If you’ve seen the pictures of a frail Julian Assange being carried out of Ecuador’s London embassy like a bearded battering ram by a gaggle of coppers, then you did so courtesy of video agency Ruptly.

Normally the identity of the video agency that provides news footage is not worthy of a story in itself, but Ruptly has one distinctive factor which sets it apart: it’s Russian. Even worse, it’s Russian and it’s a subsidiary of RT.

CNN appears so shocked that the footage of Assange being manhandled “wasn’t captured by leading UK broadcasters like the BBC, Sky News or Independent Television News (ITN)” that it wrote a story headlined “How a Russian-owned media outlet landed the first video of Julian Assange’s arrest.”

CNN explains away the gazumping embarrassment by insinuating that Russia Link + Assange = Conspiracy.  

It uses an irrelevant quote from a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, and asks Ruptly’s deputy head of news if she feels pressured by the Russian government. She says no, although I suspect she does feel pressure to film newsworthy events as they happen.

The adjectives CNN uses to describe Ruptly are worthy of exploration and explanation. In the headline, the agency is described as ‘Russian-owned,’ which is another way of saying evil.

In CNN’s tweet, Ruptly is a ‘niche’ media outlet. ‘Niche’ is a term used to describe something that is a bit forbidden, maybe a bit filthy. If you Google the term ‘niche material’ at work, the IT department will be canceling your credentials within minutes.

CNN’s Hadas Gold wrote: “Ruptly, which has carved out a niche for itself by recording events around the world and selling the footage to other broadcasters, is a subsidiary of Russian state-backed media outlet RT.”  

I mean, if that is a niche, then it’s a pretty big one. I’ve never heard Reuters or AFP or AP described as niche before.

And in CNN’s online write up, Ruptly is described as ‘obscure.’ This put-down suggests Ruptly is not ‘one of us,’ not worthy of attention, not one of the chosen ones.  

Responding to CNN, Ruptly said: “We would like to point out that it is not exactly correct to call us a ‘niche’ or ‘obscure’ video agency. As an award-winning global multimedia agency, we provide news video, live events, and broadcast services to over 1,200 media clients worldwide, including some of the biggest names in news journalism. We have actually provided CNN with a number of materials since our launch.”

So CNN is a fan of obscure, niche material too! Isn’t that always the way?!

Just to clear up exactly how Ruptly got the footage, it stayed outside the Ecuadorian Embassy and filmed the door for days on end, even when all the other outlets went home. That’s it. Ruptly was there because the forthcoming arrest had been rumored for days, which was why the more well-known media outlets had also been there, but ultimately missed the money shot.

The Russian scoop is clearly embarrassing some members of the establishment media, but there’s no need to take the blame anymore, just like with Brexit and Trump, you can just blame Russia.

By Simon Rite

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Scientists studying the habitability of Earth-like worlds have discovered that the conditions for alien life exist on some of the nearest planets to our solar system.

The researchers found that rocky outliers in the habitable zone of neighboring red dwarf stars could host life despite the planets’ high levels of radiation exposure.

In a study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Cornell University scientists found that life here on Earth evolved from creatures that endured even greater UV radiation exposure than nearly a handful of the closest exoplanets, i.e. planets outside our solar system.

By modelling the surface UV environments of our four closest potentially habitable exoplanetary neighbors, the authors found that these exoplanets’ radiation exposure was significantly lower than what Earth received 3.9 billion years ago.  

They concluded that ultraviolet radiation should not be considered a limiting factor in the search for planets that can host life. “Our closest neighboring worlds remain intriguing targets for the search for life beyond our solar system,” the researchers wrote in their paper.

The four planets studied were:

• Proxima-b (4.24 light years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus)

• TRAPPIST-1e (39.6 light years away in the Aquarius constellation)

• Ross-128b (10.89 light years away in the Virgo constellation)

• LHS-1140b (40 light years away in the Cetus constellation)

The closest planet, Proxima-b, receives 250 times more x-ray radiation and potentially hazardous UV radiation exposure than Earth does today. However, life on Earth survived far worse exposure, the authors argue, so why not on our neighboring exoplanets?

In addition, not all wavelengths of UV radiation are equally damaging and the planets’ ozone levels, not just their radiation levels, are important to factor in to any long-term habitability studies.

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Facebook has apparently blocked the page of former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, which was used to share WikiLeaks material. The move also comes after he bashed his successor for allowing to arrest Julian Assange.

Correa took to Twitter on Thursday night to decry the block, which he called a “show of desperation” following the publication of the INA papers, a trove of documents leaked last month that show current President Lenin Moreno’s involvement in a corruption investigation. Correa had been publicizing the papers on his Facebook page, which had 1.5 million followers.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the block to El Comercio, telling the paper that Correa’s page was blocked because it breached the company’s policies on “disclosure of personal information, such as phone numbers, addresses, bank account data, cards, or any record or data that could compromise the integrity physical or financial of the people in our community.”

