the british prime minister plunges into a 3rd lock. business. people . it's true. huge day for wiki leaks founder julian assange british judge rules against the extraditing him to the u.s. speak of mental health concerns but that's the current editor in chief of wiki leaks points questions over press freedom.

when. the u.s. has already announced it will appeal but. we've been speaking. to a london courthouse. whatever. just the guy. around the clock across the world this is our team international from the team and myself you know me well hello and welcome to the program. posed a fresh. inning and the british prime minister said he hopes the curbs will be

enough to contain a highly contained just variant of covert currently spreading around the country. the u.k. is pushing towards nearly $60000.00 new cases. we now have a new variant of the virus and it's been both frustrating and to see the speed with which the new variant is spreading. scientists have confirmed this new variant is between 50 and 70 percent more transmissible in england was therefore going to a national lock down which is tough enough to contain this barrier and come back full circle to to last march when we were told to stay home protect the n.h.s. and to save lives and that mantra was repeated by boris johnson again today and is in force once again what it means simply enough is that people in england are being told to stay home except for

a number of reasons essential shopping work if that work can't be done from home exercise urgent medical needs or in cases where someone is threatened with domestic violence and has to get out there's also significant pressure coming for parents and students as primary and secondary schools will move to remote learning from tomorrow and the closure of schools is a major government u. turn as the pm had said that he was determined the primary schools at least in england would stay open he did say that there is a rather downbeat meds message of course that the oxford astra zeneca vaccine means that the biggest maxa nation program in the u.k. history can now be effectively rolled out and that he hopes that the most vulnerable will all have been vaccinated by mid february for goes well but bowman says says that now more than ever we must pull together many people here are going to be extremely frustrated that the government has given them almost no notice again for yet another major life up evil and is once again being reactive rather

than proactive with covert 19 by the way we're back in lockdown in england and the new rules are going to become law from wednesday earlier i spoke with simon clarke a microbiologist are dreading university in the u.k. who believes the situation has not been heading in the right direction. if the numbers of the affections aren't going up by definition restrictions on working because of the very minimum they should cause them to level off ideally you want to drive them down so if the numbers are going up then then they're not working so really there are only a few leaders left to pull and they are. closing schools and universities and. restricting the amount of people that go to work on a daily basis that those who are really really happy. well the british court has rejected a us extradition request for joining us on jus 2 concerns about his mental health

washington say's it will appeal the decision still wants to try him on charges of espionage the president of mexico has offered political asylum to the wiki leaks founder let's take a look at the reaction of a son just supporters outside the courthouse when the verdict filtered through. i know. it's true was you are you. are are you the. was of. as long as julian has to endure suffering in isolation as an unconvicted prisoner in belmarsh prison and as long as our children continue to be the rest of their

father's love and affection. we cannot celebrate. we will celebrate the day he comes home a glimpse of hope. the new year and hopefully a new era. it is a day. when. we have. a window for journalists and writers to read was absent and that was was she having read eunice on just not getting her story a moment outside the for her was charged. 'd to actually date you in the sun she united states it has been the susan thing was meant to house friends and did was 6 to be executed to the united states it is a very unexpected result because right up until the last moment the judge had said

that the case was not politically motivated he said she said that he would not he would face in the united states under the u.s. constitution for that we are left with our judge actually said no to do so it would not be as i said to the united states but it is incredible scenes. just heard from star morris the partner of judy in the sun she says actually right now we cannot fully celebrate we can only fully celebrate when judas is court but this is the 1st step to justice we've also heard from the wiki leaks editor and cheap christian who roughed her up to and he said i can yet it's not a win for jude in just yet nor a win for jonas and just yet but there should be more pressure applied on to the united states for the u.s. government to finally say enough is enough because of calls to do so and has been wanted by the united states for his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the united states and if he were to be

found guilty he would have been sentenced up to 175 years behind prison that's under the u.s. is indictments of 18 counts under the espionage act for spying and publishing tons of fire documents all related to the war in iraq and afghanistan plus one of conspiracy to hack a government computer to publish these documents as well though according to today's sun just defense the united states was trying to prosecute yunus on the political grounds it was a politically motivated case it said of course if it is politically motivated that would therefore mean that you know a soldier was exempt from actually titian under the u.k. you asked extradition treaty however the prosecutor said the absolute opposite that it was not politically motivated and in fact curious songe endangered the lives of hundreds of thousands of people for publishing these classified documents so although today is a victory in essence for june a songe as the judge did of course say that it was not politically motivated enough

