Russia

And an agency desperate.

This likely flew under the radar for many. It happened right after the Trump upset in November 2016. The establishment still hadn't regrouped, upper management at Google were still literally shaking. Julian Assange's theory seems the most plausible. Hillary could have indeed won, but every poll put her so far in front that there was no point in wasting further campaign millions.

Russian president Vladimir Putin's annual live Q&A marathon today had a surprise guest: Edward Snowden.

Snowden, piped in via videolink, asked Putin point blank if Russia had any mass surveillance system comparable to that of the NSA.

See the clip below to hear Putin's answer.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, currently living in Russia, has agreed to cooperate with Brazil in investigating the actions of the notorious US signals surveillance agency, and is asking political asylum from Brazil in return.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden met with German Green Party MP Hans-Christian Ströbele on 31 October regarding his being a witness for a possible investigation into NSA spying in Germany.

Edward Snowden has issued a statement to the Huffington Post regarding confusion about his current situation, and Julian Assange has spoken with Australia's The Age in the same vein.

1 August 2013, 16:00 UTC

Today, Thursday 1st August at 15:50 MSK, Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia. He left Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow with WikiLeaks staffer and legal advisor Sarah Harrison who has accompanied him during his 39 day stay in the transit zone and continues to do so. Ms Harrison has remained with Mr Snowden at all times to protect his safety and security, including during his exit from Hong Kong. They departed from the airport together in a taxi and are headed to a secure, confidential place.

MOSCOW - Edward Snowden has left the airport in Moscow, according to the WikiLeaks Twitter feed.

Gordon Humphrey served in the US Senate for 12 years and was a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Judiciary Committee. The exchange below was shared with Glenn Greenwald.

Edward Joseph Snowden delivered a statement to human rights organizations and individuals at Sheremetyevo airport at 5pm Moscow time today, Friday 12th July.

The meeting lasted 45 minutes. The human rights organizations included Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and were given the opportunity afterwards to ask Mr Snowden questions. The Human Rights Watch representative used this opportunity to tell Mr Snowden that on her way to the airport she had received a call from the US Ambassador to Russia, who asked her to relay to Mr Snowden that the US Government does not categorise Mr Snowden as a whistleblower and that he has broken United States law. This further proves the United States Government's persecution of Mr Snowden and therefore that his right to seek and accept asylum should be upheld. Seated to the left of Mr. Snowden was Sarah Harrison, a legal advisor in this matter from WikiLeaks and to Mr Snowden's right, a translator.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has now been offered asylum in three American countries: Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. He has applied for asylum in six additional countries, according to WikiLeaks. And his chances for reaching a safe haven are growing further because of US interference in the process, according to Michael Bochenek, director of law and policy at Amnesty International.

This month, Russian Pioneer magazine reportedly awarded WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange the "Grand Prix" in the publication's second annual literary competition.

Assange received the prize for his essay "Washington vs. Mankind".

Winners were said to receive bicycles and bottles of cognac during an award ceremony held at a gallery in Gorky Park.

WikiLeaks News:

• Today marks the 500th day of the unlawful financial blockade against WikiLeaks by MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, Bank of America, and Western Union. WikiLeaks has lost 95% of their revenue because of this blockade. Find out how you can donate at the WikiLeaks website.

• WikiLeaks lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC and Australian Attorney-General Nicola Roxon were among the panelists on Australian TV show "Q and A" last night, where WikiLeaks and Julian Assange was discussed. An audience poll showed 79% believe the Australian government is not doing enough to support Julian Assange. At one point, Roxon falsely stated that Julian Assange had fled from Sweden. Watch the full segment below.
  

• WikiLeaks announced that the first episode of Julian Assange's 12-part talk show, "The World Tomorrow," will premiere April 17 on RT, 11:30AM GMT (see below for times worldwide). Here are some highlights of the announcement:
  • Official website for "The World Tomorrow."
  • Official video page for "The World Tomorrow."
  • The official hashtag on Twitter is #ExpectAssange.
  • The opening and ending themes have been composed by award-winning British-Sri Lankan hip hop artist M.I.A.
  • RT interviewed Julian Assange about his decision to create the show and the philosophy behind it.

Image from WikiLeaks

• WikiLeaks continues to release more G.I. Files daily. Here is the latest coverage:
  • Undercover NATO troops are already in Syria despite denials from their parent governments
  • Corrupt Venezuelan officials are stifling local production in favor of imports
  • Russia tried to prevent Polish President Kaczynski from landing in Smolensk to force him to miss a Katyn massacre memorial service
  • Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez betrayed the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) to appease generals
• An Op-Ed in Al Jazeera looks at the rise of Stratfor and their actual functionality.

Image from WikiLeaks

• The G.I. Files have been dominating the headlines. Here are some highlights:
  • Coca-Cola contracted Stratfor to spy on PETA
  • Stratfor monitored Bhopal activists, including The Yes Men
  • Osama bin Laden was in routine contact with Pakistan's spy agency
  • Stratfor discovered Israel already destroyed Iran's nuclear facilities
  • A Homeland Security

Wikileaks releases 55 thousand cables from the U.S. embassies in Iran, Afghanistan, Israel, Russia, and Venezuela, among others. Through their official channels they asked for citizen participation in analyzing them. They also asked that they post their finds by sending them to @wikileaks on Twitter under the hashtag #wlfind. You can take a look at the cables yourself by visiting this link: http://wikileaks.org/tag/TU_0.html or http://www.cablegatesearch.net/search.php.

As a consequence of this release, Wikileak's Californian DNS hoster, Dynadot, "has received a PATRIOT act production order for information on Julian Assange", according to their website. It also mentioned that it had been complied and that "the production order seeks all available information on Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, for the US grand jury in Alexandria, Washington."

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.

11:10 PM Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s turn to centralized authority and strong-arm security tactics is said to be ‘in the interests of the U.S.’ in a cable written by Ryan Crocker, recently appointed Ambassador to Afghanistan.

09:30 PM WikiLeaks cables identifies four men said to be involved in financing, hiding and moving funds for the Assad Regime.

09:10 PM "Bulgarian and American officials discussed two years ago the construction of a new, mid-sized oil refinery to compete with Neftochim, controlled by Russia's giant Lukoil, diplomatic cables, revealed by WikiLeaks, show." via Novinite

08:50 PM Spanish war photojournalist Gervasio Sánchez praised Bradley Manning and pronounced himself on the subject of WikiLeaks during a public appearance: ‘WikiLeaks has shown journalists haven’t done their job’, he said.

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.

06:30 PM War veteran Ben Griffin will be joining peace campaigners tomorrow for a vigil in solidarity with Michael Lyons, outside Colchester Military Prison.
Michael Lyons, a Royal Navy medic, took a moral position against war in Afghanistan, having refused to undergo rifle training after reading material released by WikiLeaks. As a result he was sentenced to seven months' detention.

05:40 PM A fake list of Indian black money holder names purporting to have been published by WikiLeaks has been circulating on facebook and twitter.

WikiLeaks tweeted about this fake list:
WARNING: WikiLeaks and Indian black money: The following is a FAKE image and never appeared on WikiLeaks i.imgur.com/bO3dF.png

10:55 AM Kevin Gosztola analyses recently released White House strategy to 'counter violent extremism in the United States' and whether this strategy will make calls for the murder of Julian Assange less permissible.