From the serious to the barmy
Berlin
In Berlin renowned artist Davide Dormino has unveiled three impressive bronze sculptures honouring the whistleblowers: Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.
Snowden was the former US National Security Agency contractor who leaked classified information about covert mass surveillance operations by US and UK agencies (and others). Snowden escaped capture and is now living in Moscow after being given asylum by the Russian authorities.
Assange was the co-founder of Wikileaks the website dedicated to disclosing secret information in the public interest. Assange is currently living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he was given asylum.
Manning was the US soldier responsible for leaking the largest ever cache of confidential documents. Manning was caught and is currently serving a sentence of 35 years in prison.
The three are linked as Manning released his documents via Wikileaks and Snowden was assisted in his escape by the whistleblower website.
Mr. Dormino has described his work as:
The sculptures represent three contemporary heroes who have lost their freedom for the truth.
Snowden, Assange and Manning have been described as the Holy Trinity of Whistleblowers and the fourth, empty, chair has been provided so anyone visiting Alexanderplatz can have their say on anything they want.
Bonkers
We move from the serious and impressive to the frankly bonkers. Labour leader Ed Miliband in an effort to capture some news headlines in the final weekend before the General Election has unveiled his plans to erect a stone in the Rose Garden at Downing Street. If he becomes Prime Minister he wants to have the stone as daily reminder of Labour's key policy objectives.
He certainly achieved the headlines but perhaps not the type he envisaged. The stone has been mockingly described as the Edstone, Ed's Monolith (as in 2001: A Space Odyssey - image at right), Vowhenge, the Policy Cenotaph and Labour's Tombstone. This may well be a day the Labour leader, or Moses Miliband, would rather forget.
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