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• Swedish deputy prosecutor requests Assange be detained in absence
• Swedish prosecutor reopens Assange rape allegations case
• Julian Assange releases testimony, SMS records showing he was framed by Swedish police in alleged "rape" case
• Why Assange's Accuser, Anna Ardin, is Almost Certainly Lying

• Moscow rebukes Trump's Idlib tweet, says it will strike terrorists who attack civilians
• Trump attacks Military Industrial Complex and calls for infrastructure investments in the Middle East
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• Terrorists continue to stage attacks in Idlib, Syria, 'this cannot go on forever' - Lavrov
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• The Saker interviews Dmitry Orlov
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The Swedish authorities made it impossible for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to cooperate with the rape investigation without the risk of being extradited to Washington, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer told RT.

There were discrepancies in the probe against Assange in Sweden such as the investigation being dropped in 2010 and re-opened almost immediately, Melzer told RT's Afshin Rattansi on his show, Going Underground.

This case was closed by the prosecutor saying that there was no evidence that any crime has been committed at all ... Then a few days later, a different prosecutor takes up this case again and issues an arrest warrant [on Assange].

Two women accused Julian Assange of rape, which he denies. The investigation was dropped for the second time in 2017 - only to be launched once again last month after the journalist was forcibly evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Melzer believes Sweden pursued the probe "in a way that didn't allow Julian Assange to defend himself" without risking being extradited to the US where he may face up to 175 years in prison over charges of violating the Espionage Act.

Watch the full interview here:

• BBC, Sky News deep-six their interviews with UN expert on the torture of Julian Assange
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• UN Special Rapporteur on Torture exposes anti-Assange smear campaign waged by Ecuador, Sweden, the UK and the US

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Iran will suffer dire consequences if it threatens Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu warned as he ordered illustrative air raids in Syria, reminding voters in the looming snap elections of his firm stance on the occupied Golan Heights.

In a rare public acknowledgement of Israeli cross-border operations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted on Sunday of personally ordering airstrikes against Syrian military positions. As a demonstration of Tel Aviv's readiness to respond with "great force to any aggression," the IAF pounded Syrian Army artillery batteries, observation posts, and air defense units, killing three soldiers and wounding seven others - in retaliation for two rockets allegedly launched from the Syrian side.

While we do not make light of Iran's threats, neither are we deterred by them because anyone who tries to hurt us will be hurt far worse.

Mere hours after Netanyahu's passionate speech, the Syrian Arab Air Force's Tiyas Airbase was targeted in another air raid. At least one Syrian soldier was killed and two others were wounded in the attack, which military sources also blamed on Israel.

Damascus, which views the raids as a blatant violation of its sovereignty, repeatedly accused Israel of helping and boosting the morale of the remaining terrorists in Syria. Sunday's raid corresponded with "successive terrorist attacks in the northern suburbs of Hama and Idlib," Sana reported.

Israel seems to have intensified its cross-border intrusions, inspired by US President Donald Trump's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, while the rest of the world continues to dispute the occupation, analysts told RT.

"Israel responded so quickly because they want to preserve the status quo of the Israeli occupation," Ali Rizk, a Middle East-based journalist and writer told RT. "Israel has no right to be on the Golan Heights in the first place."

Observers agree that the raids could be interpreted as campaign stunt to boost the popularity of Netanyahu and his Likud party, who are running for re-election in September after failing to form a coalition government for the first time in Israeli history.

"Netanyahu is on solid ground when it comes to his security policy and dealing with threats. He enjoys broad support both from the left and the right on this matter," political analyst Mitchell Barak told RT.

"Not many countries would follow the US in recognition of Jerusalem and the Golan heights," Rizk added. "These steps taken by Washington benefit primarily Netanyahu - still he is up for re-election anyway."

"We see a continued campaign of strikes, counter-strikes and retaliation. Both sides play more for politics; it is not only the Israeli side," journalist Martin Jay told RT. "Israel's enemies would not be there in the first place if not for the US foreign policy failures."