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you are watching the context ond bbc news. >> regardless of what you think of julian assange, the person and his actions, it was an unprecedented act or the u.s. justice department to charge him under the espionage act. >> we have long considered julian assange as someone who endangered the lives of american operatives when wikileaks released documents on the iraq and afghanistan wars. >> it is a whirlwind of emotions. i mutilated. -- i am elated. >> even though assange goes free and ends the saga, the fact is the precedent press groups warned about arguably has been set in the sense that he did plead guilty. >> joining me, susie bought a face, christopher steele, and

jessica, deputy political editor for the guardian. >> the last five years behind bars in the u.k. and before that, he was holed up four years at the ecuadorian embassy in london. u.s. prosecutors have room -- recommended a 62 month prison sentence on a single espionage charge but under the new agreement mr. assange will walk free due to credit gained by time already spent in prison. joining me now is our correspondent. why has mr. assange flown to saipan? what will happen there? >> julian assange is expected to plead guilty for a single felony in this u.s. district court in saipan in the northern mariana

islands. crucially, it is not continental u.s., julian assange has a deep distrust of the u.s. government which he accused of trying to kill him in the past, something washington long denied. he is to travel to the u.s. because he has no confidence in what would happen if he landed there. instead, this picturesque u.s. pacific island is where the last chapter of this saga will play out, after which he will go back to australia. logistically in saipan it is closer to australia than the mainland united states. this has been a long ordeal and this is an unusual location to end it. the case has lasted over a decade and a half and spanned five countries. it involved endless diplomacy and advocacy raising questions about freedom of speech

especially when it comes to national security reporting and raised questions about what will happen with julian assange after that, whether him walking free is also a win for freedom of speech. in saipan, for the first time in a very long time, julian assange gets to go home to australia a free man. >> do we know how long the hearing will take or what the timeframe is? >> details have been sketchy. people close to the deal, people who know what has been happening have been tightlipped. even his wife, who has spoken to the bbc, said she was limited in what she can say. he is due here in a couple hours. i was looking at the u.s. district court website and they had it on their schedule, 9:00 in the morning local time but they didn't have details about

how long it would last. essentially this is a formality to end what has already been agreed with the u.s. government. the agreement is that he pleads guilty for one felony, obtaining and disclosing national security material. that is it. once the judge signs off on that, once the agreement has been made, he is officially and technically a free man and he gets to travel to his homeland of australia. >> thank you for that. that is where mr. assange is now. caroline looks back at his journey so far and the charges he has faced. >> julian assange, a polarizing figure, was already airborne when the world learned of the deal that secured his release. >> it is a whirlwind of emotions. i ambulated. -- i am elated.

it feels like it's not real. >> it was this footage released by wikileaks in 2010 that brought julian assange international attention. it shows an american helicopter shooting unarmed iraqi civilians. it was part of a flood of classified material, military files and diplomatic cables spilled by wikileaks that year. an arrest warrant was issued. sweden wanted to question him about allegations of sexual assault made by two women. to avoid extradition he sought refuge in ecuador's london embassy. he spent seven years there, but in 2019 a dramatic moment as he is dragged out after the ecuadorian government with his political assignment -- asylum. soon it was the americans asking for his extradition. he fought against it in the courts and lost. his extradition was approved in 2022 but julian assange appealed

until this deal allowed him to fly out of the u.k. we don't know the full details of the negotiations to secure his release, but australia, his home country, had been pushing hard for it. the charges were first brought under donald trump. mike pence said julian assange endangered lives and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. on a little-known pacific island it is u.s. territory, one last legal procedure. away from the holidaymakers, a judge approving his guilty plea before he can reunite with his family. a bizarre final twist in this long-running saga. >> the u.s. is among more than 10 western nations who say they are deeply concerned by spiraling violence in kenya after at least five people were shot dead by police tuesday.

protesters took to the streets over the last few days protesting against the government's plan to tax -- to increase taxes. some protesters broke through police cordons and entered the parliament building in nairobi, starting a fire and damaging the complex. the protests came after lawmakers passed a finance bill last week that includes various tax reforms and increases. most testers, you -- protesters, younger canyons, say it would create a cost crisis. the president said the protests were hijacked by what he called dangerous people and he vowed a full response. our correspondent has been following the events from nairobi. >> they called for a total shutdown. in towns across kenya, tens of thousands took to the streets. in nairobi, there were battles as police tried to hold back the tide of fury. then, this.

