Brand Logo
Assange deal, gender care reveal and abortion consequences

 
Today's INTERNATIONAL story

WikiLeaks' Assange to go free under US plea deal

What happened
Julian Assange has agreed to plead guilty to one felony espionage charge in return for avoiding time in a U.S. prison, the Justice Department said in a court filing Monday. The 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder was released from London's high-security Belmarsh Prison on Monday and left Britain en route to the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific Ocean.

Who said what
On X, WikiLeaks thanked "all who stood by us, fought for us and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom." Assange's plea deal marks an abrupt end to a "sprawling, almost surreal drama" including Swedish rape charges, asylum in Ecuador's London embassy, then five years in prison fighting U.S. extradition to face 2019 charges for procuring and publishing military secrets and diplomatic cables in 2010, The Washington Post said. Assange will be free, but he "has paid a high price," spending "a quarter of his life" holed up in cramped rooms and prison cells.

The deal also "offers a neat solution to what was becoming an increasing political headache for the U.S. government," The Wall Street Journal said. Assange's native Australia had recently joined free press advocates in asking President Joe Biden to end the case. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese "has been clear" that "Assange's case dragged on for too long," a spokesperson for his government said Monday.

What next?
Assange is scheduled to enter his guilty plea Wednesday in U.S. federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. He has agreed to return to Australia after he is sentenced to time served.

 
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
 
Today's LEGAL story

Supreme Court to weigh transgender care limits

What happened
The Supreme Court said Monday it would hear arguments in a case backed by the Biden administration that challenges a Tennessee law  restricting puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors, even with parental permission.

Who said what
South Carolina recently became "the 25th state to adopt a law restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even though such treatments have been available in the United States for more than a decade and are endorsed by major medical associations," The Associated Press said. But the Tennessee case "will be the first time the high court weighs in directly" on the constitutionality of such laws, The Wall Street Journal said. Its decision "could be a landmark precedent on the scope of the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause, which guarantees people equal treatment under the law."

What next?
The Supreme Court will likely hear arguments in the fall and hand down its decision next summer. If the court rules for Tennessee, it would likely allow similar laws in other states to take effect.

 
 
Today's Health care Story

Infant deaths jumped in Texas after abortion ban

What happened
Infant deaths in Texas rose by 12.8% after the state banned almost all abortions in 2021, versus 1.8% nationwide, researchers said Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Deaths attributed to birth defects jumped 22.9% in Texas while dropping 3.1% in the rest of the country.

Who said what
The findings "add to a body of evidence showing infants born in states with more abortion restrictions are likelier to die before they're 1 year old," Axios said. "Behind these numbers are people" who "had to stay pregnant for an additional 20 weeks, carrying a pregnancy that they knew likely wouldn't result in a live newborn baby," Dr. Erika Werner at Tufts Medical Center told NBC News.

A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said "thousands of children have been given a chance at life" thanks to the 2021 ban. 

What next?
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, "the anti-abortion movement won the battle," Charles Sykes said at The Atlantic. "But it may be in the process of losing the war," with an entire generation "watching the indifference and cruelty toward women and wondering whether this movement really is 'pro-life.'"

 
 

It's not all bad

Mangalitsa pigs and cattle are being used as "living lawnmowers" in Devon, England, scarfing down shrubs that have taken over critical butterfly habitats, the BBC said. The endangered High Brown Fritillary butterfly can only be found in three spots in England, and the hope is that clearing out the invasive bushes and planting dog-violets will create a balanced environment with ideal breeding conditions. The project will also benefit several other species, organizers said.

 
 
Under the radar

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opened a cannabis superstore, the Great Smoky Cannabis Company, on April 20 in a renovated bingo hall in North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains. A holiday for marijuana enthusiasts, 4/20 is typically the biggest sales day of the year for many cannabis retailers. 

The store, the only place to legally buy pot in North Carolina, debuted months after the tribe voted to allow the adult use of marijuana on its 57,000-acre territory, known as the Qualla Boundary, and on other lands. "It's unique — a real sovereign flex," said John Oceguera, a cannabis lobbyist and former Nevada legislator from the Walker River Paiute tribe.  

The Cherokees said their tribal sovereignty, or self-governance right, allows them to set their own marijuana rules, but officials in North Carolina have resisted the opening of the cannabis store. Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, both North Carolina Republicans, requested intervention in a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Justice Department, Interior Department, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and various state agencies.

Experts say the senators have scant legal ground to force the dispensary to close. Instead, any action taken by federal and state law enforcement will likely focus on "sussing out any potential violations of federal gaming and cannabis regulations," Al Jazeera said. 

The tribe's dispensary opening has "gotten the attention of tribes like in Idaho, where they thought they wouldn't have a chance," said Mary Jane Oatman, the leader of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association, a national advocacy group. "It offers a model for an organized pathway."

 
 
On this day

June 25, 1978

The first version of the LGBTQ+ rainbow pride flag was flown during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. The original flag was designed by Gilbert Baker and featured eight colored stripes. The flag has since been altered several times over the decades. The modern pride flag features six colored stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet.

 
 
TODAY’S newspaperS

Abortion is front page news on Tuesday. Two years after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, "realities of abortion bans shift the terms of the issue," The New York Times says. USA Today says that a ban in Texas cut abortions, "but infant deaths up." In Georgia "Democrats hammer Trump on abortion issue," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says, though Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden in a new state poll before their debate. The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post lead with Julian Assange's plea deal, though the former tops its front page with a photo of submerged cars in Sioux City, Iowa, as "river floodwaters engulf Midwest cities." 

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Sending out an SOS

Rescuers in Northern California were able to quickly assist a stranded kite surfer after he used rocks to spell out "HELP" on a beach near Santa Cruz. His message was spotted by a helicopter pilot, who immediately called 911. Because the man was found so quickly, he "didn't have to worry about hypothermia or dehydration" and was in good shape when first responders reached him, California Department of Forestry Fire Captain Skylar Merritt told the Los Angeles Times.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Wikileaks / X / Reuters; Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images; Jeffrey McWhorter for the Washington Post; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images