Ecuador

Ecuador said Oct. 18 that it had cut the internet access of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is holed up at its London embassy, due to leaks by the anti-secrecy website that could impact the U.S. election.

The interrogation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on a Swedish rape accusation has been postponed by a month at his request, Ecuadoran prosecutors said Oct. 12.

The questioning, initially scheduled for Oct. 17, will now take place on Nov. 14 at 10:00 a.m. at Ecuador's embassy in London, where Assange has been holed up since June 2012, the national public prosecutors' office said.

The Colombian government and the country's second-largest rebel group, the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN), announced Oct. 10 they would launch negotiations on Oct. 27 in Ecuador's capital, with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos predicting "total peace." 

Bulgaria is among the countries with the least efficient healthcare systems in the world, data published by Bloomberg shows.

Out of 55 countries studied by the Bloomberg index, Bulgaria has dropped by three spots compared to its results in 2009 (the index ranks countries as of 2014).

Two years ago it had the 46th most efficient healthcare system, while in 2009 it ranked 43rd.

BELGRADE – Latin American nations accused the US of “neo-colonialism” at the UN General Assembly, with Venezuela going as far as calling the Washington “the biggest exporter of violence in the world,” while also arguing for the removal of stumbling blocks to development. Ecuador and Nicaragua joined Venezuela in their condemnation of the US at

A new study has revealed that Taiwan is the best country in the world for expats, while Kuwait is the worst.
The results come from a report by the online expat community InterNations, which looks at everything from quality of life and personal finance, to job satisfaction and ease of settling indices.

Crews have rescued a 72-year-old survivor of Ecuador's deadly earthquake almost two weeks after it struck the South American country, Venezuela announced April 30.

A visiting Venezuelan search team located Manuel Vasquez, who had been trapped under rubble since the 7.8-magnitude quake that killed 660 people, the Venezuelan embassy in Quito said on its website.

World press freedom deteriorated in 2015, especially in the Americas, advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said on Wednesday as it released its annual rankings and warned of “a new era of propaganda”.

The World Press Freedom Index ranks 180 countries on indicators such as media independence, self-censorship, the rule of law, transparency and abuses.

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Ecuador on April 20, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, just days after a major quake hit the country killing nearly 500 people. 

The quake was centred 70 km (44 miles) west-southwest of Esmeraldas at a shallow depth of 10 km, it said, not far from the epicenter of the 7.8 magnitude quake on April 16.

The death toll from Ecuador's worst earthquake in decades rose to 350 on April 18 while traumatized survivors rested amid the rubble of their homes and rescuers dug for survivors in the Andean nation's shattered coastal region. 

At least 2,068 people were also injured in Saturday's 7.8 magnitude quake, which ripped apart buildings and roads and knocked out power.