US contacts considered kidnapping or poisoning Assange, court told

Julian Assange was bugged in the toilet at the Ecuadorian embassy at the request of “friends in America”, who even discussed kidnap or poisoning to bring the stalemate over the WikiLeaks founder to a close, a court has heard. Assange had sought refuge at the London embassy for seven years from 2012, fearing he would be pursued over the publication of thousands of classified documents. His extradition hearing at the Old Bailey on Wednesday heard from two anonymous witnesses who had worked for a Spanish firm with a contract at the embassy. One of them revealed the lengths “friends” in the US considered going to after President Donald Trump came to power in 2017. UC...