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Judge approves extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, sends final decision to UK government
A British judge on Wednesday formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges. The case will now go to Britain's interior minister for a decision, though the WikiLeaks founder still has legal avenues of appeal. The order, which brings and end to the years'-long extradition battle closer, comes after the U.K. Supreme Court last month refused Assange permission to appeal against a lower court´s ruling that he could be extradited. District Judge Paul Goldspring issued the order in a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, as Assange watched by video link from Belmarsh Prison and his supporters rallied outside the courthouse, demanding he be freed. Home Secretary Priti Patel will now decide whether to grant the extradition.
https://www.sott.net/article/466943-Judge-approves-extradition-of-Wikileaks-founder-Julian-Assange-sends-final-decision-to-UK-government

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DeSantis threatens Twitter with legal action in Elon Musk dispute
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is stepping into the growing dispute between Elon Musk and Twitter over the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's hostile takeover of the social media company. During a Tuesday news conference, DeSantis said that the state's lawyers were reviewing options for legal action against Twitter's Board of Directors, to "hold them accountable for breaching their fiduciary duty." Florida, through its Retirement System pension fund, is an investor in Twitter. The move comes after the Wall Street Journal on Monday quoted sources who said that Twitter plans to reject Musk's bid to purchase the company at $54.20 per share, an 18 percent premium over the closing price of $45.08 on the day of his offer. Shortly after Musk announced his bid, Twitter's board activated a "poison pill" defense mechanism against an informal attempt by Musk to buy more stock, whereby new shares would be sold at a discount to dilute his control over the company. Musk is currently Twitter's largest...
https://www.sott.net/article/466944-DeSantis-threatens-Twitter-with-legal-action-in-Elon-Musk-dispute

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IMF tells governments to protect vulnerable people when tackling Covid debt
Analysis: Fund's world economic outlook highlights need to protect people such as refugees Gloom at the International Monetary Fund is nothing new. Since last summer the body responsible for stabilising and supporting the world economy has been growing ever more pessimistic. First it was rising inflationary pressures caused by supply-side bottlenecks. Then it was the arrival of the new Omicron variant towards the end of 2021. Now it is the war in Ukraine, something not anticipated when the Washington-based organisation last published its assessment in January but which dominates the IMF's world economic outlook. Comment: Seriously? By January, even lazy arm chair gurus knew something was up!
https://www.sott.net/article/466945-IMF-tells-governments-to-protect-vulnerable-people-when-tackling-Covid-debt

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The Russiagate hoax goes deeper than we thought
The latest filing by Special Counsel John Durham, investigating Russiagate and the Hillary Clinton campaign, suggests the rabbit hole goes a bit deeper than we thought. One hates to sound like Rachel Maddow, but it is just that much more likely the walls are closing in. Durham filed a new, 34-page motion on April 15, 2022, in answer to defendant Michael Sussman's request to dismiss the case against him. Durham accused Sussman of lying to the FBI about his working for the Clinton Campaign while he was trying to sell the Bureau on an investigation into Trump's ties to Russia, focusing on alleged Internet pings between a Trump server and the Russian Alfa Bank. Sussman's claims also included a number of pings against Trump Tower WiFi and later White House WiFi by a Russian-made Yota cell phone. Sussman's motion basically called Durham case garbage, which pressed Durham to explain to the court why the case needed to proceed, hence the new motion. The court subsequently ruled against...
https://www.sott.net/article/466946-The-Russiagate-hoax-goes-deeper-than-we-thought

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Biden told Obama he's running again
President Biden told former President Obama that he is planning to run for reelection in 2024, two sources tell The Hill. The admission to Obama is the latest indication that Biden is likely to run for a second term, something the president has spoken about publicly. During a press conference in Brussels last month, he told reporters he'd be "very fortunate" to run against his rival in the 2020 election, former President Trump. "[Biden] wants to run and he's clearly letting everyone know," said one of the two sources familiar with the conversations between Obama and Biden. The source also said that Biden, despite his faltering approval ratings, remains the most likely Democratic candidate to defeat Trump. This was a key part of Biden's salesmanship to voters as he sought support for his 2020 bid — and a big reason primary voters rallied to him in South Carolina and Super Tuesday states where he sealed his status as the Democratic front-runner. "I believe he thinks he's the only one...
https://www.sott.net/article/466947-Biden-told-Obama-hes-running-again

