LONDON (Reuters) – Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange formed a human chain outside Britain’s parliament on Saturday to demand an end to an attempt by the United States to have him extradited to face criminal charges. Hundreds of protesters, including Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, gathered in a line which stretched from parliament’s perimeter railings and snaked across nearby Westminster Bridge to the other side of the River Thames. Stella Assange, who is married to the Australian-born activist, said the British government should speak to authorities in the United States to end the extradition bid which was launched in 2019. “It’s already gone on for three-and-a-half years. It is a stain on the United Kingdom and is a stain on the Biden administration,” she said. Supporters of Assange were also due to protest on Saturday outside the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington. Assange, 51, is wanted by U.S. authorities on 18 counts, including a spying charge, relating to WikiLeaks’ release of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables. Washington says he put lives in danger. His supporters say he has been victimized because he exposed U.S. wrongdoing in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

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VIENNA (AFP) – Austria’s current president Alexander Van der Bellen has secured a second six-year term in office. He obtained more than 50% of the vote in an election on Sunday, avoiding a second-round run-off, according to a forecast.  The projection by pollster SORA put Van der Bellen, a 78-year-old former leader of the Greens, on 54.6% with a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points.  The final official result is not expected until Monday. His nearest rival was far-right Freedom Party candidate Walter Rosenkranz who 18.9% of the vote. The pro-European, liberal president faced six other challengers -- all men -- but only the populist Freedom Party fielded a candidate against him.  He promised to provide the nation with ‘stability’ and ‘clarity’.  The former Green leader’s campaign positioned him as “the safe choice in stormy times” during his campaign.

 

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ALGIERS (AP) – French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne started a visit to Algeria on Sunday with a top-level delegation, pushing for better ties with the former French colony and major gas exporter. Her two-day trip along with 16 ministers — over a third of her government — comes just six weeks after President Emmanuel Macron concluded a three-day visit aimed at ending months of tensions with Algiers. Borne is expected to sign deals on economic cooperation, including energy — although deliveries of natural gas to France are “not on the table,” according to her office. Ties between the North African country and its former colonial ruler had seen months of tensions after Macron last year questioned Algeria’s existence as a nation before the French occupation, accusing the government of fomenting “hatred toward France.” Borne’s predecessor Jean Castex had been scheduled to visit Algeria in April last year but his visit was canceled at the last minute amid tensions between the two sides. Borne and her cohort are the latest in a string of top European officials to visit Algeria, Africa’s top natural gas exporter, in search of alternatives to Russian energy supplies since the start of the war in Ukraine. 

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CAIRO (AP) – Greece’s chief diplomat arrived Sunday in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on issues including controversial maritime and gas deals that Turkey signed with one of Libya’s rival administrations, officials said. Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias landed in Cairo’s airport before heading for talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shukry, according to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry. The ministry said the two ministers would hold a news conference afterwards. Egypt and Greece have strengthened ties in recent years, including cooperation in fields ranging from energy to combating terrorism. The two nations, along with Cyprus, have signed maritime border agreements. Ahmed Abu Zeid, the ministry’s spokesman, described Egyptian-Greek ties as “a long standing strategic partnership and historic friendship.” Dendias wrote on Twitter ahead of his trip that besides Greece-Egypt ties, the talks would focus on developments in the Aegean Sea, Libya and the Middle East.

 

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BEIJING (Sputnik) – China has successfully launched its first solar observatory, nicknamed Kuafu-1, after a giant in Chinese mythology who wished to capture and tame the Sun, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said. The launch was carried out on Sunday, at 7.43 a.m. local time (23:43 GMT on Saturday), from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, using the Long March-2D carrier rocket, CASC said. Kuafu-1, or the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), entered its planned orbit successfully, according to CASC. Kuafu-1 will observe the Sun from an orbit 720 kilometers (447 miles) above Earth’s surface and will help study how the Sun’s magnetic field creates its energetic emissions. The mission is expected to last four years.

 

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – At least 57 students were poisoned by an unidentified substance in a rural secondary school in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, according to local authorities. The mass poisoning was the third at Chiapas schools reported in local media over the past two weeks, spooking students and prompting outrage from parents. The Mexican Social Security Institute said that 57 teenage students in the rural community of Bochil had arrived at a local hospital with symptoms of poisoning. One student in a “delicate” condition was transferred to a hospital in the state’s capital while the rest were stable, the institute said. Authorities did not speculate on a cause, but local news outlets said some parents believe the students were exposed to contaminated water or food. “We are outraged by these events,” leaders of Bochil said in a statement, adding that they are collaborating with a state prosecutor’s investigation. Videos circulating on social media showed a chaotic scene in which adults carrying teenagers in school uniforms rushed through a hospital hallway amid anxious shouting.