Via Heather Libby:

Moving oil is a dirty business, and never has that been more clear than this past month. Since March 11, the global oil industry has had 13 spills on three continents. In North and South America alone, they’ve spilled more than a million gallons of oil and toxic chemicals – enough to fill two olympic-sized swimming pools.

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During an interview on CNN Wednesday night, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange warned that mass surveillance was becoming a worldwide problem as technology progressed. Assange has just published a new book about the internet, called "Cypher Punks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet."

Assange told CNN host Erin Burnett that the Internet has merged with global civilization, giving governments and others an unprecedented ability to spy on virtually anyone, because the technology to do so has become cheaper.

"Rather, the new game in two is strategic surveillance," he said. "It is cheaper now to intercept all communications in and out of a country. Store it permanently than it is to simply go after one particular person."

Now while you get the impression, at first, that Mr. Assange is a guest on CNN to discuss his new book. It could have indeed been quite an interesting topic, but that doesn't seem to be what Erin Burnett had in mind as she continuously tries to interrupt...

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The controversial WikiLeaks founder is safe inside the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, Ecuador’s president said Saturday. President Rafael Correa said British police have withdrawn threats to force their way into the building where Julian Assange has remained since being granted asylum by the South American nation. “We consider this unfortunate incident over, after a grave diplomatic error by the British in which they said they would enter our embassy.” Assange is wanted in Sweden on allegations of sexual assault, and he fears that he would be extradited to the United States to face charges over his WikiLeaks activity. The United States has not issued any such charges and denies it has made any attempt to extradite Assange.

Meanwhile, in the photograph above, a London policeman has accidentally leaked an arrest plan for Assange, in what UK media have branded an "embarrassing slip-up" by London's Metropolitan Police.

The photo, captured by the Press Association news agency and published in several newspapers, shows a clipboard held by a uniformed officer Friday outside the Ecuadorian embassy where Assange has been holed up since June.

"Clearly legible in a zoomed-in view of the clipboard, on a sheet of paper headed "Restricted," are the words: "EQ Embassy brief - Summary of current position re. Assange. Action required - Assange to be arrested under all circumstances."'

The paper also suggests possible ways in which Assange could be removed from the building, such as in a "diplomatic bag or vehicle."

Police told CNN that the photo is not related to the Assange case. Must be some other "Assange" they want to arrest in a "diplomatic bag."

Julian Assange makes his first public appearance in two months, ever since he took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The WikiLeaks founder was granted political asylum on Thursday -- a decision that ignited a wave of international responses, with the UK and Sweden opposing the verdict and Latin American countries strongly supporting Ecuador's move.

Assange called upon the U.S. to end its 'witch hunt' on wikileaks, and to 'end the war on whistleblowers.'

A full transcript of his remarks follows:

“I am here today because I cannot be there with you today. But thank you for coming. Thank you for your resolve and your generosity of spirit.

“On Wednesday night, after a threat was sent to this embassy and the police descended on this building, you came out in the middle of the night to watch over it and you brought the world’s eyes with you.

“Inside this embassy, after dark, I could hear teams of police swarming up into the building through its internal fire escape. But I knew there would be witnesses. And that is because of you.

“If the UK did not throw away the Vienna conventions the other night, it is because the world was watching. And the world was watching because you were watching.

“So, the next time somebody tells you that it is pointless to defend those rights that we hold dear, remind them of your vigil in the dark before the Embassy of Ecuador.

“Remind them how, in the morning, the sun came up on a different world and a courageous Latin America nation took a stand for justice.

And so, to those brave people. I thank President Correa for the courage he has shown in considering and in granting me political asylum.

“And I also thank the government, and in particular Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, who upheld the Ecuadorian constitution and its notion of universal rights in their consideration of my asylum. And to the Ecuadorian people for supporting and defending this constitution.

“And I also have a debt of gratitude to the staff of this embassy, whose families live in London and who have shown me the hospitality and kindness despite the threats we all received.

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Via:

It was a warning meant to remind Ecuador that Britain's patience has limits. But as the stalemate over Julian Assange settled in Friday, it appeared London's veiled threat that it could storm Ecuador's embassy and drag Assange out has backfired — drawing supporters to the mission where the WikiLeaks founder is holed up and prompting angry denunciations from Ecuador and elsewhere.

Experts and ex-diplomats say Britain's Foreign Office, which warned Ecuador of a little known law that would allow it to side-step usual diplomatic protocols, messed up by issuing a threat it couldn't back up.

"It was a big mistake," said former British ambassador Oliver Miles. "It puts the British government in the position of asking for something illegitimate."

Extradition expert Julian Knowles said that said British officials could arrest Assange once the diplomatic and media ferment faded.

"I think they'll take the view that within a few days or weeks it will all blow over," he said.

The U.S. state department chimed in with this: "The United States is not a party to the 1954 OAS Convention on Diplomatic Asylum and does not recognize the concept of diplomatic asylum as a matter of international law."

This will no doubt come as a shock to Chinese human rights campaigner Chen Guangcheng, who fled to the US embassy in Beijing after evading house arrest and beatings in May.

