Europe

11 Apr 2023; MEMO: Dozens of parliamentarians from six parties as well as independent MPs and Lords in the UK have called on the US Attorney-General to drop extradition proceedings against WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, Anadolu News Agency reports.

On the fourth anniversary of Julian Assange's imprisonment, 23 British MPs and 14 Lords, wrote a letter on Tuesday, demanding Merrick Garland to close Assange's extradition process.

CHISINAU, April 11. /TASS/: The majority of Moldovan citizens oppose the idea of the country abandoning neutrality and joining NATO, President Maia Sandu said on Tuesday.

"The people should want it because it means changes to the constitution and should be done through a referendum. However, if we look at opinion polls today, we will see that there is no serious support for the idea of abandoning neutrality," she said in an interview with PRO TV.

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: A bill for establishing a common register of Russians subject to military service, which would introduce digital draft notices, has nothing to do with mobilization efforts but is intended to modernize military recordkeeping, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

When asked if the Kremlin had any sense that such changes could spark panic and a new wave of emigration, he said: "Absolutely not."

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: There is no second mobilization wave in Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

"There is no second wave," the spokesman told reporters Tuesday.

The journalists noted the statements Peskov made in March that the Kremlin does not discuss an option to carry out a second mobilization wave. When asked if there are any changes in this regard, the spokesman underscored: "No, there have been none, and there are still none."

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/: The southern part of the Kuril Islands are an inseparable part of Russia, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, commenting on a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement alleging that these territories are under Russian occupation.

"We see them [such statements] quite regularly. We reject such ideas and such wording. The Kuril Islands are an inseparable part of Russia," he said.

MOSCOW, April 11 (NNN-XINHUA) — Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that it seized 699 kg of cocaine from Latin America, part of which was planned to be sold to the European Union (EU).

Two Colombian nationals and an EU citizen carried the wholesale batch of drug worth more than 2.5 billion rubles (31 million U.S. dollars) to Russia and stored it in a Moscow warehouse, the FSB said in a statement.

The suspects planned to smuggle part of the cocaine to an EU country and sell the remaining part in Russia, the agency said.

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - The Confederation of British Industry, a leading business group, said it had fired Tony Danker as director-general after an investigation into complaints of workplace misconduct, and replaced him with its former chief economist, Rain Newton-Smith.

"The allegations that have been made over recent weeks about the CBI have been devastating," it said in a statement on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, April 11 (Reuters) - Russia is poised to introduce electronic military draft papers for the first time in its history in an effort to make it harder for men to avoid being drafted as it seeks to perfect a system it has used to bolster its military forces in Ukraine.

The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, is due to consider the move - which requires a change in the law - in a session on Tuesday, though government officials say there are currently no plans to compel more men to fight in Ukraine.

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - Up to one million smokers will be encouraged to swap cigarettes for "vapes", with pregnant women offered financial incentives to make the change in what will be a world first, the British government said on Tuesday.

Under the scheme, almost one in five smokers will be given a vape - an e-cigarette - starter kit along with support to help quit smoking, the Department of Health (DoH) said.

BERN, April 11 (Reuters) - Since Switzerland's authorities last month pulled out all the stops to rush through a rescue of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), a storm has been brewing in the normally tranquil country.

Many Swiss parliamentarians have criticised the shotgun marriage, which saw Credit Suisse taken over by rival UBS (UBSG.S) for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.3 billion) and propped up with over 250 billion francs in guarantees and support.