Geneva Preview: Lamborghini's Leaked Veneno, a Carbon-Intensive Ultracar for Three Lucky Customers

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Another auto show, another high-profile car leaked ahead of schedule. This time, rather than leggy Italian models pulling the wraps off an ultra-limited production Lamborghini, the Sant'Agata Bolognese manufacturer's prized pre-production car debuted prematurely on-- you guessed it-- the internet.

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So it's only fitting that we give Lamborghini's latest a fitting online introduction: please welcome the Veneno*, a 220 mph wedge whose 6.5-liter V12 has been tweaked to churn 750 hp. Like last year's Aventador J one-off, this scissor-doored creation is based on the Italian brand's Aventador flagship, except this cartoonishly styled steed carries a 3 million Euro price tag-- or $3,900,000, based on today's exchange rates-- and will see a total of three specimens produced, triple the number of extant Aventador Js.

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Apart from its comic book worthy silhouette, the Veneno's wild outer structure focuses on optimizing aerodynamic drag and downforce, with the front end acting as an enormous wing, while large chanells guide airflow to the front wheels and over the windshield. Giant sills and wheel arches dominate the profile, huge vents feed the mid-mounted powerplant, and additional aero aids come via a smooth underbody and a massive rear diffuser.

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The carbon fiber reinforced polymer monocoque and aluminum subframes are similar to those of the Aventador, but have been adapted for the Veneno's application; all external components are also CRFP, and Lamborghini says the Veneno's ESP system and airbags make it compliant with worldwide requirements for roadworthiness (though they don't explicitly state it's been crash tested for strict U.S. standards.)

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The carbon theme extends to the interior, where Lamborghini's forged composite technology has been applied to two lightweight bucket seats, while a so-called CarbonSkin material features a carbon weave that's been resin treated for a supple fabric-like finish, and sees use in the headliner and parts of the seats.

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The Veneno seems sweet on paper (not to mention on our computer screens), but you'll have to check back with Popular Mechanics' online Geneva recap for our thoughts on how this baby looks in the flesh.

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* The Veneno was named after a bull which gained notoriety after goring Jos? S?nchez Rodr?guez to death in 1914, and continues Lamborghini's long running history of naming cars after lethal male bovines.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/lamborghini-veneno-super-duper-car?src=rss

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On video: SAfrican police drag man, who later dies

In this still frame from TV and courtesy of South African Daily Sun newspaper, showing a South African man with his hands tethered to the back of a police vehicle being dragged behind as police hold his legs up and the vehicle apparently drives off, east of Johannesburg Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. The man died of his injuries. In video filmed on a mobile phone, uniformed police are seen trying to subdue the man, then tethering him to the back of a police vehicle which drives off, watched by a large crowd. Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said early Thursday Feb. 28 2013 on ENCA TV network that his service has opened a murder probe. (AP Photo/The Daily Sun) TV OUT

In this still frame from TV and courtesy of South African Daily Sun newspaper, showing a South African man with his hands tethered to the back of a police vehicle being dragged behind as police hold his legs up and the vehicle apparently drives off, east of Johannesburg Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. The man died of his injuries. In video filmed on a mobile phone, uniformed police are seen trying to subdue the man, then tethering him to the back of a police vehicle which drives off, watched by a large crowd. Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said early Thursday Feb. 28 2013 on ENCA TV network that his service has opened a murder probe. (AP Photo/The Daily Sun) TV OUT

In this still frame from TV and courtesy of South African Daily Sun newspaper, showing a South African man with his hands tethered behind a police vehicle and being dragged behind as police hold his legs up and the vehicle apparently drives off, east of Johannesburg Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. The man died of his injuries. In video filmed on a mobile phone, uniformed police are seen trying to subdue the man, then tethering him to the back of a police vehicle which drives off, watched by a large crowd. Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said early Thursday Feb. 28 2013 on ENCA TV network that his service has opened a murder probe. (AP Photo/The Daily Sun) TV OUT

In this still frame from TV and courtesy of South African Daily Sun newspaper, showing a South African man as he refuses to get into a police vehicle and seems to be tethered to the back of the vehicle before being dragged behind as police hold his legs up and the vehicle apparently drives off, east of Johannesburg Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. The man died of his injuries. In video filmed on a mobile phone, uniformed police are seen trying to subdue the man, then tethering him to the back of a police vehicle which drives off, watched by a large crowd. Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said early Thursday Feb. 28 2013 on ENCA TV network that his service has opened a murder probe. (AP Photo/The Daily Sun) TV OUT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? They bound his hands to the rear of a van, and then sped off, dragging the slender taxi driver along the pavement as a crowd of onlookers shouted in dismay. The man was later found dead.

