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Swedish court rejects detention in absentia for Assange, won't request extradition from Britain


The Local Sweden
Mon, 03 Jun 2019 15:57 UTC
Swedish court rejects detention Assange
© Fredrik Sandberg/TT
Journalists outside the courtroom on Monday.
A Swedish court has decided not to detain Julian Assange in absentia, which means the prosecutor will not immediately request his extradition from Britain.

In a detention hearing earlier on Monday, Swedish deputy director of public prosecutions Eva-Marie Persson told Uppsala District Court that the WikiLeaks founder had not cooperated with the Swedish investigation previously, fleeing from an extradition order, and therefore needed to be detained and questioned in Sweden.

Detention in a person's absence is a standard part of Swedish legal procedure if a suspect is outside the country or cannot be located, and which would be the first step to having him extradited from Britain.

But Assange's Swedish lawyer, Per E Samuelson, meanwhile argued that a detention order was "meaningless" as Assange is currently imprisoned in Britain and should not be considered a flight risk. He said it was not proportionate to ask for someone's detention merely to conduct a questioning session.

Assange remains a suspect, but the court agreed with the defence that it would not be proportionate to formally detain him, because the prosecutor would be able to continue the investigation regardless.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

US greenlights missiles for terrorists occupying Syria's Idlib

Ben Norton
The Gray Zone
Mon, 03 Jun 2019 20:05 UTC
idlib
While the US corporate media continues propagating the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump is a secret Kremlin asset, the Trump administration has approved heavy weapons for al-Qaeda-allied, Turkey-backed militants to fight against a Russian-backed offensive in Syria.

The Syrian army has relaunched a campaign to retake the northwestern province of Idlib, which has been under the control of Syria's al-Qaeda affiliate for more than four years. Washington has responded by greenlighting a cache of US-made anti-tank missiles, rocket launchers, and armored vehicles sent from NATO ally Ankara to sectarian Islamist militants in Idlib.

Syria's ally Russia had negotiated a peace deal with Turkey in September 2018. Ankara is militarily occupying part of northern Idlib, and the NATO member has constructed a dozen military bases in the Syrian province. But after seven months, Turkey and its rebel proxies have still failed to uphold their side of this peace agreement.

Comment: See also:

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Control Panel

Why Half The Western World is Disinformed And How Global News Agencies And Establishment Media Report on Geopolitics

Swiss Propaganda Research
True Publica
Tue, 14 May 2019 00:00 UTC
propaganda
By Swiss Propaganda Research: It is one of the most important aspects of our media system, and yet hardly known to the public: most of the international news coverage in Western media is provided by only three global news agencies based in New York, London and Paris.

The key role played by these agencies means Western media often report on the same topics, even using the same wording. In addition, governments, military and intelligence services use these global news agencies as multipliers to spread their messages around the world.

A study of the Syria war coverage by nine leading European newspapers clearly illustrates these issues: 78% of all articles were based in whole or in part on agency reports, yet 0% on investigative research. Moreover, 82% of all opinion pieces and interviews were in favour of the US and NATO intervention, while propaganda was attributed exclusively to the opposite side.

"Something strange"

"How does the newspaper know what it knows?" The answer to this question is likely to surprise some newspaper readers: "The main source of information is stories from news agencies. The almost anonymously operating news agencies are in a way the key to world events. So what are the names of these agencies, how do they work and who finances them? To judge how well one is informed about events in East and West, one should know the answers to these questions." (Höhne 1977, p. 11)

A Swiss media researcher points out: "The news agencies are the most important suppliers of material to mass media. No daily media outlet can manage without them. () So the news agencies influence our image of the world; above all, we get to know what they have selected." (Blum 1995, p. 9)
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Quenelle

Moscow rebukes Trump's Idlib tweet, says it will strike terrorists who attack civilians


RT
Mon, 03 Jun 2019 15:05 UTC
Su-30
© Sputnik / Maxin Blinov
Russian aircraft Su-30 lands at the Khmeimim airbase in Syria
Russia will continue to strike back at terrorists in Syria's Idlib who attack civilians and Russian troops, the Kremlin's spokesperson said in response to US President Donald Trump's call to stop operations there.

