Founder of WikiLeaks reaches home in Australia, as a free but convicted felon. In deal with US, he agreed to plead guilty to one count of violating the Espionage Act.
Assange has not spoken to the media in Canberra yet. Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had spoken to him by phone after his plane landed.
During a three-hour hearing, Assange pled guilty to conspiring to disclose classified US defence documents but said he believed the Constitution's First Amendment protected his actions.
Assange was indicted during Trump's administration for WikiLeaks' release of secret US documents leaked by Chelsea Manning, a former US military intelligence analyst.
US officials are looking to extradite Assange from British prison to the US, where he is wanted on criminal charges over WikiLeaks’ release of confidential US military records.
While Assange's legal team prepares for a bail hearing, prosecutors say they will fight his release, dragging the process through the UK courts for months or years.
A London judge ruled that extradition would be oppressive because of Assange's health, saying he was a depressed man genuinely fearful about his future.
Other key promises in the budget include AI- and other technology-enabled services for farmers and continuation of the Ladki Bahin Yojana, which will have the same outlay.
IRIS Lavan was in the region for the International Fleet Review held last month and ‘sought urgent docking in Kochi citing technical issues,’ it is learnt.
The Pakistani political leadership is weak and devoid of any intellect. Its diplomacy is entirely India-China-US focused and suffers from a presumptive view of Afghanistan as a vassal.
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