Julian Assange arrested in London after Ecuador withdraws asylum

Julian Assange has been arrested in London after Ecuador withdrew his asylum.

The fugitive founder of WikiLeaks was wanted by British police for skipping bail in August 2012, while he was under investigation for sexual assault and rape in Sweden, and had lived since then in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, reported NBC News.

The Australian had long complained that he would eventually be extradited to the U.S. to face charges if he was forced to surrender.

Julian Assange arrested in London: UK police

British police have arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who had been living in Ecuador’s embassy in London since 2012 to avoid arrest and extradition. 

Police in the UK capital on Thursday said they arrested the Australian national after being “invited into the embassy by the ambassador, following the Ecuadorean government’s withdrawal of asylum”.

Footage appeared to show police dragging a bearded Assange from the embassy and putting him into a police van. 

Democrats, making a difference is better than making a point

Democrats demanding an ideological litmus test for candidates and cheering for brutal primaries are Republicans’ best friends. Ideological purity is subjective and one’s believing that he or she is a “better” Democrat is hypocritical in a party that prides itself on inclusion. History has proven when the Democratic Party turns off moderates it moves into the minority.

There are many single-issue Democrats, from climate change to pro-choice to commonsense gun safety laws. No one issue prevails and no one is less a Democrat for having a different primary concern. Only by creating a place in the tent for moderates can Democrats retain power in the House and/or gain it in the Senate.  

Barack Obama warns progressives to avoid 'circular firing squad'

Barack Obama warned on Saturday that US progressives risk creating a “circular firing squad” at a time when prospective presidential candidates are competing fiercely against each other to run against Donald Trump.

The former president was speaking in Berlin, at an Obama Foundation event.

Russia responds to the Barr memo: Moscow wins, Putin is stronger than Trump and US is a 'pain in the ass'

“A mountain has given birth to a mouse. The ‘Russian affair’ falls to pieces before our eyes.”

So pronounced the Russian news site Gazeta.ru, as word of the completed Mueller report swept around the world.

Thus far, official Russian response to the Mueller findings has been scornful. Leaders are taking the conclusions of U.S. Attorney General William Barr – that the report shows no collusion between the Kremlin and U.S. President Donald Trump – as a chance to dismiss all claims of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Leaked reports reveal severe abuse of Saudi political prisoner

Political prisoners in Saudi Arabia are said to be suffering from malnutrition, cuts, bruises and burns, according to leaked medical reports that are understood to have been prepared for the country’s ruler, King Salman.

The reports seem to provide the first documented evidence from within the heart of the royal court that political prisoners are facing severe physical abuse, despite the government’s denials that men and women in custody are being tortured.

Venezuelan government bars Guaido from public office for 15 years

CARACAS, Venezuela — The Venezuelan government on Thursday said it has barred opposition leader Juan Guaido from holding public office for 15 years, though the National Assembly leader responded soon afterward that he would continue his campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

The announcement by state comptroller Elvis Amoroso, a close ally of Maduro, cited alleged irregularities in the financial records of Guaido and reflected a tightening of government pressure on an opposition movement backed by the United States and dozens of other countries.

Russian troops land in Caracas as US considers military intervention in Venezuela

Nearly 100 Russian troops have reportedly landed in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas as the United States, which has hinted that a military option is “on the table,” continues to pressure the country’s president to step down.

Reuters reported Sunday that two Russian planes arrived in Caracas on Saturday, one of them thought to have carried Vasily Tonkoshkurov, chief of staff for Russian ground forces.

Neither Venezuelan nor Russian authorities have issued a comment on the flights.

Hamas violently suppresses Gaza economic protests

Hamas appears to have forcibly suppressed a rare uptick in public dissent in Gaza, beating and arresting scores of people over the past week who have been demonstrating against price rises and dire living conditions across the strip.

A group of activists and civil society figures calling itself “We want to live” had planned a general strike on Thursday, but after attacks by riot police since last week it was not clear whether the strike would go ahead.

Foreign nationals suspected of Isis links 'not wanted' in Syrian camps

An estimated 7,000 women and children from more than 40 nations, including the US, UK, Australia and Europe, are living in tense and chaotic conditions in camps in north-eastern Syria, where they are “not wanted” due to their supposed affiliation with Islamic State.

Among them are hundreds of unaccompanied or separated children, some just babies as young as five months, according to aid groups and other sources.

MBS approved ‘intervention’ against dissidents: NYT report

More than a year before the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, approved a secret campaign to silence dissenters, the New York Times has reported.

