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Category: FOREIGN

  • UN Security Council vote on Gaza faces threat of US veto

    UN Security Council vote on Gaza faces threat of US veto

    United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The UN Security Council will vote on a new draft resolution Tuesday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, despite threat of a third US veto on such a text.

    The document, prepared by Algeria, “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that must be respected by all parties.”

    The vote comes as Israel prepares to move into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million people have fled, as part of its mission to destroy “Hamas”.

    However it is facing increased pressure to hold off, including from its closest ally the United States.

    The draft resolution opposes the “forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population.”

    It additionally demands the release of all Hamas hostages.

    Similarly to other previous drafts spurned by the United States and Israel, the new text does not condemn Hamas’s October 7 assault.

    That attack left about 1,160 people dead in southern Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

    Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 29,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the health ministry.

    The United States warned over the weekend that Algeria’s text was not acceptable, threatening to veto it.

    “We don’t believe that this Council product will help the situation on the ground,” US deputy ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said Monday.

    “If this resolution does come to a vote, it will not go forward.”

    According to Wood, the passage of such a ceasefire resolution would endanger ongoing delicate diplomatic negotiations which could see the release of hostages from Gaza.

    The United States instead began circulating an alternate draft, seen by AFP Monday.

    While that text does include the word “ceasefire” — which the United States has previously avoided, vetoing two drafts in October and December which used the term — it does not call for the end of hostilities to happen immediately.

    ‘Moral obligation’

    Echoing recent comments by President Joe Biden, the US draft supports a “temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable, based on the formula of all hostages being released.”

    It also mentions concern for Rafah, stating that “a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances.”

    There is no “deadline” for a vote on the American draft, a senior US official said Monday, adding there would be no “rush.”

    But even if there is no hurry, the US text “as it is… cannot pass,” one diplomatic source said, citing several issues around the phrasing of “ceasefire” and the risk that any text introduced to the 15-member body by the United States might face a veto from Russia.

    In any case, the mere fact the United States has introduced a counter-resolution is likely to “make Israel nervous,” Richard Gowan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, told AFP.

    “The US is finally using the Security Council as a platform to signal the limits of its patience with the Israeli campaign,” Gowan said.

    Despite the specter of a US veto, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour had insisted on a vote days ago, saying that the Arab Group had been “more than generous to give our colleagues additional time.”

    According to Gowan, “We are now grinding towards a US veto that nobody really wants, but nobody can avoid,” noting that the vote will fall within a few days of the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    “I am sure that Russia will use the opportunity (of a US veto) to accuse the US of having double standards when it comes to dealing with civilian suffering in Ukraine and the Middle East,” Gowan said.

    Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said it is “sad that we cannot come (up) with a ceasefire… and that only one delegation is preventing that.”

    Chinese representative Jun Zhang said the Security Council has a “moral obligation” to take action “to stop the killings,” pointing out that the United States may veto such a move but meanwhile they are “always calling for protection of human rights.”

  • Palestinians call out Israel for ‘apartheid’ at UN top court

    Palestinians call out Israel for ‘apartheid’ at UN top court

    The Hague (AFP) – Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki told the UN’s top court Monday his people were suffering “colonialism and apartheid” under the Israelis, urging judges to order an immediate and unconditional end to the occupation.

    “The Palestinians have endured colonialism and apartheid… There are those who are enraged by these words. They should be enraged by the reality we are suffering,” Al-Maliki told the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

    The ICJ is holding hearings all week on the legal implications of Israel’s occupation since 1967, with an unprecedented 52 countries, including the United States and Russia, expected to give evidence.

    Speaking in the Peace Palace in The Hague, where the ICJ sits, the minister urged judges to declare the occupation illegal and order it to stop “immediately, totally and unconditionally.”

    “Justice delayed is justice denied and the Palestinian people have been denied justice for far too long,” he said.

    “It is time to put an end to the double standards that have kept our people captive for far too long.”

    ‘Impunity and inaction’

    In December 2022, the UN General Assembly asked the ICJ for a non-binding “advisory opinion” on the “legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

    While any ICJ opinion would be non-binding, it comes amid mounting international legal pressure on Israel over the intense attacks on Gaza.

    The hearings are separate from a high-profile case brought by South Africa alleging that Israel is committing genocidal acts during the current Gaza offensive.

    Al-Maliki charged however that “the Genocide underway in Gaza is a result of decades of impunity and inaction.”

    “Ending Israel’s impunity is a moral, political and legal imperative,” he said.