A gut-wrenching video of the scene is all the more disturbing because the men who abused the Mozambican immigrant were uniformed South African police officers and the van was a marked police vehicle.

The graphic scenes of the victim struggling for his life shocked a nation long accustomed to reports of police violence.

"The visuals of the incident are horrific, disturbing and unacceptable. No human being should be treated in that manner," said South African President Jacob Zuma.

The Daily Sun, a South African newspaper, posted video the footage Thursday and it was quickly picked up by other South African news outlets and carried on the Internet. It sparked immediate outrage about police behavior.

"They are there for safety, but we as a people fear them more," said Johannesburg resident Alfonso Adams. "You don't know who to trust anymore."

Some of those in the crowd who watched the scene unfold in the Daveyton township east of Johannesburg shouted at the police and warned that it was being videotaped. The police did not seem at all concerned by all the witnesses and the presence of cameras as they tied Mido Macia, a 27-year-old from neighboring Mozambique, to the back of a police vehicle, his hands behind his head. At least three policemen participated in the incident. Macia was found dead in a Daveyton police cell late Tuesday.

"We are going to film this," several onlookers shouted in Zulu as the police tormented Macia. One bystander can be heard on the videotape shouting in Zulu: "What has this guy done?"

The video can be seen at: http://bit.ly/ZDOj0A

A murder probe is underway on the evidence that Macia suffered head and upper abdomen injuries, including internal bleeding, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, the police watchdog agency, said Thursday. The injuries could be from the dragging and he could also have been beaten later in police custody.

"The allegations are that he was dragged behind a vehicle and his head was bent on the police vehicle. There are also allegations of assault," said the investigative unit's spokesman Moses Dlamini.

The video evidence of the abuse renewed concerns about brutality, corruption and other misconduct by a national police force whose reputation has suffered in recent years amid reports that many officers lack training. Some have been charged with committing the crimes they are supposed to prevent, including rape and murder.

"As horrific as it is, it is not exceptional. Hardly a week goes by without such stories of brutality," said Jacob van Garderen, national director of Lawyers for Human Rights.

At first, Macia, dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt, is dragged along the road by the vehicle at slow speed, the footage shows. He awkwardly tries to keep step even though he is almost horizontal above the ground. Then the van stops, two policemen pick up the legs of the taxi driver and drop them to the ground as the van picks up speed and drives off, beyond the view of the camera.

The police watchdog agency said the incident started just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday when the cab driver was allegedly obstructing traffic with his vehicle. Then Macia allegedly assaulted a constable and took his weapon before he was overpowered, the police investigative unit said.

Macia was found dead in a cell over two hours later by another policeman, according to the watchdog agency.

National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega "strongly condemned" what happened. South Africans are "urged to remain vigilant and continue to report all acts of crime irrespective of who is involved," said Phiyega in a statement.

Phiyega has tried to upgrade the reputation of the South African police since her appointment last year. Last month, Phiyega told a group of police officials the standing of the force "has been severely but not irreparably tarnished over the past several years."

The problems, though, are immense for a police force that has expanded from some 120,000 to almost 200,000 over the last decade, "often failing to match the increase in quantity with sufficient quality," said Johan Burger, who served for 36 years on the force before becoming a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.

Several experts contacted by The Associated Press also said that in recent years there has been an increasing willingness to use a shoot-to-kill approach to the crime and violence.

An average of 860 people a year died in police custody or as a result of police action between 2009 and 2010, up from 695 a year from 2003 to 2008, according to Burger of the security studies institute.