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Moscow responds to nuclear weapons claim
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected claims that Moscow could resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Lavrov was questioned on the issue during an extensive interview with India Today in Moscow on Tuesday. When the journalist mentioned that "President Zelensky said that Russia plans to use tactical weapons," the foreign minister didn't even let her finish the question. "He says many things," Lavrov said. He reminded that Russia had never mentioned the use of nuclear weapons as an option during its military operation in the neighboring country, and the Ukrainian leader was the only one to speak about this. "I cannot comment [on] something, which a not very adequate person pronounces," the FM added. Lavrov reiterated the notion that "there could be no winners in a nuclear war," and assured that Russia would only rely on conventional weapons in Ukraine.
https://www.sott.net/article/466948-Moscow-responds-to-nuclear-weapons-claim

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Staffer dressed as Easter Bunny herds Biden away from answering reporter's question
A staffer dressed in an Easter Bunny costume intervened Monday to stop President Biden from answering a reporter's question on the White House lawn. Biden, hosting the first White House Easter Egg Roll of his presidency as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, began to answer Afghan reporter Nazira Karimi's inquiry before the bunny showed up and cut him off. Event attendee Thomas C. Dillon tweeted his footage of the interaction, which wasn't viewable to most spectators. "Joe Biden quickly interrupted by the Easter Bunny after he starts to comment on #Afghanistan and #Pakistan at the White House," Dillion captioned an 11-second clip.
https://www.sott.net/article/466949-Staffer-dressed-as-Easter-Bunny-herds-Biden-away-from-answering-reporters-question

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UFOs - Real or Fake?
QUESTION: I'm just curious. President Jimmy Carter said that he saw a UFO which was reported by the Associated Press in January 1978. There are countless reports of UFOs for decades. Some say they have been around for thousands of years. Does Socrates have any ability to confirm or deny such things? ANSWER: I do not see how Socrates could confirm or deny the existence of UFOs. The modern event that began the flying saucer sighting was Kenneth Arnold who reported seeing several metal objects flying in excess of 1200 MPH on June 24th, 1947. I had an uncle who was in the Air Force during World War II and during the Korean War. He told me when I was a kid that saucers would fly in circles around the planes observing what was taking place. A friend who was a pilot during the Korean War said the same thing. On Saturday night, July 5, 1947, a rancher named W.W. "Mac" Brazel had debris from what became the Roswell Incident. On July 8, 1947, RAAF public information officer Walter Haut...
https://www.sott.net/article/466950-UFOs-Real-or-Fake

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April 2022 tornado outbreak
A series of tornadoes struck the Plains, Midwest, and Southeast between April 11-13th, watch as we document 5 tornadoes from close range across 20 states.
https://www.sott.net/article/466951-April-2022-tornado-outbreak

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April 2022 tornado outbreak across 20 states
A series of tornadoes struck the Plains, Midwest, and Southeast between April 11-13th, watch as we document 5 tornadoes from close range across 20 states.
https://www.sott.net/article/466951-April-2022-tornado-outbreak-across-20-states

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Maskaholics
The pandemic has eased, but not the compulsion of many Americans to cover their faces. Fully vaccinated adults are still wearing masks on their solitary walks outdoors, and officials have been enforcing mask mandates on airline passengers and on some city-dwellers and students. (Though today's ruling by U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa, declaring the Biden administration's mask mandate for public transportation unlawful, comes as welcome news.) Maskaholics in the press are calling for permanent masking on trains, planes, and buses. High school students in Seattle staged a protest demanding that a mask mandate be reinstated, and psychologists now deal with the anxieties of children who don't want their classmates to see their faces. They're suffering from "mask dependency," as this psychological affliction is termed in Japan, where a long tradition of mask-wearing during flu season has left some individuals afraid at any time to expose their faces in public. It's...
https://www.sott.net/article/466952-Maskaholics

