The Supreme Court has refused to allow Julian Assange latest appeal against extradition to the US. A court spokesman said Mr Assange’s application did not raise “an arguable point of law”. The decision is a major blow to his hopes to avoid extradition. The Wikileaks founder, 50, is wanted in the US over the publication thousands of classified files in 2010 and 2011. His lawyers said he had not ruled out launching a final appeal. The case will now go back down to District Judge Vanessa Baraitser, the original judge who assessed the US’s extradition request.Home Secretary Priti Patel is then expected to make a final decision. If she approves the extradition, that is the stage when Mr Assange could make his fresh challenge, said his lawyers Birnberg Peirce.(BBC)…[+]

A pregnant woman wounded in the Russian bombing of a Ukrainian maternity hospital has died along with her baby, reports say. Images showed her on a stretcher following the air strike in Mariupol last Wednesday, in which at least three other people were killed. After the place where she was meant to give birth was attacked, she was taken to another hospital. Her baby was born by Caesarean section, but showed no signs of life. The surgeon, Timur Marin, told the Associated Press news agency that the woman’s pelvis had been crushed and her hip detached. Medics said that as they were trying to save her life, she realised she was losing her baby and shouted, “Kill me now!” When it became clear to them that the child was stillborn, they tried to resuscitate the mother, but realised after 30 minutes that it was hopeless. Doctors said they did not have time to take the woman’s name before her husband and father came to retrieve her body. That meant she did not end up in one of the mass graves being dug for victims of the Russian shelling of the city, they added.(BBC)…[+]

A BBC investigation has uncovered new evidence about the corrupt deals that made Roman Abramovich’s fortune. The Chelsea owner made billions after buying an oil company from the Russian government in a rigged auction in 1995. Mr Abramovich paid around $250m (£190m) for Sibneft, before selling it back to the Russian government for $13bn in 2005. His lawyers say there is no basis for alleging he has amassed very substantial wealth through criminality. The Russian billionaire was sanctioned by the UK government last week because of his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr Abramovich’s assets have been frozen and he has been disqualified as a director of Chelsea Football Club. The Russian billionaire has already admitted in a UK court that he made corrupt payments to help get the Sibneft deal off the ground. He was being sued in London by his former business associate Boris Berezovsky in 2012. Mr Abramovich won the case, but he described in court how the original Sibneft auction was rigged in his favour and how he gave Mr Berezovsky $10m to pay off a Kremlin official.

The US says N Korea recently tested parts of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system, in what it called a “serious escalation”. Pyongyang said the launches on 26 February and 4 March focused on developing a reconnaissance satellite. But the Pentagon now says the tests were experimental launches, before a likely full-range ICBM launch. With a minimum range of 5,500km (3,417 miles), ICBMs can reach the US. They are designed for nuclear arms delivery. On Thursday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said North Korea’s two tests “involved a new intercontinental ballistic missile system”. Neither launch displayed ICBM range or capability, but the tests were carried out “to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch,” Mr Kirby said. “The United States strongly condemns these launches, which are a brazen violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, needlessly raise tensions and risk destabilising the security situation in the region.”(BBC)…[+]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for foreign volunteers to be able to fight against Ukrainian forces. Speaking at a Russian security council meeting, he said those who wanted to volunteer to fight with Russia-backed forces should be allowed to. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight alongside Russia-backed forces. US officials said these could include Syrians skilled in urban combat. Moscow is a long-standing ally of Syria and Mr Putin has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war. “If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbas, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Mr Putin told his defence minister. Mr Shoigu also proposed handing over captured Western anti-tank missile systems to Russian-backed rebel fighters in the breakaway Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas region.(BBC)…[+]

India says it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan on Wednesday, blaming the incident on a “technical malfunction” during routine maintenance. Delhi said it was “deeply regrettable” and expressed relief no one was killed. Pakistan’s military said a “high-speed flying object” had crashed near the eastern city of Mian Channu and its flight path had endangered passenger flights. Both countries have nuclear weapons. In a statement, India’s defence ministry said: “On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry.” Islamabad warned Delhi to “be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence” and to avoid a repeat. The object had been launched from Sirsa in Haryana state, it said. Pakistan’s air force said the missile travelled at Mach 3 – three times the speed of sound – at an altitude of 12,000m (40,000ft) and flew 124km (77 miles) in Pakistani airspace before crashing.(BBC)…[+]

India says it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan on Wednesday, blaming the incident on a “technical malfunction” during routine maintenance. Delhi said it was “deeply regrettable” and expressed relief no one was killed. Pakistan’s military said a “high-speed flying object” had crashed near the eastern city of Mian Channu and its flight path had endangered passenger flights. Both countries have nuclear weapons. In a statement, India’s defence ministry said: “On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry.” Islamabad warned Delhi to “be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence” and to avoid a repeat. The object had been launched from Sirsa in Haryana state, it said.(BBC)…[+]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for foreign volunteers to be able to fight against Ukrainian forces. Speaking at a Russian security council meeting, he said those who wanted to volunteer to fight with Russia-backed forces should be allowed to. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there were 16,000 volunteers in the Middle East ready to fight alongside Russia-backed forces. US officials said these could include Syrians skilled in urban combat. Moscow is a long-standing ally of Syria and Mr Putin has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war. “If you see that there are these people who want of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbas, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” Mr Putin told his defence minister. Mr Shoigu also proposed handing over captured Western anti-tank missile systems to Russian-backed rebel fighters in the breakaway Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas region.(BBC)…[+]

Russia could be planning a chemical or biological weapon attack in Ukraine – and “we should all be on the lookout”, the White House has said. Press secretary Jen Psaki said Russia’s claims about US biological weapon labs, and chemical weapon development in Ukraine, were preposterous. She called the false claims an “obvious ploy” to try to justify further premeditated, unprovoked attacks. It comes after Western officials shared similar concerns about fresh attacks. They said they were “very concerned” about the risk the war could escalate, and particularly the possibility of Russia using non-conventional weapons. This most likely refers to chemical weapons although the term also covers tactical (small-scale) nuclear weapons, biological weapons and dirty bombs. “We’ve got good reason to be concerned,” said one Western official. They said this was partly because of what had been seen in other places where Russia has been engaged – notably Syria where chemical weapons were used by its allies.(BBC)…[+]

It is a bizarre case that has been making international headlines. A man was arrested on a Covid ward in a Glasgow hospital and accused by the US authorities of being a fugitive who faked his own death to evade justice. They say Nicholas Rossi is suspected of a number of sexual assaults and is wanted to face a rape charge in the state of Utah. But the man at the centre of the extradition process claims it is a mistake and is challenging them to prove his identity. When I interviewed him at the BBC’s Pacific Quay in Glasgow, he was in a wheelchair, his voice competing against the hiss of an oxygen mask. He says he is not Nicholas Rossi – the man the Americans want to extradite on a rape charge in Utah. In fact, he claims he has never even been to America.(BBC)…[+]