The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- France launches spy satellites aboard Russian rocket
- U.S. lifts sanctions on post-Gaddafi Libya
- Suspected WikiLeaks source appears in U.S. court
| France launches spy satellites aboard Russian rocket Posted: 16 Dec 2011 08:14 PM PST KOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) - The second Russian-built Soyuz rocket launched from French Guiana blasted off late on Friday carrying six military spy satellites, space officials said. The rocket blasted off at 11.03 p.m. (2:03 a.m. British time Saturday) from a launch pad at the European Space Agency's (ESA) launch centre near Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America. About one hour after launch, five of the satellites separated from the rocket. The first was Pleiades, a one-tonne observation satellite to be used extensively by the French defence ministry. Several minutes later, the rocket released four ELISA (Electronic Intelligence by Satellite) demonstrator satellites to test space-based mapping of radar transmitters globally for France's Defence Procurement Agency (DGA). A sixth satellite, for Chile's armed forces, is scheduled for separation at 0639 GMT (6:39 a.m. British time). The satellites will also have civilian applications. The launch was controlled by France's Arianespace rocket launch company. This was the second time that a Soyuz, which first flew in 1966 and traces its roots back even further to the earliest Cold War intercontinental ballistic missiles, was launched from outside its former Soviet bases. The first French Guiana-launched Soyuz rocket orbited the first two of Europe's Galileo global positioning satellite constellation last October. (Additional reporting by Alexander Miles, editing by Tim Pearce) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. | ||
| U.S. lifts sanctions on post-Gaddafi Libya Posted: 16 Dec 2011 08:00 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday lifted most of the economic sanctions it had in place against Libya before the fall of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi. "After careful consultation with the new Libyan government, the United States rolled back most U.S. sanctions on the government of Libya to keep our commitment to the Libyan people," the White House said in a statement.
Gaddafi's 42-year rule collapsed when his forces fled Tripoli in August and the last of the fighting in Libya ended in October when he was captured and killed by rebels. The U.S. action followed by the lifting of sanctions by the U.N. Security Council on Libya's central banks and a subsidiary. "Today's action unfreezes all government and central bank funds within U.S. jurisdiction, with limited exceptions," the White House said, adding that assets in the United States of Gaddafi family and his former aides remain frozen. (Reporting By Caren Bohan; Editing by Sandra Maler) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. | ||
| Suspected WikiLeaks source appears in U.S. court Posted: 16 Dec 2011 07:49 PM PST FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - An American Army intelligence analyst suspected of being behind the largest leak of classified documents in U.S. history made his first court appearance on Friday, sitting stone-faced as military prosecutors launched their case against him.
Private First Class Bradley Manning, 23, faces charges including aiding the enemy, which could send him to prison for life. He is suspected of being the source of documents that eventually were released on the Internet by WikiLeaks -- data dumps that Washington said jeopardized national security. Manning was quiet as he sat in the courtroom at Fort Meade, Maryland, wearing military fatigues and dark-rimmed glasses, occasionally taking notes during the pre-trial proceedings. He answered with a quick, "Yes, sir" when investigating officer, Army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza, asked him whether he understood the charges against him. After questioning Almanza, Manning attorney David Coombs announced that the defence was filing a motion for the investigating officer to recuse himself because of his work at the Department of Justice. The Justice Department is investigating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. If Justice "had its way," Coombs argued, it would get a plea from Manning that would help it "go after Assange." Almanza rejected the motion. Security was tight as media and some protesters gathered at the base, which also serves as the home of the secretive intelligence-gathering National Security Agency. WikiLeaks eventually posted online hundreds of thousands of sensitive diplomatic cables that exposed the candid views of U.S. officials and their allies. It also released about half a million classified U.S. files on the Iraq and Afghan wars. Prosecutors aim to show there is sufficient evidence to bring Manning to trial at a general court martial on 22 criminal charges. If convicted of all counts, Manning would face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment, reduction in rank to the lowest enlisted pay grade, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonourable discharge, the Army said in a statement. The most serious charge, aiding the enemy, is a capital crime that carries the death penalty but the Army has indicated it does not plan to seek that punishment. For much of the time since his detention beginning in May 2010 in Iraq, Manning was held on a charge of improperly obtaining a classified gunsight video that showed a 2007 helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists. The video was released publicly by WikiLeaks. The additional charges were brought against Manning last spring. HEARING BEFORE BIRTHDAY The proceedings began one day before Manning, a Crescent, Oklahoma, native, marked his 24th birthday. Members of the Bradley Manning Support Network demonstrated on Friday, joined by protesters from the Occupy movement's encampments in Washington and on Wall Street, the organizations said. Supporters plan a march outside the base on Saturday with Daniel Ellsberg, who released the controversial history of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers in 1971, expected to address them. Manning defenders see him as a hero. Some view the release of the cables, with their frank discussion of corruption in some countries, as having contributed to the Arab Spring protests in the Middle East. "He stands accused of doing the right thing," said Zack Pesavento, who was at Fort Meade. Some protesters held signs that read: "Free Bradley Manning" and "The Truth Will Set You Free." As the first day of hearings ended, a man with the group "Veterans for Peace" shouted inside the courtroom: "Bradley Manning, you're a hero," according to witnesses in the room. Manning, controlled throughout, didn't respond or turn around. Manning was caught after he bragged about his activities to former hacker Adrian Lamo, who turned him in to authorities, Lamo told Reuters. Lamo said Manning, who worked as an intelligence analyst for the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade in Iraq, told him he would bring in CDs and load them with downloaded data from the military's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, known as SIPRNet. In Internet chats with Lamo, Manning appears to acknowledged giving materials to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He wrote to Lamo: "I'm a high profile source ... and I've developed a relationship with Assange." Assange is in Britain fighting extradition to Sweden over accusations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former WikiLeaks volunteers in August 2010. Britain's Supreme Court said on Friday it granted permission for Assange to appeal his case. [ID:nL6E7NG2MN] (Writing by Phil Stewart and David Alexander) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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