London — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrived in his home country of Australia a free man Wednesday after agreeing to a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors over espionage charges, ending a 14-year legal odyssey. Supporters of the 52-year-old journalist and political activist welcomed his release, but said the prosecution sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Assange received an emotional welcome as he arrived at Canberra Airport by private jet Wednesday morning. He was embraced by his wife Stella, and his father, John Shipton, before punching the air as he was cheered by a group of supporters gathered nearby. “Julian wanted …
Warsaw, Poland — Ukrainian officials are embracing what will be a detailed and tortuous process of negotiations following the official opening of EU accession talks this week, saying they have already made major strides toward qualifying for a status that would cement their place in Western Europe. While the process that began Tuesday at a ministerial-level meeting in Luxembourg can take years or even decades, the Kyiv government has declared its commitment to work diligently to meet the bloc’s exacting standards in areas ranging from agricultural policy to human rights. This process “is not something to which Ukraine has come unprepared,” …
Tbilisi, Georgia — Campaigners in Georgia are seeking to highlight atrocities committed by invading Russian troops and allied militias during the early 1990s, which they say should have been a warning of the dangers posed by Russia long before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Their campaign, “Before Bucha Was Abkhazia,” is touring U.S. and European cities and includes documentary screenings, photography exhibitions and presentations. Russian atrocities As the Soviet Union was collapsing, Georgia declared independence in 1991. There were tensions between Georgians and ethnic minority groups in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions bordering Russia. Many Georgians say Moscow …
moscow — Russia said on Tuesday it was banning access inside Russia to the broadcasts of 81 different media outlets from the European Union — including Agence France-Presse and Politico — in retaliation for a similar EU ban on several Russian media outlets. The European Union said in May it was suspending the distribution of what it described as four “Kremlin-linked propaganda networks,” stripping them of their broadcasting rights in the bloc. It said at the time that the ban applied to Voice of Europe, to the RIA news agency, and to the Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspapers. The Russian Foreign …
SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to a single felony charge for publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that secures his freedom and concludes a drawn-out legal saga that raised divisive questions about press freedom and national security. The plea was entered Wednesday morning in federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific. He arrived at court shortly before the hearing was to begin and did not take questions. Though the deal with prosecutors required him to admit guilt to a …
london — Britain’s King Charles welcomed Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and his wife to London at a Buckingham Palace banquet on Tuesday, celebrating economic, diplomatic and cultural ties on the first day of a three-day state visit. “Our governments are working together to provide a stable world for future generations,” said Charles, flanked by Queen Camilla on one side and Naruhito on the other. “Supporting all these shared endeavors are the enduring ties between our people that transcend geography — and that does not just mean how much we enjoy tea and talking about the weather.” The emperor’s trip, postponed …
Washington — The closed-door trial of American journalist Evan Gershkovich is set to begin on Wednesday in Russia, nearly 15 months after he was jailed on espionage charges that are widely viewed as baseless and politically motivated. A correspondent with The Wall Street Journal, Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 on spying charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny. The State Department has also declared Gershkovich wrongfully detained. Press freedom experts have said that the trial against Gershkovich will almost certainly be a politically motivated sham. The trial is taking place in Yekaterinburg, where Gershkovich was first …
Campaigners in Georgia are seeking to highlight past atrocities committed by invading Russian troops and allied militias during the early 1990s, which they say should have acted as a warning of the dangers posed by Russia, long before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Henry Ridgwell reports from Tbilisi. …
UNITED NATIONS — The United States and its key European allies clashed with Iran and Russia over Tehran’s expanding nuclear program, with the U.S. vowing “to use all means necessary to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran” in a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday. The U.S., France, Britain and Germany accused Iran of escalating its nuclear activities far beyond limits it agreed to in a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, and of failing to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran and Russia accused the U.S. and its allies of continuing to apply …
Pentagon — The U.S. is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine valued at up to $150 million as soon as Tuesday, two U.S. officials tell VOA. The package is being provided to Kyiv under the presidential drawdown authority (PDA), which pulls weapons, ammunition and equipment from U.S. military stockpiles to fulfill Ukraine’s short-term needs. One of the officials — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the package ahead of its planned announcement — said the latest round of aid would include munitions for HIMARS and other critical munitions. It does not include cluster munitions, …