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Assange to face extradition from United Kingdom: Freedom of the Press Foundation responds
WASHINGTON
A UK appeals court has allowed the United States to proceed in its extradition of Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange, overturning an earlier ruling that denied prosecutorial efforts based on the inhumane conditions of the American prison system.
Assange has courted controversy, and previously faced sexual assault charges and allegations of cooperating with intelligence agencies. Neither of those issues are at play in the current legal proceedings, which specifically charge the Wikileaks publisher under the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, largely for actions rightfully recognized as protected news gathering practices.
These charges have been met with near-universal condemnation from the civil liberties, human rights, and journalistic communities; Freedom of the Press Foundation has joined ACLU, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, and a coalition of more than two dozen organizations to repeatedly urge President Biden's Department of Justice to drop its prosecution.
Today's ruling is an alarming setback for press freedom in the United States and around the world, and represents a notable escalation in the use of the Espionage Act in the "War on Whistleblowers" that has expanded through the past several presidential administrations.
The following statement can be attributed to Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation and an expert witness for the defense at the trial level:
These proceedings, and today's ruling, are a black mark on the history of press freedom. That United States prosecutors continued to push for this outcome is a betrayal of the journalistic principles the Biden administration has taken credit for celebrating. As brave whistleblowers have explained for decades, this kind of abuse of the Espionage Act against sources -- and now journalists and publishers -- is an embarrassment to basic ideals of justice and to core First Amendment values.
We now await any possible appeal, or extradition and United States trial.
Freedom of the Press Foundation continues to urge the Department of Justice to terminate its pursuit of this prosecution, and to commit to not using the Espionage Act against journalists and their sources in other prosecutions. We urge Congress, too, to reform the Espionage Act so it can no longer be abused in this manner.
Freedom of the Press Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping support and defend public-interest journalism focused on exposing mismanagement, corruption, and law-breaking in government. We work to preserve and strengthen the rights guaranteed to the press under the First Amendment through crowdfunding, digital security and internet advocacy.
LATEST NEWS
In 'Disservice to the Public', Trump Fires Content Team for Climate.Gov
"Hiding the impacts of climate change won't stop it from happening, it will just make us far less prepared when it does," one fired contractor said.
Jun 11, 2025
In its latest attack on climate science, the Trump administration has fired everyone who produced content for Climate.gov, the public-facing website for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Program Office.
A former contractor who asked to be anonymous told The Guardian that their entire team had been let go from their government contract on May 31, the outlet reported Wednesday.
"It's targeted, I think it's clear," Tom Di Liberto, a former NOAA spokesperson who was fired earlier in the year, told The Guardian. "They only fired a handful of people, and it just so happened to be the entire content team for Climate.gov. I mean, that's a clear signal."
"I would hate to see it turn into a propaganda website for this administration, because that's not at all what it was."
The site's former program manager Rebecca Lindsey, who lost her job in the Trump administration's mass firing of probationary employees, agreed.
"It was a very deliberate, targeted attack," Lindsey told The Guardian, explaining that her former boss had told her that the orders came "from above" to cut the team's funding from a larger NOAA contract slated for renewal in May.
Climate.gov is currently well-respected for providing accurate, accessible information about the causes and consequences of the climate emergency.
"We were an extremely well-trusted source for climate information, misinformation, and disinformation because we actually, legitimately would answer misinformation questions," the anonymous contractor said. "We'd answer reader emails and try to combat disinformation on social media."
Oliver Milman, an environmental correspondent for The Guardian U.S. who did not break the news, described it as "one of world's leading sources of information on climate change."
Now, its ultimate fate is uncertain. The contractor said that a few pre-written pieces were scheduled to be posted on the site during June, but after that, it is unclear whether the site would continue to update or remain visible to the public.
There is also what Lindsey termed a more "sinister possibility": that the administration would use the site to publish false or misleading information dismissing the reality and risks of the climate emergency.
"I would hate to see it turn into a propaganda website for this administration, because that's not at all what it was," the contractor said.
The administration did keep two web developers on staff, which means it is possible it intends to keep the website running with new content.
In either case, however, the firing of the content team builds on a pattern in which President Donald Trump and his administration are making it harder for the public to access accurate scientific information, thereby impeding people from making informed decisions. It follows moves such as the dismissal of all of the scientists working on the National Climate Assessment and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's purging of a panel of vaccine experts.
"To me, climate is more broad than just climate change. It's also climate patterns like El Niño and La Niña," the contractor said. "Halting factual climate information is a disservice to the public. Hiding the impacts of climate change won't stop it from happening, it will just make us far less prepared when it does."
Outside scientists responded to the news with dismay.
"Sigh," wrote Robert Rohde, the chief scientist at Berkeley Earth.
