LEAVE AND LET LIVE Ecuador president says Wikileak’s Julian Assange MUST leave embassy but wants assurances he won’t be executed

Australian-born Assange will eventually need to leave the London embassy where he has been living since 2012, Ecuador President Lenin Moreno says

By Corey Charlton

27th July 2018, 10:48 amUpdated: 27th July 2018, 4:37 pm

JULIAN Assange's legal team says Ecuador is seeking assurances he won't be EXECUTED if he is forced to leave its embassy in London.

Speculation about Assange's future has grown in recent days, amid reports that officials from Ecuador and Britain are discussing how to remove him after revocation of his asylum.

Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno today told reporters in Madrid the "only thing" he wants is a guarantee Assange will avoid a death penalty.

He added that the "only person" he hasn't spoken to regarding the Wikileaks founder's plight "is Mr Assange" himself.

It comes as a source close to Assange today told Reuters his embassy standoff situation was coming to a head.

Assange sought refuge in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning about allegations of sex crimes which he has always denied

https:// www.thesun.co.uk/news/6877922/wikileaks-julian-assange-forced-leave-ecuador-embassy/

Fmr. New York State Assembly Speaker Receives Seven-Year Prison Sentence

July 27, 2018 4:46 pm

Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D.) was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday.

Silver initially received a 12-year sentence after being convicted in the case in 2015, but that conviction was overturned by an appeals court, NBC News reports.

This spring, a jury found him guilty once again of taking nearly $4 million in return for legislative favors.

Silver directed grants to a cancer researcher who then referred patients to Silver's personal injury law firm, enriching him in the process.

Bobby Cuza of Spectrum News NY1 reported from the courtroom that "it was an act of mercy by the judge," U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni, who took into account Silver's health and age.

But Caproni also castigated the 74-year-old as being "exactly what people think all politicians are: deeply corrupt," and she said Silver's actions were motivated by "unmitigated greed."

Silver also has to pay a $1.7 million fine and forfeit the money he earned from his illicit schemes, which amounts to at least $3.7 million.

The former assembly speaker pleaded for mercy and said "I have brought great distrust to New York government," and wrote that "I pray I will not die in prison."

His sentencing comes less than two weeks after former New York Senate leader Dean Skelos (R.) was convicted of extortion, wire fraud, and bribery.

Silver had served as speaker of the New York Assembly for 21 years when he resigned in the wake of his 2015 arrest.

https:// freebeacon.com/politics/former-new-york-state-assembly-speaker-receives-seven-year-prison-sentence/

JULY 27, 2018 / 11:04 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Putin says Trump can 'be my guest' in Moscow, White House welcomes idea

WASHINGTON/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he wanted U.S. President Donald Trump to be his guest in Moscow, an idea that the White House welcomed despite lingering criticism over the Helsinki summit.

The Russian leader said on a visit to South Africa for an economic conference that “appropriate conditions” were required in both countries for another summit to take place, an apparent reference to a political uproar in the United States last week after the two men met.

The White House said Trump was enthusiastic about another summit. Trump has said he wants to improve ties between the two nuclear powers, whose relations have dipped to a post-Cold War low in recent years.

“President Trump looks forward to having President Putin to Washington after the first of the year, and he is open to visiting Moscow upon receiving a formal invitation,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

Separately, U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said he was considering the possibility of the first talks in years between the defense chiefs of the United States and Russia. Mattis said there had been no decision.

Trump was criticized at home for failing to confront Putin publicly over Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election, and for seeming to contradict his own intelligence agencies on the threat from Russia. Trump has defended his conduct in a two-hour private meeting with Putin and at a joint news conference.

https:// www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia/putin-says-trump-can-be-my-guest-in-moscow-white-house-welcomes-idea-idUSKBN1KH1WW

China says vaccine maker Changsheng broke manufacturing rules, faked records: Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s cabinet investigation group has found that vaccine maker Changsheng Bio-technology broke the law in manufacturing rabies vaccines, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.

The investigation group said the company had systematically falsified production and testing records to avoid regulatory scrutiny, according to Xinhua.

https:// www.reuters.com/article/us-china-vaccines/china-says-vaccine-maker-changsheng-broke-manufacturing-rules-faked-records-xinhua-idUSKBN1KH1FU

Trump seeks to revive 'Arab NATO' to confront Iran

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is quietly pushing ahead with a bid to create a new security and political alliance with six Gulf Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, in part to counter Iran’s expansion in the region, according to U.S. and Arab officials.

The White House wants to see deeper cooperation between the countries on missile defense, military training, counter-terrorism and other issues such as strengthening regional economic and diplomatic ties, four sources said.

The plan to forge what officials in the White House and Middle East have called an “Arab NATO” of Sunni Muslim allies will likely raise tensions between the United States and Shi’ite Iran, two countries increasingly at odds since President Donald Trump took office.

The administration’s hope is that the effort, tentatively known as the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA), might be discussed at a summit provisionally scheduled for Washington on Oct. 12-13, several sources said.

The White House confirmed it was working on the concept of the alliance with “our regional partners now and have been for several months.”

Saudi officials raised the idea of a security pact ahead of a Trump visit last year to Saudi Arabia where he announced a massive arms deal, but the alliance proposal did not get off the ground, a U.S. source said.

Sources from some of the Arab countries involved also said they were aware of renewed efforts to activate the plan. Officials from other potential participants did not respond to requests for comment.

ULY 27, 2018 / 4:18 PM

https:// www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-gulf-alliance/trump-seeks-to-revive-arab-nato-to-confront-iran-idUSKBN1KH2IK

>>2316195

Could be twins if it's not

New York state revokes approval of Charter-Time Warner Cable deal

JULY 27, 2018 / 3:01 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

(Reuters) - The New York State Public Service Commission said on Friday it revoked its approval of the 2016 merger agreement between Charter Communications Inc (CHTR.O) and Time Warner Cable, saying Charter failed to build out its network for enough homes and that the company must end its operations in the state.

The commission said the U.S. broadband provider failed to live up to its agreement as part of the merger to build internet access to an additional 145,000 households and businesses in rural areas of New York under-served by internet providers.

https:// www.reuters.com/article/us-timewarnercable-m-a-charter-commns/new-york-state-revokes-approval-of-charter-time-warner-cable-deal-idUSKBN1KH2EJ