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UN Special Rapporteur on Privacy meets with Assange in Belmarsh prison: "I will act on the videos of Assange's meetings in the embassy"

Stefania Maurizi
Reppublica
Thu, 25 Apr 2019 23:04 UTC
assange vigil embassy
© WSWS
Protesters at a vigil for Julian Assangeat the Ecuadorian embassy in London, August 16, 2018
He is the first person who has been able to visit Julian Assange at the Belmarsh prison besides Assange's lawyers. In fact, although two weeks have passed since the arrest of the WikiLeaks' founder, no other visitors are allowed apart from his lawyers. The UN Special Rapporteur on Privacy, Professor Joe Cannataci, just visited Julian Assange at the Belmarsh prison, a high security prison marked by the strictest prison regime in the UK, and in fact even visitors have to undergo to intensive controls, including police interviews, and of course meetings are monitored. Repubblica just interviewed the UN Rapporteur Cannataci.

Professor Cannataci, how did Assange seem to be doing?

«My visit went well, Mr Assange was ready to answer my questions. We have already started gathering facts and asked questions of Assange's legal team and of the Ecuadorian ambassador in London».

How is Julian Assange? We were all shocked by his appearance the day of his arrest...

«I am not a physician, and so I am unable to make a medical assessment of him and of course I met him in prison, which is never a pleasant place to meet, however, it seemed to me he was in fairly good condition».

Comment:

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Eye 2

Porton Down: Secret UK military lab killed 48,400 animals in 7 years

Sean Rayment
Mirror
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 18:56 UTC
porton down
© AFP 2019 / Niklas Halle'n
Scientists have blown up pigs, infected monkeys with biological weapons and poisoned guinea pigs with nerve gas
Almost 50,000 animals have been killed in military testing at a top-secret government research base, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.

During a series of experiments, scientists blew up pigs, infected monkeys with biological weapons and poisoned guinea pigs with nerve gas.

Figures seen by this newspaper show 48,400 animals were killed at the Defence Science and Technology ­Laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire, between 2010 and 2017.

Animal rights activists claim the tests are unnecessary and the numbers being killed are "alarming".

Comment: Sputnik provides further details on story and the relevance of the site relating to the Skripal saga:
[...]

Porton Down laboratory entered the limelight in connection with the poisoning of former Russian GRU officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in 2018. The laboratory ran tests to determine which agent was used on them, but Russia suspects that the nerve agent could have originated from Porton Down's own experiments, as it has historically dealt with such substances. Moscow demanded that London explain the nature of Porton Down's latest experiments, as the laboratory is located so close to Salisbury, where the Skripals lived.

The UK, in turn, has pushed a narrative of blaming Moscow for the attack without presenting any credible evidence supporting the accusations.

The laboratory is also known for past questionable experiments. Namely, it contaminated an entire island in order to turn anthrax bacteria into a weapon that could be used against German cities during the Second World War. Porton Down also conducted dubious experiments on British servicemen in a bid to develop protection from certain nerve agents. One such experiment led to the death of Ronald Maddison, aged 20, in 1953.
And for more insight into the nefarious activities Porton Down fosters, see:

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Quenelle

Iranian drone video shows close-up shots of US aircraft carrier, seemingly undetected


RT
Sun, 28 Apr 2019 13:47 UTC
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
© AFP / US Navy
FILE PHOTO: USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier
An Iranian UAV has reportedly brazenly approached a US aircraft carrier group in the Persian Gulf to film the ships close-up in HD. The images were shared by Tehran's semi-official news agency.

The undated clip, which was released by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, showed a homemade Ababail-3 drone taking off from an Iranian airfield with the musical accompaniment of a rather epic tune.

Its audacious mission proved successful, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, which reported on the close-up shots of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier apparently taken by the UAV.

