Jailed Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange is reportedly "too ill" to even speak at a scheduled extradition hearing today. He is said to be "gravely ill" and even near death. If Assange is worth more dead than alive to the governments he has embarrassed by publishing the truth about their crimes, are they trying to make his death happen? Or will he be slowly killed by a 170 year prison sentence?

"Nothing changes from the Mueller Report," Trump tweeted on Wednesday. "There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent. The case is closed! Thank you."

Trump's tweet came after Mueller made his first public statement since releasing his final report almost two months ago. The Special Counsel formally closed his office, and announced he would make no further statements on the investigation. The written report, he said, "speaks for itself."

Mueller's final report found no evidence that Trump colluded with Russia in the runup to the 2016 election, and insufficient evidence that the president then obstructed his investigation. Mueller did, however, state that he had not determined that obstruction did not take place, but declined to charge the president with a crime, as that move would be "unconstitutional."

Congressional Democrats have accused Attorney General William Barr of making unnecessary redactions to the 400-page report in an effort to protect Trump. Mueller dismissed these accusations on Wednesday, saying Barr has already "made the report on our investigation largely public."

Mueller also said that he would give no testimony to Congress "beyond that which is already public."

Previously, House Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-New York) had expressed a desire to question Mueller about the report, saying last week that the special counsel would "probably" testify in private to the committee, and earlier threatening to subpoena Mueller if necessary.

Trump has accused Nadler and the 23 other Democrats on the committee of trying to hold a "do over" of the Mueller investigation, and has repeatedly stated that the report found "no collusion" and "no obstruction."

Meanwhile, some Democrats have taken Mueller's insistence on not prosecuting Trump as a cue to bring their own charges, including impeachment proceedings, against the president.

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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to win a snap election in September after he failed to meet the deadline to form a coalition government and the parliament, for the first time in history, voted to dissolve itself.

"We will run a sharp, clear election campaign which will bring us victory. We will win, we will win and the public will win," Netanyahu told reporters in a brief statement after parliament voted to dissolve itself. The vote of 74 to 45 in favor of dismantling the Knesset will send the country into yet another election on September 17.

After more than a month of futile attempts to form a coalition government following last month's election victory, Netanyahu made a last-ditch effort to strike a deal between ex-defense minister Avigdor Lieberman and ultra-Orthodox parties on military draft exemptions. But that attempt has failed, with Lieberman blaming Netanyahu for dragging the country into another election because of the Likud's party's refusal to vote on a bill to draft the ultra-Orthodox Jews into mandatory military service.

Netanyahu hit back at his former commander, claiming that Lieberman misled his voters just to drag Israel into a new election "just because he wants a few more votes, which he won't get." The PM also accused Lieberman of being a man of the left who "brings down right-wing governments."

Meanwhile the leader of the opposition, Benny Gantz, who previously argued that his Blue and White party should be given the chance to form a coalition if Netanyahu fails, slammed the Prime Minister as well.

"Bibi proved again - not Israel before all. Bibi over everything," he said on Twitter. "Bibi was a prisoner of the legal fortress and trying to avoid prison. The people will have to pay for Bibi's failure."

Iran 'almost certainly' attacked Saudi tankers

US National Security Advisor John Bolton claimed this week that Iran was "almost certainly" behind a recent attack on ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, in the Gulf of Oman. Not one for detail, Bolton declined to offer actual evidence to back up the allegation.

'Highly likely' Russia poisoned Skripal

British Prime Minister Theresa May barely waited until the doctors had examined Sergei and Yulia Skripal before accusing Russia of being behind their poisoning last March. May quickly rallied Western governments, prompting a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats without providing any actual evidence of Moscow's guilt. She emphatically told Parliament that Russia was"highly likely" the culprit. Mainstream media, of course, instantly jumped on that bandwagon and dissenting voices were banished from the airwaves.

Beluga whale 'most likely' spying for Putin

In April, Western media was hysterical over the discovery of a Beluga whale "with suspected Russian military ties." The whale, spotted by a fisherman in Norwegian waters, was wearing a harness, which led to suggestions that some nefarious Russian activity was going on. One expert at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsoe took a leaf out of the CIA's book, telling the media that the whale was "most likely" trained by Russia for military purposes. The claim was repeated ad nauseam until it was countered by another Norwegian report that the whale could actually have been trained to entertain children. Oops!?

Assad 'highly likely' responsible for Douma

Syrian President Bashar Assad was "highly likely" responsible for a chemical attack on the city of Douma in 2018, according to the British government. The incident was used as an easy pretext for US, British and French bombing in Syria. Surely, they would never lie to us? Well, a report leaked by OPCW engineers earlier this month contradicts the official narrative on the Douma attack, its findings implying that it could have been a staged provocation designed to justify Western bombing.

NotPetya cyber attack 'almost certainly' Russia

Both the US and British governments also blamed Russia (surprise!) for the so-called NotPetya cyber attack which hit companies and government systems around the world in 2017, with London saying Moscow was "almost certainly" behind it.

Several Russian companies were also targeted in the attack and officials never gave evidence or explained why the attack was instantly blamed on Russia.