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The lawyer for accused WikiLeaks collaborator Bradley Manning suggested Monday that President Barack Obama's position on protecting government whistleblowers is hypocritical.
Obama put his signature on a new law designed to stiffen protections for whistleblowers on Nov. 27. "As President Obama was signing this bill into law, Brad and I were in a courtroom," Manning's defense attorney, David E. Coombs, said Monday at the All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, D.C., in his first public appearance since taking the case more than two years ago. "How can you reconcile the two? I don't know the answer to that question."
Manning, 24, is the Army private who allegedly gave WikiLeaks thousands of classified diplomatic cables about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, along with videos of two deadly airstrikes that killed non-combatants. When revealed by the controversial whistleblower website WikiLeaks, the documents sent diplomatic shockwaves that reverberated across the world.
Manning was eventually arrested by the Army, and he has now been charged with a variety of offenses, including "aiding the enemy," which could result in a life sentence.
At the heart of the controversy over Manning is whether his alleged actions represented those of a whistleblower uncovering serious government misdeeds -- or of a soldier who was breaking the law.
© Chip East/ReutersA vote by the United Nations general assembly has called on Israel to open its nuclear programme to weapons inspectors.
As nuclear peace talks are cancelled, overwhelming vote by general assembly calls for Israel to join nonproliferation treaty
The UN general assembly has overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling on Israel to open its nuclear programme for inspection.
The resolution, approved by a vote of 174 to six with six abstentions, calls on Israel to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) "without further delay" and open its nuclear facilities to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Those voting against were Israel, the US, Canada, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau.
Resolutions adopted by the 193-member general assembly are not legally binding but they do reflect world opinion and carry moral and political weight. And the resolution adds to pressure on Israel as it faces criticism over plans to increase settlement in the West Bank, a move seen as retaliation for the assembly recognising Palestinian statehood.
Israel refuses to confirm or deny possessing nuclear bombs though it is widely believed to have them. It has refused to join the non-proliferation treaty along with three nuclear weapon states: India, Pakistan and North Korea.
Crazed security check requirement is driving over 100 scientists to quit NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab
The scientists and engineers who are managing that remarkable vehicle, as well as the fantastically successful Cassini probe orbiting Saturn, the Kepler satellite that is discovering all those planets orbiting distant stars, and all the other various satellites and space probes launched by NASA, however, are not as free as the space probes they are running.
Thanks to the zealous wackos at the Department of Homeland Security, back in 2007 during the latter part of the Bush administration an order went out that all workers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena--an organization that is run under contract to NASA by the California Institute of Technology, had to be vetted for high security clearance in order to continue doing their jobs. Never mind that not one of them was or is engaged in secret activities (NASA is a rigorously non-military, scientific agency which not only publishes all its findings, but which invites the active participation of scientists from around the world). In order to continue working at JPL, even scientists who had been with NASA for decades were told they would need a high-level security badge just to enter the premises. To be issued that badge, they were told they would need to agree undergo an intensive FBI check that would look into their prior life history, right back to college.
The Kenyan government has banned imports of genetically modified organisms over health fears. On Wednesday, Health Minister Beth Mugo announced a ban on foods containing GM ingredients, effective immediately, pending tests on the health effects of the foods.
Ms Mugo said health officials would ensure GM foods are removed from sale while tests are ongoing. She said, "My ministry wishes to clarify the decision was based on genuine concerns that adequate research had not been done on GMOs and scientific evidence provided to prove the safety of these foods."
The health minister added, "Where there is apprehension and uncertainty regarding the safety of food products, precaution to protect the health of the people must be undertaken."
IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi made the announcement on Tuesday, adding that the Iranian armed forces enjoy full intelligence command over foreign movements in the Persian Gulf region.
Referring to the captured ScanEagle drone, the Iranian commander pointed out, "Such drones are usually launched from large aircraft carriers."
The ScanEagle drone, which has a 10ft (3m) wingspan, is a long-endurance aircraft built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.
Iran has released footage of the captured drone.
© (AFP Photo/Majid Asgaripour)The reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran, 1200 Kms south of Tehran
The Wall Street Journal alleges this week that the US has ramped-up its number of spy drone missions over the Bushehr nuclear reactor ever since fuel rods were unexpectedly discharged from the facility in October, just two months after the facility became fully operational.
The US has long voiced concern over the possible procurement of a nuclear warhead by Iranians, but surveillance has increased significantly in the weeks following the recent discovery of spent fuel rods, US officials confirm on condition of anonymity.
According to unnamed sources speaking with the paper, the Iranian government was caught moving fuel rods from the Bushehr reactor to a cooling pond during the week beginning October 22. By November 7, an independent report completed by inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the discovery.
© Shubert Ciencia via flickr"It’s the same thing that Monsanto has been doing. A few people want to control all of agriculture," says George Nayor, who unsuccessfully sued Monsanto.
Agricultural behemoth and genetically modified seed maker Dupont is preparing to send out former police officers as "soybean police" to enforce its seed patents.
As Monsanto has done in the past, DuPont will be looking for evidence that farmers have saved and replanted its Roundup Ready soybean seeds, a practice that violates that company's contract.
Bloomberg reports that Dupont has hired Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Agro Protection International to do the policing, a company which conducts farm visits to determine "appropriate usage" of seeds and to create deterrence of illegally using their client's products, the company explains.
Critics see the move as more evidence of corporate control over agriculture.
Dutch national Tanja Nijmeijer, a FARC negotiator, told reporters the talks "are going very well."
In separate sessions with the press, neither side spoke of breakthroughs in the talks, but nor was there any sign they had hit irresolvable obstacles as happened in previous peace attempts. They will reconvene in Havana on Wednesday.
The country's bloody guerrilla war, in which tens of thousands of people have died, dates back to 1964 when the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, formed as a communist agrarian movement. It turned later to the illicit drug trade, kidnappings and extortion to sustain itself.
Millions of people have been displaced by the war, which the FARC says is a fight to end Colombia's long history of social inequality.
© Mr. Fish
"We never had this problem before," she says. "We never had water from the sea come down like this."
Hurricane Sandy, if you are poor, is the Katrina of the North. It has exposed the nation's fragile, dilapidated and shoddy infrastructure, one that crumbles under minimal stress. It has highlighted the inability of utility companies, as well as state and federal agencies, to cope with the looming environmental disasters that because of the climate crisis will soon come in wave after wave. But, most important, it illustrates the depraved mentality of an oligarchic and corporate elite that, as conditions worsen, retreats into self-contained gated communities, guts basic services and abandons the wider population.
© Jim Hollander/EPAIsrael is to press ahead with development in the area known as E1 east of Jerusalem, above. The move would cut off East Jerusalem from the West Bank.
An official in the office of the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said: "Israel will continue to stand by its vital interests, even in the face of international pressure, and there will be no change in the decision that was made."
Israel announced the construction of the homes after the United Nations general assembly voted to recognise the Palestinian state.
The British prime minister's spokesman said Alistair Burt, the Foreign Office minister, had met the Israeli ambassador in London on Monday morning to complain about the new building programme, and that the Foreign Office had put out its own statement about the row. Sweden, Denmark and Spain also summoned Israeli ambassadors in protest at the plan.
Comment: Now that Israel has lost this "natural right" to West Bank territory since it formally became part of the Palestinian state, what, if anything, are Israel's Western sponsors going to do about it?
Comment: Usual sprinkling of the standard false 'Iran nuclear threat' to justify increased surveillance drones, of which Iran has just captured another.