demonstrators pushed through the gates of parliament, overwhelming officers outside. the response was quick and brutal. live shots fired. five killed in the street and dozens wounded. others made it inside, challenging the government's authority in the building where mp's had voted on the contentious bill. this is as close as we feel it is safe to get to parliament because police are firing live rounds. the government warned protesters to stay away from parliament. this is the response. the fact that protesters breached the building, and there have been casualties, could galvanize them further. it may increase the pressure for a government crackdown. this is uncharted territory for president ruto. those on the streets were united in anger. >> i'm so mad at the government. they are taking money to spend

on their own families. >> i want to demand our leaders give us accountability. it has been too many years of the system going around and around. we never get accountability. it might where we the people are telling them know and they still do what they want to do. >> the wounded were treated in hospital as the streets began to calm. tough choices for kenya's president, whether to back off from the bill or double down. the country faces its biggest challenge to authority since independence in 1963. >> or more, i have been speaking to the former director of african affairs at the national security council and senior fellow at the center for strategic and international studies, africa program. given the kenyan economy has been under pressure for some time, the people struggling financially, what was the logic

behind this controversial new finance bill with the unpopular tax proposals? >> the president campaigned on a promise to turn the economy around, this hustler economy he has called it. he says he is a product of this economy, coming from poor roots himself. he has been overcommitted and overpromising on his ability to turn the economy around. he has been globe trotting, coming to the u.s. and china trying to attract investment but it hasn't worked. the debt overhang for the economy and the rising cost of living have been creeping up on him. he has been under considerable pressure at home to make some improvements. this seems like a last ditch effort to do that, but i think many would say he has cut too deep and he is seeing his

efforts backfire because he is aggravating what was already a painful economic situation for many in the country. >> would you have anticipated the protests to build to this level we saw today with our lament reached and part of the building set on fire? >> we have seen from many diplomatic statements a sense of shock from the diplomatic community, but i think that is probably a function of the fact that maybe they don't have their finger on the pulse of average canyons. -- kenyans. the protest movement has largely been driven by young people who are afraid for their future economic prospects, driven by online tools and mechanisms which again, people of a certain generation don't fully understand or appreciate the ability to mobilize or the level of frustration. >> much of the protesters are young people, but we heard from

president ruto saying the demonstrations had been hijacked and the events of the day had been treasonous and were an existential threat to the republic. do you agree? >> it is hard to see what evidence he is pointing to, to suggest there is some kind of existential threat to his rule. we have seen protests not just in nairobi. this is a widespread, broad-based protest movement even in his hometown, which is his base of political support. there were tens of thousands of people in the streets protesting his policies. he needs to look beyond what might be opportunism, and understand really the fundamentals driving the levels of frustration that have driven people to this point. >> if that is the line from president ruto, but the young people say they want the

administration to hear their voices and they feel unheard, what do the difference between the two positions mean in the short term for kenya? >> it means what we are seeing play out on the streets of kenya today, the potential for violence, the potential to really test kenya's democratic institutions. president ruto was in washington celebrated as our strongest partner in africa, a democratic bedrock on the continent, and here it is less than a month later, being tested, looking at his institutions and ability to respond be tested. we haven't seen this since the 2007 election violence that tore the country apart and tested the strength of kenya's institutions. we are seeing that again and it is critical to see how president ruto response. he hasn't taken a very

understanding tone with the testers, which doesn't bode well for future negotiations. >> the hard-line he has threatened against the protesters has already adopted the u.n. -- has already made the u.n. to call for restraint. what do you see happening next? >> i think we will see protests continue. the president has the next two weeks to decide whether he will sign this controversial piece it -- of legislation or if he will send it back to parliament for revisions. this is a real stare down moment between the protest movement and the president himself. neither side, suggesting they are going to blink or compromise their position. >> the first contingent of an international police force for haiti arrived in the capital port-au-prince.

the officers from kenya will take part in a mission to control gang violence in haiti's prime minister thanked kenya for supporting his country in the fight against insecurity. the un security council approved the deployment of 1000 police officers lacked -- last october. the deployment was delayed after a kenyan court delete -- declared it illegal. israel's supreme court ruled tuesday the government must draft ultra-orthodox jewish seminary students to the conscript military. our middle east reporter has more from jerusalem. >> prime minister netanyahu is facing a big problem internally after israel's supreme court made a significant ruling, essentially that ultra-orthodox religious students who had been

exempt for decades, since the founding of israel, from military service, and are now no longer exempt and they must be conscripted by the army. this is a big social issue in israel and a political problem for netanyahu because his coalition relies on two ultra-orthodox parties. there is the potential that if this builds, if thousands of students from the yeshuvas are forced to join the army against their will, that could lead to one or both of these political parties pulling out of the coalition which would almost certainly bring it down and lead to elections, which is something netanyahu has been against although there is building pressure for that. international cup -- internationally, netanyahu's defense minister continued with a visit to washington where he is trying to smooth waters with the biden administration area they have been very much shaken by comments netanyahu made

basically accusing the u.s. of reducing the numbers of weapons it was giving to israel. he has been there to try to smooth that and talk about the next phase in gaza and potentially the next phase in the conflict between israel and hezbollah in lebanon. >> the u.s. surgeon general declared gun violence in america a public health crisis. among measures recommended are an increase in funding for research on gun violence prevention, universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons. legislation will need to be passed by u.s. congress and state legislatures. this follows a weekend of mass shootings in america coming in one at an arkansas grocery store that left four people dead and 11 injured. in the surgeon general's were already states since 2020, firearm related injuries have been the leading cause of death u.s. children and adolescents aged 1-19.

