WORLD BRIEFING: June 25, 2024
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has left the UK after agreeing a US plea deal that will see him plead guilty to criminal charges and go free. Assange was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information. He spent the last five years in a British prison, from where he was fighting extradition to the US. Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent incarcerated in the UK. The plea deal is expected to be finalised in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday. He is expected to return to Australia according to the US justice department - BBC
Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance faces an uphill battle convincing voters that its opponents would crash the economy after fresh polling suggested that the far-right Rassemblement National was more trusted on the issue. Macron’s Ensemble is heading into the last week of campaigning before Sunday’s high-stakes first-round vote trailing its far-right and leftwing rivals.
U.S. and European officials are warning of the possibility of the war in Gaza expanding, with the prospect of an Israeli offensive in Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters Monday in Luxembourg that the risk of the war spilling over was growing bigger every day. “I think that, unhappily, we are on the eve of the war expanding,” Borrell said. He also said a cease-fire in Gaza was desperately needed to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid, saying “delivery of humanitarian assistance inside Gaza has become impossible.” A temporary pier that was built for delivering aid into Gaza via a sea route paused deliveries Monday because of “scheduled maintenance,” Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters. - VOA
Russia has blamed the US and vowed "consequences" for a Ukrainian missile strike on Sevastopol in occupied Crimea on Sunday, which officials say killed four people - including two children. Around 150 more were injured in the attack as missile debris fell on a beach nearby. Russia's defence ministry said the missiles used by Ukraine were US-supplied ATACMS missiles, and claimed they were programmed by US specialists. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the strike "barbaric" and accused the US of "killing Russian children". He pointed towards comments by President Vladimir Putin, who recently vowed to target countries supplying weapons to Ukraine. Moscow said Sunday's deaths and injuries were caused by falling debris, after its air defences in Crimea intercepted five missiles loaded with cluster warheads launched by Ukrainian forces. Footage carried on Russian state TV showed chaos on the beach in the Uchkuyevka area, as people ran from the falling debris and some injured people were carried away on sun loungers. Russia's defence ministry claimed on Sunday that all ATACMS missiles are programmed by US specialists and guided by American satellite reconnaissance. - BBC. Separately, the U.S. is expected to announce Tuesday it is sending an additional $150 million in critically needed munitions to Ukraine, the AP reported
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced that the commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian military, Yuriy Sodol, is to be replaced with Brigadier-General Andriy Hnatov. Zelenskiy did not provide the reasons for the move in his video message on June 24. The announcement followed criticism of Sodol's performance in Odesa by Ukrainian lawmaker Maryana Bezuhla. In addition, Bohdan Krotevych, the chief of staff of the National Guard’s Azov Brigade, submitted a statement to the State Bureau of Investigation with a request to investigate Sodol. - RFE/RL
