Speaking to Al Jazeera, Manning's lawyer and anti-secrecy activists lauded the detainee's early release, but warned that returning to civilian life and coming to terms with her treatment at the hands of Pentagon lawyers will be a struggle.Ann Wright, a retired US Army Reserve colonel and former state department staffer, who controversially resigned in protest against the invasion of Iraq in 2003, spoke of unyielding pressure on those who oppose the US government.

There's nothing new about asylum seekers dominating Australian media; those attempting to reach Australian shores by boat regularly make headlines. But on Monday it was an asylum seeker who already has an Australian passport who led the news: Julian Assange. Giving an interview to the pressure-group GetUp!, from his bolt-hole in Ecuador's London embassy - in which he's stuck - Assange tried to pull at the heart-strings. "I can't go and visit my family. I can't do things that are important to many people. I can't view the skyline. I can't visit my homeland."

Anonymous, the international cyberactivist network, has announced the release of 90,000 military email logins which its members obtained in one of the biggest-ever hacking operations.

It is considered the final frontier for oil and gas exploitation, and secret US embassy cables published by WikiLeaks confirm that nations are battling to "carve up" the Arctic's vast resources.

The US army has filed 22 new charges against the soldier accused of leaking thousands of classified documents published by the whistleblower website, WikiLeaks. Bradley Manning is facing life in prison if found guilty to the charges which include aiding the enemy.