Man arrested for stalking, shooting homeless men in NYC and DC – National & International News – TUE 16Mar2022

Man arrested for stalking, shooting homeless men in NYC and DC. Assange loses latest appeal against US extradition. 100,000 Brits offer to take in Ukrainian refugees.

NATIONAL NEWS

Man arrested for stalking, shooting homeless men in NYC and DC

Washington DC Metro Police have a arrested a man they believe has been targeting and killing homeless men in both DC and New York City. Since March 3, five men have been shot, of which two have died (one in DC, one in NYC). The suspect is Gerald Brevard, 30, who lives in the DC area. So far, Brevard has only been charged with the Washington shootings and death, but is being questioned by detectives from both DC and NYC.

Police caught up to Brevard today after publishing surveillance camera footage which clearly showed his face. There isn’t yet any firm motive for these killings, but Brevard does have a history of violence. Police had already confirmed a link between the shootings in the two cities using ballistic evidence. This happened after a Washington DC police captain saw footage of the NYC shooter and suspected it was the same assailant they were looking for in DC.

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Assange loses latest appeal against US extradition

The UK Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to block his extradition to the US on espionage charges. Assange, 50, remains in custody in London’s Belmarsh Prison. The case will return to a lower court judge to confirm the ruling. However, Assange is not yet out of options. Britain’s Home Secretary could (but likely won’t) put a stop to the extradition. If she does not block the extradition, Assange could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Assange is facing assorted charges of hacking and espionage over a release of classified US documents in 2010. The documents exposed US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. This included the infamous “Collateral Murder” video, in which soldiers in an Apache helicopter first kill a journalist and cameraman from Reuters, mistaking them for insurgents. Then, when a minivan with children inside pulls up to the scene, the soldiers killed the adults who got out of the van to help the Reuters journalists.

Humanitarian grounds

The US has been actively seeking to have Assange extradited since 2019. If convicted of all the charges he’s facing, he could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. Last year, UK lower court judge Vanessa Barraitser ruled that the US had grounds for extradition based on the charges, but said Assange could not be extradited due concerns for his safety. Pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein had only recently died in federal custody, and Barraitser doubted that US officials could prevent Assange from ending his own life. Assange has been suffering a mental health collapse during his incarceration. 

Higher courts overruled Barraitser’s objection after US officials assured them that Assange would not be in solitary confinement and could be securely held. Officials further claim that, if convicted, Assange’s sentence would likely only be 4-6 years rather than the full 175 years.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

More than 100,000 Britons offer to take in Ukrainian refugees

Yesterday, the British government opened a website to allow ordinary British residents to take in Ukrainian refugees. Since then, the site has been overwhelmed with requests and even crashed at one point. In all, over 100,000 Britons have offered to house Ukrainians fleeing the war. Over 3 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the fighting began.

Some daylight in Russia-Ukraine talks?

Russian and Ukrainian diplomats held talks once again today over video conference. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that while “fundamental contradictions” remain between the two sides, “there is certainly room for compromise”.  Another presidential aid said today’s talks were “more constructive” than previous negotiations. Encouragingly, the Russian side appears to have softened its stance somewhat, no longer demanding that Ukraine surrender as it is under attack.

Russian shelling in Kyiv has intensified. Today, heavy artillery struck residential buildings and damaged a subway station, killing several dozen people.

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