The Know Daily - Wednesday 27 March 2024

_{Read in 5m 17s ∙ Listening to SALES ∙}

✨ We’re hiring a staff writer! Scroll down to find out more ✨

The Lizard peninsula in Cornwall is the southernmost place in mainland Britain - and it’s also the focus of a new scheme by Natural England. The two-year recovery project aims to nurture “modest looking” plants such as lichens, liverworts and wildflowers that are in fact key to the survival of the entire ecosystem and landscape, said The Guardian.

🧑‍⚖️ The case against Julian Assange, explained

London’s High Court yesterday delayed Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States on espionage charges. Here’s how we got here.

First things first: who is Assange?
He’s a 52-year-old Australian national who founded WikiLeaks, a platform that publishes many confidential or restricted official documents related to war, spying and corruption, explained the BBC. Legal action against Assange started in 2010, after the platform published a series of leaks about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars by former US Army soldier Chelsea Manning.

In 2012, Assange sought refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden in connection with sexual assault allegations. He remained there until 2019, when his asylum was withdrawn following a series of disputes with Ecuadorian authorities. 

What happened next?
Upon his departure from the embassy, UK authorities arrested Assange on behalf of the US, where he faces 18 counts of espionage. US prosecutors argue that Assange’s actions have put innocent lives at risk, but his supporters say he safeguards free speech and that the case against him “criminalises journalism”. 

Since then, Assange has spent the past five years fighting extradition - and last month, he took to London’s High Court in a last-ditch attempt to avoid it.

So what happened yesterday?
The court put Assange’s extradition on temporary hold, saying the US must provide “satisfactory assurances” that he will receive a fair trial and not face the death penalty. However, they rejected his lawyers’ arguments that the case was politically motivated.

The US has three weeks to provide these assurances - and if they don’t, Assange will be allowed a full appeal hearing against his extradition in May.