Assange and the US call a truce

Julian Assange looks set to return home a free man. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. The expected release of Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange in a plea bargain with the US brings an end to an extraordinary contest between freedom of information and a state’s determination to protect its secrets. Assange is due to [plead guilty to leaking]( classified information in a US court on the Northern Mariana Islands. He’ll then fly to his native Australia after being sentenced to the more than five years he already served in a UK jail. While the outcome is a success for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who’d lobbied US President Joe Biden to resolve the case, the legacy of the fight over Assange is murkier. Civil liberties groups defended Wikileaks’ release in 2010 and 2011 of documents and video of US military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a trove of diplomatic cables, as in the public interest. CLICK TO WATCH: Bloomberg’s Peter Blumberg reports on the deal to plead guilty. Few rallied to Assange’s side when Wikileaks released thousands of emails stolen by Russian hackers from the Democratic National Committee at the height of Hillary Clinton’s battle with Donald Trump for the US presidency in 2016. The controversy over the DNC hack may have helped tip the election in Trump’s favor. The US’s nearly [15-year pursuit of Assange]( likely had a chilling effect on others tempted to expose government wrongdoing. It also handed a propaganda win to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has sheltered another famed US whistleblower, Edward Snowden, since 2013 after he leaked details of mass surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency. In an era when governments have immense powers to intrude into the lives of ordinary people, Assange and Wikileaks emerged as champions of the fight against Big Brother. While that image is less clear-cut today, advancing technologies such as AI make the need for effective public restraint of state power more urgent than ever. — [Anthony Halpin]( Assange supporters outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Feb. 21. Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Global Must Reads Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said French President Emmanuel Macron’s claim that the agendas of both her National Rally and the leftist alliance could lead to “civil war” suggests he knows he’s going to [lose the legislative vote]( that begins on Sunday. The increasingly strident rhetoric from Macron’s camp reflects a last-ditch attempt to woo voters, with his centrist party trailing in opinion polls. [Sign up for the Paris Edition newsletter]( for special coverage throughout the French election. Israel’s Supreme Court ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration to [start conscripting Ultra-Orthodox men]( into military service and stop funding seminaries whose students avoid the draft. The unanimous ruling has the potential to spark a political crisis, with two religious parties in the coalition government demanding that the longstanding exemption from military service be encoded into law. President Xi Jinping highlighted China’s escalating semiconductor confrontation with the US by calling for [innovation in key technologies]( such as integrated circuits, industrial machine tools, basic software and advanced materials still dominated by other countries. Speaking at a national science conference yesterday, Xi pledged to build “a strong country in science and technology by 2035.” Kenya’s National Assembly dropped a number of proposed taxes on bread, mobile-money transfers and banking services even as opposition lawmakers refused to participate in voting for the bill [that’s sparked street protests](. The balloting took place as police set up barricades around parliament and businesses shuttered their offices in the capital. Protesters in Nairobi today. Photographer: Kang-Chen Chung/Bloomberg The US Supreme Court signaled it will take the unusual step of extending its term into July as it finishes work on about a dozen cases, including [Trump’s bid for immunity from prosecution]( for attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The court will also be ruling on abortion, regulatory power and social media, issues that are likely to be deeply divisive. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Russia next month [for the first time]( since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Tass news service reported today. South Africa’s two biggest political parties [are nearing agreement]( on the number of ministers each party would have in a broad coalition government with other smaller groups, sources say.  North Korea sent a new batch of balloons carrying trash across the heavily militarized border into South Korea after Seoul said it detected [parasites such as roundworms]( in the contents of previous dispatches. Myanmar’s junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, made a rare apology to a prominent Buddhist monastery after security forces killed its abbot last week, a development that [could trigger protests]( among the monks who traditionally support the military. Washington Dispatch While aides help Biden prepare for his CNN [debate with Trump]( in Atlanta on Thursday, one thing matters as much as his grasp of any issue — whether voters think a man who will turn 82 weeks after the November election is up to another four years in the Oval Office. Republicans have been questioning his mental and physical fitness for office since, well, the last election. Lately, video clips have surfaced that purport to show his infirmity. The White House dismisses them as doctored fakes. Biden’s allies say the confrontation with Trump, who turned 78 this month, offers a prime opportunity to shoo away age concerns, likening it to the State of the Union, for which the president received positive reviews. Any stumble might be politically disastrous, yet a robust performance could blunt one of Trump’s most potent lines of attack. One person to watch today: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in Minnesota to promote Biden’s economic agenda. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day The UK crackdown on immigration is hobbling the chip sector’s ability to compete globally because of increased barriers to hiring foreign talent, company bosses say. And whoever wins next week’s general election, those [roadblocks are likely to remain](, with both the Conservatives and Labour pledging to slow net migration. And Finally A Chinese spacecraft carrying the first samples collected from the far side of the moon has returned to Earth. The Chang’e-6 probe, which landed today in Inner Mongolia, was expected to bring back about 2 kilograms of material collected from the South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the oldest impact craters in the solar system. China and the US [both want to send astronauts]( to the moon by the end of the decade and are eager to learn more about possible reserves of ice, which could potentially be used to make oxygen and rocket fuel for long-term human habitation. The Chang’e-6 probe on the lunar surface on June 4. Source: CNSA/Xinhua/AP Photo More from Bloomberg - Check out our [Bloomberg Investigates]( film series about untold stories and unraveled mysteries - [Bloomberg Opinion]( for a roundup of our most vital opinions on business, politics, economics, tech and more - [Next Africa](, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed - [Economics Daily]( for what the changing landscape means for policy makers, investors and you - [Green Daily]( for the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance - Explore more newsletters at [Bloomberg.com](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? 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