International
JUST IN: Wikileaks founder freed after five years in prison
After a years-long legal saga, Wikileaks says that founder, Julian Assange has left the UK after reaching a deal with US authorities that will see him plead guilty to criminal charges and go free.
Mr Assange, 52, was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.
For years, the US has argued that the Wikileaks files – which disclosed information about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – endangered lives.
He spent the last five years in a British prison, from where he was fighting extradition to the US.
Mr Assange also faced separate charges of rape and sexual assault in Sweden, which he denied.
He spent seven years hiding in Ecuador’s London embassy, claiming the Swedish case would lead him to be sent to the US.
Swedish authorities dropped the case in 2019 and said that too much time had passed since the original complaint, but UK authorities later took him into custody. He was tried for not surrendering to the courts to be extradited to Sweden.
According to CBS, the BBC’s US partner, Mr Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent incarcerated in the UK.
Assange will return to Australia, according to a letter from the justice department.
On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Wikileaks said that Mr Assange left Belmarsh prison on Monday after 1,901 days in a small cell.
He was then “released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK” to return to Australia, the statement added.
Video shared online by Wikileaks appear to show Mr Assange, dressed in jeans and a blue shirt, being driven to Stansted before boarding an aircraft.
His wife, Stella Assange, tweeted thanks to his supporters “who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true”.
She later told the BBC’s Today programme that the days running up to the US deal had been “touch-and-go” and “non-stop”, and that she was feeling “a whirlwind of emotions”.
The deal – which will see him plead guilty to one charge of the Espionage Act – is expected to be finalised in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, 26 June.
The remote Pacific islands, a US commonwealth, are much closer to Australia than US federal courts in Hawaii or the continental US.
Stella said she was very limited in what she could say about the deal ahead of her husband’s court appearance. “I don’t want to jeopardise anything”, she said.
“The important thing here is that the deal involved time served – that if he signed it, he would be able to walk free. He will be a free man once it has been signed off by a judge.”
She said the priority for her husband is to “get healthy again”, be in touch with nature, and for the family to have “time and privacy”.
Stella also confirmed that the couple’s two children are in Australia with her, but she has not yet told them that he is to be freed, only that they were going to visit family and that there was “a big surprise” waiting for them.
“We’ve been very careful because obviously no one can stop a five and a seven-year-old from, you know, shouting it from the rooftops at any given moment,” she said.
Agence France Press quoted a spokesperson for Australia’s government as saying that the case had “dragged on for too long”.
His attorney, Richard Miller, declined to comment when contacted by CBS. The BBC has also contacted his US-based lawyer.
Mr Assangee and his lawyers had long claimed that the case against him was politically motivated.
In April, US President Joe Biden said that he was considering a request from Australia to drop the presecution against Assange.
In a victory the following month, the UK High Court ruled that Mr Assange could bring a new appeal against extradition to the US, allowing him to challenge US assurances over how his prospective trial would be conducted and whether his right to free speech would be infringed.
After the ruling, Stella told reporters and supporters that the Biden administration “should distance itself from this shameful prosecution”.
US prosecutors had originally wanted to try the Wikileaks founder on 18 counts – mostly under the Espionage Act – over the release of confidential US military records and diplomatic messages related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Wikileaks, which Mr Assange founded in 2006, claims to have published over 10 million documents in what the US government later described as “one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States”.
In 2010, the website published a video from a US military helicopter which showed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians, including two Reuters news reporters, being killed in Baghdad.
One of Mr Assange’s most well-known collaborators, US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison before then-president Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017.
Even amid long-running legal battles, Mr Assange has rarely been seen in public and for years has reportedly suffered from poor health, including a small stroke in prison in 2021.
Courtesy: BBC
Nigeria has taken delivery from the Netherlands of 119 pieces of priceless “Benin Bronze” artefacts looted more than 120 years ago, the country’s museum commission and the Dutch embassy said June 18.
It is the latest return of artefacts to Africa, as pressure mounts on Western governments and institutions to hand back the spoils of colonial oppression.