a serious concern for journalism going forward on the future of journalism as well i spoke to rebecca vincent from reporters without borders and she says that journalists need to be protected so we're relieved very much and share the court's assessment of his serious mental health arrests but we're concerned that the rest of the decision leaves the door open for possible other prosecutions on similar grounds because in. well that point she came to that point of the decision it seemed very much that the case would have been in favor of the prosecution so without the mental health issues at play somebody else in that same situation could have indeed been extradited to the u.s. to face charges there so this pointed out broader systemic issues that need to be addressed the not the astronaut act must be reformed it locks the public interest of fans if any publisher any journalist any source finds themselves subject to similar proceedings they cannot adequately defend themselves so the 3rd it hit today was one thing story medical grounds of course students soldiers defense team said that he was totally unfit to travel to the united states both in terms of his physical health auntie's mental health of course juna son has been holed up in

london's ecuadorian embassy for a whopping 7 and a half it is then he was put into a belmarsh prison for almost 2 years so his mental and physical health has been seriously deteriorating but it wasn't just his mental and physical health here in the united kingdom but what could happen to him if he were to be sent to the united states he would have had to serve that sentence if found guilty and convicted in any text colorado jail that's one of america's most notorious jails in fact home to some of the world's worst criminal lost a large truck killed terrorist you name it there in that most notorious prison and that's exactly what you did a soldier was going to be headed so that huge sentence that prospect of the future like that was something that really bent the judeans meant to house was really at breaking point i his lawyer says that he was having suicidal tendencies and forced hundreds of times a day so that is pretty much the key reason why the judge today said that that is a future that's

a fate that he was not going to be facing having said that as i do mention it's not in terms of journalistic freedoms we're still out a point where the bucket is not over just yet we understand that a decision on whether or not you're in a search will be granted bail or not will come on wednesday and of course the united states is appealing this verdict today. they still are on the hunt for judas urging as if they still want to see if you decide to exit i can see the united states to the bottle really isn't anything yet but in time to support his campaign is it outside the criminal court had to take it wasn't just your innocence that was in the dock but actually the fundamental tenets and principles of the rights and freedoms of expression not the 1st but also for the public to access the information as well so it is if they fit your response but there's still a long way to go when it comes to journalistically. earlier i spoke to roger waters founding member of the creative force behind rock band pink floyd

a long time campaigner for truly innocent we his supporters have to be saying you have to bear him now he has he's suffered way beyond any suffering that should be meted out to him for his warm small bio infringement which he sees only crime under u.k. law ok so bear him now let the man begin to live this is a battle not just for the life of a. great truly great journalist julian and sometimes it's a battle for the survival of the human race if we give up the 4th the state if we allow the united states government to crucify a journalist on the grounds that he revealed war crimes by them. then we give up our access to the real world and we say ok we will believe what you

. and if somebody comes along and says actually you know what that's not true this government murdered journalists by machine gunning from a helicopter in baghdad in 2007 and we know they did and here is the proof and we're going to publish it and then and and then but we've said you can't do that because if you do we're going to kill you is that the well we want to live in. or we also discussed the implications of a night spent with a number of us son james other prominent supporters outside the courthouse. i wasn't sure what to expect but i'm so happy that he's. been discharged for whatever reason it's fantastic i mean there's so many people who've been campaigning for an awful long time against this injustice when he's gone through 1011 years of hell 1st on the house arrest and in belmarsh prison for the simple crime of journalism

which isn't a crime he's standing up for freedom of speech he's done nothing but tell the truth he's been treated as a political prisoner at least mental health has suffered and i know people opposed to him have said that that is the case this this is not just about him personally it's about journalism it's about freedom it's about freedom of speech it's about freedom of the press and all those things are being undermined both in this country are by the actions of the people in the united states they're trying to get him to be extradited in the pushing this action here was a really absolutely remarkable decision 95 percent of the judges were barred were in favor for us i mean favor of extradition she threw my political the penalty threw out public interest depends only in the last moment from a decision that she cited the american prison system so brutal so pressing it to you would be at risk of suicide if i sent him to be america or america going to

