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.
When conflict with Iran ends, says the report, area’s key players are likely to reexamine longstanding assumptions & alliances as they determine how best to advance their interests.
Rating democracies is a tricky business. I am only using the simple metric of who in the Indian subcontinent has had the most peaceful, stable, normal political transitions and continuity.
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