Vanity Fair profiles Julian Assange: Wikileaks threatened to sue Guardian over leaked cables

VF's feature on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is now available online

Vanity Fair profiles Julian Assange: Wikileaks threatened to sue Guardian over leaked cables

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Wikileaks/Cablegate: Guardian reports Cuba banned Michael Moore's "Sicko" for fear of public backlash (UPDATE)

UPDATE: Michael Moore responds here. In short, he says Sicko was not banned in Cuba, and describes the cable referenced below as "[A] stunning look at the Orwellian nature of how bureaucrats for the State spin their lies and try to recreate reality." Jon Schwartz of Moore's production company tells Boing Boing, "The online references are clear, it really did play on national Cuban TV, and it really is still playing on a Cuba website." US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks state that the government of Cuba banned Michael Moore's 2007 documentary, Sicko, "because it painted such a 'mythically' favourable picture of Cuba's healthcare system that the authorities feared it could lead to a 'popular backlash', according to US diplomats in Havana." What, those gleaming hospitals aren't available to everyone in Cuba? And you can't believe everything you see in a Michael Moore movie? Say it ain't so! Snip: The revelation, contained in a confidential US embassy cable released by WikiLeaks , is surprising, given that the film attempted to discredit the US healthcare system by highlighting what it claimed was the excellence of the Cuban system. But the memo reveals that when the film was shown to a group of Cuban doctors, some became so "disturbed at the blatant misrepresentation of healthcare in Cuba that they left the room". Castro's government apparently went on to ban the film because, the leaked cable claims, it "knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them." WikiLeaks: Cuba banned Sicko for depicting 'mythical' healthcare system (Guardian, via Michael Moynihan)...

Wikileaks/Cablegate: Guardian reports Cuba banned Michael Moore's "Sicko" for fear of public backlash (UPDATE)

Backlink: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/XfuNVO6dbkE/wikileakscablegate-c.html

Details of rape, sexual assault allegations against Wikileaks' Assange leaked to Guardian

(Photo: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks to the media outside Ellingham Hall in Norfolk England, earlier today. REUTERS/Paul Hackett) The Guardian has published the full sex crime allegations against Julian Assange, breathlessly titled "10 days in Sweden." The previously unpublished police documents provide "the first complete account of the allegations against the WikiLeaks founder," and include the phrase "the worst sex ever." Assange has not yet been charged with any crime. Also notable, this quote from Wikileaks' coordinator in Stockholm, who knows both Assange and the two women involved: "This is a normal police investigation. Let the police find out what actually happened. Of course, the enemies of WikiLeaks may try to use this, but it begins with the two women and Julian. It is not the CIA sending a woman in a short skirt."...

Details of rape, sexual assault allegations against Wikileaks' Assange leaked to Guardian

Backlink: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/7MBZeCzsusE/details-of-sexual-as.html

Guardian: U.S. politicians told Amazon to remove Wikileaks

When Wikileaks twittered that Amazon's removal of its website from its servers was a "free speech" issue, it seemed an odd turn of phrase: after all, Amazon is a private company and is free to host what it likes. The Guardian has just reported, however, that it did indeed remove Wikileaks after being pressured to do so by the U.S. government.

Guardian: U.S. politicians told Amazon to remove Wikileaks

Backlink: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/FGRphdGnjXQ/guardian-us-politici.html

The Guardian: "Global diplomatic crisis" sparked by cables. U.N. spied on; Saudis want US to attack Iran; British royalty misbehaves; U.S. and U.K. intimate but snarky with each other

The Guardian's coverage of the embassy cables is up: it reports that they've already sparked a global diplomatic crisis. Some more juicy revelations:

The Guardian: "Global diplomatic crisis" sparked by cables. U.N. spied on; Saudis want US to attack Iran; British royalty misbehaves; U.S. and U.K. intimate but snarky with each other

Backlink: http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/Xkxljt6vINY/the-guardian-global.html