• The war scenario between Israel and Hezbollah
• Israeli drone strike kills civilian in Syrian Golan Heights - report
• Anglo-American hypocrisy: US & Britain are buying more and more oil from Russia

• Resignation of Bolivia's Evo Morales Was No Victory for Democracy, but a US-Sponsored Coup
• 'A classic coup': Bolivia's new government is a 'military regime with no constitutional authority' - Max Blumenthal
• Russian intelligence states that coup in Bolivia is an attempt to destabilize all of Latin America
• Bolivia's coup: Morales toppled not due to his failures, but due to his success
• Audios containing details of alleged coup plan and US involvement emerge amid Bolivian crisis

Haaretz, 27 Feb 2012

The WikiLeaks press statement also mentions "private intelligence staff who align themselves closely with U.S. government policies and channel tips to the Mossad - including through an information mule in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Yossi Melman, who conspired with Guardian journalist David Leigh to secretly, and in violation of WikiLeaks' contract with the Guardian, move WikiLeaks U.S. diplomatic cables to Israel."

• Julian Assange 'phoned White House to warn of risk to lives'
• We're asking one question in Assange's case: Should journalists be punished for exposing war crimes?
• Craig Murray: Your man in the public gallery - Assange hearing Day 2
• On Trump's betrayal of Julian Assange
• Assange blasts court for preventing communication with lawyers, alleges legal team is being SPIED on
• US plotted to assassinate Julian Assange, WikiLeaks attorney tells London court
• UK inexplicably bars WikiLeaks editor from extradition hearing one day after Assange handcuffed 11 times & STRIPPED twice
• Day 1 of Assange's US extradition hearing: Key facts to know

'Lies, lies and more lies': Lawyer slams day 2 of Julian Assange's US extradition hearing

As the hearing began, James Lewis QC, representing the US government, complained that the defense was receiving transcripts of court proceedings while the prosecution was not. Edward Fitzgerald QC, representing Assange, said the transcripts were privately made and they would share a copy if the prosecution paid half the costs.

At one point, journalist Kevin Gosztola, who was present in the press annex, tweeted to complain that Lewis "won't speak into the microphone" and that reporters "cannot hear a word."

Next, attention turned to WikiLeaks' 'most wanted' list of leaks it had asked for people to submit to the site. Summers said the list did not mention anything about US diplomatic cables and dismissed the "fantasy" claim that Manning uploaded the cables after seeing a request for them on that list.

To counteract the claim that Assange had recklessly released the leaks and put lives at risk (one of the prosecution's key arguments), the defense noted that Assange had partnered with major media organization to read and redact the cables, where necessary, before releasing them.

Shortly before midday, the public gallery was closed off to journalists, causing some confusion among journalists. The court rose for a short time to deal with the issue, before resuming again.

The defense continued to argue that documents Manning leaked on Iraq were "non-sensitive," would be of no use to an enemy and included no names. What's more, the defense claimed that Manning didn't require a username and passport to access the database where she obtained the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, making the US government's hacking charge false.

"The other side must have something like 100 contact hours each day," Assange said upon the conclusion of the adjournment, before adding that his legal team is being spied on.

There is already enough spying on my lawyers as it is. There are a number of unnamed embassy officials here. There are two microphones in here. What's the point of asking if I can concentrate if I can't participate?

"I am as much a participant in these proceedings as I am at Wimbledon," Assange wistfully joked while alleging that there was a microphone in the glass defendants dock.

"It is your call Madam," the prosecutors said. Defense counsel Edward Fitzgerald argued that Assange is "no threat to anyone," adding: "He is a gentle man of an intellectual nature. There's no reason for him not to sit with us."

Presiding judge Vanessa Baraitser said during the close of Tuesday's proceedings that, although Article 4.1 of the US/UK Extradition Treaty cited does forbid political extraditions, this does not, in fact, appear in the UK Extradition Act - the only legal document which has force in court.

Picking up that point on Wednesday, Fitzgerald argued that international human rights law provides jurisdiction for an abuse of process argument under Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which prohibits arbitrary detention.

Fitzgerald cited numerous precedents tying international law and the ECHR with English law in determining the legality of detention, essentially arguing that Assange's detention is illegal under all three.

The defense also argued that many of the prosecution's arguments in favor of extradition were based on international law and precedent, not English. Any subsequent acts of parliament are irrelevant when the specific defense which precludes extradition for so-called 'political offenses' is contained within the treaty signed between the US and the UK.