the hearing has been ongoing in the mariana islands. thejudge says julian assange the mariana islands. thejudge sastulian assange will walk away a free man that s the information coming in from the remote us territory. the wikileaks founder has been fighting extradition to the us on espionage charges for over a decade now. let s take a look at the key dates that have brought us to this point. the wikileaks cofounder has been fighting extradition to the us on espionage charges for over a decade. let s look at the key dates that have brought us here. in 2010, julian assange was part of a flood of classified military files and diplomatic cables spilled by wikileaks that year. months later, an international arrest warrant was issued. sweden wanted to question him about sexual assault allegations made by two women. to avoid extradition, he sought refuge in ecuador s london embassy. he d spend seven years there. but in 2019 in a dramatic moment he was dragged out of the embas
mariana islands and gave us this update earlier. they said he will be landing in australia wants to hearing wraps up. his plan is committed to depart inside three hours time, that he would land around 6:1i1pm australian eastern time. that is later today. our correspondent shaimaa khalil was at the northern mariana islands and gave us this update earlier. julian assange is in the us district court house behind me where the final steps of the legal proceedings for his guilty plea are under way, his pleading guilty for one felony thatis pleading guilty for one felony that is illegally obtaining and disclosing classified national security material, no for him because as for the deal that was agreed the usjustice department, he will get credit for time served in the uk. he is here because crucially, this is here because crucially, this is continental usa, julian assange refused to go to mainland us because he deeply distrust the us government. in the past, he accused him of plotti
the wikileaks cofounder has been fighting extradition to the us on espionage charges for over a decade. let s look at the key dates that have brought us here. in 2010, julian assange was part of a flood of classified military files and diplomatic cables spilled by wikileaks that year. months later, an international arrest warrant was issued. sweden wanted to question him about sexual assault allegations made by two women. to avoid extradition, he sought refuge in ecuador s london embassy. he d spend seven years there. but in 2019 in a dramatic moment he was dragged out of the embassy after the ecuadorian government withdrew his political asylum. he was thenjailed for skipping bail. and soon, the americans were asking for his extradition. backed by his supporters, he fought against it in the courts and lost. his extradition was approved in 2022. butjulian assange kept appealing until finally this new plea deal with the us allowed him to fly out of the uk. more on our websi
abroad. good evening. a fifth conservative figure is now being investigated by the gambling commission over alleged bets on the timing of the general election. the conservative party has withdrawn its support for two candidates, craig williams and laura saunders. now russell george, a conservative member of the welsh parliament, is being looked into as well. and labour has suspended one of its candidates, kevin craig, who admitted he had bet against himself losing in a suffolk constituency. and now a cabinet minister has said he was joking when he told the bbc he d won more than £2,000 on the timing of the election. more on that in a moment, but here s our political editor chris mason. this is craig williams, a friend and parliamentary aide to the prime minister, he turned down my request for an interview but said this on social media this afternoon. i remain on the ballot paper on the 4th ofjuly and i hope to secure your support after years of delivering. i committed an err