you know this is the end of the story you will go to a higher court so this by all is just because it is a terrific day what she said about markets much more worrying because she said there's no public interest there's no we there's no difference to journalists. like proper journalists or you like to do what most journalists do because very seriously there's no public interest but these are these were very very bad remarks by the way this is a victory and the chains you need to celebrate the potent thing is if i never saw julian room be extradited according to the decision of the judge i don't know he's very who are saying that the only reason there. the reason why this edition has been stopped. his fragile health condition and the high risk of suicidal journalists around the world should be very very worried about today's outcome is very very worrying. did jaci basically clearly now lies

journalistic t.v. these if only to go case. and. it's not over it's not over yet ortiz igor's at all of us being looking at the events that led up to the songes long fight for freedom jr and his son has come a long way from an obscure activist to freedom fighter or traitor depending on who you are one thing you can deny him though is that he led the charge that we kill leaks to dig up the secrets that america's intelligence colossus spent billions of dollars burying and he succeeded.

i. mean you get into the. field reports from iraq military logs from afghanistan sensitive documents. from guantanamo bay none of which made the u.s. look particularly good i would argue that is closer to the high tech terrorist it is it i mean international community i'm not for the death penalty so if i'm not for the death penalty i want to do it illegally shoot the son of a beast and

a great discredit to this nation science will be assassinated he should be treated as an enemy combatant it didn't take long for a son to experience firsthand what it means to be uncle sam's public enemy the u.s. went after the whistleblower launching a probe into his actions at the same time a seemingly unrelated sexual assault investigation was opened in sweden assigned himself though claimed it was all part of america's to extradite him by all means possible the pressure mounted so when 2012 a son is requested asylum from ecuador and holed up in the country's embassy in london this kicked off what would become a long 7 years of confinement with even the u.n. calling for an end to this suffering various forms of deprivation of liberty to which julian assad has been subjected constitute a form of arbitrary detention the working group maintains that the arbitrary

detention of mr signage should be brought to an end instead the old things short from bad to even worse for a son ecuador's new president who was looking for warmer relations with the u.s. seem to take personal offense when we can leaks wrote about corruption allegations against him sanj was shown the door artie's video agency ruptly turned out to be the only outlet to catch the moment asuncion was literally carried out of the building some 7 years after he stepped in it. once you k. law enforcement got their hands on a son they threw him in prison a proper one but the u.s. government is looking to try him under american law where the whistleblower faces more than a 100 years behind bars now every cording that emerged in line has sparked another

wave of calls to pardon the whistleblower in the tape ironically julian assange which was trying to help u.s. authorities minimize the fallout of the 2011 leaks case here richard having been there for people who are dissidents more and more probably but we have been calling the state department and the embassy. every day trying to explain your agency. called back don't trump since you're given pardons to people please consider pardoning those who at great personal sacrifice expose the deception and criminality of those in the deep state mr president if you grant only one act of clemency during your time in office please free julian assange those you alone can save his life i'm hoping that he will pardon julian assange it's the right thing to do so far trump has remained deaf to the pleas the julian assange just saga has

been going for so long it feels like it could be over any minute but flashing back to how it's been going so far it seems like we've just turned the page on another chapter dude and i found it for what i have. a very resilient person but he has been brought to the breaking point to 10 years of persecution. joint persecution for political reasons by friedan by the united kingdom by the you are by ecuador and none of this is being addressed not being compensated and not receiving justice for the ill treatment you have suffered he should not have. been brought to a point where he suicidal he has been persecuted to a point where he has been broken and now they basically the system is screeching him out and you know obviously that is a legal obligation but in a sense the system has succeeded in intimidating the world and he's passing the

message that this is what's going to happen to you if ever you have to the idea of publishing our dirty secrets and making that known to the world a former cia analyst and a whistleblower john kerry after saying it isn't the 1st time british courts have refused to extradite people to the u.s. because of washington's solitary confinement. it was a great day not just for julian assigns but for freedom of speech i was i was very happily surprised that the judge came to our senses and realized the damage that would have been involved in extraditing chile into the united states this is a very very welcome decision there is a precedent quite a long precedent of 'd british courts not extraditing people to the united states because of the u.s. use of solitary confinement and the fact that the way the united states uses