Eliot Jacobson, a retired professor of mathematics and computer science, called the firings "your 'moment of kakistocracy' for today," referring to government by the least qualified.
The move comes amid other attacks on Americans' ability to prepare for and respond to the climate emergency and the many extreme weather events—from heatwaves to more extreme hurricanes—that it fuels.
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) warned on Tuesday that the Trump administration's firings of heat experts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Integrated Heat Health Information System would make it harder to respond to heatwaves—the deadliest type of extreme weather in the U.S.—as summer intersects with global heating to increase risk.
"Instead of investing in keeping people safe as temperatures spike, the Trump administration's staff and budget cuts to NOAA have left local weather service offices serving millions of people in hundreds of U.S. counties without the experienced leadership of meteorologists in charge. And firing federal heat health experts will further jeopardize protections for people," Juan Declet-Barreto, a bilingual senior social scientist for climate vulnerability at UCS, said in a statement.
"The president's proposed budget calls for more massive cuts to agencies like NOAA doing lifesaving work," Declet-Barreto continued. "And its regulatory rollbacks and cuts to climate and clean energy funding are aimed at increasing the use of fossil fuels, which are largely responsible for these rising temperatures. So, while the country suffers in what could be record-breaking temperatures, especially outdoor workers and vulnerable populations, fossil fuel executives will sit back in their air-conditioned offices watching President Trump do their bidding and grow their profits."
Meanwhile, Trump on Tuesday offered a timeline for winding down the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—which he has long threatened to eliminate.
"I'd say after the hurricane season we'll start phasing it out," Trump said, as NBC News reported. In the future, Trump said, more responsibility would fall with the states, any federal disaster relief would be dispersed directly from the president's office, and less money would be offered.
However, a FEMA higher-up toldCNN that the president's proposal was unrealistic.
"This is a complete misunderstanding of the role of the federal government in emergency management and disaster response and recovery, and it's an abdication of that role when a state is overwhelmed," they said. "It is clear from the president's remarks that their plan is to limp through hurricane season and then dismantle the agency."
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'We Refuse to Remain Silent': 1,000 North African Volunteers Make Their Way to Gaza to Break Israeli Siege
"A tsunami of humanity is rising for Gaza."
Jun 11, 2025
As Israeli forces unlawfully boarded the Madleen, a boat carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, and detained the volunteers on the vessel on Monday, approximately 1,000 pro-Palestinian advocates from across Northwest Africa were boarding a convoy of buses and cars in Tunisia—planning to travel for days to the Rafah crossing, where they aim to break Israel's blockade that's starving people across the war-torn enclave.
The Sumud Convoy, whose name means "steadfastness" or "resilience" in Arabic, is carrying aid and being led by the Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine in Tunisia, and has ties to the Global March for Gaza, which includes rights advocates from about 50 countries across the world who were en route to Cairo on Wednesday.
"This is a civil and popular initiative in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza," Wael Naouar, a member of the organizing team, toldThe New Arab. "We refuse to remain silent."
The convoy crossed into Libya on Tuesday and has been resting after a full day of travel as organizers wait for permission to cross the eastern part of the divided country.
In Tripoli in the western region, the volunteers have been welcomed by hundreds of locals, and fuel station owners have reportedly said they will provide free gas to all cars, buses, and trucks that join the convoy.
"This visit brings us joy," architect Alaa Abdel Razzaq toldAgence France-Presse.
Along with the current delay in receiving approval from eastern Libyan authorities to cross the region, the convoy and the Global March for Gaza could face resistance from the Egyptian government as organizers plan to march for three days from El Arish in the Sinai Peninsula to the Rafah crossing.
Egypt classifies the area between El Arish and Rafah as a military zone and has not released a statement on whether it will allow the march.
If the volunteers make it to the Rafah crossing, they will have to contend with the Israel Defense Forces. In addition to abducting international activists including Swedish climate leader Greta Thunberg and Palestinian-French member of European Parliament Rima Hassan this week, Israeli forces killed 10 activists carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on a Turkish flotilla in 2010.
Ghaya Ben Mbarek, an independent journalist from Tunis, toldAl Jazeera that people in the convoy "are feeling courage and anger" as they head toward the Gaza border.
"The message people here want to send to the world is that even if you stop us by sea, or air, then we will come, by the thousands, by land," Ben Mbarek told Al Jazeera. "We will literally cross deserts... to stop people from dying from hunger."
Fadi Quran of the U.S.-based advocacy group Avaaz said the journey of the convoy—which has been growing as more people have joined since leaving Tunisia—is "one of the most beautiful things humanity has to offer in 2025."
"A tsunami of humanity is rising for Gaza," said Quran. "Amplify it."
The Sumud Convoy is supported by the Tunisian General Labor Union, the National Bar Association, the Tunisian League for Human Rights, and the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, while groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement and CodePink are affiliated with the Global March for Gaza.