The block also came one day after Correa branded Moreno “the greatest traitor in Ecuadorian history” for allowing British officers to enter London’s Ecuadorian embassy and arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. One week previously, WikiLeaks had suggested that Moreno would move to oust Assange soon, as revenge for WikiLeaks’ reporting on the INA papers.

There is at present nothing to suggest that Facebook blocked Correa on behalf of Moreno. However, the social media giant has been criticized before for deleting left and right-leaning activist and news pages in the US, and leftist news outlets in Latin America.

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After the International Criminal Court (ICC) declined to investigate claims of US atrocities in Afghanistan, US President Donald Trump cheered the decision but said the ICC was “illegitimate” and US and allies beyond its reach.

“This is a major international victory, not only for these patriots, but for the rule of law,” the White House said in a statement, referring to the ICC decision to reject the request to investigate the actions of US military and intelligence officials in Afghanistan.

The US “holds American citizens to the highest legal and ethical standards,” and has consistently refused to join the ICC because of its “broad, unaccountable prosecutorial powers,” threats to US sovereignty, and “and other deficiencies that render it illegitimate,” Trump said in a statement.

Last week, Washington canceled the entry visa of ICC’s chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, saying that anyone who dared investigate US military or intelligence personnel would face the same fate. The Gambian lawyer had been conducting a preliminary investigation into claims of torture, cruelty and sexual assault by US and allied personnel in Afghanistan, dating to 2003-2004.

Bensouda had found a “reasonable basis to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in connection with the armed conflict in Afghanistan,” and was reportedly planning to open a formal investigation.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Bensouda last month to “change course” or face US sanctions, however, declaring that the US was determined to protect its troops and civilians from “living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation.”

While Washington has pushed for the creation of ad-hoc international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR), the US voted against the establishment of the ICC in 1998, and has refused to join or submit to its authority after the court was officially created in 2002.

The US has held itself above international law for decades. In 1986, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled that Washington had violated international law by supporting the Contras in Nicaragua. The US refused to participate in the proceedings and blocked the enforcement of the judgment in the UN Security Council.

What makes the pressure on ICC different than in the past, UK journalist Neil Clark told RT recently, is that “interference and attacks are now in the open,” whereas in the past they would be confined to back channels and low-key intrigue.

“You know, it’s the empire with its mask off,” said Clark.

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Robert Tibbo, a lawyer for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, told RT that he believes Ecuador’s decision to strip away Julian Assange’s asylum is based on a very weak legal case and may amount to a breach of the constitution.

“Number one, there is a very high threshold to strip someone of an asylum. For what’s available in [the] public domain, I don’t see any evidence that would justify President [Lenin] Moreno or his administration stripping [Julian Assange] of that asylum status,” Tibbo told RT.

The lawyer said that by giving Assange only a “30-minute notice” before revoking his asylum and citizenship, Ecuador appears to have violated his rights under its own laws.

“There are at least five or six articles in the constitution that protect due process rights. It appears that Assange was never afforded any of these due process protections that are enshrined in this constitution.”

The UK gave Washington until June 12 to present the case for Assange’s extradition to the US, where he might face up to five years behind bars under the current indictment of conspiracy to hack a Pentagon computer. It is feared, however, that as soon as Assange is handed over to the US, the charges will pile on and might see him being locked up for life.

While the first extradition hearing is several months from now, Tibbo believes that the whole process is likely to drag on for years to come.

“His extradition proceedings in the UK will be expected to take many years to be resolved through first instance extradition hearings to any appeals Mr Assange would take,” the lawyer told RT, adding that “there is a big question” whether he will ever set foot on US soil.

However, if the US justice system succeeds in getting a hold of the publisher, his life could be in grave danger, Tibbo believes.

“Looking at Mr Assange’s health, it appears he is ill and is frail, any ill treatment of Mr Assange by the US authorities, if he landed on US soil, could amount to torture.”

The lawyer noted that it is likewise “a big question” whether a US court would heed the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which has stated that Assange has been arbitrarily held in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. While his exile there was nominally self-imposed, the only option was to step out into the hands of British police, facing near-inevitable extradition.

So far, Washington has a long track record of defying international bodies if they are reluctant to bend to its will.

Being the lawyer of Edward Snowden, one of the world’s most famous whistleblowers, who has resided in Moscow for almost six years now, Tibbo said that Assange’s case is “extremely different” from his.

“Mr Snowden is actually a whistleblower, he falls into a classic definition of whistleblower, whereas Mr Assange is a journalist and has worked with whistleblowers in the past.”