Live video for mobile from Ustream

10:45am Update:

William Hague, the foreign secretary, has made it clear that Britain will not give Assange safe passage to South America. He told a press conference:

"We will not allow Mr Assange safe passage out of the United Kingdom, nor is there any legal basis for us to do so. The United Kingdom does not recognize the principle of diplomatic asylum."

Vaughan Smith, a friend of Assange who put him up for more than a year at his Norfolk residence. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's World at One this afternoon, Smith said:

I'm extremely pleased; I'm absolutely delighted. I'm very pleased indeed.

I think he would like to go to Ecuador; I think that's where he should go. And hopefully we'll be a little bit more tolerant about this. I think we need to consider the fact that the Ecuadoreans are the other people who have really considered the matters they've considered. They've concluded there is a threat to his life. I think we should honor that.

He said that "ideally" Assange should face Swedish questioning, but that the Ecuadoreans had offered the Swedes the opportunity to interview him in the embassy and they had refused.

I think there's a lot of pride involved here... They have interviewed an alleged murderer in Serbia but they choose not to come to London to interview Julian Assange. I think that's very disappointing.

6:05am Update:

"Britain will carry out its "binding obligation" to extradite Assange to Sweden in spite of Ecuador's decision, a spokesperson for the FCO has said.

We are disappointed by the statement from Ecuador’s Foreign Minister that Ecuador has offered political asylum to Julian Assange.

Under our law, with Mr Assange having exhausted all options of appeal, the British authorities are under a binding obligation to extradite him to Sweden. We shall carry out that obligation. The Ecuadorian Government's decision this afternoon does not change that.

We remain committed to a negotiated solution that allows us to carry out our obligations under the Extradition Act."

5:42am Update:

Ecuador has granted political asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange:

"We can state that there is a risk that he will be persecuted politically...

We trust the UK will offer the necessary guarantees so that both governments can act adequately and properly respect international rights and the right of asylum.

We also trust the excellent relationship the two countries have will continue."

The questions remain: Will the UK storm the embassy to arrest Assange as threatened? How will Ecuador get Assange out of the country?

4:40am Update:

Asylum for Assange decision is expected at 1pm UK time today.

Assange supporters wearing "Anonymous" masks holding up "I'm Julian Assange."

4:10am Update:

Three protesters have been arrested following a brawl with London police.

President of the Ecuadorian National Assembly Fernando Cordero has called a special meeting on the UK’s potential raid of the Ecuadorian Embassy. Although Parliament is in recess for 15 days, he called 124 legislators to attend the meeting. This session will not address the issue of Assange’s bid for asylum, Cordero said.

“I think that this point in time, other nations need to stand up and defend Ecuador's right to make this decision. They haven't even made the decision, they're being threatened. Imagine threatening to storm an embassy to this because they're protecting the rights of a journalist. We have to respect Ecuador's sovereignty, something that the UK might like to take on board. This is a serious decision. ” – Christine Assange, Julian Assange's mother, Brisbane, Australia.

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British authorities have demanded that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange present himself at Belgravia police station at 11.30am on Friday. According to the Guardian, "This is standard practice in extradition cases and is the first step in the removal process," and "Failing to surrender would be a further breach of conditions and he is liable to arrest." But if he complies, police may arrest him immediately, because he has breached the terms of his bail.

Reuters reports:

On Thursday, British police summoned Assange to a London police station, demanding he leave the embassy. But Assange later told BBC television in a telephone interview: "Our advice is that asylum law both internationally and domestically in the UK takes precedence to extradition law, so the answer is almost certainly not."

On Sunday, Ecuador's ambassador to the UK left London to return home for talks on Assange's application for asylum. Assange remains under Ecuador's protection while it considers the application, and is "beyond the reach of the police" while he remains in the building.

Earlier this week, a letter signed by leading US figures in support of Assange's application for political asylum in Ecuador was delivered to the country's London embassy. Among its signatories were Michael Moore, Oliver Stone, Noam Chomsky and Danny Glover. Others who put their names to it included the author Naomi Wolf, comedian Bill Maher and Daniel Ellsberg, the former US military analyst turned whistleblower, who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971 and has been a long-standing supporter of Assange.

Ecuador has said that Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has sought out asylum at the South American country’s embassy in London, according to Reuters. A week ago, Assange lost a bid in Britain’s highest court to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where he is to be questioned on sex-crime allegations. Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Pinto told reporters that “Ecuador is studying and analyzing the request.” The controversial Assange has waged a legal war in Britain’s courts for about two years to be allowed to stay in the country, even as his website has continued to publish sensitive documents.

The situation threatens to inflame tensions between the government of Rafael Correa, Ecuador's leftist and ardently anti-Washington president, and U.S. authorities, who accuse Assange of damaging its foreign relations with his leaks.

It is also an embarrassment for Britain, where the Foreign Office whose foreign ministry on Tuesday confirmed Assange was beyond the reach of its police in the Ecuadorean embassy.
...
"While the department assesses Mr. Assange's application, Mr. Assange will remain at the embassy, under the protection of the Ecuadorean Government," the embassy said on its website.

If Ecuador denies Assange's petition for asylum, the only option that remains through the courts is an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.