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Catching the Kinahans: the officers risking their lives to jail Ireland's most violent gang leaders
The Kinahan cartel is notorious worldwide for its brutal activities. In an exclusive report, the Observer finds out what it takes to monitor and convict organised criminals Craig Taylor felt a mix of thrill and dread when he sat down beside the leader of the most deadly gang operating in Ireland and the UK and began secretly filming. Notoriously observant and adept in evaluating if he was being watched or followed, Christopher Kinahan Sr was one of the most-wanted criminal figures in the world, founder of a cartel ranked alongside the Italian mafia and the brutal Los Zetas in Mexico.
https://www.sott.net/article/466953-Catching-the-Kinahans-the-officers-risking-their-lives-to-jail-Irelands-most-violent-gang-leaders

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1 in 10 surveyed doctors believe COVID shots aren't safe — But is the number even higher?
One in 10 primary care physicians don't agree COVID-19 vaccines are safe, and 9.3% don't believe the vaccines are effective, according to a survey conducted between May 14 and May 25, 2021. The findings were published in the April 2022 issue of Vaccine. Researchers at the Texas A&M School of Public Health asked 625 primary care physicians whether they strongly agreed, somewhat agreed, neither agreed nor disagreed, somewhat disagreed or strongly disagreed with the following three statements: The COVID vaccines are safe. The COVID vaccines are effective. The COVID vaccines are important.
https://www.sott.net/article/466954-1-in-10-surveyed-doctors-believe-COVID-shots-arent-safe-But-is-the-number-even-higher

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Leaked files expose Britain's covert infiltration of Palestinian refugee camps
In February, Lebanese journalist Mohammed Shoaib was arrested on suspicion of collusion with Israel's Mossad spy agency. The writer who worked for Al-Jaras, confessed that the notorious spy agency secretly paid him to author "dozens" of anti-Hezbollah articles, receiving a paltry $30 to $70 per article. In particular, Shoaib was tasked with writing hit jobs on the "Iranian occupation" of Lebanon, and falsely linking Hezbollah with the August 2020 Beirut port blast, drug trafficking, and murder of political activists. It is also alleged that Mossad specifically requested his work incite hostility towards Palestinian refugees in the country who number almost 300,000. In all, Lebanon hosts more than 1.7 million refugees and has the largest per capita population of refugees in the world.
https://www.sott.net/article/466955-Leaked-files-expose-Britains-covert-infiltration-of-Palestinian-refugee-camps

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China blasts West's theft of foreign reserves as a 'violation of sovereignty', says US sending weapons to Ukraine worsening humanitarian crisis
China has called on Western states to refrain from freezing the foreign reserves of other nations, saying that the measure undermines world economic stability. The Chinese ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, made the remarks at a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Tuesday. The call comes a month after roughly half of Russia's foreign exchange reserves, worth over $300 billion, were frozen by Western countries as part of sanctions over Moscow's military operation in Ukraine. "Arbitrary freezes of foreign exchange reserves of other countries also constitute a violation of sovereignty, and is tantamount to weaponizing economic interdependence," Zhang said. "Such practices undermine the foundation of world economic stability, and bring new uncertainties and risks to international relations," the envoy said, adding that they should be abandoned as soon as possible.
https://www.sott.net/article/466956-China-blasts-Wests-theft-of-foreign-reserves-as-a-violation-of-sovereignty-says-US-sending-weapons-to-Ukraine-worsening-humanitarian-crisis

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Russia successfully test fires 'unique' unparalleled missile - Putin
Russia's new RS-28 Sarmat Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile was launched successfully from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the north of the country, the military reported on Wednesday. The test launch was the first in a series of trials required for the adoption of the new weapon by Russia's strategic forces. The missile flew across the whole country, touching down at a test site in Russia's Far East. "Inert warheads touched down in a designated area at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula," the military said. The new silo-based strategic missile is set to replace the R-36M/R-36M2 Voevoda ICBMs. Compared to its predecessor, the Sarmat can carry more weapons, as well as be fitted with new types of warheads, including "hypersonic glider units", the military noted.
https://www.sott.net/article/466957-Russia-successfully-test-fires-unique-unparalleled-missile-Putin

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Solomon Islands signed China security pact with 'eyes open' despite criticism and meddling from US, Australia
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said Wednesday his government signed a controversial security pact with China "with our eyes open" but refused to say when it may be published. The deal, announced by Beijing a day earlier, has faced sharp criticism from the United States and Australia, which fear the pact could lead to China gaining a military foothold in the South Pacific. Sogavare told parliament it was an "honour and privilege" to announce that the deal had been signed by officials in Honiara and Beijing "a few days ago".
https://www.sott.net/article/466958-Solomon-Islands-signed-China-security-pact-with-eyes-open-despite-criticism-and-meddling-from-US-Australia