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Indian actress-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar has become a viral sensation this week for doling out swift justice after she was groped while campaigning in Bangalore.

The Indian National Congress candidate faced a torrent of jeers and what appeared to be flying vegetables as she was making her way through heaving crowds in the city in southern India on Wednesday.

During the commotion a man twice grabbed her from behind and without a moment’s hesitation she turned to face down her would be harasser and slapped him full force in the face.

“He groped me once and I turned around and started walking. He groped me for the second time. That’s when I turned and slapped him,” Sundar told The News Minute. Clips of the incident have gone viral on social media and Sundar has been hailed as a hero and an inspiration to women across India.

Reaction to the incident hasn’t been universally positive, but she has faced down detractors and taunts with some fiery ripostes.

No police complaint was lodged over the groping incident, hence no action was taken by authorities beyond giving a warning to the individual involved.

Sundar is a staunch advocate for women’s rights and a leading supporter of India’s #MeToo movement. She entered Indian politics in 2014 following a successful career in the Indian film industry.

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As WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy by British police, he emerged clutching a single book: Gore Vidal’s ‘The History of the National Security State.’

Later, as he sat in the dock at Westminster Magistrates Court, Assange silently read through the book, before he was found guilty of skipping bail in 2012 and remanded in custody.

Was Assange trying to send a message? Through a collection of interviews with Vidal, the book covers themes dear to Assange and WikiLeaks, tracing the historical events that gave rise to the military-industrial-security complex, as well as the expansion of executive powers that led to what the author calls “the imperial presidency.”

“The people have no voice because they have no information,” Vidal warned in the book. Speaking to RT on Thursday, former MI5 agent Annie Machon hailed Assange for trying to do something about this.

“We’ve seen time and time again how easy it is for the mainstream media to be controlled and manipulated from behind the scenes by the intelligence agencies and by governments,” Machon said. “And that is precisely the model that Julian Assange tried to break. And he did it courageously and he did it knowing full well what he’d be facing.”

Assange began publishing classified materials, some detailing alleged war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, during the George W. Bush administration, and avoided US persecution under Barack Obama. In his book, Vidal heaped scorn on both parties for working together to ratchet up ‘homeland security’ in the years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“Now we have a dictatorial system, as best personified by the USA Patriot Act, which just removes us of our Bill of Rights,” Vidal stated. “This is the most serious thing that has happened in the history of the United States, and how we get out of it’s anyone’s guess.”

“I was born eighty years ago in a country called the United States of America and now I live in a Homeland—an expression we haven’t heard since Hitler,” the novelist and essayist added.

The book’s appearance in Assange’s dramatic arrest seems to have piqued some interest in the dissident intellectual. Searches for ‘Gore Vidal’ spiked worldwide after the WikiLeaks founder was hauled away by police.

Vidal passed away in July 2012, a month after Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London. His work remains as relevant as ever while seven years later Assange awaits a possible one-year jail sentence in Britain and likely extradition to the US, where the Justice Department has not ruled out hitting him with more charges in addition to the charge of conspiring to crack an army network password with Chelsea Manning.

Speaking through his lawyers from a jail cell, Assange appeared to tell supporters on Thursday his arrest was inevitable in the age of the national security state.

“I told you so,” he said.

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US-backed Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno reneged on asylum agreements made with naturalized citizen Julian Assange, leading to his arrest on Thursday, but how exactly did relations with the whistleblower end up here?

Moreno won a narrow victory in 2017 to become president of Ecuador, having served as vice president under his predecessor Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2013 as part of the center-left PAIS Alliance. Much like Assange, Moreno was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012, for championing the rights of the disabled (he is the only world leader who uses a wheelchair).

When he rose to power Moreno quickly locked horns with Assange, eventually revoking his internet access in March 2018 while also reducing the security detail at the embassy as a result of their ongoing spat. Moreno alleged that Assange had installed electronic distortion equipment in addition to blocking security cameras at the embassy. Their deteriorating relationship culminated in Moreno’s withdrawal of asylum granted to the whistleblower on April 11, 2019.

READ MORE: Exposing ‘collateral murder’ and mass surveillance: Why the world should be grateful to Assange

“Today I announce that the discourteous and aggressive behavior of Mr Julian Assange; the hostile and threatening declarations of his allied organization against Ecuador, and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable,” Moreno said in a video statement shortly after Assange’s arrest.

The writing had been on the wall for a long time, however.

Following his 2017 election, Moreno quickly moved away from his election platform after taking office. He reversed several key pieces of legislation passed under his predecessor which targeted the wealthy and the banks. He also reversed a referendum decision on indefinite re-election while simultaneously blocking any potential for Correa to return.

He effectively purged many of Correa’s appointments to key positions in Ecuador’s judiciary and National Electoral Council via the CPCCS-T council which boasts supra-constitutional powers.

