UK may unveil verdict on Assange's extradition to US on Monday

The High Court in London is set to deliver its ruling on the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been fighting against extradition to US since 2019.

Judges must decide whether they are satisfied by the US' vow not to apply the death penalty to the whistleblower. American authorities also promised that he would be able to rely on the First Amendment that guarantees the freedom of speech.
The court may decide to extradite Assange or – theoretically – rule that he must be released from jail. It is possible the judges will delay the final decision – prompting a new round of legal battles.

"I have the sense that anything could happen at this stage. Julian could be extradited, or he could be freed," Assange’s wife Stella said.

In the US, the WikiLeaks founder is facing espionage charges for the mass publication of classified documents concerning US activities in Afghanistan and Iraq. If found guilty, he will face up to 175 years behind bars.

Assange's legal team argues that handing him over to Washington would blatantly violate a US-UK treaty that prohibits extradition for political offenses.

They also stress that Assange managed to expose criminal actions by the US government, such as the torture of prisoners of war and political assassinations. His supporters fear that Washington simply wants to take revenge, putting Assange in prison until he dies or finding some legal pretext for the death sentence.

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Mobilization threatens to put Ukraine's biggest smelter out of work

The ongoing mobilization in Ukraine has put ArcelorMittal Krivoy Rog, the country's largest mining and smelting plant, at risk, chief executive Mauro Longobardo told the Financial Times.

"If they [Ukrainian authorities] continue to mobilize, we will not have enough [staff] to operate. We are talking here about existence of the company," he stressed, as the Kiev regime desperately tries to throw more men into the trenches amid heavy losses.

According to him, hiring female workers for manual labor is a matter of survival for the plant, which has put up huge billboards in the city of Krivoy Rog showing young women in orange overalls with slogans such as "Ladies really run things here" to attract staff.

The company is struggling to replace the mobilized men, as well as the thousands of male workers who have left for safer places, Longobardo said. He admitted that hiring men has become a very difficult task.

The plant has also been forced to cut production, including steel used to shield energy facilities from airstrikes, according to the CEO.

"In the end, I think the country is losing," he concluded.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a bill on the voluntary mobilization of some groups of convicts, underscoring the Kiev regime's desperate attempts to replenish its depleted forces.

Last month, Zelensky signed a new mobilization law that lowered the age of connoscription from 27 to 25, expanded the powers of recruitment officers, and introduced penalties for draft dodgers, including fines of up to 25,000 hryvnia ($640).

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❗️🇨🇩 Congolese army says it thwarted a coup d'etat attempt in the DR Congo's capital, Kinshasa; perpetrators have been detained

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Germany can supply Ukraine with weapons, but does not want them to attack Crimea — British Defense Minister

Germany has the ability to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons, but Germany does not want to allow them to be used for attacks on Crimea, as London previously did, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps told Sky News.

Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, after the leak of a conversation between Bundeswehr officers discussing strikes on the Crimean bridge, once again opposed the supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine, saying the participation of German soldiers was necessary to control their use.

The Chancellor had previously said that this would be a violation of the "red lines" and would make Germany a participant in hostilities.

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❗️Iranian media report on the incident with the helicopter carrying the Iranian president to the province of East Azerbaijan

The helicopter carrying President Raisi crashed in East Azerbaijan, according to Tasnim news agency.

There were 3 helicopters in the convoy, two helicopters with ministers and officials reached their destination safely and it is reported that the Iranian Foreign Minister was also in the helicopter carrying the President.

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Iranian state television described the site of the alleged helicopter crash with the Iranian president. It is about 600 kilometers northwest of Tehran.

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The helicopter carrying the Iranian president landed in eastern Azerbaijan due to fog, the Iranian news agency SNN reports. The presidential convoy is now on its way to the city of Tabriz in Iran.

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Massive rescue efforts to find helicopter with Iranian president

The Red Crescent, as well as military and police auxiliaries, launched a large-scale operation to search for this helicopter from the very beginning of the report of the accident of the presidential helicopter.

Locals say that due to the foggy atmosphere in the region, the condition of the helicopter is still unknown.

The governor of East Azerbaijan, Ayatollah Al-Hashem and Amir Abdullakhyan were also in the helicopter with the president.

According to a phone call from one of the president's companions to the Center after the accident, there are many hopes that this incident will be resolved without human casualties.

Ministers of Energy and Roads Mehrabyan and Bazarpash, who were in other helicopters, reached their destination safely.

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Some managed to contact Ayatollah Ali-Hashem immediately after the incident, but at the moment all phones are out of order, the Fars news agency reported.

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⚡️Iran's foreign minister was on board the helicopter along with the country's president, Tasnim news agency reported.

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🇮🇷 Iranian President Raisi was returning from a meeting with Azerbaijani President Aliyev at the border between the two countries, where the dam's opening ceremony took place.

Raisi and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev opened a new hydroelectric power station "Giz Galasi" on the Araz River.

The leaders commissioned two hydroelectric complexes to share the water and energy resources of the river.

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❗️The Iranian president's motorcade included three helicopters, one of which carried the energy and roads ministers, Tasnim news agency reported.

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The arrival of rescue teams at the site of the hard landing of the Iranian president's helicopter is still expected, there is no connection with Raisi, the Iranian interior minister said.

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People from the Iranian President's entourage contacted the command center, which gives hope that there were no deaths as a result of the accident, according to local media.

Two other helicopters from the Iranian president's motorcade safely reached their final destination.

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Rescue teams arrived at the site of the accident an hour after reports of the crash, IRNA writes.

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First footage of the rescue operation

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According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, the helicopter's passengers were:

▪️Iran's President Ibrahim Raisi
▪️Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahiyan
▪️Ayatollah Al-Hashemi, Imam of Tabriz Mosque
▪️Governor of East Azerbaijan Province Malik Rahmati

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The latest on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crash

A helicopter carrying Raisi suffered what Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi confirmed was a “hard landing" on Sunday.

▪️Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province

▪️The incident took place near the city of Jolfa, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital Tehran

▪️Three helicopters reportedly were in the convoy, and the two others made it back without problems

▪️Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of the Iranian supreme leader to the province, are believed to have been in the same helicopter as Raisi

▪️Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Housing and Transportation Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash were in the other helicopters that reportedly reached their destination safely

▪️Iran's interior minister said there was no communication with the president. However, some reports suggest that people accompanying Raisi in the helicopter managed to make an emergency call to say that the president is safe and sound.

▪️Emergency services arrived at the crash site, but are yet to report on their progress

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The reported crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi

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