Further staining the reputation of the police is the Marikana shootings when, on Aug. 16, 2012, a line of South African police opened fire on a crowd of striking miners, killing 34 at a platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg. A judicial commission is investigating allegations that many were killed in a rocky hill, near the much-filmed initial scene of the attack, shot in the back as they tried to escape.

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Associated Press Writer Michelle Faul contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-28-South%20Africa-Man%20Dragged/id-a1d3234d38cb4aea89383d949bafdce0

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John Battelle Returns As CEO At Federated Media, Deanna Brown Steps Down

Online advertising company Federated Media just announced that current CEO Deanna Brown is stepping down, while founder and former CEO John Battelle will be taking on the role again. The company says that Battelle and Brown will be working together during March "to ensure a seamless transition." Brown joined Federated in 2009 as president and chief operating officer, and replaced Battelle as CEO a little more than a year later.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8X-boAa3Gl0/

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#DisneyOzEvent #WreckItRalph - Mom Knows It All.

While I was in LA recently I had the pleasure of visiting the Disney Animation Studios. I was invited there to attend a Press Day for Wreck-It Ralph, to learn more about the movie and how it was made.

When you first enter the building you can?t help but see all sorts of things from the movie Wreck-It Ralph. In actuality, most of the whole building was decorated in Wreck-It Ralph theme. I learned that usually the studio changes the decor to go along with their latest movie.

Not just? anyone can visit the studio, so we were given badges. How cool it was to get a badge of my 8-bit Nicelander self!

Here?s a photo of our whole group, in our 8bit look.

Remember my Vanellope Vall post for Wordless Wednesday a few weeks ago? Here she is!

And here?s the man himself, Wreck-It Ralph!

We started by learning about how they came up with the story. The story took about a year to come up with. Raymond Persi, one of the story artists, explained to us that some portions of the story changed along the way while others stayed the same as they were in the original story idea. They knew from the start that the two main characters were going to be Vanellope and a ?big angry guy?. One of the things they do first when coming up with the storyline is work from a storyboard. These drawings often times begin as pen and ink. Then they?ll make a simple movie with temporary voices. It?s nothing fancy or edited, it?s just rough footage with someone?s voice as a placemarker, so the team can start to actually see what works. They?ll then tear that movie apart, rewriting and improving where they feel it?s needed. It was interesting to learn that early on there was another game they were considering integrating into the story ? Easy Living 2. We saw some of the clips from that, even though the concept was eventually scrapped.

One of my favorite parts of the day was spending time with some of the folks behind the visual development of the characters. You wouldn?t believe how much works goes into determining what a character is going to look like! Mike Gabriel and Bill Schwab explained to us that early on, noone had a clear idea of what Wreck-It Ralph was going to look like. At times he was simply sort of a lump. Here?s a slideshow that includes photos I took of just some of the actual renditions and changes Wreck-It Ralph went through before he became the Wreck-It Ralph that you see in the movie. It took about two years to get the character of Wreck-It Ralph just right!

Next we went to Rigging.

Rigging is the process of taking the character model and creating movement. This is done with a computer and involves the software Maya, which you may remember was also used in the Capture state I posted about a few days ago. John Kahwaty, one of the riggers, explained to us that it can take months to get the rigging for just one character done.

We got to play with Maya and try our hand at rigging ourselves. It was a lot of fun, although I wasn?t very good at it. Here?s a quick video I made of my feeble attempt at getting Wreck-It Ralph to dance.

After that we went to the Capture Stage. If you missed that post, you can read about it here.

From there we went on to Animation. We met with one of the animators, Amy Sneed. She actually showed us how she brought some of the scenes to life. A typical scene of animation is 24 frames per second. It took her weeks just to animate a few scenes! In some instances she?d actually act out the parts so she?d be able to give the characters the most lifelike attributes and mannerisms possible in the animation.

At the end of our visit we had a round table discussion on digital downloads. Wreck-It Ralph is already available as a digital download. It was very interesting to talk strategies, as well as be asked how our families used digital downloads, what we liked, what we wanted to see, and so forth.

