
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States because it would have a chilling effect on press freedom, a European human rights chief said on Thursday. Assange, 48, is in prison in London, where an extradition hearing begins next week. The US authorities want to try him on 18 counts including to hack government computers and violating an espionage law.

China said on Thursday it has again changed the method of counting patients with COVID-19 and will now include only those diagnosed by sophisticated laboratory testing.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar resigned on Thursday but stayed on as interim leader while the country's three main parties battle out coalition talks after an inconclusive election.

Mexican law enforcement has arrested suspects in the killing of a seven-year-old girl whose murder rocked the capital with protests, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum wrote in a post on Twitter. The body of Fatima Cecilia Aldrighett was discovered over the weekend in a plastic garbage bag, sparking outrage over growing violence against women in Mexico.

Public school teachers in Colombia launched a two-day strike on Thursday to protest violence against the profession and killings of activists and other community leaders, leaving more than 7 million children without classes.

Airlines operating in the Asia-Pacific region stand to lose a combined US$27.8 billion of revenue this year in the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the International Air Transport Association said on Thursday.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Women’s Conference, hosted by the Falkland Islands and attended by some twenty delegates, opened in Stanley last Tuesday by Deputy Speaker of the House Hon Claudette Prior MBE.

Fabian Picardo, Chief Minister of the Gibraltar government expressed on Wednesday condolences on its behalf, and on behalf of the People of Gibraltar, to the family of Fernando Moran, former Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Spain, who has passed away on 19 January.

Thousands of women, many sporting the green scarves that have become the symbol of Argentina's abortion rights movement, rallied in Buenos Aires and other cities on Wednesday to campaign for a new bill to legalize abortion.

An IMF team, led by Julie Kozack Deputy Director of the Western Hemisphere Department and Luis Cubeddu Mission chief for Argentina, visited Buenos Aires from February 12 to 19, 2020 to discuss the recent macroeconomic developments and learn more about the Argentine authorities’ economic plans and policies. At the conclusion of the staff visit, Ms Kozack and Mr Cubeddu issued the following statement: