That's a wrap on the first day of what could be the final attempt by Julian Assange to appeal his extradition.

The Wikileaks co-founder was not present at the High Court today because he was unwell, and it's unclear whether he'll attend tomorrow when the hearing continues for its second and last day.

Thank you for following along with us as we brought you the latest from both inside and outside the courtroom.

This page has been edited by Andrew Humphrey, Alex Kleiderman and myself, Johanna Chisholm. Our writers have been Jeremy Culley, Jacqueline Howard, Thomas Mackintosh, Malu Cursino, Esme Stallard and Marita Moloney.

You can read the full news story for the day from our correspondent Dominic Casciani here.

Image source, Getty Images

The High Court has wrapped up for the day, so here's a summary of what we've learned:

• The co-founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, is facing an extradition order to the US to face charges including breaking into its military databases
• Assange did not attend court today, nor did he join via video link because he was unwell. Assange's health, both physical and mental, has been a concern throughout his legal battles
• In court, Assange's legal team alleged they have evidence of a CIA plot during Donald Trump's presidency to kidnap or assassinate him during his years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
• A Spanish court is separately investigating allegations that a security firm based in Spain spied on Assange during his years in the embassy.
• Ed Fitzgerald KC, Assange's lawyer, told the court US assurances of fair treatment couldn't be trusted and his client could be sentenced in a grossly unfair and disproportionate way if extradited
• Another of Assange's lawyers, Mark Summers KC, said a vast number of journalists have leaked classified US information without prosecution, and asked why Assange would be different

• A former US government official told the BBC Assange's actions were reflective of an activist and risked the lives of informants in Iraq and Afghanistan who were passing information to US forces on terrorist groups
• Protesters, journalists and prominent politicians - including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - were at the High Court earlier to show their support for Assange

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent, reporting from the High Court

There were no surprises in the submissions from Julian Assange’s team during today’s lobbying of the court for one last appeal.

The arguments, in general terms, have been central to this case from day one.

Firstly, that there are breaches of human rights and, secondly, that the case is politically motivated.

The claim of an assassination plot is familiar to the closest followers of this story - but it’s not really moved on since it was first aired.

The US’s lawyers will push back very hard against all of this tomorrow.

Their starting and end point is that the case for extradition is repeatedly misrepresented - and Assange is not like any mainstream journalist or publisher of leaks because he exposed real people to harm in the way he did it.

That, they say, is fundamentally why they want their man.

Today's hearing has now ended and is adjourned until tomorrow morning.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting throughout the day, Julian Assange appears to be exploring almost every legal avenue available to him to fight extradition since he was charged in 2019.

Here are some of the key moments from his legal battles over the past decade:

• May 2019: First extradition request hearing, in which Assange opposes the order
• September 2020: A judge declines Assange’s request to dismiss the charges
• January 2021: A judge blocks Assange’s extradition to the US citing concerns over his mental health and risk of suicide. The judge, however, sides with the US on legal points. He is denied bail on grounds he is a flight risk
• December 2021: US prosecutors successfully appeal the earlier ruling. The case is sent to Home Secretary Priti Patel for a final decision
• January 2022: UK High Court judges rule that Assange cannot appeal to them and must instead plead his case to the Supreme Court
• March 2022: Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal because Assange did not raise an arguable point of law
• June 2022: Priti Patel formally approves the extradition request
• July 2022: Assange lodges appeal against extradition request in the UK High Court
• June 2023: High Court dismisses the appeal

Nicky Schiller
Reporting from outside the High Court

Image source, Reuters

I mentioned earlier how the world's media are here.

On both sides of me are two different German news channels.

As you would expect a number of American journalists are here covering the case and we've seen Australian ones too - Assange is an Australian citizen so this case is headline news there as well as here in the UK.

All the time, Assange's supporters have remained outside the High Court. They continue to hold their placards which read "Free Julian Assange". They are waiting for the end of today's proceedings to see if his wife Stella comes out to address them again.