    In January, the ICJ ruled in that case that Israel must do everything in its power to prevent genocide and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, stopping short of ordering a ceasefire.

    On Friday, it rejected South Africa’s bid to impose additional measures on Israel, but reiterated the need to carry out the ruling in full.

    ‘Prolonged occupation’

    The UN General Assembly asked the ICJ to consider two questions.

    Firstly, the court should examine the legal consequences of what the UN called “the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”.

    This relates to the “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967” and “measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem”.

    In June 1967, Israel crushed some of its Arab neighbours in a six-day war, seizing the West Bank including east Jerusalem from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.

    Israel then began to settle the 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 square miles) of seized Arab territory. The UN later declared the occupation of Palestinian territory illegal. Cairo regained Sinai under its 1979 peace deal with Israel.

    The ICJ has also been asked to look into the consequences of what it described as Israel’s “adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures.”

    Secondly, the ICJ should advise on how Israel’s actions “affect the legal status of the occupation” and what are the consequences for the UN and other countries.

    The court will rule “urgently” on the affair, probably by the end of the year.

    Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside the court, waving flags and brandishing banners.

    “I really hope justice will prevail,” organiser Nadia Slimi told AFP.

    “I really hope all the combined efforts to pressure Israel, to demand a more humane policy, will finally lead to some steps to liberate the Palestinian people,” said the 27-year-old.

    ‘Despicable’

    The ICJ rules in disputes between states and its judgements are binding although it has little means to enforce them.

    However, in this case, the opinion it issues will be non-binding although most advisory opinions are in fact acted upon.

    Israel is not participating in the hearings and reacted angrily to the 2022 UN request, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it “despicable” and “disgraceful”.

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that while advisory opinions are non-binding, “they can carry great moral and legal authority” and can eventually be inscribed in international law.

  • Navalny’s widow says ‘Putin killed my husband’

    Navalny’s widow says ‘Putin killed my husband’

    Warsaw, Poland – Alexei Navalny’s widow said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin killed her husband, as she vowed to carry on his work, three days after he died in an Arctic prison.

    Holding back tears in a video address published Monday, Yulia Navalnaya said: “Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband, Alexei Navalny.”

    Prison authorities said Navalny died after losing consciousness following a walk in his prison colony in Kharp, 2,000 miles (1,200 kilometres) northeast of Moscow inside the Arctic circle.

    “Alexei died in a prison colony after three years of torment and torture,” Navalnaya said Monday.

    Navalnaya, who was by her husband’s side for more than a decade in his fight against Putin, vowed to continue his work.

    “The most important thing we can do for Alexei and for ourselves is to keep fighting, more desperately and more fiercely than before,” she said.

    “We need to seize every opportunity to fight against war, against corruption, against injustice, to fight for fair elections and the freedom of speech, to fight to take back our country.”

    She also vowed to uncover the people who she said had killed her husband.

    “We know exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago… We will definitely find out exactly who carried out this crime and how it was carried out. We will name names and show faces,” she said.

    The Kremlin said earlier on Monday that an investigation into Navalny’s death was ongoing and slammed Western governments that have said Putin carries responsibility for his death.

    Russian authorities have so far refused to hand over Navalny’s body to his mother and lawyer, enraging his supports who have said it was a move by the “killers” to “cover their tracks.”

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    © Agence France-Presse

  • Russia developing ‘space-based nuclear weapon’

    Russia developing ‘space-based nuclear weapon’

    Russia is reportedly building a nuclear space weapon that can disband the world’s commercial and government satellites, raising alarm bells across the world and especially in USA.


    American spy agencies are divided on whether Moscow would go so far, but the concern is urgent enough that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has asked China and India to try to talk Russia down, reports The New York Times.


    A new “national security threat” debate has taken over the United States Congress, indicating that Russia is reportedly building a nuclear space weapon that has the potential to disband a large portion of the world’s commercial and government satellites by producing a massive energy wave.


    This would disable all communication lines affecting cell phones, paying bills, as well as the internet.


    While not much is known about the weapon at this point, the system is described as a potential “space-based nuclear weapon” in several sources.


    However, it’s unclear if this refers to a nuclear bomb or a nuclear-powered gadget.


    White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said the US is closely monitoring this Russian activity.


    President Joe Biden asserted: “There is no nuclear threat to the people of America or anywhere else in the world with what Russia is doing.”


    According to the New York Post, Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov dodged the claims and responded by suggesting that the propaganda was a ruse to whip up support in Congress to take action.


