guilty in a deal that ends a ill year legal battle. he s now back in australia. cheering and applause he was pursued by us prosecutors for leaking vast amounts of classified government and military documents, including those related to the afghanistan and iraq wars. in a press conference after his release, his lawyer called the prosecution the criminalisation of journalism . so, did he pioneer a new form ofjournalism by setting up wikileaks, and has his case, by pleading guilty, set a dangerous precedent for reporters? i started by talking to carrie decell, who is a senior staff attorney at the knight first amendment institute at columbia university. i think this plea deal is significant in two respects. i mean, in the first instance, it must be an enormous relief, of course, forjulian assange and his family and his supporters around the world, as well as for press freedom advocates here in the united states who have been quite concerned about a judicial ruling that would e
and his family and his supporters around the world, as well as for press freedom advocates here in the united states who have been quite concerned about a judicial ruling that would endorse the us government s interpretation of the espionage act and its consistency with the first amendment. first amendment being the right to free speech, just to remind everybody. yes, that s exactly right. freedom of speech, freedom of the press and a handful of other freedoms as well. but those are the ones at issue here. on the other hand, this plea deal really does cast a long shadow over press freedom in the united states. it s not a formal precedent in the sense that a judicial ruling would have been, but it does, i think, set a practical precedent for the possibility of future prosecutions ofjournalists who engage in very similar activities to the activities thatjulian assange has pleaded guilty to. and by that, i m referring to the solicitation of information from sources, the actual r
at the knight first amendment institute at columbia university. i think this plea deal is significant in two respects. i mean, in the first instance, it must be an enormous relief, of course, forjulian assange and his family and his supporters around the world, as well as for press freedom advocates here in the united states who have been quite concerned about a judicial ruling that would endorse the us government s interpretation of the espionage act and its consistency with the first amendment. first amendment being the right to free speech, just to remind everybody. yes, that s exactly right. freedom of speech, freedom of the press and a handful of other freedoms as well. but those are the ones at issue here. on the other hand, this plea deal really does cast a long shadow over press freedom in the united states. it s not a formal precedent in the sense that a judicial ruling would have been, but it does, i think, set a practical precedent for the possibility of future pro
Heres to you norfolk. A white wine from the broads, beats global competition, to be crowned one of the worlds best. And the legend of king arthur gets the guy richie big screen treatment. Our own knight at the round table mark kermode will be giving it his verdict in the film review at 5 45pm. Its five oclock. Our main story Julian Assange the founder of wikileaks and urged on the belt that prosecutors in sweden have dropped their investigation into Rape Allegations against him. He said in a tweet i do not forgive or forget. He has always denied the charges. The development emerged this morning as the swedish prosecutor announced they would discontinue the investigation into an alleged sex offence committed in 2010. Julian assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy since august 2012. The met police say they would still be obliged arrest him on a lesser charge if he tried to leave. He has now gone back inside the embassy and has not said what he will do next. Victory is howJuli
For theresa mays Minority Government, mps will vote on the queens speech later. In half an hours time the culture and Media Secretary will announce whether 21st Century Fox will be allowed to takeover sky. The deal would give Rupert Murdoch total control of the broadcaster. And Dame Katherine grainger, the incoming chair of uk sport, says she has huge concerns about Athlete Welfare. I think there is huge concerns, without a doubt, no one is pretending there isnt. Good morning. Its thursday 29th july. Im annita mcveigh. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. A retired Court Of Appealjudge, sir Martin Moore Bick, will be appointed to lead the Public Inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster. The news comes as police say at least 80 people are believed to have died in the fire, but they dont expect to be able to confirm the final number for at least another six months. This morning the Prime Minister theresa may released a statement on the appointment of sir Martin Moore Bick to lead the inquiry. T