Besides seeing so much behind-the scenes stuff, what was really cool was seeing how much everyone loved working on the movie, and how proud they were of it. I personally loved the movie and think they did a great job and deserve to be proud.

Wreck-It Ralph arrives in stores on Blu-ray and DVD on March 5, and is already available via digital download.

Wreck-It Ralph website

Wreck-It Ralph on Facebook

Wreck-It Ralph on Twitter

My visit to the Disney Animation Studio for Wreck-It Ralph press day was part of a trip for the red carpet premiere of OZ The Great And Powerful. I attended as a guest of Disney, with all expenses paid. As always, any personal opinions reflected in this post are my own and have not been influenced by the sponsor in any way.

Source: http://www.valmg.com/index.php/2013/wreck-it-ralph-press-day-at-disney-animation-studios-wreckitralph-disneyozevent/

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POPE LIVE: Ready for departure, final meetings

FILE - This Nov. 3, 2006 file photo shows Pope Benedict XVI's hand as he waves to faithful from his car at the end of his visit at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, files)

FILE - This Nov. 3, 2006 file photo shows Pope Benedict XVI's hand as he waves to faithful from his car at the end of his visit at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, files)

A nun clasps her hands in prayer during a Mass honoring Pope Benedict XVI at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Benedict made his final public appearance as pontiff in St. Peter's Square Wednesday. He thanked his flock for respecting his retirement, which takes effect Thursday. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Armando Martin Duenas shows replicas of the two pairs of hand-crafted loafers that were given to Pope Benedict XVI during his March 2012 visit to Mexico at the Ackerman shoe factory in Leon, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Benedict's title and what he will wear have been a major source of speculation since the 85-year-old pontiff stunned the world and announced he would resign Thursday, the first pope to do so in 600 years. (AP Photo/Alfredo Valadez)

FILE - This Sept. 6, 2006 file photo shows Pope Benedict XVI wearing a "saturno hat", inspired by the ringed planet Saturn, to shield himself from the sun as he waves to the crowd of faithful prior to his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito, files)

In this photo released by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI receives German politician Horst Seehofer and his wife Karin during a private audience which followed his last general audience, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Benedict XVI basked in an emotional sendoff Wednesday at his final general audience in St. Peter's Square, recalling moments of "joy and light" during his papacy but also times of great difficulty. He also thanked his flock for respecting his decision to retire. (AP Photo/Osservatore Romano, ho)

"Pope Live" follows the events of the final day of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy as seen by journalists from The Associated Press around the world. It will be updated throughout the day with breaking news and other items of interest.

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LAST TASKS

The big speeches are done. It's almost time to go.

In just a few minutes, Pope Benedict XVI meets with his cardinals this morning on the day he heads into retirement. No major speech is expected during his morning farewell with his closest advisers, just a simple greeting to each one inside the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.

Shortly before 5 p.m. local time, Benedict will leave the palace for the last time as pope, head to the helipad on the top of the hill in the Vatican gardens and fly to the papal retreat south of Rome. And there, at 8 p.m. ? the exact moment Benedict's resignation goes into effect ? the doors of the palazzo will close and the Swiss Guards in attendance will go off duty, their service protecting the pope now finished.

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QUICKQUOTE: JOHN KERRY

"The United States sends its best wishes to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI as he leaves the Vatican after years of service and dedication to God, the Catholic Church, and world peace. As the papal conclave assembles, I look forward to continuing our important relationship with the Vatican and working with the new pope to foster dialogue and promote human rights and human dignity throughout the world."

? New U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting Rome for a conference on Syria as part of his first diplomatic tour abroad.

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A GLIMPSE INSIDE

Victor L. Simpson, Rome bureau chief for The Associated Press, reflects on his decades of covering the papacy:

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One thing that sets the Vatican apart from other places: You can't just stroll around and poke your head in everywhere.

As many as 18 million people pass through Vatican territory each year, but their visits are effectively limited to St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican museums. Aside from the Vatican's 492 residents and its 4,700 employees, everyone else needs a pass, even to drop by the Vatican pharmacy for medicine not sold in Italy (bring a doctor's prescription please) or to buy back copies of the Vatican paper at the offices of L'Osservatore Romano.

