress those purportedly stoking racial and religious tensions. The arrest was meant as a deterrent to the growing Internet media; it was also meant as a message to the political Opposition, which had vowed to topple Badawi’s coalition later that month.

Malaysia's on-line news sources and blogs have blossomed over recent years as an alternative to the government dominated mainstream media. This trend has only increased after the March 8 elections, in which Abdullah and his UMNO party suffered a major setback,” 08KUALALUMPUR806 stated.

08KUALALUMPUR806 states that: “the arrest is another sign of insecurity on the part of Abdullah and the UMNO party. The government’s use of ISA sends a strong warning to other opposition bloggers to curb their activities. The arrest may intimidate some activists, but it could result in a backlash by the independent media and bloggers, and increase public disaffection with Abdullah’s leadership.”

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.

05:20 PM Full Canadian WikiLeaks Task Force file now available for download.

Joe B writes in his analysis of the document:

"…The Canadian Task Force was in direct contact with the US WTF, however it appears that all the contact info for the US WTF is completely redacted. This would indicate that the Canadian Government would more knowledge about the Grand Jury investigation into WikiLeaks, Wikileaks volunteers, and Julian Assange in particular. The first mention of the WTF in the files is back in November 27, 2010."

04:35 PM In a newly released cable it is reported that the Bulgarian subsidiary of Lukoil is a sponsor of the Socialist Party.

The one area where Russia's influence is likely to grow if the BSP takes power is in the economy. Most Bulgarian companies with Russian business ties are aligned with the BSP, especially in the energy sector. The Bulgarian subsidiary of LukOil -- which pays some 20 percent of all the taxes collected in Bulgaria -- is reportedly a BSP sponsor. Similarly, Risk Engineering, the leading Bulgarian firm in the nuclear power sector, is closely tied in with Russian business interests. Beyond this, there are a whole series of "Red businesses" whose owners became wealthy by stripping the assets of state-owned industries during the previous Socialist government, and who still owe a debt of gratitude to the BSP. the cable reads.

In a completely predictable move, the Canadian government has appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada to fight their earlier two losses in a bid to extradite Abdullah Khadr to the US. Abdullah Khadr was captured and tortured by Pakistani forces who were paid $500,000 by the US for their efforts. He was held for fourteen months in a Pakistan prison without charges, and arrested again within a week of his return to Canada. He was then held without bail, pending extradition to the US, from December 2005 until his release last August 2010. In response to the application brought by Khadr's lawyer Dennis Edney, arguing that the US government's evidence against Khadr was inadmissible because it relied on information gathered under torture in Pakistan, the Ontario Superior Court's presiding judge called his treatment "both shocking and unjustifiable."

Canada's government predictably appealed and in May, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the verdict unanimously. The 33 page decision stated that to allow the extradition would amount to the Canadian courts being complacent with the torture.

The investigation into an alleged CIA black site in the Masovian village of Stare Kiejkuty has been extended by six months, a spokesperson for the Warsaw prosecutor's office confirms to Polish press agency PAP.

According to a source quoted by PAP, the prosecution requires additional evidence and is at present unable to conclude the investigation. Even though the exact nature of this evidence remains obscure, it is likely to include witness statements of the alleged victims. As Polish public TV reports, the prosecution filed a request for mutual legal assistance to the US to hear Abu Zubaida and Abd al Nashiri in this capacity, and are waiting for a reply. Both are currently held in Guantanamo.

The prosecution has already admitted that more than ten CIA flights landed in Szymany airport, which may also have carried prisoners. Whereas this fact is evident from flight plans that are now freely available on the internet, it is more difficult to establish whether prisoners were tortured inside a potential detention facility, in particular if both the alleged victims and perpetrators cannot be heard.

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.

12:30 PM A year has passed since Bradley Manning was transferred from a military jail in Kuwait to Quantico, Virginia... He is currently detained at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, still awaiting trial.

12:15 PM Cyprus government resigns "amid growing public anger over the handling of Iran-bound ammunition that exploded earlier this month and wiped out the country's main energy plant, triggering market fears that the island nation may be the next in line for a eurozone bailout." (via EUObserver)

A diplomatic cable from 2009 revealed Cyprus had been pressured by the United States to store the Iranian ammunition.

05:55 AM Julian Assange addresses this generation with an inspirational speech, screened at Splendour in the Grass festival.

"When I was twelve my family and I lived in Byron Bay. Some days I would try to climb up to the lighthouse. Earth would overhang the sea cliffs and sometimes a pebble would shift or a gull would cry and I would wonder if I was standing on the overhang.

The recent news of alleged LulzSec spokesperson Topiary's arrest took the media spotlight away from WikiLeaks supporters' demonstration against PayPal. But it also raises questions about how online laws are applied, and the credibility of those who enforce them.

While doubts remain over whether the police have arrested the right person, Topiary's twitter account has been reduced to a single tweet: "You cannot arrest an idea."

Topiary served as LulzSec's witty media front-man and his clever humour was tempered by a strong sense of justice.

