Bradley Manning refuses to enter plea
An army private has declined to enter a plea to charges he engineered the biggest leak of classified information in US history. - Bradley Manning also deferred a choice of whether to be tried by a military jury or judge alone. Military judge Colonel Denise Lind presided over the 50-minute hearing at Fort Meade near Baltimore. She did not set a trial date but scheduled another court session for March 15-16. Defence lawyer David Coombs proposed a trial date some time in April. He said the government's proposed calendar could push the start of the trial to August 3, which could jeopardise his client's right to a speedy trial. Manning has been in pretrial confinement since May 2010. He faces 22 counts, including aiding the enemy. That charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The others carry a combined maximum of more than 150 years. The 24-year-old from Oklahoma allegedly gave the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks more than 700,000 documents and video clips.