First Thing: Julian Assange walks free

After pleading guilty to violating US espionage law in a deal ending an extraordinary 14-year legal saga, the WikiLeaks founder has arrived home in Australia. Plus: Suing big oil for heatwave deaths

Good morning.

Julian Assange has walked free from a court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific, after a plea deal that brings to a close an extraordinary 14-year legal saga that included five years in a high-security prison and seven years at an Ecuadorian embassy.

The WikiLeaks founder pleaded guilty to one criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified defence documents and was sentenced to time served for the 1,901 days he spent in Belmarsh prison in London.

What did Assange say in court when he pleaded guilty? Assange took a long pause before answering the judge that he was indeed pleading guilty to the charge. He has long maintained that he had believed that the US first amendment, which protects free speech, shielded his activities.

How has the US responded? Assange faced 18 criminal charges and up to 175 years in prison. But immediately after the three-hour hearing, the US government withdrew its extradition request from the UK, dropped all remaining charges pending in the US, and banned Assange from returning to the US without permission.

What’s next for Assange? Assange’s plane has touched down in Canberra, Australia, where he will be reunited with his family.

Closed-door trial begins of US journalist Evan Gershkovich begins in Russia

A Russian court has begun a closed-door trial of the Wall Street journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of the spying charges the US government has decried as politically motivated. Gershkovich, who faces 20 years in prison, is the first American journalist to be arrested in Russia on espionage charges since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“To even call it a trial, however, is unfair to Evan and a continuation of this travesty of justice that already has gone on for far too long,” wrote Emma Tucker, the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal. “This bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man who would then face up to 20 years in prison for simply doing his job.”

Biden pardons thousands of US veterans convicted under law banning gay sex

Joe Biden has pardoned thousands of US veterans convicted over six decades under a military law that banned gay sex.

“Today, I am righting an historic wrong by using my clemency authority to pardon many former service members who were convicted simply for being themselves,” Biden said in a statement.

In other news …

Lauren Boebert, a hard-right Colorado Republican who narrowly avoided defeat in 2022, won out over a crowded field of other Republican primary candidates after moving districts.

Meanwhile in New York, Jamaal Bowman, the progressive Democratic congressman whose criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza made him a target for pro-Israel lobbying groups, lost his primary race in what has been deemed the most expensive House primary ever.

Prosecutors rejected Donald Trump’s bid to have his classified documents case tossed because the order of documents in the boxes was slightly changed.

The Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass is considering banning masks at protests, despite a rise in Covid cases.

Ahead of the elections in France, the EU is bracing for the possibility of a victory for the country’s far-right party.

Stat of the day: Exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” can impact breastfeeding

A new study tracking the lactation durations for over 800 new moms in New Hampshire found that those with higher exposure to PFAS – a class of about 16,000 compounds that do not naturally break down and have been found to accumulate in humans – had a 28% higher risk of stopping exclusive breastfeeding before six months. Some stopped breastfeeding altogether.

Don’t miss this: The first K-pop act to appear on Glastonbury’s main stage

This year at Glastonbury, the South Korean boyband Seventeen is set to make history as the first K-pop act to appear on the festival’s main stage. The 13-member band’ssales last year were surpassed only by Taylor Swift.

“While many groups have been struggling to maintain the same energy and motivation over time, Seventeen has managed to stay at the top of their game for a long period. Musically, they are always very solid, capable of adapting to various genres.” said Dr Kim Youngdae, a South Korean music critic and ethnomusicologist.

Climate check: Homicide charges following a heatwave in Arizona?

A memo published by the consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen today has concluded that state prosecutors in Arizona could reasonably press homicide charges against big oil for deaths caused by a July 2023 heatwave. In recent years, 40 cities and states have sued major oil companies for their role in the climate crisis and in sowing climate doubt.

“As Americans reeled from another lethal heatwave last week, it’s important to remember that these climate disasters didn’t come out of nowhere,” said Aaron Regunberg, senior policy counsel with Public Citizen’s climate program and co-author of the report. “They were knowingly caused by fossil fuel companies that chose to inflict this suffering to maintain their profits.”

Last Thing: Escapism in the mundane

Lawn Mowing Simulator is the latest in a long line of popular “anti-escapist” simulation games of real-life activities. Games like Farming Simulator, PowerWash Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator are all hugely successful titles that challenge the basic understanding that interactive games need to be exciting, and instead enable the user to take part in simulations of mundane tasks.

“It’s weird that this genre not only exists, but is so popular,” said Krist Duro, editor-in-chief of Duuro Plays, a video game reviews website based in Albania. “But you need to be wired in a particular way. I like repetitive tasks because they allow me to enter into a zen-like state.”

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