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Britain clears way for Julian Assange's extradition to United States
By Clyde Hughes
on May 19, 2017. The British Home Secretary agreed to the extradition of Assange to the United States on Friday.
File Photo by Facundo Arrizabalaga/PA-EFE
June 17 (UPI) -- Jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange moved closer to extradition to the United States on Friday after the British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the move.
Assange, who faces 18 espionage-related laws in the United States, has been aggressively fighting efforts to be taken across the Atlantic Ocean to court hearings.
He has been in London's Belmarsh prison for the past three years after being protected for years in the Ecuadorian embassy there.
"Under the Extradition Act 2003, the Secretary of State must sign an extradition order if there are no grounds to prohibit the order being made," Britain's Home Office said in a statement.
"On 17 June, following consideration by both the Magistrates Court and High Court, the extradition of Mr. Julian Assange to the U.S. was ordered.
"Mr. Assange retains the normal 14-day right to appeal. In this case, the U.K. courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust, or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange.
"Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the U.S. he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health."
In March, a three-judge panel of Britain's Supreme Court ruled that Assange's appeal of a December High Court decision allowing his extradition to the United States did not "raise an arguable point of law" leading the way to Friday's decision.
WikiLeaks released a statement vowing to continue fighting the extradition.
"Today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle," WikiLeaks said, according to The Guardian. "We will appeal through the legal system; the next appeal will be before the high court.
"Julian did nothing wrong. He has committed no crime and is not a criminal. He is a journalist and a publisher and he is being punished for doing his job. It was in Priti Patel's power to do the right thing.
"Instead, she will forever be remembered as an accomplice of the United States in its agenda to turn investigative journalism into a criminal enterprise."
The extradition is tied to 2010, when WikiLeaks posted a series of leaks by former U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning, along with more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables containing classified diplomatic analysis from world leaders.
In 2010 an arrest warrant for Assange was issued for two separate sexual assault allegations in Sweden and Britain ruled he should be extradited to Sweden.
Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London seeking political asylum in 2012, claiming political asylum. He was later charged in the United States in connection with the 2010 cable leak.
I believe the Swedish charges were trumped up because the USA felt Sweden would extradite Assange more easily than Britain. They have since been dropped.
I also believe that Assange should not have been charged in the USA until the criminal activity he exposed had been dealt with.
This seems like a Deep State activity aimed at getting control of the internet media.
Man prevented from donating blood over pregnancy question
Man prevented from donating blood over pregnancy question
© Getty Images / UniversalImagesGroup
Habitual blood donor Leslie Sinclair has been turned away from the Albert Halls clinic in the Scottish city of Stirling after refusing to answer a question on an intake form asking about whether he was expecting a child or had been pregnant during the prior six months.
Sinclair was sent home on Wednesday night from the facility where, despite much-publicized efforts by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) to find 16,000 new donors, National Health Service (NHS) personnel refused to take his blood without a response to the pregnancy question.
“I am angry because I have been giving blood since I was 18 and have regularly gone along. I’m very happy to do so without any problem,” Sinclair said on Thursday, according to the Daily Mail. He explained that while he had no objection to filling out forms about “medical conditions or diseases” because he knows “the blood needs to be safe,” he found the pregnancy question baffling.
“I pointed out to the staff that it was impossible for me to be in that position, but I was told that I would need to answer, otherwise I couldn’t give blood. I told them that was stupid and that if I had to leave, I wouldn’t be back, and that was it, I got on my bike and cycled away,” the retired engineering company driver said.
The 66-year-old, who claims to have donated over 125 pints of blood in the last 50 years, denounced the NHS’ new policy as “nonsensical,” pointing out that “there are vulnerable people waiting for blood, including children, and in desperate need of help.” Pregnant women are required to wait six months after giving birth to donate blood.
The NHS launched what it described as its biggest-ever blood drive in October, calling for an unprecedented 100,000 new donors by the spring in anticipation of doctors returning to performing elective surgical procedures that were largely shut down or postponed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The agency also announced last June that “everyone” would be asked “the same gender-neutral questions” in what a PSA video called “our most inclusive donation experience yet.”
SNBTS director Marc Turner explained that “while pregnancy is only a relevant question to those whose biological sex or sex assigned at birth is female, sex assigned at birth is not always visually clear to staff.” He cited the NHS’ “duty to promote inclusiveness” as the basis for requiring the clearly-male Sinclair to share his pregnancy status.
India: Gujarat girl ties the knot with herself
Her marriage had to be solemnised at home instead of temple as priest backs out
Published: June 09, 2022 16:40
IANS
Image Credit: AP
Baroda: Gujarat girl Kshama Bindu, who grabbed the headlines and hit the eye of the storm after she expressed her intention to marry herself, has solemnised her marriage in a private function at her residence.
Kshama performed mehandi, haldi ceremonies and got married on Wednesday in the presence of ten people, including her friends and colleagues.
Sharing her wedding pictures on Instagram, 24-year-old Kshama posted in Hindi, “Khud se mohabbat me pad gai, kal mai apni hi Dulhan ban gai”.
Her marriage had to be solemnised at home on June 8 instead of temple on June 11 as the priest who had agreed to get Kshama married to herself backed out after opposition from local politicians.
Kshama’s expression of self love grabbed a mix reaction. On one hand, she was trolled on social media, while on the other hand, many people supported her.
Talking to IANS, Kshama said she changed her wedding venue and kept it simple as she did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
She thanked everyone who wished her on social media after the wedding.
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