The campaign included surveillance, kidnapping, detention and torture of Saudis, said the report published on Sunday citing the US officials who have read classified intelligence reports about the effort.

American officials referred to it as the Saudi Rapid Intervention Group, the Times said.

North Korea election: Surprise as leader Kim Jong-un 'not on ballot'

North Korea's election has resulted in the expected landslide win for its authoritarian leadership - but in a big first for the country, Kim Jong-un does not appear to have been on the ballot.

If confirmed, it would be the first time a North Korean leader has not run for its rubberstamp parliament.

The vote did see his sister, Kim Yo-jong, elected to the body, however.

Latin America's fight to legalise abortion: the key battlegrounds

An estimated 6.5 million abortions take place across Latin America each year. Three-quarters of these procedures are unlawful, often performed in unsafe illegal clinics or at home.

Of 33 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, only Cuba, Uruguay and Guyana permit elective abortions. Women also have the right to choose in Mexico City. Elsewhere, however, the right to an abortion is severely restricted, with terminations often permitted in cases of rape, or if the pregnancy will endanger the life of the mother. Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Suriname all have a complete ban on abortion.

Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel is a state ‘only of the Jewish people’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is “not a state of all its citizens”, in a reference to the country’s Palestinian Arab population, adding that all citizens, including Arabs, had equal rights.

However, in his comments on Instagram, Netanyahu referred to a deeply controversial law passed last year declaring Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people.

“Israel is not a state of all its citizens,” he wrote in response to criticism from an Israeli actor, Rotem Sela.

Algerian president issues warning to protesters against his fifth term bid

Large demonstrations against the Algerian president’s decision to seek a fifth term are expected on Friday as Abdelaziz Bouteflika warned of chaos if protesters allowed what he called the “infiltration” of their movement by unspecified forces.

People from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds have taken to the streets across Algeria in recent weeks in what have been the biggest demonstrations in the country since the 2011 Arab spring. Authorities on Friday halted train and metro services in the capital, Algiers, amid heavy security.

“Our citizens took to the streets ... to peacefully express their opinions. We welcome this maturity of our citizens, notably youth,” Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has ruled the north African country since 1999, was quoted as saying on Thursday.

“We urge vigilance and caution against any possible infiltration of misleading parties, either internal or external, in this peaceful expression. Such parties may cause discord and provoke chaos … they may trigger crises and woes.”

Equalities And Human Rights Watchdog Paves Way For Investigation Into Labour Anti-Semitism

The UK’s Equalities and Human Rights Commission has paved the way for a formal investigation into anti-Semitism within Labour.

The dramatic move by the watchdog follows dossiers of complaints handed to it by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAA) and by the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) last year.

Dem campaign chief: Medicare for All price tag ‘a little scary’

The House Democrats’ new campaign chief on Tuesday poured cold water on the progressive Medicare for All plan, dismissing it as just “one idea” out there and warning that its estimated $33 trillion price tag was “a little scary.”

“The ‘Green New Deal’ is an idea. ‘Medicare for all’ is an idea. But there are many others that are out there,” Rep. Cheri Bustos (Ill.), the chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), said in an interview with The Hill.

North Korea rebuilds part of launch site it promised the US it would dismantle

North Korea has begun rebuilding a rocket launch site that had been partially dismantled as a goodwill gesture after the first summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in June last year.

Satellite images show the reconstruction work was carried out shortly before their failed second summit in Hanoi last week, and their publication on Tuesday evening contributed to fears that the peace effort was in jeopardy.

‘This will be a wasteland’: Northern Irish farmers fear Brexit

Northern Ireland – South of Enniskillen, in a farm on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, John Sheridan whistles while herding dozens of ewes into a cube-shaped, metal ultrasound scanner installed in the middle of hilly green pastures.

Those who aren’t pregnant will be fattened up and sent to the Republic of Ireland for processing, Sheridan explains. From there, they will end up on mostly Belgian and French tables.

Venezuela’s Juan Guaido returns home, calls for more protests

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has returned to Venezuela after flouting a court-imposed travel ban by touring Latin American countries to boost support for his campaign to tighten regional pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.

A crowd of cheering supporters greeted Guaido and his wife as they stepped into the Maiquetia airport’s arrivals hall, and then sped to an opposition rally in eastern Caracas where thousands had gathered to welcome him.

As Ilhan Omar endures anti-Muslim racism, most lawmakers in Congress remain silent

The West Virginia statehouse on Friday allowed an Islamophobic organization to display an anti-Muslim poster targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.

