The UK was meant to leave on 29 March, but it has been delayed twice, first to 21 April and now to 31 October.
Jean-Claude Juncker warned Britain that its departure from the EU must happen by the new 31 October deadline.
“I hope that the British will make use of this time and not waste it again. We cannot keep on putting off the withdrawal date indefinitely,” Mr Juncker said.
As the establishment attempts to paint a narrative of Julian Assange in cahoots with every thug and terrorist in the world – and definitely not a journalist – many ‘dissenters’ refuse to allow the whitewashing to go unanswered
One such voice is legendary Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who told RT, in a wide-ranging interview this week, that he was “ashamed to be an Englishman” after seeing Assange being physically removed from his shelter at the Ecuadorian Embassy.
“To think that the UK has become such a willing accomplice and satellite of the American Empire that it would do such a thing in contravention with all laws, moral, ethical, and actual legal restrictions is absolutely, stunningly appalling and makes me ashamed to be an Englishman.“
UK authorities will soon decide whether to deport Assange to Sweden, where he faces possible rape charges, or to the US, where he is wanted for conspiring with former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to break into a classified government computer.
The second scenario would be worse, Waters believes.
Citizens “barely have rights anymore” after the Patriot Act was adopted, and “everything is at the whim of the commander-in-chief.”
“If we let the UK get away with allowing him to be extradited to the United States, we allow the United States government, at their whim, to torture him and to detain him possibly for the rest of his life.”
Pharmaceutical and synthetic opioids are a major part of the catastrophe, but the other side of the supply chain is actual opium, and the world’s biggest opium market just happens to be occupied Afghanistan, the epicenter of the global heroin trade. The United States military has been operating in Afghanistan as part of the war on terror for over 16 years now, and opium production in the war-torn nation continues to increase, year-over-year, coinciding with the rise of the opioid crisis.
2017 looks to be another record year for opium production in Afghanistan. As reported by Business Insider:
“The country has produced the majority of the world’s opium for some time, despite billions of dollars spent by the US to fight it during the 16-year-long war there. Afghan and Western officials now say that rather than getting smuggled out of Afghanistan in the form of opium syrup, at least half of the crop is getting processed domestically, before leaving the country as morphine or heroin.” [Source]
This particular article goes on to attribute the high production of opium, morphine and heroin on the Taliban, suggesting that the U.S. has been spending billions in taxpayer dollars directly fighting the drug war in Afghanistan.
“Those forms are easier to smuggle, and they are much more valuable for the Taliban, which reportedly draws at least 60% of its income from the drug trade. With its increasing focus on trafficking drugs, the Taliban has taken on more of the functions a drug cartel.” [Source]
New IRA blamed after Lyra McKee shot during riots sparked by police weapons search
Journalist Lyra McKee was shot and killed during riots in Londonderry on Thursday night
The police have not identified or charged the men. The force said earlier that there had been a single gunman who had been backed by an “organisation.” On Friday night police released CCTV footage showing the man suspected of firing the shots that killed McKee.
Officers have appealed for help from the community, saying people knew the shooter and should help police identify him. McKee, 29, was shot during rioting on Thursday night that followed a major security operation by the police. Political leaders expressed revulsion, saying her death, on the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, was an attack on peace and the democratic process.
The killing comes amid a long political crisis, made worse by Brexit, that has left the region without a devolved government for more than two years. Amid anger at the death, dissident republicans cancelled a march in the city next week to mark the 1916 Easter rising against British rule.
A rally in Belfast on Saturday in support of the Good Friday pact will observe a minute’s silence for McKee.
There will also be a vigil in Omagh, County Tyrone, where a 1998 dissident republican bomb attack killed 29 people. Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionists, and Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin leader, attended a vigil in Londonderry on Friday. Sara Canning, McKee’s partner, told the vigil: “Our hopes and dreams and all of her amazing potential was snuffed out by this single barbaric act.
Fearing violence over the Easter weekend, police had raided houses searching for weapons and ammunition in the Creggan area of the city, also known as Derry. Mark Hamilton, PSNI assistant chief constable, said more than 50 petrol bombs were thrown and two cars hijacked in the rioting that followed. McKee was wounded by shots fired towards police and she died shortly afterwards in hospital.
“We believe this to be a terrorist act,” Mr Hamilton said. “Our assessment at this time would be that the New IRA is the most likely to be behind this and that forms our primary line of inquiry.” Sara Canning, McKee’s partner, told a Londonderry vigil: “Our hopes and dreams and all of her amazing potential was snuffed out by this single barbaric act.”
Although it has only limited public support, the New IRA is the most potent of the dissident republican factions that reject the 1998 peace pact. It has recently stepped up attacks, claiming responsibility in March for parcel bombs sent to three London transport hubs and a Scottish university.
The group was also blamed for a car bomb blast in January in Londonderry in which fatalities were only narrowly avoided. Denis Bradley, a nationalist former vice-chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, who lives in the city, said the “great outrage” at McKee’s death would not help the dissidents build small pockets of support.
“It means that the limited support they have will put its head down for the next period,” he said. However, he added: “It doesn’t mean they’re going to go away.” Mr Bradley said McKee’s death reminded him of killings during the three-decade-long unrest known as the Troubles that had made the associated paramilitaries less acceptable.
“I think this is one of those moments,” he said. “Derry people like people who like them and this girl fell in love with the city. She came to live here.”
A political party with dissident links, claimed McKee was killed accidentally by a “republican volunteer” and said the rioting was the consequence of house raids before Easter commemorations. Theresa May, the UK prime minister, described the death as shocking and truly senseless. She added: “She was a journalist who died doing her job with great courage.”
Police officers have been criticised by their own commander after being caught on camera dancing with Extinction Rebellion climate protesters and skateboarding in the street.
Met Police officers were spotted larking around with activists at Oxford Circus and skateboarding at the Waterloo Bridge blockade, where a ramp has been set up.
The videos emerged as the number of arrests so far during the environmental protests rose to 428 on Thursday.
Metropolitan Police Commander Jane Connors said she was “disappointed” by a video appearing to show officers dancing with protesters.
lets be ‘aving you
Police officers who danced with climate change protesters in the streets of London have been called out by their boss for ‘unacceptable behaviour’. Footage showed a handful of Metropolitan Police officers in high-visibility jackets raving with campaigners to Faithless’ Insomnia.
Scotland Yard said enquiries were being made to identify the coppers who danced ‘in solidarity’ with the Extinction Rebellion demonstrators. Police dance with Extinction Rebellion protesters
Campaigners chanted ‘we love you’ as the officers danced in Oxford Circus in the video shared on social media. Met Police Commander, Jane Connors, said the officers’ actions weren’t in line with what was expected, as hundreds have been arrested over the last four days. She said: ‘I’m disappointed by the video and the unacceptable behaviour of the officers in it.
Sajid Javid urges police to use ‘full force of the law’ against climate change protesters
