Swedish Prosecutor Drops Assange Rape Investigation

Swedish prosecutors have dropped their investigation into sexual-assault allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Officials will hold a press conference later Friday to expand on their decision to halt the seven-year legal standoff. The 45-year-old, who firmly denied the allegations he assaulted a woman in Sweden, took shelter in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2012 and has lived there since. Assange may now be able to leave the embassy, but his legal team said he will not exit the premises without certain assurances regarding extradition. The Metropolitan Police in London issued a statement Friday confirming that an arrest warrant for Assange still stands over his failure to surrender in 2012 and that they are “obliged to execute the warrant should he leave the embassy.”