Assange arrested, appearing before magistrate in UK.

Live coverage over at the Guardian site. What they have posted to their site so far:

2.35pm: Assange sought consular assistance from the Australian high commission, according to Channel 4 News.

Sky claims that members of the commission are inside the court with Assange.

2.33pm: WikiLeaks has put out another appeal for funding. "KEEP US STRONG - DONATE", it tweeted.

With what?

The Press Association news agency has more on Visa's decision to cut off payments:

    The card payment operator said an inquiry is under way into how the organisation operates.

    The whistle-blowing website has suffered repeated denial of service attacks, moved server, lost its PayPal service and had a key Swiss bank account closed.

    WikiLeaks relies on online donations from a worldwide network of supporters to fund its work.

    A spokesman said: "Visa Europe has taken action to suspend Visa payment acceptance on WikiLeaks' website pending further investigation into the nature of its business and whether it contravenes Visa operating rules."

2.28pm: Assange said he would fight extradition to Sweden, according to the Associated Press news agency.

2.10pm: The socialite Jemima Khan has appeared in the court with Julian Assange, according to Sky News.

2.08pm: US defence secretary Robert Gates has welcomed the arrest of Assange. Speaking to reporters on a visit to US troops in Afghanistan, Gates smirked on hearing the news.

"I hadn't heard that, but that sounds like good news to me," he said.

2.07pm: More financial problems for WikiLeaks: Visa says it has suspended all payments to WikiLeaks "pending further investigation".

Earlier MasterCard said: "MasterCard is taking action to ensure that WikiLeaks can no longer accept MasterCard-branded products."

2.03pm: Hamid Karzai has been teasing the Americans and David Cameron about WikiLeaks, according to my colleague Polly Curtis, who accompanied Cameron to Kabul.

    Making light of what has clearly been a tricky diplomatic period after the WikiLeaks revelations, Karzai said: "You should wait for the British WikiLeaks."

    Cameron responded: "We were always nice about you," to which Karzai answered: "Most of the time."

1.58pm: Assange is due to appear in court in the next few minutes, according to a tweet from Channel 4 News.

 Pretty shitty deal for all funding sources to be cut-off for Wikileaks. But, it doesn't surprise me.