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Australia, Media Demand US End Persecution of Julian Assange

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Australia, Media Demand US End Prosecution of Julian Assange

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he recently asked US President Joe Biden’s administration to end the persecution of Wikileaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange.

Albanese’s comments to Parliament on Wednesday appear to increase Australia’s diplomatic pressure on the US to drop spying charges against the 51-year-old resisting extradition from Britain.

“I have personally raised this with representatives of the United States government.” “My position is clear, and it has been made clear to the US administration: it is time to put this matter behind us,” Albanese told Parliament.

“This is a citizen of Australia,” Albanese added. “I don’t sympathize with Mr. Assange’s actions on various issues, but… you have to reach a point where you wonder what the point is of… continuing this legal action that could be caught up now for many years into the future?”

Albanese did not say whether he discussed Assange directly with Biden during a bilateral meeting two weeks ago on the sidelines of a Cambodian summit. However, Albanese stated that he had “recently in meetings” advocated for Assange.

Albanese compared Assange’s treatment to that of Chelsea Manning, a former US Army intelligence analyst who the prime minister said was “now able to participate freely in US society.”

Prosecutors in the United States allege that Assange assisted Manning in stealing classified diplomatic cables and military files, which Wikileaks later published, putting lives in danger. Manning’s 35-year sentence was commuted to seven years by then-President Barack Obama, allowing her release in 2017.

Albanese was responding to a question from independent lawmaker Monique Ryan about whether the Australian government would intervene to bring Assange home.

Julian Assange

Since its election in May, Albanese’s government has been cautious about prosecuting Julian Assange. Ministers’ criticisms have been limited to phrases like “dragged on for too long.”

When the British government agreed to extradite Assange in June, Albanese refused to publicly demand that the US drop the prosecution.

“Some people believe that putting things in capital letters and using an exclamation mark on Twitter makes them more important. “No, it doesn’t,” Albanese said at the time.

“I intend to lead a government that engages with our partners diplomatically and appropriately,” Albanese added.

Top media outlets demand US end the prosecution of Julian Assange

Five major news organizations issued an open letter on Monday condemning the US prosecution of Assange, who is wanted on 18 counts, including espionage.

“This indictment sets a dangerous precedent and threatens to undermine America’s First Amendment and press freedom,” The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and El Pais editors and publishers wrote.

“Holding governments accountable is part of a free press’s core mission in a democracy.”

The letter arrives exactly 12 years after media outlets published revelations gleaned from Wikileaks’ release of over 250,000 confidential US military records and diplomatic cables, dubbed “Cablegate.”

Julian Assange

Chelsea Manning, a former US soldier, leaked the material to Wikileaks, revealing the inner workings of Washington’s diplomacy worldwide.

According to the letter, the documents revealed “international corruption, diplomatic scandals, and spy affairs.”

“Twelve years after the publication of ‘Cablegate,’ the US government should drop its prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing classified information.” “It is not a crime to publish,” the media outlets stated.

According to the 2019 US Justice Department indictment, Assange’s leak caused “serious damage” to US national security and put US government sources in danger of physical harm or detention.

However, Assange’s supporters claim that he is being prosecuted for exposing US wrongdoing, including that committed during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

He remains in British custody pending a US extradition request to face trial, and if found guilty, he could face up to 175 years in prison in the US. Julian Assange has filed an appeal against the British government’s decision to extradite him.

The letter on Monday noted that when Barack Obama was president and Joe Biden was vice president. The US administration delayed indicting Assange because the journalists could have also faced prosecution.

That changed under President Donald Trump when the US Justice Department charged Julian Assange with violating the 1917 Espionage Act, which, according to media outlets, “has never been used to prosecute a publisher or broadcaster.”

The letter is the latest manifestation of public pressure on President Biden’s administration to drop Julian Assange’s prosecution.

Julian Assange

Leading human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union, urged Washington to drop the charges last year.

“The indictment of Mr. Assange threatens press freedom because much of the conduct described in the indictment is conduct that journalists engage in regularly – and that they must engage in to do the work that the public requires,” they wrote.

In July, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wrote a letter to Biden defending Assange and renewing an earlier offer of asylum to the Wikileaks founder.

“I left a letter to the president about Assange, explaining that he did not commit any serious crime, did not kill anyone, did not violate any human rights, that he exercised his freedom, and that arresting him would mean a permanent affront to freedom of expression,” Lopez Obrador said.

Last week, Colombia’s left-wing President Gustavo Petro said he met with Wikileaks representatives and planned to ask Biden not to charge a journalist “just for telling the truth.”

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United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

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united

United Airlines is attempting to reassure passengers following a spate of accidents on its Boeing jets this year. In a statement to customers, the airline states that safety is “at the center of everything that we do.”

“While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have captured our attention and sharpened our focus,” CEO Scott Kirby wrote in a Monday morning statement to customers.

united

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

On Friday, a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon, missing an underside fuselage panel.

Earlier this month, United experienced four mishaps, all involving Boeing jets. A United Boeing 737-900ER blew flames from its engine after takeoff from Houston, a Boeing 777 lost a wheel during takeoff from San Francisco, a Boeing 737 Max slipped off a runway in Houston, and a United Boeing 777 trailed hydraulic fluid as it left Sydney.

“Our team is reviewing the details of each case to understand what happened and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups,” Kirby continued.

The airline is extending pilot training by one day, retooling training for new mechanics, and “dedicating more resources to supplier network management.”

Passengers witnessing a run of negative articles about the airline and its Boeing jets may consider booking elsewhere. In its letter, the airline is attempting to keep consumers from departing. As of the end of last year, 81% of the jets used on United’s mainline operations were manufactured by Boeing, compared to little more than half of the jets in rivals Delta and American Airlines’ mainline fleets.

Aside from the problems on  flights, the most dramatic Boeing incident this year featured an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, which lost a door stopper on a January 5 flight, resulting in a gaping hole in the plane’s side. And last week, a Latam Airlines flight from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, fell unexpectedly, throwing some passengers to the cabin ceiling.

united

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

Investigators are still investigating the causes of both events, but a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board showed Boeing left the bolts required to keep the door plug in place on the 10-week-old Alaska Air jet. Boeing asserted that an incident in the cockpit rather than a problem with the aircraft’s systems may have caused the Latam accident.

The age of the aircraft in the United incidents suggests that the problem could be with their staff rather than Boeing’s well-documented quality faults. For example, Boeing purchased the jet that lost its panel on a Friday trip in 1998. So, Boeing’s quality difficulties are likely unrelated to that occurrence.

However, Boeing’s issues have impeded United’s operations. Due to the FAA’s production slowdown, it has halted hiring a new class of pilots since it will receive fewer new planes from Boeing this year, as previously promised. In January, the Alaska Air incident grounded its 737 Max 9 jets for three weeks.

united

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

Furthermore, approval of a new generation of Boeing jets, the 737 Max 10, ordered by United, has been delayed due to the company’s quality and safety issues.

Kirby told investors last week that United is considering purchasing more jets from Boeing competitor Airbus. He also stated earlier this year that the Alaska Air incident was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” on United’s plans to receive deliveries of the Max 10 in the near future.’

SOURCE – (CNN)

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For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

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According to new data, the world’s oceans have now been subjected to an unprecedented year of heat, with new temperature records being smashed every day.

Global water surface temperatures began breaking daily records in mid-March last year, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, raising fears about marine life and extreme weather worldwide.

ocean

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

“The amplitude by which previous sea surface temperature records were beaten in 2023, and now again in 2024, is remarkable,” said Joel Hirschi, associate head of marine systems modelling at the National Oceanography Centre in the United Kingdom.

Gregory C. Johnson, a NOAA oceanographer, reported that the global average ocean temperature in 2023 was 0.25 degrees Celsius higher than the previous year. That increase “is equivalent to about two decades’ worth of warming in a single year,” he told CNN. “So it is quite large, quite significant, and a bit surprising.”

According to scientists, human-caused global warming, along with El Niño, a natural climate trend characterized by higher-than-average water temperatures, is accelerating  heat.

The biggest repercussions are for marine life and global weather. As the global waterwarms, hurricanes and other extreme weather phenomena, such as blistering heat waves and heavy rains, may gain more force.

High temperatures are already wreaking havoc on coral. In March, based on aerial observations, authorities declared that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is witnessing its seventh mass bleaching episode.

Bleaching happens when heat-stressed corals release the algae that dwell in their tissue and serve as a food supply. If water temperatures continue too high for too long, corals will starve and die.

ocean

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

Data from NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program suggest that the crisis extends far beyond Australia, with the world potentially facing a fourth worldwide mass coral bleaching event in the coming months.

Ocean heat creates the conditions for more powerful hurricanes. “The warmer the ocean, the more energy to fuel storms is available,” said Karina von Schuckmann, an oceanographer at Mercator Ocean International in France.

Temperatures in the North Atlantic, an water area important for storm generation, have been unusual, startling some scientists who are still investigating the specific causes.

“At times, the records (in the North Atlantic) have been broken by margins that are virtually statistically impossible,” Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School, said to CNN.

If water temperatures remain high in the second half of 2024 and a La Niña event intensifies the Atlantic hurricane season, “this would increase the risk of a very active hurricane season,” Hirschi explained.

The oceans contain around 90% of the world’s excess heat generated by burning planet-heating fossil fuels. “Measuring water warming allows us to track the status and evolution of planetary warming,” Schuckmann stated in an interview with CNN. “The ocean is the sentinel for global warming.”

El Niño is expected to weaken and fade in the coming months, perhaps reducing record water temperatures if La Niña replaces it.

ocean

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

“In the past, surface temperature values have decreased after the passage of El Niño,” Schuckmann said. However, she cautioned that it is now hard to forecast when water temperatures will fall below record levels.

While natural climatic variability will cause water temperatures to vary, NOAA’s Johnson predicts that in the long run, they will “continue to break records as long as greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere rise.”

SOURCE – (CNN)

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Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

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putin charged with war crimes

Vladimir Putin won a historic fifth term as Russia’s president on Monday, as the electoral commission announced the results of a referendum in which he faced no serious challenges and took place amid the toughest crackdown on dissent and free speech since Soviet times.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

Putin claimed that the landslide majority demonstrated Russians’ “trust” and “hopes” in him, while lawmakers throughout Europe blasted the vote as a hoax and Russia’s efforts to conduct elections in seized portions of Ukraine that it claims as its territory.

Here’s what Putin, European leaders, and others say:

“Of course, we have a lot of work ahead. But I’d like to clarify one thing: no one has ever been able to intimidate or stifle our will or self-conscience since our consolidation. They have failed in the past and will fail in the future. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.

“The elections took place in an ever-shrinking political space, which has resulted in an alarming increase of violations of civil and political rights, and precluded many candidates from running, including all those opposed to Russia’s illegal war of aggression.” – Statement from the European Union.

“These Russian elections highlight the intensity of repression under President Putin’s administration, which tries to stifle all dissent to his illegal war. Putin eliminates his political opponents, controls the media, and declares himself the winner. “This is not a democracy.” — David Cameron, UK Foreign Secretary.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

“Searches at voting stations’ entrances, attempts to examine ballots before voters place them in ballot boxes, and detentions of voters who arrived at noon. According to reports, at one voting location in Moscow, police asked that the chairman of a commission (of poll workers) unlock a ballot box and hand them a ballot with anything inscribed on it. This is the first time in my life that I have witnessed such ridiculousness.” — Stanislav Andreychuk, co-chair of Golos, the independent election watchdog, on Telegram.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

“The Russian election was one without a choice. Holding so-called elections in portions of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia violates international law. It is all the more amazing that so many Russians made it known over the weekend that they do not agree with this Russian president. That you go to a polling station even if you’re surrounded by military earns me the highest respect.” — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

SOURCE – (AP)

 

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