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"A historic sham": Zelensky's speech to Greece's parliament sparks national outrage, opens WWII-era wounds
By inviting an Azov fighter to address Greece's parliament, Zelensky opened the country's historic wounds and triggered angry demonstrations that have shaken its pro-US government. "Solidarity with the Ukrainian people is a given. But the Nazis cannot have a say in parliament." These are the words of Alexis Tsipras, the former PM and leader of Greece's left-liberal Syriza Party. Tsipras was reacting to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's attempt to legitimize the Azov Battalion, an umbrella of far-right and fascist fighters trained by the US to battle Russians in Ukraine, as he toured foreign capitals to appeal for direct and indirect military support. Zelensky stirred controversy with his April visit to Greek parliament in an effort to win support for his country's anti-Russian war effort. Mariupol, home to a significant number of ethnic Greeks who have faced persecution from the neo-Nazi Azov Brigade, was a particular area of concern in Athens. During his visit to...
https://www.sott.net/article/466960-A-historic-sham-Zelenskys-speech-to-Greeces-parliament-sparks-national-outrage-opens-WWII-era-wounds

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Elon Musk says 'woke mind virus' makes Netflix 'unwatchable'
Elon Musk said Netflix is shedding subscribers because its programming has been infected by the "woke mind virus" which has made the streaming service "unwatchable." Tesla's billionaire boss was reacting to Netflix's share price tanking in pre-market trading on Wednesday after the California-based company revealed it had lost 200,000 subscribers between January and March of this year. The company expects that it will lose an additional 2 million subscribers by the end of the second quarter. Musk did not specify which content on Netflix was "woke" though the company has been criticized for programming deemed by some to be provocative. Earlier this year it released "He's Expecting," a Japanese-language comedy drama about a man who becomes pregnant. Netflix also released "Dear White People," an original series about black students' experiences at an Ivy League colleague. The series caused a stir due to what some said was a racist portrayal of white people.
https://www.sott.net/article/466961-Elon-Musk-says-woke-mind-virus-makes-Netflix-unwatchable

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Battle for the Donbass has begun — Ukraine
Kiev says the "second phase of the war" has commenced The second phase of the Russian offensive in Ukraine and the Donbass has started, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his advisers claimed on Monday evening. Kiev said there were reports of heavy fighting on the Donetsk, Lugansk, and Kharkov fronts, and that Ukrainian troops were holding the line. "We can now confirm that Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbass, which they have been preparing for a long time," Zelensky said in a video posted on Telegram on Monday evening. "A large part of the Russian army is now dedicated to this offensive," he added. His chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, said earlier that the "second phase of the war" had started in the east, but urged Ukrainians to "believe in our army, it is very strong." Russian forces are attacking "along almost the entire front line," said Alexey Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. "Fortunately, our military is holding on."
https://www.sott.net/article/466962-Battle-for-the-Donbass-has-begun-Ukraine

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Expert: Cop pressed gun to Patrick Lyoya's head then fired
A Michigan police officer who killed Patrick Lyoya after a traffic stop pressed the gun against his head when firing the fatal shot, an expert who performed an independent autopsy for the Black man's family said Tuesday. Dr. Werner Spitz confirmed what was seen last week on video: Lyoya was shot in the back of the head while facedown on the ground during a vigorous struggle with a white Grand Rapids officer on April 4. Spitz appeared at a news conference with lawyers for Lyoya's family, who said they believe video collected and released by police shows that the 26-year-old refugee from Congo was resisting the officer, not fighting him. "You never see a fist, you never see a knife, no baseball bat, no gun, no nothin'," Ven Johnson said. "This was not a deadly force scenario. Never gave a warning: 'Halt or I'm going to shoot you' or other words that we can all imagine." Spitz said he believes the gun was pressed against Lyoya's head when the officer fired, based on the condition of a...
https://www.sott.net/article/466963-Expert-Cop-pressed-gun-to-Patrick-Lyoyas-head-then-fired