Julian Assange’s wife has called on Joe Biden to “do the right thing” and “drop the charges” as Thursday marks the fifth anniversary of her husband’s imprisonment.
The US president said on Wednesday he is “considering” a request from Australia, where Assange is from, to drop the prosecution and allow the WikiLeaks founder’s return to his native country.
Mr Biden’s remarks were welcomed as “encouraging” by Mr Assange‘s lawyer, while WikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson said it is “not too late” for the president to stop the extradition.
It comes as Mr Assange’s supporters around the world prepare to mark five years since he was taken to Belmarsh prison in London, having been dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy, where he had been staying.
Events will be held around the world on Thursday as supporters continue to campaign for his release.
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0:32
Biden ‘considering’ dropping Assange prosecution
The 52-year-old faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.
This followed the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
After Britain gave the go-ahead for his extradition last year, Mr Assange’s lawyers in February launched a final attempt in the English courts to challenge that decision.
Image: Julian Assange
Mr Assange’s extradition was put on hold in March after London’s High Court said the US must provide assurances he would not face the death penalty.
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A further hearing in the case is due to be held in May.
What does Australia argue?
Australia argues there is a disconnect between the US treatment of Assange and US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
The US accuses Mr Assange of encouraging and helping Ms Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files which were then published by WikiLeaks, allegedly putting lives at risk.
Ms Manning was sentenced to 35 years but her sentence was commuted by former US President Barack Obama to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017.
Mr Assange’s supporters say he is a journalist protected by the First Amendment who exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan that was in the public interest.
The brother of a woman killed alongside her family in a helicopter crash in the Hudson River has said they died “without suffering”, and thrown flowers into the water in their memory.
The helicopter’s pilot, Sean Johnson, was also killed.
Image: New York Mayor Eric Adams accompanied Joan Camprubi to speak to reporters next to the Hudson River. Pic: AP
Image: New York Police scuba teams have been searching for debris from the crash. Pic: AP
Mr Camprubi said the family, from Barcelona, Spain, “left together” and “without suffering” following the sightseeing flight over the city. “As a family, we want to [remember] and honour their happiness and their smile forever,” he added.
One of their children, Mercedes, was due to celebrate her ninth birthday on Friday, the day after the crash. The other children were Victor, who was four, and 10-year-old Agustin.
Mr Camprubi told reporters on Saturday: “We will never forget you. And we will keep your smile alive every day of our lives. And that, I think, is the greatest legacy that we can give.”
Image: Agustin Escobar and Merce Camprubi Montal. Pic: Facebook
New York Mayor Eric Adams joined Mr Camprubi to throw flowers and lamented that “what should have been a joyful vacation turned into an unimaginable tragedy”.
He also paid tribute to Mr Johnson, a former US Navy Seal, but said “no words can fill the void, the loss” that bereaved relatives are enduring.
Image: Pic: AP
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash.
There were reports of a loud boom when the aircraft, a Bell 206, broke apart, and officials previously said they were looking into reports of a large flock of birds being seen beforehand.
As divers continued to pull pieces of the wreckage from the Hudson on Saturday, NTSB officials said they were checking the flight control system. The helicopter was not equipped with any black box flight recorders.
Its main rotor, main gear box, tail rotor, and a large portion of the tail boom are still missing, the NTSB said.
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Witness saw ‘parts flying off’ helicopter
Witnesses, including Aleesha Alam, described seeing the main rotor blade flying off moments before it dropped out of the sky.
The main fuselage, including the cockpit and cabin, the forward portion of the tail boom, the horizontal stabiliser finlets, and the vertical fin have been recovered.
Iran says “indirect talks” over the country’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme have taken place with US officials, with more to come next week.
The discussions on Saturday took place in Muscat, Oman, with the host nation’s officials mediating between representatives of Iran and the US, who were seated in separate rooms, according to Esmail Baghaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry.
After the talks concluded, Oman and Iranian officials reported that Iran and the US had had agreed to hold more negotiations next week.
Oman’s foreign minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi tweeted after the meeting, thanking Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff for joining the negotiations aimed at “global peace, security and stability”.
“We will continue to work together and put further efforts to assist in arriving at this goal,” he added.
Image: (L-R) Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi meets his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi. Pic: Iranian foreign ministry/AP
Iranian state media claimed the US and Iranian officials “briefly spoke in the presence of the Omani foreign minister” at the end of the talks – a claim Mr Araghchi echoed in a statement on Telegram.
He added the talks took place in a “constructive atmosphere based on mutual respect” and that they would continue next week.
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American officials did not immediately acknowledge the reports from Iran.
Mr Araghchi said before the meeting on Saturday there was a “chance for initial understanding on further negotiations if the other party [US] enters the talks with an equal stance”.
He told Iran’s state TV: “Our intention is to reach a fair and honourable agreement – from an equal footing.
“And if the other side has also entered from the same position, God willing, there will be a chance for an initial agreement that can lead to a path of negotiations.”
Reuters news agency said an Omani source told it the talks were focused on de-escalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges and limited agreements to ease sanctions in exchange for controlling Iran’s nuclear programme.
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0:42
Trump on Monday: ‘We’re in direct talks with Iran’
President Donald Trump has insisted Tehran cannot get nuclear weapons.
He said on Monday that the talks would be direct, but Tehran officials insisted it would be conducted through an intermediary.
Saturday’s meeting marked the first between the countries since Mr Trump’s second term in the White House began.
During his first term, he withdrew the US from a deal between Iran and world powers designed to curb Iran’s nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief.
He also reimposed US sanctions.
Iran has since far surpassed that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment.
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is wholly for civilian energy purposes but Western powers accuse it of having a clandestine agenda.
Mr Witkoff came from talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday, as the US tries to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.