WV Act for America — designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group — placed the poster outside the chamber to commemorate the state’s GOP day.

The poster depicted an image of Omar beneath an image of the burning World Trade Center towers with the words, “‘Never Forget’” — You said.. I am proof that you have forgotten.” Act for America also distributed anti-Muslim articles and pamphlets, including one entitled, “Readin’, Writin’, and Jihadin’ The Islamization of America Public Schools.”

Environmentalists Didn’t Expect This Would Happen When They Busted Up Dams

Dam busting is a grand tradition of American environmentalism. In 1966, when the Sierra Club and allies got Congress to prohibit new dams in the Grand Canyon it was “a turning point, the biggest victory yet for conservation,” according to the PBS documentary A Fierce Green Fire.

At the innermost center of an environmentalist’s hell “stands a dam,” wrote John McPhee, the godfather of nature writing, back in 1971. “Possibly the reaction to dams is so violent because rivers are the ultimate metaphors of existence, and dams destroy rivers.”

To Disempower Lobbyists, Give Congressional Staff a Raise

If we want to diminish the power of corporate lobbyists in Congress, one of the best but most overlooked ways to do so would be to give congressional staffers a raise.

Over the weekend, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that her office was going to ensure a living wage for all her staffers by paying no one less than $52,000, which constitutes a living wage in Washington, D.C., for two adults, with one working. Part of making that a reality in Ocasio-Cortez’s office means capping her staff salaries at $80,000. Staff salaries are not fixed: in 2018, each office had an average of $1.36 million to spend on staff salaries and official office expenses — the

Ex-Taliban official: ‘No Afghan peace deal if air raids continue

Kabul, Afghanistan – A return to peace is not possible in Afghanistan if its government continues to conduct air strikes which have resulted in countless civilian casualties, a former Taliban official has said.

In a press conference in Kabul on Wednesday, Syed Mohammad Akbar Agha, who is the current leader of Rah-e-Nejat (High Council of Salvation), said President Ashraf Ghani‘s government is sabotaging peace talks being held in Qatar between Taliban representatives and US officials.

Russian State TV Distorts The Intercept’s Reporting on a Syrian Chemical Attack

According to Russia 24, a Russian government news channel, a recent investigation by The Intercept supports a conspiracy theory promoted by Russian officials: that there was no chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma last year, and video of victims was fabricated to provoke American airstrikes. But The Intercept report featured in the Russian broadcast actually concluded the opposite: that a chemical attack did take place in Douma on the night of April 7, 2018.

Israeli minister tours Al-Aqsa days after Palestinian arrests

Israel’s far-right Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and a number of Jewish settlers forced their way into occupied East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday, according to a Palestinian official.

“They stormed the Al-Aqsa compound and toured the area under the protection of Israeli forces,” Firas al-Dibs, a spokesperson for Jerusalem’s Jordan-run Religious Endowments Authority, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

Italian Investigators Just Uncovered a Major Russian Election Meddling Plot

A bombshell investigation published Friday by Italy’s L’Espresso magazine reveals a plot that might sound familiar. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini of the hard-right Lega Nord party, L’Espresso reports, last year sought a 3 million euro funding commitment from Kremlin-linked entities to finance his political campaign. The scheme, reportedly organized by a loyal aide and former spokesman to Salvini named Gianluca Savoini, enabled the money to flow to Lega Nord covertly, tucked behind an ordinary-seeming oil export deal between Italian and Russian companies.

Sanctioned Russian oligarch’s think tank might expand to the U.S.

A Berlin-based think tank founded and chaired by sanctioned Russian oligarch Vladimir Yakunin is exploring the possibility of opening an office in the United States, a spokesperson for the group told ThinkProgress.

Jean-Christophe Bas, the current CEO of Yakunin’s Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute (DOC) think tank, said that he’s considering opening a “liaison office” in New York. The office “would be liaising with the United Nations,” as well as with international groups like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bas said.

Putin to US: I'm ready for another Cuban Missile crisis if you want one

President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is militarily ready for a Cuban Missile-style crisis if the United States is foolish enough to want one and that his country currently has the edge when it comes to a first nuclear strike.

The Cuban Missile Crisis erupted in 1962 when Moscow responded to a U.S. missile deployment in Turkey by sending ballistic missiles to Cuba, sparking a standoff that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

Measles Outbreaks Are Increasing. Experts Think It’s Because of Anti-Vaxxers on Facebook.

Medical experts warn that the internet could be making more of us sick, pointing to research highlighting how online platforms’ role in boosting vaccination opponents and their baseless theories is fueling infectious disease outbreaks across the world.

