Day 10, Wednesday 8 December - WikiLeaks embassy cables: the key points at a glance
There are no fewer than 251,287 cables from more than 250 US embassies around the world, obtained by WikiLeaks. We present a day-by-day guide to the revelations from the US embassy cables both from the Guardian and its international media partners in the story
Guardian
• Libya threatened UK with "dire reprisals" if the convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, died in a Scottish prison.
• Julian Assange is refused bail, and spends the night in Wandsworth prison.
• The future of the WikiLeaks website is thrown into doubt.
• The Obama administration is suspected of co-ordinating reprisals against Wikileaks. Major companies, including Visa and MasterCard, sever links with the whistle-blowing website.
• Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, is described as a dangerous eccentric, suffering from severe phobias and often acting on impulse.
• Tunisia blocks the website of a Lebanese newspaper for publishing unflattering US embassy cables about the regime.
• A leaked cable reveals that in 2008 Saudi Arabia suggested the intervention in Lebanon by an Arab force, backed by US and Nato troops, to destroy Hezbollah.
• US consulate officials in Jeddah describe a party thrown by a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family at which, contrary to Saudi law, alcohol and prostitutes were present.
• Cameron and Karzai meet in Kabul to repair the damage caused by leaks revealing Afghan officials' criticism of British troops in Helmand.
Der Speigel
• Leaked cables show that the US sees Austria as increasingly isolationist, and is frustrated by their lack of influence over the neutral country.
• The US and China worked together to prevent European nations from reaching an agreement at last year's climate summit in Copenhagen.
El País
• In a 2005 cable, the US scolded Spain for not committing more troops to Afghanistan and put pressure on them to reconsider their position.
• According to a US embassy cable form August 2008, the great majority of the Spanish military leadership have a profound dislike of Prime Minister Zapatero. Many have become "fans" of the US after spending time there, although they remained proud to be Spanish.
Le Monde
• US diplomats in Somalia do not think that the country is about to become an al-Qaida base, in spite of warnings by the transitional government that thousands of foreigners are flooding in to fight.
New York Times
• Swedish laws protecting women in their sexual encounters gets a fuller explanation, as Julian Assange, who is currently in Britain, faces an extradition request from Swedish prosecutors.
• The US justice department is reportedly looking at laws other than the Espionage Act to pursue wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
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