Politics

• Wednesday, August 21st 2013 - 18:28 UTC

  Manning sentenced to 35 years for providing Wikileaks with 700.000 classified files

  

  Bradley Manning, the US soldier convicted of the biggest breach of classified data in the nation's history by providing files to WikiLeaks, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Judge Colonel Denise Lind, who last month found Manning guilty of 20 charges including espionage and theft, could have sentenced him to as many as 90 years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for 60 years.

• Wednesday, August 21st 2013 - 18:26 UTC

  Al-Jazeera despite ‘aggressive hostility’ launches TV news-channel in United States

  

  Al Jazeera is launching a new TV news channel in the United States. The network will be available in almost 48 million US households, offering 14 hours of news each day. Al Jazeera replaces Current TV, the cable television network founded by former US Vice President Al Gore, which the Qatar-owned broadcaster acquired in January 2013 for around 500m dollars.

• Wednesday, August 21st 2013 - 01:35 UTC

  Uruguay Vice-president concerned Royal Bank of Canada is leaving the country

  

  Vice-president Danilo Astori said he was surprised at the way events unfolded ending with the decision from the Royal Bank of Canada of leaving Uruguay, but also concerned about the international impact of such a move, triggered by a ‘disorderly’ raid in its offices.

• Wednesday, August 21st 2013 - 00:23 UTC

  “Devaluation of the Argentine Peso is a fact of the market”, says Lavagna

  

  Former minister and ex-presidential hopeful Roberto Lavagna warned that the Argentine economy is going through “the worst scenario possible” since the market has already adapted to the devaluation of the Peso, but the government of President Cristina Fernandez in its fantasy refuses to acknowledge it.

• Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 23:26 UTC

  Malvinas debate: Ambassador Castro describes PM Cameron as ‘a fool and completely useless’

  

  During a debate on the “Malvinas Question”, Argentine ambassador to the United Kingdom Alicia Castro launched a strong attack on Prime Minister David Cameron describing him as “a fool, dumb, and completely useless” politician, because of his comments when the election of Pope Francis.

• Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 22:41 UTC

  Gibraltar and the Falklands deny the logic of history

  

  By Simon Jenkins (*) (The Guardian) Nothing beats a gunboat. HMS Illustrious glided out of Plymouth on Monday (August 12), past HMS Victory and cheering crowds of patriots. Within a week it will be off Gibraltar, a mere cannon shot from Cape Trafalgar. The nation's breast heaves, the tears prick. The Olympic spirit is off to singe the king of Spain's beard. How dare they keep honest British citizens waiting six hours at Spanish border control? Have they forgotten the Armada?

• Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:53 UTC

  Falklands ‘under British sovereignty since 1765’, says Commissioner Drake

  

  British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands dates to 1765 and although Britain did not establish a permanent presence until 1833, it formally protested at sporadic Argentine attempts to assert sovereignty, points out Howard Drake, British High Commissioner to Canada.

• Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:49 UTC

  The Guardian forced by UK government to destroy Snowden material

  

  The British authorities forced the Guardian newspaper to destroy material leaked by Edward Snowden, its editor has revealed, calling it a “pointless” move that would not prevent further reporting on US and British surveillance programs.

• Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:45 UTC

  PM Cameron’s office was ‘kept abreast’ with the decision to detain Greenwald’s partner

  

  The Prime Minister’s office, 10 Downing Street, was “kept abreast” of the decision to detain David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who has written about US and British surveillance programs based on leaks by Edward Snowden, a spokesperson has revealed.

• Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:35 UTC

  EC agrees to send fact-finding mission to investigate Spain controls at Gibraltar border

  

  European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso and Spain’s Mariano Rajoy discussed Gibraltar on the phone and agreed that the Commission should dispatch observers to the border “as soon as possible” to examine controls on the movement of people and goods, the EC said in a statement.