There is no official note of when it will be available for sale in Europe at this stage or the price of the device.

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In an official note to the Ecuadoreans it said it was "surprised" by media reports that "Ecuador is about to take a decision and proposes to grant asylum to Mr Assange".

BBC: Julian Assange: UK 'threat' to arrest Wikileaks founder

Indeed, her bipartisan tone leads one former Bush official to note that Rice could have ended up working for a Democratic administration.

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