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Julian Assange free in US plea deal & London’s soaring beer price

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has left London after agreeing a US plea deal that will see him plead guilty to a spying charge and go free.

Assange was locked in a lengthy legal battle over his extradition with American authorities, including years living in London’s Ecuadorian Embassy from 2012 before detention in HMP Belmarsh.

He was sought by the US since Wikileaks published hundreds of thousands of secret documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Assange left Britain on a charter flight to plead guilty on a single spying charge at court in a US Pacific territory.

Evening Standard home affairs editor Martin Bentham examines what’s next in the legal case and Assange’s timeline of being locked up in London.

Plus, in part two, we look at the increasing price of a pint of beer in London - which has reached, on average, a frothy £6.75.

Evening Standard business editor Jonathan Prynn discusses the soaring costs hitting the capital’s hospitality sector.


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