solitary confinement has been deemed to be a form of torture and should be a wake up call for the united states i am not convinced that it will be but it should be because mil other industrialized countries no other western country certainly uses solitary confinement the way the united states does and when people are already emotionally or mentally fragile that's easily enough to put to push them over the edge and cause them to commit suicide there are suicides literally every single day in american prisons this judge was no friend of julian assange just no friend of wiki leaks she was actively hostile through the entire process but then in the in the end made the right decision i think that that she left no room for the appeals for to overturn it. well let's recap big developments then regarding julian assange a british judge has ruled against extraditing him to the u.s.

due to concerns of prison mental help us has said it will appeal the court's decision songe will remain in custody ahead all of the appeal there's a chance he could be released on bail before that decision will be made this coming wednesday stateside the wiki leaks co-founder faces 17 counts of conspiracy to hack a government. guilty he would face up to 175 years in prison in another development of the day the president of mexico said he's prepared to give a political. just time to fit in some more world news this hour to the u.s. the virus vaccine rollout isn't quite going to plan the country has missed its target of inoculating 20000000 people by the end of last year only managing to give the job to fewer than 3000000. picks up the story. it might be

a new year but it's cool to buy the same old problems on the fast day of 2021 the us hit $20000000.00 kovac 19 cases but just out was before as the clock struck midnight thousands flooded the streets hoping that the next $365.00 days would just be that little bit that. scared i don't know what will happen 1st rule for 2021 don't talk about 2020 and i believe this is there we go she started here we did. that everything is going to get better actually working at this c.v.s. and his own crazy with the coded vaccine and everything right now. that everything goes back to normal this christmas i'm new here many wished for

a return to our old normal lives something top medical advisors have been promising was just around the corner by the time we get into all of 2021 we could be approaching some level of normality tuns out though the very thing they said would quite literally set us free the fact scene is cool top end its own trauma president health experts in operation warp speed hope to have 20000000 americans vaccinated by now but things are going slower than 1st thought there is now growing frustration building over the slow roll out of the corona virus vaccines across the u.s. there's only a small percentage of the vaccine that's been distributed by the federal government that has actually been administered the massive vaccination campaign against the coronavirus in the u.s. has gotten off to a slower start. very slower start there's no way we can speed this up in the near term 14000000 doses of the fine and madonna fight scenes have been distributed across america but fewer than 3000000 have been administered it why well donald

trump says he's done his job but states aren't doing that. the federal government has distributed the vaccines to the states now it is up to the states to administer get moving a blame game that didn't go down well with those who say it's a lack of direction from the top that's left people i worked in the cold. that comprehensive vaccination plans have not been developed at the federal level and sent to the states as models is as and comprehensible as it is inexcusable it was unrealistic to assume that the health care workers already overburdened with covert care could take on a massive vaccination program many of those of the bugs and health care while because on now protesting they say they were promised a vaccine and instead face and miscues and crashing apps if that lucky that's despite being in contact with infected people all hours of the day for 10 months

straight the promise to vaccinate them as a priority fell apart as quickly as the promise to inoculate 20000000 by the end of 2020 so if they're not going to the risk groups where all they going while no one apparently there are delays at every corner we agreed that number is lower than last we hope for we know that it should be better and working hard to make the best tons out holiday period and snow storms on what a smooth rollout means but even once the holidays end in the snow melts if nothing changes unless say it would take almost 10 years to vaccinate enough americans to control the virus gives a whole new meaning to a peroration warp speed and the mess continues on a local level 2. is

it just normal teasing problems of one of the most ambitious vaccination campaigns in u.s. history or is it just incompetence at every level either way it looks like the kewl meant to bring or to is now only adding to the chaos. her love for this news hour but more great programs get their start in moments here all are to stay close to find out what's showing wherever you are today my friend. the world is driven by shaped by.

the day or. week to ask. to master it as you welcome to going underground the team and i will be back with a brand new season starting on january the 13th but today we're rebroadcasting our coverage of julia songes extradition trial that's today marks the sched jewel ruling in london that may decide the future of global free speech blackwell.