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
documents. that was part of a deal to end his iii year legal battle over the leaking of vast amounts of secret us military information on the internet. the 52 year old is now on his way home to australia following the hearing. and from where a southeast asia correspondent jonathan had sent this report. the last stage of a very long journey. julian assange walked into the courtroom on this remote pacific island to hear whether the agreement he d struck with us prosecutors would stick. after two hours of very careful consideration by the judge, it did. he pleaded guilty, and she agreed to a sentence equal to the time he d already served in britain. but his lawyers still insist his prosecution for breaking an espionage law was unjust. we firmly believed that mr assange never should have been charged under the espionage act, and engaged in exercise thatjournalists engage in every day. and we re thankful that they do. it is appropriate, though, for this fight to end and it is appr
glastonbury looks dry this year. here in kew gardens, lots of sunshine. i will have the weather for you later. it s wednesday the 26th june. with just over a week to go until polling day, the prime minister rishi sunak and labour s sir keir starmer are preparing to go head to head in their final leaders debate of the election later. it comes as members of both main parties continue to face difficult questions about betting allegations. our political correspondent iain watson reports. the second and final head to head clash between rishi sunak and the man who wants hisjob keir starmer takes place tonight on the bbc. and it s worth a bet that one of the topics might just involve gambling. the conservative campaign has been buffeted by allegations that two candidates, two party officials, and now a member of the welsh senedd had bet on a date of the general election, and were facing inquiries from the gambling watchdog. it s an independent process with the gambling commissio
after spending the majority of the last decade behind bars or inside the ecuadorian embassy in london. speaking outside the court, julian assange s lawyer, barry pollock, said the prosecution of the wikileaks founder was unprecedented . in the hundred years of the espionage act, it has never been used by the united states to pursue a publisher, a journalist like mr assange. mr assange revealed truthful, important and newsworthy information including revealing the united states had committed war crimes and he has suffered tremendously in his fight for free speech, for freedom tremendously in his fight for free speech, forfreedom of tremendously in his fight for free speech, for freedom of the press, and to make sure the american public and the world community gets truthful and important newsworthy information. we firmly believe that mr assange never should have been charged under the espionage act and engaged in exercise that journalists engage in every day and we are thankfu
julian responsible pleaded guilty to one charge under the sp on act julian assange. we will get reaction from the us. good evening. first the conservatives, now labour both main parties embroiled in the betting scandal. today, the tories withdrew support from two of their candidates, craig williams and laura saunders, who had bet on the timing of the election. both are on the ballot as conservatives, but will sit as independents if they are elected. and then tonight, labour suspending one of their candidates kevin craig, who reportedly had bet against himself. the party has returned £100,000 in donations the businessman had given them. there is a sense that we don t yet know the full extent of the investigation. the gambling commission says five more metropolitan police officers are alleged to have placed bets. 0ur political editor chris mason has more. this is craig williams, a friend and parliamentary aide to the prime minister. he turned down my request for an interv