I'm back.

— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) September 17, 2026

The WikiLeaks founder suggested that he is returning to public life two years after striking a deal for his freedom with the US | WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has suggested that he is returning to public life, following a hiatus after his release from British custody in 2024. The transparency activist spent five years behind bars while fighting a US extradition request that could have resulted in a lengthy sentence in a high-security US prison. He eventually struck a deal that secured his freedom amid a global campaign urging Washington to drop the case against him. The WikiLeaks account on X announced on Thursday that Assange is “back,” posting a photo in which he is posing in front of a mural depicting him in Sydney, Australia. Assange reposted the message, confirming his return and saying it is the first post in eight years that he has personally written. His wife Stella said more news will follow next week.

The military bloc’s European members are now footing the bill and taking all of the risk against Russia. At NATO’s first high-level summit since Ankara, the bloc’s new, Europe-centric incarnation is taking shape. But it’s ordinary Europeans who stand to lose their future, and potentially their lives. | NATO’s Military Committee is meeting in Copenhagen on Friday and Saturday. Chaired by Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the Military Committee, which is NATO’s highest military authority, is tasked with turning the bloc’s strategic goals into executable plans. When NATO orders a battlegroup to Lithuania, for example, the Military Committee ensures its tanks will be able to get there across multiple countries’ rail networks, its troops will be supplied and housed, and the deployment will not leave another sector of the bloc’s so-called ‘eastern flank’ unmanned. ● Accordingly, NATO is keeping the meeting’s agenda under wraps. The organization’s website simply states that the defense chiefs will take part in a “Session 1” and “Session 2” of talks, followed by a press conference, a photo opportunity, and then a “Session 3” of discussions. Looking at the political decisions made since the bloc’s headline summit in Ankara in July, the broad aim of the conference becomes clearer: flesh out NATO’s plan to militarize Europe and prepare the continent for war with Russia, all while insulating the US from the consequences of the conflict.

📌 The US Demands That The Europeans Accelerate a Transition To “NATO 3.0” (Andrew Korybko) (04/21/26)

Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s visionary leadership, we are driving toward a NATO 3.0 in which Europe takes primary responsibility for its conventional defense. Many said that it could not be done – that Europe couldn’t or wouldn’t step up. That is being disproved before our eyes. 1/

— Under Secretary of War Elbridge Colby (@USWPColby) July 2, 2026

Such a status does not exist in the bloc’s treaties and has raised concerns among member states | European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to make Canada the EU’s first ‘associate member’ has raised questions about what such a relationship would mean. The idea, unveiled during von der Leyen’s State of the Union address earlier this week, has drawn reservations from some EU states. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has since welcomed the EU’s “ambition,” while stressing that Canada is not seeking full membership in the bloc. So, what exactly is being proposed – and could it actually happen?

■  The EU and Canada are getting closer than ever. And the world is watching (EuroNews)

Gabriel Attal criticised Ursula von der Leyen’s EU of moving too slowly and failing to deliver | Attal, the former French prime minister and centrist presidential hopeful, wants to take Emmanuel Macron’s European dreams one step further, bypassing the EU to create a hardcore European federation. ● The 37 year-old politician on Thursday pitched a “United States of Europe”, arguing that the EU’s 27-country model has “reached its limits” and should make way for a smaller core of countries willing to fuse their economies.

■  French presidential hopeful Attal vows to build ‘United States of Europe’ (Politico)