 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his homeland of Australia aboard a charter jet and raised a clenched fist as his supporters cheered Wednesday, hours after he pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with the Justice Department that concludes a drawn-out legal saga. Assange told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a phone call from the airport tarmac that Australian government intervention saved his life. That's according to Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson.