"They've been here all of two months. That was the [coalition] agreement - maintain discretion, to prevent Iran and others from torpedoing it."
Florence Iveson, a barrister acting for Julian Assange at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday said the decision by the US government to serve a second superseding indictment at "the eleventh hour" was "astonishing" and "potentially abuse of conduct". The court should ignore the new fact pattern now associated with the conspiracy charge on the superseding indictment and simply decide the case based on the prior indictment.See also:
The defence also argued that there is no justification for the claim by US prosecutors that these latest charges are the product of ongoing investigations because all the claims stem from allegations made in public in 2010 and 2011.
She also pointed out that "Mr Assange has not had the opportunity to consider that document at all". But the idea that the judge should ignore the fact pattern in the second superseding indictment was opposed by Clair Dobbin, who spoke for the US government. Ms Dobbin argued that such a decision would need to be supported by a legal authority and is outside the jurisdiction of the court.
John Shipton, Julian Assange's father, told Sputnik that he believed the prosecution was doing everything it could to ensure the proceedings are delayed until after the US presidential elections, due to be held in November.
As has happened in prior hearings both lawyers and journalists were unable to participate or follow proceedings via telephone link and only six members of the press (including a representative from Sputnik) were allowed in court due to social distancing rules.
Over forty human rights and journalism organisations including Reporters Without Borders and the National Union of Journalists have all expressed their opposition to the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder and their concern over the precedent set by prosecuting a journalist for publishing state secrets which revealed, among other things, war crimes committed by US-led forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"My administration is very grateful for the additional flexibility that this effort would have provided, but South Dakota is in the fortunate position of not needing to accept it. South Dakota's economy, having never been shut down, has recovered nearly 80% of our job losses. South Dakota is the only state in the nation that didn't have extended benefits kick in because our insured unemployment rate has been the lowest in the nation."Trump signed an executive order earlier this month allowing the federal government to use money already allocated for disaster assistance to help unemployed Americans, adding at least $300 more to their weekly benefit amounts, with state governments expected to provide an additional $100, for a total of $400.
No shut down, quick bounce back!See also: South Dakota Governor leads the lockdown rebellion: Kristi Noems vows to keep her state open
Netizens were less interested in the details of the discussion, however, and more stunned that Biden had decided to grant an interview to a celebrity instead of an actual journalist, particularly with the Democratic convention set to kick off this week.
Biden has limited his media presence amid the coronavirus crisis, but critics say he is using the pandemic to stay out of the public eye to avoid prompting further concern over his mental fitness.
Some online commentators have dubbed the candidate "Hidin' Biden" for his back-seat approach to running for president - and Trump himself has played up those allegations, at one stage suggesting the Democrat "doesn't know he's alive."
YouTube has pulled a controversial investigation by Millie Weaver from its platform, days after the InfoWars correspondent was arrested as she tried to screen the video report. The video has also been censored on Twitter.
The ShadowGate film, uploaded by Weaver's associate following her arrest, has been scrubbed from YouTube for violating the site's "policy on hate speech." The documentary, based on the reports of two private intelligence whistleblowers, purports to expose a far-reaching 'Deep State' security apparatus involved in manipulating US politics.
Conservative commentator Mark Dice said that the link to the YouTube video had also been banned on Twitter, which warns of "harmful content" when a user tries to post it.A search for the hashtag #ShadowGate does not seem to show any tweets in recent days, fueling speculation it could have been 'shadowbanned'.© Mark Dice/Twitter
Comment: Notably, considering the US' claim to be leaving Syria, Reuters reported just a few weeks ago that a US company had signed an agreement with Kurdish rebels to steal and sell Syrian oil: US signs deal with Kurdish-led rebels to steal Syrian oil
See also: U.S. Didn't 'Withdraw' From Syria - It Redeployed, And Now Controls 75% of The Country's Oil