Germany and U.S. Developing Secret Spy Satellites, Wikileaks Says | AHN: "The United States and Germany are developing satellites that officially are to be used for crisis management during natural disasters but really are intended for spying, according to the latest Wikileaks releases.

The $274 million satellites are scheduled to begin service as soon as next year, the State Department documents say.
Wikileaks, a Web site that publishes secret government documents, appears to have obtained the U.S. State Department communications that describe the program from the U.S. embassy in Berlin.
The satellite program, called HiROS, would use high-resolution images that could identify objects as small as 1.5-feet long. HiROS stands for High Resolution Optical Satellite System."

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3quarksdaily: "Two things we can learn about Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara from the US embassy in Rabat, courtesy of WikiLeaks: 1) it’s a source of personal revenue for Moroccan army officers but 2) everything’s fine really.

Western Sahara used to be a Spanish possession, which Madrid was due to hand over to the indigenous population in 1975. King Hassan II of Morocco took advantage of the chaos in Spain at the time of Franco’s death and annexed the territory. The UN deplored the move; the Polisario Front embarked on a liberation war, which resulted in stalemate and a ceasefire in 1989. By this time Morocco controlled most of the territory and was pouring in settlers to outnumber indigenous Sahrawis.

Under UN auspices, both parties – the kingdom of Morocco and Polisario – agreed to a referendum on independence. Twenty years later, the vote is a lost hope: the Moroccans have driven it into the ground with Byzantine objections, year on year. The UN mission has been sidelined; the settler colonial project continues; there are hundreds of thousands of refugees in Algeria and a population inside the territory that’s punished when it calls for independence."

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The Royal Wedding: secrets of the guest list - Telegraph: "Prince William’s wedding will be the most sought-after invitation of 2011. But neither the Prince of Wales nor the Middletons will be sending out the cards. This will be done by the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, which will consult the young couple and look back in files to see which public figures should be invited, according to protocol.
Since Prince William will one day be King, the guest list is not entirely his prerogative. The Queen and the Prince of Wales will have a say, and certain government departments may be consulted, most particularly the Protocol Department of the Foreign Office. Lord and Lady Spencer, for instance, were allowed only 30 personal guests at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981."

Karzai 'refused' to sack minister - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English: "Afghan leader has been defying US pressure to sack an allegedly corrupt minister  for over a year, according to some of the latest diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, the whistleblower website.

Secret diplomatic records showed Ismail Khan - privately termed 'the worst' by US officials - kept his job at an agency that controls $2bn in international projects.

The refusal to remove the official despite threats to end US aid highlights how little influence the US has over Hamid Karzai on issues such as corruption.

The state department correspondence was written as Karzai was assembling a cabinet shortly after his 2009 re-election.

Reining in corruption is seen as vital to Afghanistan's long-term stability."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange parties it up on Christmas: "He might be in a lot of trouble for many different reasons but that didn't stop WikiLeaks' Julian Assange from enjoying a party on Christmas day.

Assange currently holed up in a Norfolk mansion on police bail and is facing charges of sexual misconduct in Sweden, reports the Daily Mail.

But he still made merry. Assange enjoyed a traditional Christmas dinner with host Vaughan Smith and other guests and got into the Christmas spirit by dressing up as Father Christmas and proudly posed with a bulging sack bearing the inscription, 'Dear Santa, I've been very, very, very good (most of the time).'

The ten-bedroom manor is looked after by housekeeper and excellent vintages of wine and port are available from the well-stocked cellar.

Assange and guests tucked into a gut-busting feast of turkey and all the trimmings at the 600-acre estate, which contains a sustainable farm complete with livestock, and a carp lake."

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