Two researchers at the University of Stirling in Scotland released a study last year concluding, based on data from January 2011 to August 2017, that there were “statistically significant positive correlations” between the use of anti-vaccination search terms and falling rates of immunizations, suggesting that online anti-vaxxer activity is having real and potentially deadly consequences.

Supreme Court Unanimously Rules Constitutional Ban On High Fines Applies To States

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that the Constitution’s ban on excessive fines applies to the states, an outcome that could help efforts to rein in police seizure of property from criminal suspects.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the court’s opinion in favor of Tyson Timbs, of Marion, Indiana. Police seized Timbs’ $40,000 Land Rover when they arrested him for selling about $400 worth of heroin.

Here is what experts say about Putin’s threat to aim missiles at US

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech on Wednesday vowed to aim missiles at Europe and the United States if President Donald Trump deploys missiles closer to Russia, in Poland and Romania.

“Russia will be forced to create and deploy types of weapons which can be used not only in respect of those territories from which the direct threat to us originates, but also in respect of those territories where the centers of decision-making are located,” said Putin, in his annual address.

Putin warns US with new missiles aimed at Western capitals

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin warned the United States against deploying new missiles in Europe, threatening to retaliate in kind by targeting Western capitals with his own new weaponry.

Delivering a state of the nation address, Putin said the US abandoned a key arms control pact – the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty – to free its hands to build new missiles and tried to shift the blame for the move on Russia.

No One Knows How Many Indigenous Women Are Missing or Murdered

I won’t pretend to be impartial. This, like most of the issues I write about, is highly personal. The issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two Spirit people (collectively known as MMIWG2) impacts all Indigenous lives. Most of us know a relative or community member that has gone missing or been murdered. Indigenous women and Two Spirits often discuss the violence we face when we gather. However, the data on missing and murdered Indigenous people simply haven’t existed for those that are urban-based until recently.

Seven MPs leave the U.K.’s Labour party, citing anti-Semitism

Seven members of the United Kingdom’s left-wing Labour party have announced that they are leaving the party, owing, they said, to widespread anti-Semitic sentiment within the party.

One of the departing MPs, Luciana Berger, told reporters that she could not “remain in the party that I have today come to the sickening conclusion is institutionally anti-Semitic.”

America’s Long War of Attrition With China Is Just Beginning

In his highly acclaimed 2017 book, Destined for War, Harvard professor Graham Allison assessed the likelihood that the United States and China would one day find themselves at war. Comparing the U.S.-Chinese relationship to great-power rivalries all the way back to the Peloponnesian War of the fifth century BC, he concluded that the future risk of a conflagration was substantial. Like much current analysis of U.S.-Chinese relations, however, he missed a crucial point: for all intents and purposes, the United States and China are already at war with one another. Even if their present slow-burn conflict may not produce the immediate devastation of a conventional hot war, its long-term consequences could prove no less dire.

Pakistan honours Saudi crown prince with highest civilian award

Islamabad, Pakistan – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been conferred with Pakistan’s highest civilian honour a day after signing $20bn in investment deals with the South Asian country.

On the second day of his trip to Pakistan on Monday, Prince Mohammed (also known as MBS) met President Arif Alvi in the capital Islamabad, where he was awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan (Order of Pakistan) at a formal ceremony.

Russia to China: Together we can rule the world

Europe’s obsession with Russia is unrequited. Moscow just isn’t interested in the Continent anymore.

It doesn’t care about European integration, or moving toward Europe. But neither is it interested in Europe’s predicted disintegration, or in pulling countries away from the West and closer to its way of thinking.

Maria Ressa: Head of Philippines news site Rappler arrested

The CEO of Rappler, a news website critical of the government in the Philippines, has been arrested at its headquarters in Manila.

Maria Ressa has been accused of "cyber-libel" over a report on a businessman's alleged ties to a former judge.

Press freedom advocates see this as an attempt by the government to silence the news organisation.

North Dakota Seeks to Restrict Access to Public Records After Standing Rock Reporting Exposed Law Enforcement Abuses

North Dakota lawmakers are considering a bill to restrict the release of records related to security operations involving “critical infrastructure” — a category that includes fossil fuel pipelines. The bill comes after The Intercept and other media outlets published stories documenting law enforcement surveillance and coordination with private security during the Dakota Access pipeline protests, many of which were based on records released under the North Dakota Open Records Act.

The Saudi connection: Was Enquirer blackmail of Jeff Bezos meant to protect Crown Prince Mohammed?

In Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' extraordinary letter revealing the National Enquirer’s apparent attempt to blackmail him, one detail has led to intense speculation: Bezos linked the effort to the tabloid paper's ties to the Saudi Arabian government.

Bezos wrote in a Medium post that American Media, the parent company of the Enquirer, threatened to publish nude photos and details of his affair with former news anchor Lauren Sanchez unless he made a statement saying he had “no knowledge” that the Enquirer's coverage of his affair was “politically motivated or influenced by political forces.”

This Is the Green New Deal’s Biggest Problem

There might be no better monument to the limits of American environmentalism in the climate change era than a parking garage in Berkeley, California. It’s got “rooftop solar, electric-vehicle charging stations and dedicated spots for car-share vehicles, rainwater capture and water treatment features”—not to mention 720 parking spots. It cost nearly $40 million to build. At night, it positively glows. And it’s a block from the downtown Berkeley BART station.

Right-wing parties win regional Italian election

ROME — A coalition of right-wing Italian parties won a regional election in Abruzzo, which pit the country’s ruling parties against one another, results on Monday showed.

The right-wing alliance, which includes the League, the Brothers of Italy and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia won 48 percent, toppling a center-left coalition that took second place with 31.3 percent.

Cities Across US Are Stripping Homeless People of Their Autonomy

One of the world’s richest cities is waging war on disabled and homeless people.

In February 2018, an unsigned flyer was posted in San Francisco’s Mission District, warning the homeless: “If you are still here after dark tonight, the hunters will become the hunted. We will pound you, burn you, beat you, and fuck you up if you are within a 100 yards of this park starting after sun down tonight.”

Labour NEC Agrees To MPs' Demands For Figures And Action On Anti-Semitism Abuse Cases

Labour’s leadership has agreed to be more transparent about anti-Semitism within the party, HuffPost UK can reveal.

An emergency meeting of the ruling National Executive Committee’s (NEC) officers group decided it would share data on the number of cases of abuse.

In Venezuela, White Supremacy Is a Key Driver of the Coup

On January 23, right after a phone call from Donald Trump, Juan Guaidó, former speaker of Venezuela’s National Assembly, declared himself president. No voting. When you have official recognition from The Donald, who needs elections?

Say what?

I can explain what’s going on in Venezuela in photos.

Questions over lifestyle of Putin's aide and his wife's $10m property empire

The wife of Vladimir Putin’s press spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has accumulated a property empire worth well over $10m (£7.7m) and is designing a riverside palace on an exclusive Moscow estate, the Guardian can reveal.

The project is being overseen by a Russian tycoon who has previously done business with Donald Trump, documents show.

The disclosures are likely to raise fresh questions about Peskov’s wealth and how he and his wife, Tatiana Navka, seem able to afford a super-affluent lifestyle.

What brought Venezuela’s economy to ruin?

“Dire” is a word no country – and no people – want associated with their economy. And yet it feels inadequate when describing the economic crisis in Venezuela.

A lack of macroeconomic transparency on the part of the government of President Nicolas Maduro has made it difficult to accurately gauge the extent of the country’s woes. 

According to the IMF, Venezuela’s economy is thought to have contracted by more than one-third between 2013 and 2017. Last year, it is estimated to have shrunk 18 percent. Compounding the pain is hyperinflation, which the IMF says could top 10 million percent by the second half of 2019.

Blackwater founder's Hong Kong firm signs Xinjiang training camp deal

A Hong Kong-listed security firm founded by Erik Prince has signed a preliminary deal with authorities in China to build a training centre in Xinjiang, where Uighur Muslims have experienced a huge security crackdown.

Frontier Services Group, which specialises in providing security and logistics for businesses operating in risky regions, said it had signed a deal to run a training base in the city of Kashgar, according to a statement posted on its Chinese website.

The firm was founded by Erik Prince, a former US Navy Seal and the brother of the US education secretary, Betsy DeVos.

Prince was also the founder of the US military contractor Blackwater, whose mercenaries had a prominent and controversial role during Washington’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – including the 2007 killing of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians by Blackwater employees.

What Russia stands to lose in Venezuela

As Washington intensifies its push to drive Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro from power, Russia’s
Vladimir Putin has vowed to support his South American “strategic partner” and warned of the “catastrophic” consequences if the United States were to send military assistance to opposition leader Juan Guaido.

When the US called a special United Nations Security Council session on Saturday, focused on the crisis in Venezuela, Russia used the session to warn against foreign intervention in the Latin American nation and accused the US of attempting a “coup”.