Comment: After successfully reverse engineering a US spy drone, and more recently hacking a US drone, evidently Iran is taking advantage of its newfound knowledge. So much so that at each stage they've been eager to share it with the world, or, more particularly, the US:

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Chart Pie

'Win' for centrist 'socialist' party as Spanish election yields yet ANOTHER minority coalition government in western Europe


RT
Sun, 28 Apr 2019 21:34 UTC
spain election 2019
© Reuters / Sergio Perez
Supporters of the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) wait for the results of Spain's general election in Madrid
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez' socialist party PSOE is set to come out on top in Sunday's elections, but it'll have to form a coalition in the fragmented parliament. Meanwhile, right-wing party Vox enters with over 20 seats.

With the Spanish political landscape increasingly fragmented, voters went to the polls on Sunday to take part in the country's third general election in four years. Turnout was a high 75 percent, and all 350 seats in Spain's Congress of Deputies were up for grabs.

With 84 percent of votes counted by Sunday evening, Sanchez' decision to call a snap election in February looks to have paid off. His socialist PSOE party looks set to take 123 seats, or 29 percent of the vote. Previously, Sanchez led a minority government of 85 deputies, with the support of a handful of independence-favoring Catalonian parties.

Comment: The trend of schlerotic election results continues in western Europe. No elections in any country west of Austria has produced a majority government in the last 5 years.

No doubt this too is Russia's fault, what with all its 'meddling' and 'divisiveness'...

In reality, of course, it's a strong sign of 'a house divided' by its own hand.

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Light Sabers

China urges UK to keep Huawei in 5G development while US continues spying narrative


RT
Sun, 28 Apr 2019 14:12 UTC
File Photo: UK and Chinese flags (L) and Huawei logo (R)
© Reuters / Andy Wong (L) ; Global Look Press / Rodrigo Reyes Marin (R)
File Photo: UK and Chinese flags (L) and Huawei logo (R)
A Chinese ambassador has urged the UK not to be swayed by outside interests as it develops its 5G network amid a concentrated push by the US to pressure allies to drop tech giant Huawei from contracts over spying allegations.

Beijing's comments come as the UK's National Security Council decided on Tuesday to allow Huawei to participate in its 5G project. While Huawei will only be allowed to provide "non-core" infrastructure such as antennas, the decision divided many within Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet and the security apparatus, who fear the firm's involvement could lead to spying by the Chinese.
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Attention

Thierry Meyssan: EU has no choice but to participate in US imperial wars

Thierry Meyssan
Voltaire Network
Tue, 23 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
Trump Dunford,Jr.
© Voltairenet-org
President Donald Trump • Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Since the Treaty of Maastricht, all the members of the European Union (including the neutral countries) have placed their defences under the suzerainty of NATO, which is directed exclusively by the United States. This is why, when the Pentagon delegates the economic headquarters of the countries it wishes to destroy to the US Department of the Treasury (USDT), all members of the European Union and NATO are obliged to apply US sanctions.

After having lost his majority in the House of Representatives during the mid-term elections, President Trump has found new allies in exchange for his discharge by prosecutor Mueller of the accusation of high treason [1]. He now supports the objectives of his generals. US imperialism is back [2].


Comment: Was this a covert deal?


In less than six months, the foundations of international relations have been "rebooted". The war that Hillary Clinton promised to start has been declared, but not only by military force.

This transformation of the rules of the game, without equivalent since the end of the Second World War, immediately forced all actors to rethink their strategy, and therefore all the plans for alliance upon which they were based. Those who turn up late will pay for it.

Comment: Meyssan offers brilliant insight into the underlying purpose of NATO in regards to the EU and why the US holds all the cards.

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Easter Egg 2

Is Ireland the tech giants' darling, or is it doing its part to protect data?


RT
Sun, 28 Apr 2019 19:29 UTC
varadkar zuckerberg

"Hi! We're friends, like on Facebook!"
The small European nation faces criticism for its alleged failure to regulate Silicon Valley companies, but is Ireland really compromised by its economy's reliance on low taxes and tech firms, or is it fulfilling its GDPR duties?

Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect last May and states the country that is home to a company's data controller is the lead regulator.

For many companies, like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, that country is Ireland, which has long attracted Silicon Valley giants thanks to its low corporate taxes.

The watchdog

Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) is in charge of regulating tech companies, but it has been accused of failing to issue rulings on some key user information issues, from Facebook sharing data with Whatsapp, to Google sharing data across its suite of companies.


Comment: So... the regulator for some of the largest corporations on Earth... is an agency of the Irish govt, pop. 4 million??


Comment: With friends like the Irish government, who needs government at all? Just let Silicon Valley run the entire Western cyborg!

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Whistle

Biden: Obama WH was 'scandal-free'. Here are some of the bigger ones he conveniently forgot!


RT
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 19:23 UTC
ObamaBiden
© Reuters/Yuri Gripas
President Barack Obama hugs Vice President Joe Biden after presenting him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2017.
The White House had "not one whisper of scandal" under President Barack Obama - that's what former VP Joe Biden would have one believe as a selling point for his presidential run. Wait, is that the sound of fact-checkers typing?

"The thing I'm proudest of," Biden said on Friday of his time at Obama's right hand, "Not one single whisper of scandal...not one, and that's because of Barack."

Biden was speaking on The View, a day after announcing his campaign for the presidency in 2020. The studio audience cheered and host Joy Behar chimed in, calling Barack Obama "amazing." Of course, Biden is hardly going to besmirch his former partner on live television, and the view of presidents past tends to soften once they've left office.

But one has to wonder if the busy liberal fact-checkers would want to correct the Democrats' favorite candidate, as his administration racked up its fair share of scandals during Obama's eight years at the helm. Here're three of the biggest:
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Magnify

Trump: Clinton/Obama administration's links with Ukraine need to be investigated

Zachary Stieber
The Epoch Times
Fri, 26 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
ObamaClinton
© J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia, July 27, 2016.
President Donald Trump said that links between Ukraine and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and the Obama administration should be investigated.

The remarks came after Ukrainian officials told The Hill that a January 2016 meeting between some of Ukraine's top corruption investigators and members of Obama's National Security Council, the FBI, the State Department, and the Department of Justice featured the Americans trying to divert the investigators from probing then-Vice President Joe Biden's son's links with Ukraine.

The Americans also tried to get Ukrainian investigators to locate evidence of crimes committed by Paul Manafort, a Republican operative who was later charged during the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Kostiantyn Kulyk, deputy head of Ukraine's prosecutor general's international affairs office, said that investigators had evidence that a number of Western figures, such as Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig, also received money from the Party of Regions, the party of ousted Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovych, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Craig was recently indicted for allegedly lying about his dealings with Ukraine.



Comment: See also:

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Arrow Up

YouGov: Scottish independence support at 49% thanks to Brexit

Elisabeth O'Leary
Reuters
Sat, 27 Apr 2019 09:02 UTC
Brexitbus clifhanger
© Ingram Pinn
The UK Cliffhanger!
Support for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom has risen to its highest point in the past four years, largely driven by voters who want to remain in the European Union, according to a poll published on Saturday.

As the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) meets for its two-day spring conference, the YouGov poll showed support for secession had risen to 49 percent from 45 percent at the last YouGov poll carried out for The Times in June 2018.

The SNP is preparing a new independence push after it was defeated in a 2014 referendum by concerns over the economy. Their proposal for an independent Scotland to continue using the pound in a currency union with Britain was perceived as a particular weakness.

On Saturday the SNP leadership proposed that if the country voted for independence it should use Britain's pound until a Scottish currency meeting six economic tests could be introduced. Delegates rejected that in favor of a more pressing timeframe and formulation urging preparations to introduce a new currency "as soon as practicable after Independence Day," preserving the six economic tests.

Scots rejected independence by 45-55 percent in a 2014 referendum. Then the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a 2016 referendum, but among its four nations Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay, feeding political tension.

Comment: See also:

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