There is a "high concentration of terrorists and militants" in the Idlib province, which carry out attacks against unarmed people and Russian military personnel, Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

He was responding to Donald Trump who earlier accused Russian and Syrian forces of "indiscriminately killing many innocent civilians" and called on them to stop operations in the area.

Comment: Unsurprisingly, Trump was silent when Israel was bombing Syria the other week: Israeli air raids on Syria kill 3 soldiers, injure 7

See also:

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Heart - Black

The 5th anniversary of the bombing of Lugansk


The Saker
Sun, 02 Jun 2019 12:00 UTC
Lugansk

The bombing of Lugansk
The Ukrainian authorities and media ignored the 5th anniversary of the tragic events in Lugansk, when a UAF warplane carried out an air strike on the building of the Lugansk regional state administration for the purpose of liquidating the leadership of the LPR, as a result of which passers-by suffered.

"A Ukrainian Sukhoi, having made several circles over the center of Lugansk, homed in on a position and somewhere over that place where now there is a monument bearing the inscription 02.06.14 on Oboronnaya Street launched a series of missiles at the central square. It cut a clearing in the thickets of the park and launched a missile at the administration building. Eight people remained lying in pools of blood on the sidewalk and on the threshold of the administration... Why was it necessary to carry out an air strike on the center of a peaceful city? Who had enough cynicism to give the order to launch missiles at a square where children, mothers, and elderly people were walking around? Who didn't hesitate to squeeze the trigger and fire munitions at live unarmed targets? I have answers to these questions, but they are missing from the decisions of the courts and tribunals," stated the adviser to the head of the LPR Rodion Miroshnik.

Comment: See also:

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Black Cat

UN Torture Report confirms 'demonized' Assange has faced 'psychological torture'

Joe Lauria
Consortium News
Fri, 31 May 2019 20:51 UTC
Nils Melzer
© Denis Balibouse / Reuters
Nils Melzer in Geneva, Switzerland, May 31, 2019.
The UN special rapporteur on torture has blasted four nations for imposing psychological torture on Julian Assange: 'a relentless and unrestrained campaign of public mobbing, intimidation and defamation'; warns of 'criminalization of journalism'

The UN special rapporteur on torture has issued a stinging rebuke to the United States, Great Britain, Sweden and Ecuador for "deliberately" exposing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to years of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," which can only be described as "psychological torture."

"In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution I have never seen a group of democratic States ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law," Nils Melzer said in a statement published on the UN High Commissioner for Human Right's website on Friday. "The collective persecution of Julian Assange must end here and now!"

Comment: Melzer further commented that Sweden's probe made it impossible for Assange to 'defend himself'
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:

RT and Democracy Now! have been the only two major media outlets to broadcast interviews with Melzer. Both the BBC and Sky News taped segments with the UN official, but failed to broadcast them.

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Snakes in Suits

Trump tests US-UK 'special relationship,' upsetting British figures before state visit


RT
Mon, 03 Jun 2019 14:06 UTC
Trump
US President Donald Trump has managed to anger a number of high profile British figures, from "stone cold loser" Sadiq Khan and Jeremy Corbyn to "nasty" Meghan Markle - all before touching down in London to meet the Queen.

As Trump embarks on his three-day UK state visit, the US president has been busy ruffling feathers with a series of derogatory and antagonistic remarks in interviews and customary tweets about his British 'allies'.

Quelle surprise some may say, but has the president been given extra carte blanche to cause mayhem on British soil, with political leadership rudderless, as Theresa May enters her final days as UK prime minister?

