Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Six In The Morning Wednesday 20 April 2022

 

US assesses there have been no major territorial gains so far for Russia in new offense

Early in Russia’s expanded offensive in the Donbas, the US assesses there have been no major territorial gains for Russia so far since the start of the new push, according to two senior US officials with direct knowledge of the assessment.

The US has observed some new attacks by Russian forces, which appear to be probing attacks to test Ukrainian defenses, one of the officials said. However, the frontlines remain static with no major territory changing hands as of yet.  


UK court approves extradition of Julian Assange to US

Home secretary to decide whether WikiLeaks founder will be extradited to US on espionage charges



A court has formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the US on espionage charges, in what will ultimately be a decision for the UK home secretary, Priti Patel.

The Wikileaks co-founder, who has the right of appeal, appeared by videolink during the Westminster magistrates court hearing, which one of his barristers described as a “brief but significant moment in the case”.

Mark Summers QC, for Assange, told the chief magistrate that he had no option but to send the case to the home secretary. It was not open, at this point, for Assange’s team to raise fresh evidence but there had been “fresh developments”, he added.



Sweden sees foreign countries playing role in recent riots

Sweden’s justice minister says the government suspects that actors from abroad incited violent riots in several Swedish cities

Via AP news wire

Sweden’s government suspects that actors from abroad incited violent riots in several Swedish cities last week, according to the country's justice minister.

Crowds threw rocks and burned cars and trash cans after a Danish far-right provocateur announced plans to hold meetings in Sweden. Rasmus Paludan has burned copies of the Quran at events in Denmark where he also bashes Islam, and the news he wanted to do the same in Sweden sparked anger.

Paludan, who holds dual Danish-Swedish citizenship, “seems for some reason to hate Sweden and try to harm Sweden. I do not understand why” Justice Minister Morgan Johansson said.


South African flood victims struggle with despair

Wielding shovels, mallets and machetes, they worked for four hours to try to shift the muddy debris, hoping that vehicles could at last get through.

In vain: A pick-up truck, stuck on the wrong side of the gigantic mound, was still unable to pass.

Inhabitants of KwaNdengezi, a township west of Durban, have been almost literally marooned since a record storm pounded South Africa's east coast, killing nearly 450 people.

Like people stranded on a desert island watching ships sail tantalisingly by, they have stood as water tankers drive by in the distance.

Macron and Le Pen to face off in crucial live TV election debate


Far-right challenger out to avoid repeat of 2017 ‘failure’ in two-and-a-half hour clash with incumbent


 in Paris

Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will go head to head in a live TV debate on Wednesday night that could prove crucial in making up the minds of undecided voters four days before the French presidential runoff.

The high-stakes, two-and-a-half-hour confrontation, the only direct clash between the two candidates, has been a tradition of French presidential campaigns since 1974, often confirming or dashing electoral ambitions.

With recent polls giving Macron a lead of up to 12 points before Sunday’s vote, Le Pen will be keen not to reproduce the poorly prepared, muddled and aggressive performance that sealed her eventual defeat in 2017.


YamatoQ leader arrested after followers disrupt vaccine clinic


THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

April 20, 2022 at 15:11 JST



Tokyo police arrested the leader of the conspiracy-minded anti-vaccine YamatoQ group on April 20 on suspicion of unlawful entry into a vaccination clinic in Shibuya Ward.

The Metropolitan Police Department said a 43-year-old former actor intruded into and disrupted a clinic, a COVID-19 vaccination site, on the morning of April 7.

Twelve members of YamatoQ, which reportedly calls itself the Japanese arm of U.S. conspiracy cult QAnon and has been waging a campaign against the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, barged into the clinic the same morning to protest the vaccinations.

Police arrested four of them on the spot.



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