Gavin Creel, Tony Award winner and musical Broadway veteran, dies at 48

LONDON (AP) — Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will make his first public statements since he was released from prison when he addresses the Council of Europe on Tuesday.

Assange, 53, is expected to give evidence to the legal affairs and human rights committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.

The Parliamentary Assembly, which includes parliamentarians from 46 European countries, said the hearing will discuss Assange’s detention and conviction “and their chilling effect on human rights” ahead of a debate on the topic on Wednesday.

WikiLeaks said in a statement that Assange will attend the hearing in person “due to the exceptional nature of the invitation.”

Assange was released in June after five years in a British prison after he pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that concluded a drawn-out legal saga. Prior to his time in prison, he had spent seven years in self-imposed exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he claimed asylum on the grounds of political persecution.

The Australian internet publisher was accused of receiving and publishing hundreds of thousands of war logs and diplomatic cables that included details of U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. His activities were celebrated by press freedom advocates, who heralded his role in bringing to light military conduct that might otherwise have been concealed.

Among the files published by WikiLeaks was a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.

But critics say his conduct put American national security and innocent lives — such as people who provided information to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan — at risk, and strayed far beyond the bounds of traditional journalism duties.

The years-long case ended with Assange entering his plea in a U.S. district court on the Northern Mariana Islands, an American commonwealth in the Pacific.

Assange pleaded guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information. A judge sentenced him to the five years he had already spent behind bars in the U.K. fighting extradition to the United States.

Assange returned to Australia a free man in late June. At the time his wife, Stella, said he needed time to recuperate before speaking publicly.

His appearance on Tuesday comes after the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly published a report on Assange’s detention in a high-security U.K. prison for five years.

The assembly’s human rights committee said Assange qualified as a political prisoner and issued a draft resolution expressing deep concern at his harsh treatment.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy acknowledged Monday that derogatory remark s he made last year about Native Americans were “insensitive.” But Sheehy rejected his opponent’s call to apologize, during a contentious debate in a race that’s emerged as pivotal for control of the Senate.

Three-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester had challenged Sheehy over remarks last year in which the Republican told a group of laughing supporters about bonding “with all the Indians…while they’re drunk,” while working cattle at a ranch on the Crow Indian Reservation

“Yeah, insensitive,” responded Sheehy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL. “I come from the military as many of our tribal members do. You know, we make insensitive jokes and probably off color-jokes sometimes.”

Sheehy then tried to turn the discussion to the immigration crisis but Tester kept pressing him.

“Tim, the statement you made degrades Native Americans across this country,” Tester said. “You’re a big guy, just apologize.”

“You apologize for opening the border,” Sheehy retorted.

The acrimonious exchange, during the debate’s closing minutes, underscored the growing tensions between the two campaigns as the contest enters its final stretch. They are each jockeying for support from a small contingent of moderate Republican and Independent voters in the state who are considered crucial to victory in November.

Sheehy sharply criticized Tester over his ties to lobbyists, who have donated more heavily to the Democrat this election cycle than to any other member of Congress, according to the non-partisan group OpenSecrets.

“While I was fighting in Afghanistan, he was eating lobbyist steak in D.C.,” Sheehy said.

Tester in turn accused Sheehy of wanting to outlaw abortion, even as the Democrat linked his own campaign to a voter initiative that would enshrine abortion as a right under the state Constitution.

“I want to see Roe reinstated,” Tester said of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade that has allowed some states to sharply restrict abortions. “My opponent, on the other hand, feels exactly the opposite. He feels he’s more entitled to make that decision than the women are.”

Tester is the last remaining Democrat to hold high office in Montana and the race is on track to be the most expensive in state history. Republicans party leaders including former President Donald Trump handpicked Sheehy in hopes of toppling Tester, a 68-year-old farmer.

Republicans need to gain just two seats in November to take the Senate majority when a new Congress convenes next year. They are widely considered to have a lock on one, in West Virginia, meaning Montana could make the difference.

Montana has seven Indian reservations and almost 70,000 Native Americans, representing about 7% of its total population, according to U.S. Census data. It’s a voting block that’s long been considered Democratic-leaning. Montana Republicans in recent years have courted tribal leaders hoping to gain their support in elections.

Tribal leaders were highly critical of Sheehy’s derogatory comments about Native Americans that emerged in audio recordings published by Char-Koosta News, the official publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Sheehy did not respond when the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council asked him to apologize in early September. The council represents 11 tribes and First Nations in the U.S. and Canada.

Sheehy later downplayed the comments during a Fox News interview in which he suggested the audio was from “years ago” and had been edited to make him sound “like somebody I’m not.” But he did not deny the authenticity of the recordings on Monday.

Trump won Montana by about 17 percentage points in 2020. Seeking to capitalize on the former president’s popularity in the state, Sheehy has frequently sought to lump Tester with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The Republican’s objective is to highlight public dissatisfaction over the administration’s struggles to stem illegal immigration on the southern border.

“Democrats on the Hill refused to hold the administration accountable for the largest mass migration in the history of this country,” Sheehy said in response to a debate question about the border.

Seeking to blunt the attacks, Tester skipped the Democratic National Convention last month, declined to endorse Harris and avoids mention of her on the campaign trail. He’s opposed the administration over tighter pollution rules for coal plants and pressed it to do more on immigration.

“Look, I’ll be the first person to tell you that President Biden has not done a good job on the southern border,” Tester said Monday.

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan closed schools and offices and evacuated hundreds from vulnerable areas around the island Tuesday ahead of a strong typhoon expected to hit its populated western coast after lashing northern Philippine islands.

More than 500 people were moved from mountainous regions prone to landslides. Nearly 40,000 troops were mobilized to help with rescue efforts, according to the Defense Ministry.

Typhoon Krathon is expected to hit the major port city of Kaohsiung in the island’s southwest on Wednesday morning then move across the center of Taiwan and northeast toward the East China Sea, according to the Central Weather Administration. It is expected to be felt in the capital Taipei on Wednesday and Thursday.

In Kaohsiung, a city of 2.7 million people, many stores and restaurants were closed. Up to 80 centimeters (31 inches) of rain was forecast in its mountainous areas.

The typhoon was moving toward the island with maximum sustained winds of 198 kph (123 mph) and gusts of 245 kph (152 mph), according to the weather administration.

Typhoon Krathon on Monday displaced nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines, where it blew away roofs of rural houses, toppled trees and caused widespread flooding.

Wind damaged an airport terminal and two parked light planes in Basco, the capital of the northernmost province of Batanes. An airstrip and a hangar were also flooded in Lingayen town in Pangasinan province, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

There were no immediate reports of casualties by the government’s disaster-response agency, but local officials said a resident was electrocuted Monday by a downed power line while riding a motorcycle in the coastal town of Santa Ana in Cagayan province.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.