Lays into London Mayor Sadiq Khan

Minutes before landing at London's Stansted airport on Monday morning, Trump found time to deliver some unsavory words for London's Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has been less than glowing about the president - taking a pop at his height.
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TV

CBS News lies - says US senator warned about Moscow's 'aggression' in Arctic when he actually said no such thing


RT
Sun, 02 Jun 2019 21:33 UTC
Russian border mark
© Reuters / Sergei Karpukhin
A Russian border mark is pictured at the Nagurskoye military base on the Franz Josef Land, Russia, on March 29, 2017
US Senator Joe Manchin warns of Russian aggression in the Arctic and discusses reports of secret nuclear tests there, a description to a CBS interview states. Scared?

Well, that's not exactly what he said, but 'Russian aggression' is too good of a trope to pass.

In fact, the Democratic senator from West Virginia did not even use the word 'aggression' throughout the entire interview, not even once. That, however, did not stop CBS from putting it in the caption to the Face the Nation video both on the channel's website and YouTube account.

Instead, what the senator did say was that Russia has invested large sums of money and tremendous efforts in its Arctic regions as they make up a significant part of the country. "It is an unbelievable commitment that they have made."

Comment: Someone in the CBS news room has gotten their orders to characterize everything Russia does in the Arctic (and everywhere else for that matter!) as "aggression". The same powerful interests are also, likely, determining what US foreign policy is and making sure that those at the highest level of US government are following suit:

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Star of David

One killed in 'Israeli missile strike' on Syrian airbase in Homs, day after IDF raids


RT
Mon, 03 Jun 2019 16:59 UTC
israel strike syria T4 airbase
© Reuters / Ammar Awad
Israeli airstrike on Syria June 2, 2019
Several missiles have been fired at the Syrian Arab Air Force Tiyas Airbase, located in the Homs Governorate, killing at least one soldier, just a day after Israel conducted raids against multiple Syrian military targets.

Two projectiles were intercepted by the air defense systems, activated to address the threat. However, at least one person was killed and two others injured, Sana reports. Infrastructure and equipment at the facility, also known as the T-4 Airbase, suffered damage in what appears to be an Israeli attack, military sources said.

Comment: More bluster from Netenyahu who is in a politically shaky position, unable to form a new government and facing a snap election as a result:
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."


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Radar

How NSA's targeting system tech ended up in use on the Mexican border

Henrik Moltke
The Intercept
Wed, 29 May 2019 16:21 UTC
nsa bagram
© NSA
The NSA’s revolutionary “Real Time-Regional Gateway” data center at Area 82 in Bagram airfield, Afghanistan.
In November 2005, two terminals for a new secure communications platform arrived at the U.S. military base at Bagram Airfield, outside Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. The first of its kind, the system would enable the U.S.'s electronic eavesdropping organization, the National Security Agency, to instantaneously share select classified information with America's closest allies in the fight against the Taliban, speeding the delivery of critical information to soldiers. Previously, the only way to pass intelligence at Bagram between the U.S. and partner nations was to hand it over as hard copy. These two first nodes in what would eventually become a larger network, known as CENTER ICE, would end the paper shuffling, ultimately saving the lives of troops in combat.

The NSA was to set up one of the two initial systems at Bagram for its own use, and the other for its counterpart from Norway, the Norwegian Intelligence Service, or NIS. The Norwegians were perfect guinea pigs. A "gregarious, friendly bunch" who threw good barbecue parties, they had "almost no collection capability" to eavesdrop independently and were thus "heavily dependent on the U.S.," an NSA staffer at Bagram later wrote on an internal agency news site, SIDtoday. (The article and the other intelligence documents in this story were provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.) One of the new terminals failed when the NSA attempted to turn it on, but after the provision of some "necessary spares," both were operational.

Spies from the two nations were about to get a dramatic example of how powerful the digitization of intelligence-sharing could be. One morning a few weeks after CENTER ICE went live, the Norwegians sent an urgent email using the new system: "Our guys think they are being shadowed... Are you seeing anything?"
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