2011-08-08 WikiLeaks Notes: Latest News on #Cablegate Releases & #WikiLeaks

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.

09:35 PM Bank of America ‘implodes’ after being sued by the American International Group (AIG) for $10 billion over an alleged "massive fraud" on mortgage debt.

WikiLeaks on the abrupt fall of BoA’s shares (via twitter):

"Did you know that VISA card used to be "Bank of AmeriCard"? That's the same Bank of America that looked at a $2M/month smear campaign

The same Bank of America, that admits to blocking, along with VISA any suspected donation to WikiLeaks from its customers and other banks.

The same Bank of America that formed an emergency team of people to clean up before a future WikiLeaks exposure of it.

The same Bank of America that has just now crashed 15% quotes.wsj.com/BAC
Correction: Crashed 17.5%
Bank of America has now lost 50% of its value in the last year.
Bank of America trading closes -20.32%"

06:00 PM Alan Moore, author of V For Vendetta, releases statement in support of Bradley Manning:

“With any legitimate trial of whistle-blower Bradley Manning still being at an unspecified date in the future, it would seem that what is presently on trial here is Western culture itself. When the persecution of an individual who has exposed an evil is pursued so ruthlessly and yet the evil itself is studiedly ignored, all of us know that there is something very wrong with the way that our society is conducting itself. And if we do not protest in the strongest terms about what is being done in our name, then we become complicit. There is no third option. Bradley Manning and others like him everywhere are vital to our continued moral health and well-being as a people, and unless we offer them our full support in their often dire and isolated circumstances, it is we, as a people, who will end up the losers.”

04:00 PM Cables obtained by El Nuevo Herald detail how Hugo Chavez controlled Venezuelan media through threats of closure, financial ruin and even violence.

03:00 PM "Adrian Lamo, Bradley Manning & the 'Hackers Wanted' Documentary – An Investigation":

Gregory Foster, after viewing the "Hackers Wanted" documentary, which was leaked to BitTorrent just before the Manning-Lamo chats allegedly began, proceeds to investigate what role the documentary might have played in the turn of events that ultimately ended in Pfc. Bradley Manning's arrest. (compiled by Kevin Gosztola)

02:10 PM "According to a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks, the release of the pirated Italian flagged tug Buccaneer may have been due to the payment of US$18.5 million to the Somali transitional government." via defenceWeb

09:20 AM Spanish edition of ‘Underground’ (book authored by Suelette Dreyfus and researched by Julian Assange) will include a chapter on the impact of the material published by WikiLeaks concerning the Couso case. (Interview with Suelette Dreyfus on the subject, in spanish.)

06:30 AM A Coast Guard officer, technically a counter-drug specialist is key official in the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana. The official has been consulted by Cuban authorities on matters such as migration negotiations and Washington offers of aid in the wake of hurricanes, and has been the recipient of their criticism of U.S. policies and practices, according to a diplomatic cable obtained by McClatchy:

One cable noted that a top Interior Ministry counter-drug official had complained that U.S. cooperation on drug interdictions was "often one-sided" and that Cuba wanted to work more closely with U.S. officials in sharing information about trafficking in the region.

Another reported in 2009 that the drug interdiction specialist had received a tongue-lashing from five top Interior Ministry officers at a meeting to discuss an alleged U.S. Coast Guard violation of Cuban waters during the emergency assistance of a U.S.-registered sailboat.

05:55 AM WikiLeaks Liberty Victoria Voltaire Award Ceremony took place on Saturday. A video of the event will be up in a few days at libertyvictoria.org.
For a lighthearted take on the ceremony, a chirpstory compiling twitter live updates.