    He said: “It is obvious that the White House is trying, by hook or by crook, to encourage Congress to vote on a bill to allocate money; this is obvious.”

  • Israel sets Ramadan deadline for Rafah assault

    Israel sets Ramadan deadline for Rafah assault

    Israel will launch its long-threatened offensive against Rafah next month if the remaining hostages held in Gaza are not freed by the start of Ramadan, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said.

    “The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know — if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including the Rafah area,” Gantz, a retired military chief of staff, told a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem on Sunday.

    Ramadan, the holy month, is expected to begin on March 10.

    The Israeli government has not previously specified a deadline for its planned assault on the city where the majority of the 1.7 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.

    Fearing the potential for mass casualties, foreign governments and aid organisations have repeatedly urged Israel to spare Rafah, the last major Gazan city not invaded by ground troops during the four-month-old war.

    Despite the mounting international pressure, including a direct appeal from US President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists the war cannot be completed without pressing into Rafah.

    Speaking at the same Jerusalem conference on Sunday, Netanyahu renewed his vow “to finish the job to get total victory” over “Hamas”, with or without a hostage deal.

    Gantz added that an offensive would be carried out in a coordinated manner and in conversation with Americans and Egyptians to facilitate an evacuation and “minimise the civilian casualties as much as possible”.

    But where civilians can safely relocate to on the besieged Gaza Strip remains unclear.

    The comments come after weeks of ceasefire talks have failed to produce a deal, with key mediator Qatar acknowledging over the weekend that the prospects are dimming.

    Washington, Israel’s key ally and military backer, has been pushing for a six-week truce in exchange for the release of the 130 hostages still estimated by Israel to be held in Gaza, including around 30 presumed dead.

    Israel has said it believes many of those hostages, as well as the Hamas leadership, are holed up in Rafah.

    The militants took about 250 people hostage during the October 7 attacks that triggered the war and resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.

    Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 28,858 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.

  • Trump fined $355 mn, banned from NY business in fraud trial

    Trump fined $355 mn, banned from NY business in fraud trial

    A New York judge ordered Donald Trump to pay $355 million over fraud allegations and banned him from running companies in the state for three years Friday in a major blow to his business empire and financial standing.

    Trump — almost certain to be the Republican presidential nominee this November — was found liable for unlawfully inflating his wealth and manipulating the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.

    Trump lashed out on social media calling the ruling a “Total SHAM,” the judge in the case “crooked” and the prosecutor who brought it “totally corrupt.” His legal team said he would “of course” appeal.

    As the case was civil, not criminal, there was no threat of imprisonment. But Trump said ahead of the ruling that a ban on conducting business in New York state would be akin to a “corporate death penalty.”

    Trump, facing 91 criminal counts in other cases, has seized on his legal woes to fire up supporters and denounce his likely opponent, President Joe Biden, claiming that court cases are “just a way of hurting me in the election.”

    However, Judge Arthur Engoron said the financially shattering penalties are justified by Trump’s behavior.

    “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological,” Engoron said of Trump and his two sons, who were also defendants, in his scathing ruling.

    “They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money… Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways,” he added, referring to the perpetrator of a massive Ponzi scheme.

    Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were also found liable in the case and ordered to pay more than $4 million each, prompting Don Jr. to claim on social media that “political beliefs” had determined the outcome.

    Engoron also extended the mandate of retired judge Barbara Jones as an independent monitor of Trump’s business affairs, as well as ordering the appointment of an independent director of compliance to the Trump Organization, with candidates to be nominated by Jones.

    “Conditions that Judge Engoron imposed, such as having Judge Jones monitor the Trump companies, may be onerous. I do expect an appeal,” said Richmond University law professor Carl Tobias.

    It was as a property developer and businessman in New York that Trump built his public profile which he used as a springboard into the entertainment industry and ultimately the presidency.

    The judge’s order was a victory for New York state Attorney General Letitia James. She had sought $370 million from Trump to remedy the advantage he is alleged to have wrongfully obtained, as well as having him barred from conducting business in the state.

  • Top UN court rejects South Africa request for more Gaza measures

    Top UN court rejects South Africa request for more Gaza measures

    THE HAGUE: The UN’s top court Friday rejected South Africa’s request to put more legal pressure on Israel to halt a threatened offensive against the Gaza city of Rafah, saying it was “bound to comply with existing measures.”

