Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Freed From Prison
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Newsbites
Presidential Debate: CNN hosted a closed-room debate between President Biden and Donald Trump on Thursday evening. The debate was held in Atlanta, GA, and had no crowd. CNN anchors Dana Bash and Jake Tapper moderated. Watch the full event here. RFK Jr., a third party candidate who was not allowed in the general debate, held his own event in which he answered the same questions from the debate. (livestream)
Home in Minnesota tumbles into river: The Midwest has experienced severe flooding this week. The small town of Spencer, Iowa, was cut off from the rest of the state while completely flooded, leading to the death of one man and the rescue mission of nearly 400 people. In Sioux Falls, SD, the Big Sioux River grew massive, sinking all normal walking and viewing platforms. (video) In Mankato, MN, an entire house fell into the Blue Earth River due to the nearby dam experiencing a partial failure due to the high level of floodwater.
Hajj pilgrimage: More than 1,300 people died during the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca (Saudi Arabia) this year, suspected largely due to extreme heat conditions. Daily temperatures reached about 120°F (49°C). Although it is not uncommon for people to die during the pilgrimage - in the past there have been stampedes and disease outbreaks - this year’s toll was particularly high. It’s estimated more than 1.8M Muslims undertook the five-day pilgrimage (video). The vast majority of deaths, according to the Saudi health ministry, were unauthorized pilgrims, meaning they lacked registration or visas. Authorized pilgrims are given lodging and transportation around Mecca, which can be prohibitively expensive for some.
L.A. Pro-Palestine riots: On Sunday, riots broke out in front of the Adas Torah Synagogue in Los Angeles. People were gathered for an Israel Real Estate Investment event in which attendees learn about the practical details of buying a home in Israel. The event was posted on Instagram by the Palestinian youth movement saying, “OUR LAND IS NOT FOR SALE” and “FROM THE BELLY OF THE BEAST NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE.” Within minutes of the start of the event, nearly 100 protestors became violent, beating a Jewish man and pushing against a wall of police in riot gear. (videos of the scenes)
Exploding batteries spark factory fire: 23 people died at a factory in South Korea when several lithium batteries exploded in a warehouse. Videos from inside the factory show employees trying to stop the smoke before trying to leave the building. The victims died after a few breaths of the toxic air. More than 100 people were working inside the building at the time of the explosion. Lithium battery fires are notably more dangerous to control as the batteries have immense energy stored in a compact space that can create thermal runaway. In addition, batteries release toxic fumes and gasses, such as hydrogen fluoride.
Amazon v. Temu: Amazon is seriously considering launching a platform similar to Temu which would send popular products from China directly to customers in the U.S. Today, Chinese merchants who sell through Amazon are required to route their goods to U.S.-based warehouses before going to the consumer. Temu and fast-fashion company Shein offer extremely low prices for random products, many of which don’t have brands attached to them. One of the main reasons for the low prices is that they ship directly from China to the consumer and they don’t worry about the speed of shipping. Plus, any goods under $800 in value are not hit with tariffs. Amazon has always prioritized timely shipping but companies like Temu and Shein are beginning to eat up some market share that Amazon previously enjoyed.
Main Stories
Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Freed From Prison
Important context
Wikileaks is a website founded in 2006 that “publishes large datasets of censored or otherwise restricted official materials involving war, spying and corruption.” It was founded by Julian Assange, an Australian man, who is now 52 years old.
Wikileaks has released millions of controversial classified documents since the beginning of the internet age. Some of the most influential leaks were the Guantánamo Files in 2011, the Iraq War Logs in 2010, and Hillary Clinton's emails in 2016.
In 2010, the platform published a video titled “Collateral Murder”, which captured footage of U.S. troops in a helicopter firing and killing 11 people in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2007. (video - warning, graphic content for mature audiences only). Two of those killed were Reuters journalists.
More: 10 of the most controversial incidents Wikileaks published.
In his own words, Assange has described Wikileaks as “a giant library of the world's most persecuted documents. We give asylum to these documents, we analyze them, we promote them and we obtain more.”
Wikileaks has been a controversial organization, much despised by the federal government, who claims the documents are illegally obtained and risk lives when released. Supporters say the information is vital to democracy and should be protected by journalistic standards.
In 2017, the CIA under the leadership of Mike Pompeo, discussed abducting and assassinating Assange, following Wikileaks’ publication of Vault 7, an expose of the CIA’s hacking methods of American citizens’ devices.
What happened this week?
On Wednesday, Julian Assange was freed from prison after pleading guilty to one felony count under the Espionage Act for releasing U.S. military secrets to the public.
Assange had been in prison in London since 2019. Before that, he sought safety in Ecuador’s London Embassy for 7 years to avoid trial and a life behind bars.
The plea agreement was submitted in a courthouse in the city of Saipan in the Mariana Islands, a U.S. Territory in the Pacific. In order to plead guilty to a felony, one must submit the plea in the U.S., i.e., it can’t be done remotely.
In order to avoid landing on U.S. soil, Assange and the U.S. Justice Department reached a compromise by setting the appointment in the Mariana Islands.
Following the agreement, Assange returned to his home country of Australia and embraced his wife, Stella.
Stella Assange, who has a popular YouTube Channel, said,
“He is just savoring freedom for the first time in 14 years…Julian plans to swim in the ocean every day. He plans to sleep in a real bed, he plans to taste real food, and he plans to enjoy his freedom.”
“Julian needs time to recover. To get used to freedoms. Someone told me yesterday who had been through something similar, that freedom comes slowly…and I want Julian to have that space to rediscover freedom, slowly. And quickly.”
Trends: Where Voters Stand on Cultural Issues Before 2024 Election
American voters were asked in a recent PewResearch survey:
“Society is better off if people make marriage and having children a priority.”
59% of Trump supporters said Yes, and 19% of Biden supporters said Yes. That means that on a combined basis (assuming the country is split 50/50 in support of Trump/Biden), just 39% of all voters would say society is better off if people make marriage and having children a priority.
The Pew survey of more than 8,000 registered voters shows that American voters are divided on several issues heading into the 2024 election. Below are some highlights:
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