France publishes a list of sanctions targeting Britain What's the story?

Sanctions could come into effect from 2 November unless sufficient progress is made in the fishing row with post-Brexit Britain.

France on Wednesday released a list of sanctions related to its fishing row with Britain after its exit from the European Union.

Sanctions can come into effect from 2 November unless sufficient progress is made on the case.

France said it was preparing a second set of sanctions that could affect energy supplies to the UK.

And the Ministries of Maritime and European Affairs indicated in a joint statement that France can intensify its border and health inspections of goods coming from Britain in particular.

The two ministries also indicated that France could prevent British fishing boats from entering certain French ports and tighten inspections of trucks heading to and from the United Kingdom.

"France is not ruling out a review of its electricity supply to the UK," the statement said.

Other News

"America's Last Cards" A British court is considering Washington's appeal to extradite the WikiLeaks founder

A British court is hearing an appeal by the US government against a British judge's decision to reject the extradition request for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. This is one of the last US papers to obtain Assange's extradition.

A British court will hear from Wednesday an appeal by the US government against a British judge's decision to reject the extradition request for "WikiLeaks" founder Julian Assange , to stand trial on charges of publishing military secrets.

This is one of the last US papers to obtain Assange's extradition.

In January, British judge Vanessa Paraitser rejected the extradition request due to the suicide risk of the 50-year-old Australian, who faces 175 years in prison in the US in a case his defenders described as political and an infringement of freedom of expression.

But Washington obtained the right to appeal this decision, doubting, in particular, the credibility of an expert who testified in favor of Assange and his fragile mental health.

Psychiatrist Michael Kopelman has admitted that he deceived the judiciary by "hiding" that his client had become a father while he was a refugee at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

This appeal, which will take place over two days, constitutes the last appeals in the hands of Washington, which, in the event of its defeat again, will have no choice but to resort to the British Supreme Court without this being guaranteed.

'A matter of life or death'

Assange was arrested in April 2019 after seven years in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he took refuge after violating the terms of his bail, fearing extradition to the United States or Sweden where he faced a rape case, which he appealed and later dropped.

The Australian, who enjoys the support of a number of organizations that support freedom of the press, faces a sentence of up to 175 years in prison in the United States for publishing, since 2010, more than 700,000 classified documents on US military and diplomatic activities, in Iraq and Afghanistan in particular.

His girlfriend Stella Morris, who visited him in prison, said Saturday, that Julian Assange "is in a very bad situation," and added during a press conference: "Julian will not tolerate an extradition, it is the judge's conclusion."

His French lawyer, Antoine Faye, said the US appeal was not based on "any new element that would reverse the decision of the First Instance Court."

He also added that Julian Assange was "very emotionally and physically affected" during their last meeting two weeks ago in Belmarsh prison, and demanded that the appeals court judges act "consistently" and "provide non-extradition." "This is a matter of life or death," he asserted.

But US law expert Karl Tobias sees chances of success for the US appeal, recalling that the British judiciary considered in August that the US arguments are "at least defensible."

'permanent threat'

On Saturday, hundreds of protesters took to the streets, carrying placards reading "Do not extradite Assange", "Journalism is not a crime" and "Ten years is enough, release Assange now." They gathered in front of the High Court in London alongside his girlfriend, Stella Morris, to demand his release.

One protester, Beau Oldfield, said: "Julian Assange should not be in prison because he got information from whistleblowers, or because he showed the world what was actually happening or exposed the truth about our corrupt politicians."

Several organizations defending human rights and freedom of the press, including Amnesty International, "Human Rights Watch" and "Reporters Without Borders", called in an open letter to the US Attorney General to drop the prosecutions, expressing their "grave concern" .

Assange is undergoing a procedure that was launched under the presidency of Donald Trump, and now that Democratic President Joe Biden has succeeded him, "the attorney general can decide to overturn the decision to charge Assange and request his extradition," Tobias added.

And Rebecca Vincent, director of international campaigns for Reporters Without Borders, considered that Joe Biden missed the opportunity to "dissociate himself from his predecessors", calling, like all supporters of the "WikiLeaks" founder, to drop the lawsuits against Assange.