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent, reporting from the High Court

An important clarification from Assange’s team. The allegations of a CIA plot are still being investigated by a Spanish court and there’s not been a final verdict.

Why is Spain involved? Because it was asked to look at allegations about a security firm based in Spain that may have spied on Assange during his years inside the Ecuadorian embassy.

Mike Pompeo, the former head of the CIA and US Secretary of State in the Trump administration, has denied any plan to assassinate Assange.

But Edward Fitzgerald KC, acting for Assange, argues that the denial falls into the category of: “Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he.”

Image source, Elizabeth Cook

As we've been reporting, a last-ditch attempt by the Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange to appeal his extradition to the United States is taking place at the High Court.

He's facing trial in the US for publishing secret military and diplomatic files over a decade ago.

Assange is not present at the hearing - his lawyer has said he's ill.

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent

Edward Fitzgerald KC says there is a risk that, even if Assange is extradited on the basis of assurances of fair treatment from the US, he could be sentenced in a grossly unfair and disproportionate way.

Fitzgerald said there is evidence of defendants being sentenced not just for what they have been found to have done, but also for other unproven conduct.

He cites an example of a drugs case from the United States where a man was convicted of shipping marijuana but received a sentence that linked the drugs offence to a murder the defendant had not even committed.

In essence he is arguing Assange could receive a sentence far more severe than would appear to be likely from what the US has told the British. The US side has repeatedly said in previous hearings this is not true.

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent, reporting from the High Court

Throughout the case, Julian Assange’s team say that he’s at risk of extrajudicial action - which is a legally delicate way of saying he might be assassinated or subject to some harm beyond a criminal sanction after a fair trial.

The central allegation - not yet evidentially tested - is that the CIA plotted to kill Assange during the seven years he spent inside Ecuador’s London embassy.

Mark Summers KC, lawyer for Assange, said there is evidence of this "truly breathtaking plan”.

He told the judges that then-President Donald Trump asked for “detailed options” of how to kill Assange.

"Senior CIA officials requested plans, the president himself requested on being provided with options on how to do it and sketches were even drawn up," he said.

In 2006, Assange founded the Wikileaks website, and went on to publish troves of documents exposing scandals including corruption in Kenya, Tibetan unrest in China and drone strikes in Yemen.

Four years later, Wikileaks released a video from a US military helicopter which showed civilians being killed in Baghdad, Iraq.

It also published thousands of confidential documents supplied by former US Army intelligence analyst, Chelsea Manning.

In 2019, the US government indicted him on 18 charges relating to the Wikileaks release of millions of secret government documents relating to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan

Assange has been in Belmarsh prison in London since as he fights fighting extradition to the US.

Nicky Schiller
Reporting from outside the High Court

I'm still outside the High Court and while the main players are back inside the courtroom, many of Julian Assange's supporters are still here.

Some are listening to speeches by various people.

Another group have gathered round some musicians who are performing right in front of the gates of the Royal Courts of Justice.

The lyrics are Julian Assange-themed including one line: "We will always stand by Julian Assange".

Image source, EPA

Last week, Australia's Labor government voted to urge the US and the UK to allow Julian Assange to return to Australia.

The motion has little impact besides a symbolic show of support for the Australian national, but is indicative of recently renewed diplomatic efforts for Assange's freedom.

For instance, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised the matter with US President Joe Biden last year, and Australia's attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, discussed the matter with his US counterpart, Merrick Garland, in Washington DC last month.

The previous government, led by the conservative Liberal Party, had less involvement in Assange's case, saying at the time that Assange would not get special treatment and that it would respect the UK's legal process.

Image source, Reuters

Wikileaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson has been addressing crowds outside the High Court in central London who have shown up in support of Julian Assange.

"If this is how you practise open justice, then I don't have much faith in the court system here," he says.

Hrafnsson says he was sent to the overflow room alongside other journalists and missed parts of the morning's proceedings because of issues with the audio feed.

He adds: "It is absurd that journalists are not able to observe one of the most important cases for journalists in modern times".

