  The first image of the black hole (BH) M87* obtained by the Event Horizon
Telescope (EHT) has the shape of a crescent extending from the E to WSW
position angles, with a tentative 'ESE hotspot'. Assuming that the BH spin
vector is aligned with both the inner accretion axis and the projected
direction of the kpc-scale relativistic jet, the position of the ESE hotspot is
inconsistent with the axisymmetric accretion flow. Recent polarimetric EHT
images of M87* show that the ESE hotspot is essentially unpolarized, which
strongly supports its distinct origin. If the hotspot emission is due to the
synchrotron radiation, its depolarization requires either isotropically tangled
magnetic fields or an additional Faraday dispersion measure. The 6-day EHT
observing campaign in April 2017 allowed in principle to detect orbital motions
advancing by up to ~60 deg. The apparent rotation rate of the major axis of the
EHT crescent image is consistent with the rotation rate of the
Faraday-corrected polarization angle measured by the ALMA. However, the
counterclockwise (CCW) sense of these rotations is opposite to the clockwise
(CW) rotation of the plasma flows implied by the N-S brightness asymmetry,
which might indicate that accretion in M87 is retrograde.
