Europe

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is expected to appear at hearing in a London court via video link as he continues his fight against extradition to the United States.

The 47-year-old Assange is currently in Belmarsh Prison on the outskirts of London serving a 50-week sentence for jumping bail in Britain.

He was too ill to appear at a recent hearing but is expected Friday to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court via video link.

13 June 2019; DW: The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) announced the results on Wednesday after a record 497 rounds of bidding for the 41 blocks of spectrum on offer in the 2 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands that will allow faster data transfers.

5G will be used to upgrade networks so they can run the internet of things with connected factories, cities and autonomous driving.

KIEV, June 13. /TASS/: Ukraine won’t cede ground in the Kerch Strait, but the issue of the Ukrainian forces’ passage through it is not on the agenda now, Ukraine’s Chief of General Staff Ruslan Homchak said on Thursday.

"All decisions will be measured… Today we are not planning to lose ground in the Sea of Azov. As far as the passage is concerned, today this issue is not on the agenda either. We don’t have so many Ukrainians to put them at risk," Homchak said in an interview with the BBC’s Ukrainian service.

MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/: Ankara requested Moscow’s assistance to ensure security of its military after terrorists shelled a Turkish military observation point in Syria’s Idlib, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Overnight to June 13, terrorists shelled from artillery weapons an observation point of Turkey’s military forces located near the Jabal Zawiya highland region in the Idlib province, the ministry said.

13 June 2019; DW: UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid revealed on Thursday he had signed a US extradition request for Julian Assange.

Javid told BBC Radio 4 he had signed the request on Wednesday, and that his extradition hearing will start on Friday.

"I'm very pleased that the police were finally able to aprehend him and now he's rightly behind bars, because he broke UK law," Javid said. 

MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/: Iran has no plans to develop nuclear weapons but if the country chooses to do it, the United States will be unable to do anything, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tehran on Thursday.

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities say that about 20 people have been injured in eastern Germany by gusty winds and thunderstorms.

German news agency dpa reported Thursday eight people were injured Wednesday night at an outdoor wedding party when a tree branch crashed onto them in Blankensee in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.

In Berlin, 11 people were injured when a tree fell on a group celebrating outside and an unknown number of passengers in a convertible were also injured by a falling tree.

LONDON (AP) — Katie Jones sure seemed plugged into the Washington’s political scene. The 30-something redhead boasted a job at a top think tank and a who’s-who network of pundits and experts, from the centrist Brookings Institution to the right-wing Heritage Foundation. She was connected to a deputy assistant secretary of state, a senior aide to a senator and the economist Paul Winfree, who is being considered for a seat on the Federal Reserve.

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, June 11. /TASS/: The Russian national football team has defeated Cyprus 1:0 in a home qualifying match for UEFA European Championship 2020. The match was held in Nizhny Novgorod, with over 42,000 spectators.

The only goal in the match was delivered by Alexey Ionov (38th minute). This is Ionov's first goal for the Russian national team in official matches.

Russia is currently in the second place in the Group I standings with nine points. Cyprus is in the fifth place with three points. Belgium is in the first place with nine points.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: The Russian Academy of Sciences' Council for Space Research has suggested to Russia's Roscomos space corporation to start implementing the Venera-D (Venus-D) project and finance the first stages of development works, the council's co-chair Lev Zeleny told TASS on Wednesday.

"The corresponding request was sent to Roscosmos. Roscosmos is working on it," Zeleny said.

TASS has not yet managed to obtain a comment from Roscosmos.