WASHINGTON (AP) — About a year and a half ago, a lawyer for Julian Assange presented federal prosecutors in Virginia with a longshot request: Dismiss the case against the WikiLeaks founder.

It was a bold ask given that Assange had published hundreds of thousands of secret documents and was arguably the highest-profile detainee in the world facing a U.S. government extradition request. By that point, the Justice Department had been engaged in a protracted fight in British courts to send him to the United States for trial.

2. Australian online watchdog drops court case against X over stabbing video - Friday, May 31, 2024

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia's online safety watchdog said on Wednesday she had dropped her Federal Court case that attempted to force X Corp. to take down a video of a Sydney bishop being stabbed.

3. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slams Facebook for blocking Canada wildfire news - Friday, August 18, 2023

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Facebook on Monday of putting profits over people's safety during the emergencies created by Canada's record wildfire season.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced earlier this summer it would keep its promise to block news content from Canada on its platforms because of a new law that requires tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.

4. Australian online safety watchdog demands answers from Twitter on online hate - Friday, June 23, 2023

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's online safety watchdog has issued a legal notice to Twitter demanding an explanation of what the social media giant is doing to tackle a surge in online hate since Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought the platform.

5. Biden scraps planned visit to Australia, Papua New Guinea to focus on debt limit talks - Friday, May 12, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday he's curtailing his upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific, scrapping what was to be a historic stop in Papua New Guinea as well as a visit to Australia for a gathering with fellow leaders of the so-called Quad partnership so he can focus on debt limit talks in Washington.

6. Australia forecasts first annual budget surplus in 15 years - Friday, May 5, 2023

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government forecast the nation's first balanced annual budget in 15 years but warned Tuesday that economic pressures such as persistent inflation, elevated interest rates, rising unemployment and slowing growth would sink the country into deeper debt.

7. Britain to start free trade with New Zealand, Australia - Friday, May 5, 2023

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Britain's free trade agreements with New Zealand and Australia will come into force by the end of this month, the leaders from the three nations said Friday.

The announcement came while the prime ministers from the two Southern Hemisphere nations are in London for the coronation of King Charles III.

8. Australia blames Russians for health insurance data theft - Friday, November 11, 2022

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Moscow must he held to account for Russian cybercriminals accused of hacking Australia's largest health insurer and dumping customers' personal medical records on the dark web, Australian officials said Friday.

9. Australia mulls tougher cybersecurity laws after data breach - Friday, September 23, 2022

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government said on Monday it is considering tougher cybersecurity rules for telecommunications companies and blamed Optus, the nation's second-largest wireless carrier, for an unprecedented breach of personal data from 9.8 million customers.

10. Australia's rising inflation lifts risk of 4th rate hike - Friday, July 22, 2022

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian inflation rose farther, according to new data released on Wednesday that increases the likelihood of the central bank next week hiking interest rates for a fourth consecutive month.

11. Australia welcomes back tourists with toy koalas, Tim Tams - Friday, February 18, 2022

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — International tourists and business travelers began arriving in Australia with few restrictions on Monday, bringing together families in tearful reunions after separations of two years or longer forced by some of the most draconian pandemic measures of any democracy in the world.

12. Australia has record COVID-19 deaths, hospitals under stress - Friday, January 14, 2022

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia reported a record high of COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, and its second-largest state declared an emergency in hospitals to cope with surging patient admissions and a staffing shortage due to the coronavirus.

13. Djokovic in limbo as he fights deportation from Australia - Friday, January 7, 2022

Novak Djokovic spent a day confined in an immigration detention hotel waiting for a court ruling and dealing with the prospect of deportation from Australia because of an issue with his visa application relating to COVID-19 vaccination regulations.

14. TV was easier when there were fewer choices - Friday, September 24, 2021

I used to be a professional TV viewer, as a critic for a daily newspaper. I thought it would be a dream job. It was not. Turned out that a lot of the stuff I had to watch was bad.

For every “Hill Street Blues” there was a “Manimal.” For every “Cheers” an “AfterMASH.” For every “Greatest American Hero” a “Mama’s Family.”

15. Facebook makes a power move in Australia - and may regret it - Friday, February 19, 2021

For years, Facebook has been in a defensive crouch amid a slew of privacy scandals, antitrust lawsuits and charges that it was letting hate speech and extremism destroy democracy. Early Thursday, though, it abruptly pivoted to take the offensive in Australia, where it lowered the boom on publishers and the government with a sudden decision to block news on its platform across the entire country.

16. EXPLAINER: What's up between Google, Facebook and Australia? - Friday, February 19, 2021

BEIJING (AP) — For two decades, global news outlets have complained internet companies are getting rich at their expense, selling advertising linked to their reports without sharing revenue.

Now, Australia is joining France and other governments in pushing Google, Facebook and other internet giants to pay. That might channel more money to a news industry that is cutting coverage as revenue shrinks. But it also sets up a clash with some of the tech industry's biggest names.

17. Facebook blocks Australians from accessing news on platform - Friday, February 19, 2021

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Facebook announced Thursday it has blocked Australians from viewing and sharing news on the platform because of proposed laws in the country to make digital giants pay for journalism.

18. Australian leader has 'constructive' talk with Google boss - Friday, February 5, 2021

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian prime minister said he had a "constructive" meeting on Thursday with the head of Google after the tech giant threatened to remove its search engine from Australia over plans to make digital platforms pay for news.

19. Australia to amend law making Facebook, Google pay for news - Friday, September 11, 2020

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The author of proposed Australian laws to make Facebook and Google pay for journalism said Thursday his draft legislation will be altered to allay some of the digital giants' concerns, but remain fundamentally unchanged.

20. Australia to make Google and Facebook pay for news content - Friday, April 17, 2020

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Global digital platforms Google and Facebook will be forced to pay for news content in Australia, the government said Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic causes a collapse in advertising revenue.

21. News Corp announces plans to split - Friday, June 22, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — Calling it the next logical step in a near six-decade evolution, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said Thursday that it plans to split into two separate publicly traded companies.

Under the proposal, one company will operate as a newspaper and book publisher, while the other will be an entertainment company that includes the 20th Century Fox movie studio, the Fox broadcast TV network and the Fox News channel. It may take a year to work out the details.

22. News Corp. considers split in 2, stock jumps - Friday, June 22, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Under pressure to limit contagion from the British phone-hacking scandal, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said Tuesday that it is considering splitting into two publicly traded companies.