As we reported earlier, limited numbers of people were able to get into the court to witness the proceedings.

Image source, Getty Images

A few moments ago a former US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs spoke to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme about the damage caused by the dump of secret cables on Wikileaks back in 2010.

PJ Cowley says Julian Assange is someone who is not in a position to say people didn't come to harm from the leaks.

"Julian Assange eventually dumped out raw cables and intelligence which put people in harm's way," Cowley says - branding Assange an "activist".

"I know one intelligence source was thrown into jail," Cowley says.

Cowley says he believes there was "certainly damage" in the short term, but the US has been able to manage the impact of the leaks since.

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent, reporting from the High Court

During the lunch break I was one of the journalists who managed to speak with Julian Assange's wife Stella Assange outside the High Court.

I asked her about how she felt the morning's session went.

Nicky Schiller
Reporting from outside the High Court

I'm still outside the court with Julian Assange's supporters.

His wife Stella has just addressed them from a stage during the lunch break in court.

As she was introduced they chanted "Stella, Stella". She told them the case was about the ability to publish the truth and expose crimes when committed by states.

As she came off stage she agreed to do an interview with my colleague Dominic Casciani and the world's media crowded around to hear what she had to say.

Dom asked her what they would do if they were unsuccessful and she said they would look to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Other people who have been in court are now doing interviews with the media before the case restarts.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

As the High Court breaks for lunch, here's a summary of what has happened so far on the first day of the hearing to determine if the co-founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, can be granted a final full appeal to his extradition:

• Julian Assange is facing an extradition order to the US to face charges including breaking into its military databases
• The court was told that Assange was not able to attend the hearing - either in person or via a video link - because he was unwell
• Assange's legal team set out their first arguments for an appeal to go ahead
• Ed Fitzgerald KC, acting for Assange, said if his client was to face trial in the US there was a “real risk“ he would suffer “a flagrant denial of justice”
• Assange's legal team claimed he was subject to a CIA plot to kidnap or assassinate him while he was holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
• They want that to form part of a potential appeal, arguing "there is a very real risk of further extrajudicial actions against him by the CIA or other agencies"
• Ed Fitzgerald argued that the US decision to prosecute him is politically motivated and Assange's actions amount to "ordinary journalistic practice". Ultimately, they argue he shouldn't be punished for doing his job as a journalist
• But the US says his actions went beyond that and risked the lives of informants in Iraq and Afghanistan who were passing information to US forces on terrorist groups
• Protesters, journalists and prominent politicians - such as Jeremy Corbyn - were at the High Court earlier to show their support for Assange
• Assange's wife Stella told the BBC yesterday that he would not survive being extradited from the UK to the US as he is physically and mentally extremely weak
• His brother Gabriel Shipton separately told TalkTV earlier that Assange's health is in a "very delicate position"

Nicky Schiller
Reporting from outside the High Court

As news of the court breaking for lunch reached the supporters outside there was a sudden increase in the noise level.

While typing this out, I can hear the group shouting "free Assange" and blowing whistles and banging drums.

The police are trying to make sure the pedestrian crossing that is right outside the court entrance is kept clear.

The supporters are hoping that Assange's wife, Stella, may come out and talk to them in the court break.

Dominic Casciani
Home and legal correspondent, reporting from the High Court

Court has just adjourned for lunch - but two important interventions at the end of this session.

Mark Summers KC, another of Julian Assange’s top lawyers, has argued all the evidence at the original extradition hearing showed that in the US national security leaks are so routine there is a whole cadre of journalists whose careers are dedicated to the practice.

He said nobody had ever been prosecuted for publishing those leaks - begging the question as to why his client was being pursued.

Justice Johnson, one of the two judges, then asked a question.

He wanted to know whether anyone had ever been prosecuted for the type of leak the US has accused Assange of publishing - revealing the true identities of human sources.

This is a core part of the US’s case - that Assange endangered the lives of confidential informants in Iraq and Afghanistan who had helped its forces combat insurgents and terrors groups.