    Pretoria has already filed a complaint against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, alleging that its assault on Gaza amounts to a breach of the Genocide Convention.

    The court has yet to rule on the underlying issue, but on January 26 it ordered Israel to ensure it took action to protect Palestinian civilians from further harm and to allow in humanitarian aid.

    South African officials on Tuesday filed a further request to the court, asking it to order new measures in the light of Israel’s preparation of a new operation against Rafah.

    More than half of Gaza’s 2.4 million population have sought shelter there from Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip.

    The ICJ’s judges acknowledged that the recent developments “’would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences’” — citing remarks by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

    But although Israel needed to act immediately to ensure the safety and security of Palestinians, that did not require “the indication of additional provisional measures,” they added.

    Israel remained “bound to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and with the said Order,” the ICJ ruling said.

    Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

    Militants also took about 250 people hostage, around 130 of whom are still in Gaza, including 30 who are presumed dead, according to Israeli figures.

    Israel’s assault on Gaza has since killed at least 28,775 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

    Israel’s foreign minister on Friday said the country would coordinate with Egypt before launching any military offensive in the southern border city of Rafah.

    “We will operate in Rafah after we coordinate with Egypt,” Israel Katz told journalists on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where 180 dignitaries have gathered to discuss conflicts around the globe.

    Fears had been growing for the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the north of Gaza to Rafah as Israeli troops advanced into the territory to wage war on Hamas.

    But Israel is now planning a major operation in the overcrowded city. With the border to Egypt closed, nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are essentially trapped there.

  • Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison

    Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison

    Moscow, Russia – Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died Friday in the Arctic prison colony where he was serving a 19-year-term, Russia’s federal penitentiary service said.

    Western governments immediately attacked the Kremlin over the death of the most outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin.

    Navalny lost consciousness after a walk and could not be revived by medics, the prison service said.

    “Navalny felt bad after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness. Medical staff arrived immediately and an ambulance team was called,” it said.

    “Resuscitation measures were carried out which did not yield positive results. Paramedics confirmed the death of the convict. The causes of death are being established.”

    The 47-year-old was Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and won a huge following with his criticism of corruption in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

    Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened an investigation into the death.

    Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh said his team had not been informed of his death.

    “Alexei’s lawyer is now flying to Kharp,” where his prison colony is, she said in a post on social media.

    Citing his spokesman, Russian news agencies reported that Putin had been informed of Navalny’s death.

    Western governments and Russian opposition figures on Friday said the Kremlin was responsible for his death.

    Latvia’s president said he had been “brutally murdered by the Kremlin”.

    “The Russian government bears a heavy responsibility,” Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

    France’s foreign minister said Navalny had paid with his life for resisting oppression.

    Opposition leader

    Navalny’s exposes, posted on his YouTube channel racked up millions of views and brought tens of thousands of Russians to the streets, despite Russia’s harsh anti-protests laws.

    He was jailed in early 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was recuperating from a near-fatal poisoning attack with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.

    In a string of cases he was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges widely condemned by independent rights groups and in the West as retribution for his opposition to the Kremlin.

    His return to Russia despite facing jail put him on a collision course with Putin, after Navalny blamed the poisoning attack in Siberia on the Kremlin.

    “I’m not afraid and I call on you not to be afraid,” he said in an appeal to supporters as he landed in Moscow, moments before being detained on charges linked to an old fraud conviction.

    His 2021 arrest spurred some of the largest demonstrations Russia had seen in decades, and thousands were detained at rallies nationwide calling for his release.

    In prison, Navalny’s team said he had been harassed and repeatedly moved to a punitive solitary confinement cell.

    He said guards had subjected him and other inmates to “torture by Putin”, making them listen to the president’s speeches.

    From behind bars he was a staunch opponent of Moscow’s full-scale military offensive against Ukraine.

    The Kremlin moved to dismantle his organisation, locking up his allies and sending dozens of others into exile.

    Late last year he was moved to a remove Arctic prison colony in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets region in northern Siberia.

    The last post on Navalny’s Telegram channel, which he managed through his lawyers and team in exile, was a tribute to his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, posted on Valentine’s Day.

  • Modi’s government accused of freezing Congress funds ahead of elections

    Modi’s government accused of freezing Congress funds ahead of elections

    India’s main opposition Congress party said on Friday that its bank accounts had been frozen by the tax department just weeks before the expected announcement of national elections.

    Critics and rights groups have accused India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of using law enforcement agencies to selectively target its political foes.