“On this historic occasion it gives us great joy to finally welcome the return of 119 Benin Bronzes from the Netherlands,” said Mr Olugbile Holloway, director-general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
“This represents the largest physical return to Nigeria and the people of Benin since the looting of the Benin Royal Palace by the British in 1897,” he said in a statement jointly issued with the Dutch embassy in Nigeria.
“The symbolism of this occasion cannot be overemphasised and what it means for the pride and dignity of not just the Benin people, but the whole of Nigeria,” added Mr Holloway.
The story of the Benin Bronzes is one of violence and tragedy. It began when nine British officers were killed on a trade mission to the then-independent kingdom of Benin, in the south of present-day Nigeria.
The British reaction was fierce. London deployed a military expedition to avenge its officers.
The troops killed several thousand locals and torched Benin’s capital city. They looted the royal palace, stealing hundreds of artworks, including the Benin Bronzes.
Most of the ornate bronzes were then sold to finance the expedition, auctioned off or sold to museums across Europe and the United States.
This was in 1897, and 128 years later, Nigeria is still negotiating the return of the bronzes around the world – with mixed results.
Dutch Ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation Dewi van de Weerd hailed Nigeria for persistently campaigning for the return of the cultural artefacts.
“We hope that this restitution is not the final chapter, but the foundation for further cooperation between Dutch and Nigerian museums,” said Ms van de Weerd in the joint statement.
Of the 119 objects, 113 were part of the Dutch State Collection, while the Rotterdam municipality returned the other six. The pieces will be officially handed over on June 21.
The Israeli missiles has reportedly struck Iran’s state television headquarters on Monday while a live news broadcast was underway.
The development sent shockwaves through the studio and caused the immediate stoppage of the broadcast.
A viral video circulating on social media and reposted by Daily Iran Military shows the moment chaos erupted during a live transmission.
A visibly shaken female anchor was delivering the news when a thunderous explosion rattled the studio.Thick smoke and falling debris forced her to flee her desk mid-broadcast.
It was earlier reported that at least eight people were killed on Saturday night when Iranian aerial strikes on Israel.
The deceased included four children, with more than 200 others injured, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
The barrage came in retaliation for Israel’s surprise strike early Friday on Iran’s nuclear programme.
According to Israeli officials, that operation killed several nuclear scientists and high-ranking military leaders.
Meanwhile, a fresh report by SBM Intelligence has warned that the conflict between Israel and Iran could lead to an increase in fuel prices in Nigeria.
The report attributed this to the fact that Nigeria still relies heavily on importing fuel to meet local demand.
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International
BREAKING: All Passengers On Board Confirmed Dead As Another Aircraft Crashes In India [PHOTOS]
The aircraft went down at approximately 5:30 AM in the rugged Himalayan region, known for its treacherous weather and difficult flying conditions.
All Passengers on Board confirmed Dead as another aircraft crashes in India, Just three days after the fatal Air India crash in Ahmedabad, India has been hit by another aviation tragedy.
A Bell 407 helicopter crashed early Sunday morning in Gaurikund, a remote area of Uttarakhand, killing all seven people on board, including the pilot.
The aircraft went down at approximately 5:30 AM in the rugged Himalayan region, known for its treacherous weather and difficult flying conditions.
According to preliminary reports from Indian media, the helicopter was carrying five adult passengers, one infant, and the pilot at the time of the crash.
Emergency response teams were quickly dispatched to the crash site to conduct recovery operations. As of now, authorities have not released the names of the victims, pending notification of their families.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Officials have not yet commented on whether mechanical failure, weather conditions, or other factors may have played a role.
Uttarakhand has a history of aviation accidents, with mountainous terrain and unpredictable climate frequently cited as challenges for pilots operating in the region.
Sunday’s incident adds to a week of national mourning and concern over air safety in India, following the Ahmedabad air disaster earlier this week.
Aviation authorities are expected to review safety protocols and initiate a thorough investigation into both incidents.
More details are expected to emerge as recovery efforts and investigations continue.
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