After all these years, I still feel a tingle of excitement to be let in through the Bronze Door, escorted past Swiss Guards in full regalia, and taken up to the pope's apartment on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace for a papal audience with a dignitary. These meetings have given a rare peek inside Vatican diplomacy.

? Victor L. Simpson

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TOWN TOUR

The town where Benedict is spending his last hours as pope and his first hours as the first pontiff in 600 years to retire is one of several picturesque "castle towns" known as the "Castelli," less than an hour's drive from Rome. Nestled in the Alban Hills, southeast of Rome, it is an area that is volcanic in origin. One of the volcano's old craters became Lake Albano, whose shores include Castel Gandolfo.

The volcano's no longer active, but the Castelli area gets its share of earthquakes, generally fairly mild and doing no damage. The rich volcanic soil helps produce inexpensive white wines that are a favorite in local trattorie as well as in restaurants in Rome.

The town is older than Christianity. The papal residence grounds include ruins from an imperial Roman villa, which itself had been on the site of ancient temples built several centuries before the ancient Romans came to check out the cool breezes and views.

The sprawling papal grounds, which as Vatican property enjoy extraterritoriality, include a working farm. Coffee bars in town have been known to serve milk from the farm's cows. (Yes, it's already been said: "Holy Cow.")

? Frances D'Emilio ? Twitter http://twittter.com/fdemilio

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GOODBYE, RED SHOES

The red shoes are being retired.

The Pope is giving up the trademark that briefly made him a fashion star, trading in his snappy ruby-red loafers for a pair of hand-crafted brown ones made for him by artisans in Mexico. He will wear those in retirement, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says.

The flash of red sparked (unfounded) rumors he was wearing Prada and helped make him Esquire magazine's accessorizer of the year in 2007. The actual designer? An Italian craftsman who had previously created a pair for Pope John Paul II, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

A former Vatican official assured The Associated Press back in 2005 that Benedict was no clothes horse, advising that the pontiff "wouldn't know Gucci from Smoochi."

? Matt Surman ? Twitter http://twitter.com/apsurman

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LAST DAY AS POPE

Pope Benedict XVI is making history today, becoming the first pontiff to retire in nearly 600 years.

Only a handful of popes have ever done so.

The last was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism, a dispute among competing papal claimants. The most famous resignation was Pope Celestine V in 1294; Dante placed him in hell for it.

Benedict is saying farewell this morning to his closest advisers in Clementine Hall at the Apostolic Palace. Then shortly before 5 p.m., he will leave the palace for the last time as pope and fly by helicopter to the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

Exactly at 8 p.m. ? when his resignation takes effect ? the doors at Castel Gandolfo will close and the papacy that began on April 19, 2005, will come to an end.

? Nicole Winfield ? http://twitter.com/nwinfield

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Follow AP reporters on Twitter where available.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-28-Pope%20Watch-Package/id-58be4acb7a464484a47eaadbfc7b80eb

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'Girls Gone Wild' files for bankruptcy over debts

This cover image released by Girls Gone Wild shows the September 2009 issue of "Girls Gone Wild." "Girls Gone Wild" filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 in Los Angeles in a move the company says is aimed at restructuring its legal affairs amid several creditors seeking more than $16 million in disputed debts. (AP Photo/Girls Gone Wild via PRNewsFoto)

This cover image released by Girls Gone Wild shows the September 2009 issue of "Girls Gone Wild." "Girls Gone Wild" filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 in Los Angeles in a move the company says is aimed at restructuring its legal affairs amid several creditors seeking more than $16 million in disputed debts. (AP Photo/Girls Gone Wild via PRNewsFoto)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The company behind the "Girls Gone Wild" video empire has filed for bankruptcy in a move it says is an effort to restructure its legal affairs after several disputed court judgments.

GGW Brands LLC and several subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday in Los Angeles, listing more than $16 million in disputed claims.

The largest claim is $10.3 million that Wynn Resorts Limited is seeking from the company for judgments entered against "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis over a gambling debt and statements he has made about the casino and its founder, Steve Wynn.