the report adds in 2022, more than ready it 1000 people died from gun related injuries, triple the amount from 2010. the national rifle association denounced the declaration with the executive director saying in a statement, this is an extension of the biden administratio's war on law-abiding gun owners. the u.s. surgeon general joined me a while ago to discuss the advisory and how to solve the issue of gun violence in america . this is the first time there has been a declaration of this kind, and declaring gun crime of public health emergency what does that do? >> gun violence is a public health challenge and it is a crisis. the importance of recognizing it as such is when we identify a public health concern, we can bring solutions to bear in how we address that. this is what we did with smoking , car accident related death and

that approach involves collecting data, assessing solutions, implementing and scaling those solutions and with nonviolence we have the opportunity to do that. i want people to understand the full impact gun violence is having on the united states. the price we pay our the lives lost, nearly 50,000 per year but for every life lost, there are two who are shot and injured and experience mental and physical consequences. there are family members who grieve the loss of a loved one, witnesses and millions read about and hear about gun violence every day. the reverberating effects of that have led to six out of 10 americans worrying about losing a loved one to gun violence. half of our kids say they are scared about a shooting taking place in their school. we have to keep those reverberations in mind. what disturbs me as a father is that gun violence has become the leading cause of death among

children and teens. for all of us, that should increase the urgency with which we are up coaching this issue or and my hope is the advisory will help people see these effects more clearly and bring us together to take action. hopefully we can agree that our kids should be our priority. they should be safe and we should do everything possible to prevent them experiencing gun violence. >> gun violence has not overnight become the biggest cause of death for children and adolescents. why has nothing changed before now? >> gun violence 10 years ago was not the leading cause of death among kids. this has happened on our watch. over the last two decades, we have seen the number of life is lost to gun violence has increased. in the last couple years we have seen decreases in gun violence, but it is still happening at a rate that is too high to tolerate. for a long time, this issue has been politicized in the united

states but my hope is we can take it out of the realm of politics and put it into the realm of public health where it belongs. when i traveled the country and talk to people, people of different backgrounds and beliefs, all ages, i find there is broad agreement on the ground that we have to do something about gun violence. no one wants to worry about their children's safety when they go to school. nobody wants to think twice when they go to church or synagogue or they go to the grocery store or the mall that their safety and life will be at risk. many strategies i lay out in my advisory are common sense strategies that are broadly agreed upon by the medical and public health community. this is a problem we can address. we don't have to live like this and my hope is the advisory will help us see a path forward. >> still, nothing has been action done by successive congress for many years. what do you say to those politicians, often it is

republicans, who stopped legislation passing that could affect change? >> a couple things i would recognize. this feels like an intractable problem but there are two places where congress has taken action which give me some hope that we may be able to find a day where we can come together and take action that is needed. five or six years ago congress put forward some modest funding for gun violence research. we need a lot more. that was an important step. two years ago congress passed the bipartisan saver communities act, a first piece of legislation in nearly 30 years from congress to address gun violence. these are important steps but they can't be the last step. if we understand this issue affects all of our families, all of our communities, impacting all of our children, we should see the time is now to put aside the politics and polarization and recognize we have an opportunity to use that approach

that worked in the past for other issues and finally address what has become not just a problem for physical health, but for mental health and well-being. >> are there concrete steps you can take without the need for legislation? >> a couple things to say, one is that there are steps here, strategies for congress to consider but there are also steps for state and local governments to consider. separate from government as well, i have laid out strategies that help their systems -- health care systems and community organizations can take to implement intervention programs, safe storage education programs and for individuals, we want individuals to know that if you own a gun and keep it at home, storing the gun safely can go a long way towards reducing the risk that a child or adult might intentionally or inadvertently injure themselves or others. so there are steps for all of us to take. that is why i lay out many strategies and recognize that as

complex a problem as gun violence is, we have to recognize there is not one single solution that will address the whole issue. we have to take simultaneously, action on multiple fronts. that is why the series of steps i lay out are ones i believe can be helpful to us in reducing the toll of gun violence. >> we believe it there for a moment. thanks for speaking with us on bbc news. before we go, a chinese lunar probe returned to earth tuesday with the first-ever soil and rock samples gathered from the moon's unexplored far side. it landed in the inner mongolian desert after a near two-month month-long emissions. scientists health the samples can answer key questions about how the moon was formed and its impact on life developing on announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james.

cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the “news hour” tonight, wikileaks founder julian assange agrees to plead guilty to a national security crime, in exchange for his release. geoff: the u.s. surgeon general declares gun violence a public health crisis. amna: and a behind-the-scenes look at how the pbs news npr marist poll is conducted.