    Congress spokesman Ajay Maken said the action against his party was aimed at sidelining it ahead of the polls.

    “When the principal opposition party’s accounts have been frozen just two weeks before the announcement of the national elections, do you think democracy is alive in our country?” he asked reporters.

    “Don’t you think it is going towards one party system?” he added.

    Four of Congress’s accounts had been frozen after an investigation of the party’s 2018-19 income tax returns, Maken said.

    He added that the tax department had issued a payment demand for 2.1 billion rupees ($25.3 million) in relation to its probe.

    Maken conceded that the party had filed its returns late by up to 45 days but insisted it had done nothing to warrant such a penalty.

    “Today is a sad day for Indian democracy,” he said, adding that the party was appealing the decision in court and would stage public protests.

    India’s Congress party spokesman Ajay Maken addresses a press conference at All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in New Delhi on February 16. — AFP

    Friday’s announcement follows numerous legal sanctions and active investigations against leading opponents of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

    Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, scion of the dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades, was convicted of criminal libel last year after a complaint by a member of Modi’s party.

    His two-year prison sentence saw him disqualified from parliament for a time until the verdict was suspended by a higher court, but raised concerns over democratic norms in the world’s most populous country.

    ‘Face the consequences’

    Congress is a member of an opposition party alliance hoping to challenge Modi at this year’s polls, and other leading figures in the bloc have also found themselves under investigation.

    Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and chief minister of the capital region Delhi, has repeatedly been summoned by investigators probing alleged corruption in the allocation of liquor licences.

    Earlier this month police arrested Hemant Soren, until then the chief minister of eastern Jharkhand state and another leading figure in the opposition alliance, for allegedly facilitating an illegal land sale.

    India’s main financial investigation agency, the Enforcement Directorate, has ongoing probes against at least four other chief ministers or their families, all of whom belong to the BJP’s political opponents.

    Other investigations have been dropped against erstwhile BJP rivals who later switched their allegiance to the ruling party.

    Virendra Sachdeva, president of the BJP’s Delhi branch, said on Friday that Congress had only itself to blame for the freezing of its accounts.

    “It is unfortunate that a big party like Congress is not following government rules,” he told the Press Trust of India news agency.

    “If it is not following the rules, then it has to face the consequences. “

  • ‘Enough is enough’, Australia wants WikiLeaks founder back home now

    ‘Enough is enough’, Australia wants WikiLeaks founder back home now

    Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday denounced the years-long US and British legal pursuit of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying “enough is enough”.

    The country’s parliament passed a motion Wednesday with the prime minister’s support, calling for an end to 52-year-old Assange’s prosecution so that he can return to his family in Australia.

    Assange, an Australian citizen, will go to London’s High Court next week, seeking leave to appeal against his extradition to the United States for trial on espionage charges.

    “People will have a range of views about Mr Assange’s conduct,” Albanese told parliament. “But regardless of where people stand, this thing cannot just go on and on and on indefinitely.”

    Australians from many sides of politics have a common view, he said, that “enough is enough”.

    Albanese said he had raised Assange’s case “at the highest levels” in Britain and the United States.

    The Australian government had a duty to lobby for its citizens, the prime minister said.

    Independent member of parliament Andrew Wilkie, left, and Julian Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton, right, speak to the media at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. Australia’s House of Representatives has passed a motion calling on the United States and the UK to end the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and for him to be allowed to return to his home country. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)
     (Mick Tsikas / Associated Press)

    He cited the case of Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei, released in October last year after more than three years’ detention in China on espionage charges.

    Albanese also referred to diplomatic “successes” for Australians held in Vietnam and Myanmar.

    Australian economist Sean Turnell was released from a Myanmar jail in November 2022 after being held for 650 days on allegations of spying and gun-running.

    A Vietnamese dissident with Australian citizenship, Chau Van Kham, was freed from jail in Vietnam in July 2023 following his conviction on terrorism charges.

    Australia should not interfere in the legal processes of other countries, Albanese said.

    “But it is appropriate for us to put our very strong view that those countries need to take into account the need for this to be concluded.”

    Assange has been held in the high-security Belmarsh Prison in southeast London since April 2019.

    He was arrested after holing up for seven years in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault, later dropped.

    US authorities want to put the Australian on trial for divulging US military secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Assange’s legal team will be seeking permission to appeal his extradition to the United States at a hearing listed in London’s High Court for February 20 and 21.

    He is accused of publishing some 700,000 confidential documents related to US military and diplomatic activities, starting in 2010.