Australian prime minister says he is working effectively to free WikiLeaks founder

CANBERRA, Australia: (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is working in the “most effective way possible” to secure the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Independent lawmaker Andrew Wilkie asked Albanese on Monday if he would meet Assange’s wife Stella Assange, who was watching Parliament from the public gallery. Albanese said a meeting with Stella Assange wouldn’t help her 51-year-old husband who is in a London prison fighting extradition to the United States. Albanese was with U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Japan over the weekend for the G7 summit. Albanese did not say whether he had raised with either leader Australia’s position that Assange has been incarcerated for too long.