WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange today described the ex-CIA employee who leaked secret US surveillance details as a “hero” and said the British Government should be offering him asylum there.

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Micheál Martin said a “separating barrier” or wall between Israel and the West Bank is “choking” the Palestinian people, who cannot travel to Israel for work, medical care or education.

FBI agents were arriving in Saudi Arabia today amid a row between Washington and the kingdom over security at the residential compounds attacked on Monday night by suspected al-Qaida suicide bombers.