"Laws are to be respected when they're fair, not obeyed without question," he said in a recent interview. "Revolution, to me, is bringing down the big guy while not forgetting to stand up for the little guy."

Topiary's arrest is just the latest in a string of arrests which are set to turn the spotlight back onto the US justice system. Many Anonymous supporters doubt the evidence being used against alleged juvenile hackers, while the WikiLeaks legal case against financial services like Visa, PayPal and Mastercard will generate even more public scrutiny.

***Update: 기사 전문에 대한 한글 번역본은 여기에 있습니다. 빠른 번역 올려주신 @makeda2 님 감사합니다!^^

On January 6th of this year, a woman in South Korea went up a jib crane numbered 85. Thirty-five meters (115 ft) above the ground, she declared a war against massive layoffs constantly carried out by one of major shipbuilding companies, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction(Hanjin).

(source)

The ‘lone protester’ Kim Jinsuk, as BBC depicts it, is the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Union’s Busan district, where Hanjin's Youngdo shipyard is located. She lives on baked sweet potatoes and porridge on the crane, relying on scarce and precious solar-powered electricity as the only line of communication between her and the world. The company has attempted several times to block food, water and electricity provided to many laid-off workers who have staged a sit-down demonstration around the crane, and people had to desperately protest the attempts every time. Scorching weather heats up the crane to the extent which one can get burned by simply touching it.

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 Cable(s) were released yesterday, and today.

* Upcoming Bradley Manning Rally and Vigil in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Monday 1st August!

* Number of people boycotting PayPal reportedly around 40.000 now... with ebay losing over one billion dollars in stock market value.

* Alexa O’Brien of WL Central interviewed about WikiLeaks, Julian Assange and WL Central on WORT in Madison, WI public radio.

* A meeting in support of Bradley Manning is scheduled for today’s evening, 7pm UK time, in London.
Alternatively if unable to be physically present, there is also the possibility to join via IRC.

More details at UK Friends of Bradley Manning.

A second wave of online protests has been launched againt PayPal, the Internet payment company whose December 2010 blocking of WikiLeaks donations provoked angry Denial Of Service (DDOS) attacks on their site. The latest protest, code-named #OpPayPal, was launched by AntiSec hacktivists, headed by Anonymous and Lulzsec, in response to recent FBI arrests of people allegedly involved in the earlier protest.

Statements posted by LulzSec and Anonymous encouraged PayPal users to close their accounts and condemned "the FBI's willingness to arrest and threaten those who are involved in ethical, modern cyber operations." The arrested individuals included a minor whose name could not be released in court, and Mercedes Renee Haefer, a 20 year old journalism student who now faces up to 15 years in prison and a maximum $500K fine.

Haefer's lawyer, Stanley L. Cohen of New York, told the media: "In the 18th century, people stood on street corners handing out pamphlets saying, 'Beware the all-powerful military and big government'. Some people listened. Some people walked away. Today, pamphleteers use the Internet."

On Wednesday July 27, 2011 five members of the Monash Refugee Action Collective (MRAC) gained access to the roof of the campus centre at the Clayton campus as part of a protest against the Gillard government’s treatment of asylum seekers. These students hung several banners over the side of the building including statements of their support for asylum seekers and their stance against both mandatory detention and the ‘Malaysian solution’.

The activists were joined by supporters on the ground that handed out leaflets and made speeches to other students. Their protest was made in conjunction with that of a group of about 20 asylum seekers who climbed on the roof of the Northern Immigration Detention Centre in Darwin on Sunday. MRAC spokesperson Declan Murphy claims that the protesting students were not officially requested to come down by campus staff until 3 pm.

The students requested they be given a means to come down safely from the rooftop, which the administration readily agreed to; however, their request to not be made to face disciplinary action was refused. The students later requested to face action as a group; Terry Hogan, Director of Client Services, spoke on behalf of campus administration, telling the students that they would face disciplinary hearings as individuals, as has been the precedent. Eventually, the students agreed to come down, and were received by their peers to a round of applause.

Mr Hogan, stated that his primary concern was getting the students down safely.

WikiLeaks' Twitter account was opened in early 2009. The first tweet dates from Feb 11 2009. Since then, WikiLeaks has used its Twitter account as one of the primary tools of its public relations: announcing leaks, informing its supporters, and issuing statements to various authorities. The WikiLeaks timeline, as written in its tweets, charts the development of the organization since early 2009.

As such, we believe that the WikiLeaks tweet timeline is a valuable historical document in its own right. The development of many of the events that continue to define WikiLeaks can be seen in incremental detail here. It also serves as a repository of links to coverage of WikiLeaks' publications which was compiled as the situation developed. Twitter's own website does not lend itself very well to reading back along the timeline. To read the first tweet, for example, you would have to scroll down for upwards of ten minutes.

As well as this there is a tweet-cap, after which Twitter no longer keeps your earliest tweets. As WikiLeaks reached this tweet-cap sometime in January 2011, the earliest WikiLeaks tweets have now started to disappear incrementally.