The figure does not include a $19 million judgment Wynn won against Francis in a slander trial last year. The case, which centered on Francis' claims that Wynn threatened to kill him over the gambling debt, is being appealed.

Francis no longer GGW Brands, which has made a fortune selling videos and magazines of young women flashing their breasts. Subsidiary companies GGW Magazine and GGW Events have also filed for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy proceedings generally halt efforts to collect judgments in other courts.

"Girls Gone Wild remains strong as a company and strong financially," the company said in a statement, likening itself to other businesses such as American Airlines and General Motors that have filed for bankruptcy to restructure. "The only reason Girls Gone Wild has elected to file for this reorganization is to re-structure its frivolous and burdensome legal affairs."

The second largest claim listed in the proceedings is a nearly $5.8 million judgment a St. Louis woman won against Francis last year in a Missouri court. Tamara Favazza sued after she learned she had been featured on a "Girls Gone Wild" DVD over an incident when she was a 20-year-old college student and someone lifted her tank top at a bar and flashed a camera.

Francis and his company, Mantra Films, are seeking to have the judgment overturned in federal court.

The bankruptcy filing also lists unspecified legal fees in the Wynn and Favazza cases.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-28-Girls%20Gone%20Wild-Bankruptcy/id-c0ad39468d3b4e749b40a00f67fe9805

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Bradley Manning pleads guilty to misusing classified data in WikiLeaks case

FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The U.S. Army private accused of providing secret documents to the WikiLeaks website pleaded guilty on Thursday to misusing classified material he felt "should become public," but denied the top charge of aiding the enemy.

Private First Class Bradley Manning, 25, entered the pleas prior to his court martial, which is set to begin on June 3, in a case that centers on the biggest leak of government secrets in U.S. history.

Military judge Colonel Denise Lind accepted the guilty pleas late in the afternoon. Manning pleaded guilty to a series of 10 lesser charges that he misused classified information and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for those offenses.

"I believe that if the general public ... had access to the information ... this could spark a domestic debate as to the role of the military and foreign policy in general," Manning, dressed in full military uniform, testified calmly.

Reading from a 35-page statement as he remained seated next to his lawyers, the short, slight private described his feelings after he submitted the secret information to WikiLeaks.

"I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience," said Manning, who spoke under oath for more than an hour.

"This was the type of information... should become public," he said.

At the hearing, through his attorney Manning pleaded not guilty to the most serious charge, of aiding the enemy.

Manning, who has been jailed at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia for more than 1,000 days, could face life imprisonment if convicted of that charge at his June trial.

Under a ruling last month by Lind, Manning would have any sentence reduced by 112 days to compensate for the markedly harsh treatment he received during his confinement. While at Quantico, Manning was placed in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day with guards checking on him every few minutes.

Manning admitted to unauthorized possession and willful communication of classified information from the Combined Information Data Network Exchange Iraq and the Combined Information Data Network Exchange Afghanistan, two military databases. He called the two tables of documents he sent to WikiLeaks "two of most significant documents of our time."

He also admitted to misuse of documents from the U.S. Southern Command pertaining to Guantanamo Bay, a memo from the United States Army Intelligence Center, and records from a military operation in Farah province in Afghanistan.

One of the classified U.S. military videos he said he leaked showed the 2007 attack by Apache helicopters that killed a dozen people in Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff, photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his assistant and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40.

Manning, an Army intelligence officer, testified that he first tried to give the information to his "local paper," the Washington Post, but when a journalist there was not interested he left a message at The New York Times, which never returned his call. He then planned to visit the offices of Politico, but when a winter storm canceled his plans, he turned to WikiLeaks.

Manning was arrested in May 2010 while serving in Iraq and charged with downloading thousands of intelligence documents, diplomatic cables and combat videos and forwarding them to WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks began exposing the U.S. government secrets in the same year, stunning diplomats around the world and outraging U.S. officials who said damage to national security from the leaks endangered U.S. lives.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since June to avoid extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes.

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg, Paul Simao and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bradley-manning-pleads-guilty-misusing-classified-data-wikileaks-001101327--sector.html

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