Moreno has also cozied up to the US, with whom Ecuador had a strained relationship under Correa. Following a visit from Vice President Mike Pence in June 2018, Ecuador bolstered its security cooperation with the US, including major arms deals, training exercises and intelligence sharing.

Following Assange’s arrest Correa, who granted Assange asylum in the first place, described Moreno as the “greatest traitor in Ecuadorian and Latin American history” saying he was guilty of a “crime that humanity will never forget.”

READ MORE: ‘Greatest traitor in Ecuadorian history’: Ex-President Correa slams Moreno over Assange’s arrest

Despite his overwhelming power and influence, however, Moreno and his family are the subject of a sweeping corruption probe in the country, as he faces down accusations of money laundering in offshore accounts and shell companies in Panama, including the INA Investment Corp, which is owned by Moreno’s brother.  

Damning images, purportedly hacked from Moreno’s phone, have irreparably damaged both his attempts at establishing himself as an anti-corruption champion as well as his relationship with Assange, whom he accused of coordinating the hacking efforts.

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Hillary Clinton didn’t hold back her glee at the arrest of Julian Assange, mocking both the publisher who she blames for her failed presidential run and the man she lost to in a single “we came, we saw, he died”-level one-liner.

“I do think it’s a little ironic that he may be the only foreigner that this administration would welcome to the United States,” Clinton quipped onstage at a speaking event in New York, chuckling at her own wit and basking in the audience’s mirth.

The former First Lady and failed presidential candidate was asked about the Wikileaks founder’s arrest during the talk – which also included her husband – by moderator (and former Clinton staffer) Paul Begala, who set the stage by quipping that it “couldn’t happen to a nicer guy” after reminding Clinton that she “had some familiarity with the work of Mr. Assange” to audience guffaws.

While Clinton had promised her audience before the talk not to mention President Donald Trump by name – a trick she stole from former president Barack Obama – she had no problem making excuses for his government’s actions.

“It is clear from the indictment that came out that it’s not about punishing journalism, it’s about assisting the hacking of the military computer to steal information from the US government,” she admonished. “The bottom line is that he has to answer for what he has done, at least as it’s been charged.”

Clinton infamously delivered the line “We came, we saw, he died” in reference to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was brutally murdered during the NATO invasion of Libya that was one of the highlights of her tenure as Obama’s secretary of state.

WikiLeaks published thousands of incriminating and embarrassing private email messages stolen from former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee in the run-up to the 2016 election, exposing extensive corruption and malfeasance on the part of the Clinton campaign. Many – including Clinton herself – believe the leak cost her the election.

While Assange faces extradition to the US on charges he conspired with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea (then Bradley) Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer in 2010 – charges totally unrelated to the 2016 DNC and Podesta leaks – Clinton clearly believes the later leaks are a more serious crime. The DNC – which the leaked emails revealed she controls financially – filed a lawsuit against WikiLeaks last year, accusing the publisher of colluding with Russia and the Trump campaign to “undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency” – but never denying the emails’ contents were genuine.

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The arrest of Julian Assange in London after an extradition request from the US, and the way the WikiLeaks founder was treated by a British judge, made Thursday a “shameful day” for UK justice, commentators told RT.

“The UK’s legal system is but a plaything of the US legal system. Britain is a vassal of Washington as it’s been confirmed by today’s events,” political commentator John Wight said.

Earlier in the day, UK police forcibly removed Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The 47-year-old was then delivered to the Westminster Magistrates Court where a judge labeled him a “narcissist, who can’t get beyond his own selfish interests” and found him guilty of failing to surrender to bail in 2012.

As for Assange’s extradition request by the US, the judge said the American side must produce its case by June 12. Assange is wanted in the US on charges of conspiring with US Army soldier Chelsea Manning, who leaked thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks back in 2010.

“Assange will disappear in to the void of the US prison system” if he’s extradited, Wight warned. He advised against trusting the Department of Justice, which insisted that the publisher will get the maximum term of five years if convicted in America.

Manning was pardoned after serving seven years, but was returned behind bars this March for refusing to testify against WikiLeaks.

“They’re saying that it’s only five years, but five years in a US prison is unlike five years in any other country’s prison, with few exceptions. It’s a notoriously cruel, barbarous and vindictive system,” Wight said.

The personal characterization of Julian Assange by Judge Michael Snow was “highly improper,” Mads Andenas, former UN special rapporteur on arbitrary detention, told RT.

“The world is following this case” and Snow’s words “made people doubt the fairness of the judicial process,” he said.

Prime Minister Theresa May announcing Assange’s arrest to the cheers of Parliament was also “not the right thing to do in a case where it’s very important for the UK to leave the impression that it’s a judicial process that’s deal with absolutely fairly,” the legal expert added.

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