Advocates from countries including the Netherlands, Canada, and Ireland plan to arrive in Cairo on Thursday, when they hope to begin the three-day march to Rafah.
Canadian Sen. Yuen Pau Woo wrote to the Egyptian government on Tuesday, asking for support for the march.
"I believe that Egypt's support for this humanitarian action would send a powerful message to the international community," said Woo.
Kellie McConnell, a member of Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine, also expressed hope that the international action will force governments around the world, including those that have backed Israel's bombardment and blockade of Gaza, to "pay attention and do everything in their power" to end the attacks that have killed more than 55,000 Palestinians.
"We can turn the tables in this genocide," said McConnell. "We can stop the absolutely appalling brutalization and desperate treatment of people in Palestine."
If the advocates are blocked at the border like the Madleen was intercepted on Monday, one activist in the Sumud Convoy toldThe New Arab, "even that will send a message."
"People over power," they said. "If they stop dozens, thousands will rise."
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'Healthcare Cuts Will Kill' Rally Protests Deadly Trump-GOP War on Medicaid
Republican lawmakers are "going to war against low-income and middle-class people" to fund another round of tax cuts for the mega-rich, said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Jun 11, 2025
Advocates, vulnerable Americans, and progressive members of Congress rallied outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to denounce and continue building public opposition to congressional Republicans' proposed cuts to Medicaid and other key healthcare programs, which would have devastating consequences nationwide.
The "Healthcare Cuts Will Kill" rally featured remarks from a home health aide who warned that the unparalleled Medicaid cuts included in the GOP legislation would endanger the wellbeing of seniors who rely on the program's coverage to survive.
"They need home attendants for support with daily living," said Miriam, a member of Make the Road NY, in her remarks at the rally. "Stripping them and mothers like me of Medicaid would be devastating."
Advocates who attended the demonstration later made their way into the U.S. Capitol Building, where they planned to hold office visits with lawmakers to discuss their grave concerns about the GOP attacks on healthcare.
The actions came as Republicans continued work on a sprawling reconciliation bill that would cut Medicaid by more than $700 billion over the next decade, kick nearly 11 million people off their healthcare, and potentially cause more than 51,000 excess deaths per year.
The legislation would also trigger over $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
In a letter to their Senate colleagues earlier this week, a faction of far-right House Republicans argued that the GOP legislation needs to "go much further on spending reductions," including cuts to Medicaid.
"If Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Betrayal' wasn't devastating enough to Americans' bottom line, the House Freedom Caucus is calling on their Senate colleagues to go further, risking even more Americans' healthcare," Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, said in response to the letter. "Point blank: Americans shouldn’t lose their healthcare to pay for billionaire tax cuts."
Speaking at Wednesday's rally, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Republican lawmakers are "going to war against low-income and middle-class people" to fund another round of debt-exploding tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.
"We are the only country not to guarantee healthcare to all, the healthcare system is broken, they want to make it even worse," said the Vermont senator.
Analilia Mejia, co-director of Popular Democracy in Action, one of the groups that organized the rally, said that "it's easy for many Americans to imagine that they are not going to be impacted by this large, unscrupulous, unconscionable transfer of wealth, by this ridiculous notion that, because we all die, some of us, depending on our bank account, will die earlier without care or concern."
"Every single one of us are going to be impacted because we will be in a society where the 'haves' have many and have much, and the 'have-nots' are denied food, healthcare, and education," said Mejia. "And that's a society none of us want to live in."
"Senate Republicans are charging forward with attacks on our healthcare, ripping coverage away from millions of Americans and raising costs for millions more."
Ahead of the rally, Sanders and 10 Democratic senators demanded that the Republican chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee schedule hearings on the GOP reconciliation bill's proposed healthcare cuts, warning that they would "create a national healthcare emergency" if enacted.
"Not only would millions of Americans lose their health insurance and tens of thousands of our constituents die as a result of the House-passed reconciliation bill, the cost of prescription drugs would go up for seniors, hospitals and community health centers in rural and underserved areas would close or shut down access to services that patients rely on, and nursing homes would be made less safe," the senators wrote.
"Failure to hold hearings and a markup on this reconciliation bill before it is considered on the Senate floor," they added, "would be an abdication of our duty to the American people."
Anthony Wright of Families USA, which helped organize the Capitol Hill demonstrations, said in a statement Wednesday that new legislative text released by Senate Republicans "doubles down on the disastrous bill passed by House Republicans."
"The text out today would raise health insurance premiums for 10 million people by as much as $1,400 a year," said Wright. "As we await additional bill text from the Senate, these provisions serve as a glaring red flag that Senate Republicans are charging forward with attacks on our healthcare, ripping coverage away from millions of Americans and raising costs for millions more."
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