British District Judge Vanessa Baraitser denied the United States’ request (AP) to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, saying his mental health would deteriorate if he was held in U.S. prisons. The ruling is the latest in a lengthy legal battle that will likely continue, as U.S. prosecutors indicated that they will appeal the decision.

U.S. authorities indicted Assange on espionage charges (Reuters) over Wikileaks’ publication of confidential military records and diplomatic cables a decade ago, which they say put more than one hundred people at risk. Assange’s supporters have hailed him as a hero for transparency (NYT), and his lawyers have argued that he was acting as a journalist and should be entitled to First Amendment protections of free speech. However, in her ruling, Judge Baraitser said Assange went beyond acting as a journalist. British police arrested Assange in 2019 after he spent seven years living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

President Donald J. Trump urged Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” enough votes to overturn Trump’s electoral defeat in the state, according to a recording of a phone call on Saturday obtained by the Washington Post. The call came just days before Congress is expected to certify the outcome of the 2020 election, despite some Republicans pledging to challenge the results.

The South Korean population shrunk by more than twenty thousand (Yonhap) in 2020 compared to the previous year, the country’s first-ever recorded decline. The number of deaths surpassed the record-low number of births.

Japan: During a New Year’s press conference, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that the government is considering declaring a state of emergency (Yomiuri Shimbun) in Tokyo due to the spread of COVID-19. He also said he expects vaccinations to start by the end of February.

For CFR’s Asia Unbound blog, James Gannon writes that global health needs a U.S.-Japan partnership.

The country, which has recorded the second-most COVID-19 infections after the United States, approved two vaccines (Hindustan Times) for emergency use. One was developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and the other was developed domestically by Bharat Biotech and a government-run institute.

This CFR In Brief explains why vaccination coverage is important.

Pakistan: The self-proclaimed Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killings of eleven miners (Reuters) from the Shiite Hazara minority group in Balochistan Province.

The Iranian government announced that it has resumed 20 percent uranium enrichment (Reuters) at its Fordow nuclear facility. The move is Iran’s latest breach of the 2015 nuclear agreement since the United States withdrew from the deal in 2018.

Israel: Prosecutors filed an amended indictment (Times of Israel) detailing corruption charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in one of the three cases against him. Thousands of people protested against Netanyahu over the weekend.

The three countries agreed to resume negotiations (AP, AFP) on January 10 over the disputed Ethiopian dam on the Blue Nile river. Previous talks failed to produce an agreement on the filling and operation of the dam’s reservoir.

Niger: Suspected militants killed around one hundred civilians (NYT) on Saturday in attacks on the villages of Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumadareye. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which are some of the country’s deadliest ever.

Rescuers found the bodies (BBC) of seven people who were killed in a massive landslide last week that destroyed at least thirty homes and prompted one thousand people to evacuate. Three people are still missing (AP). The country’s king and queen visited the site of the disaster yesterday.

The U.S. State Department added (Al Jazeera) Banco Financiero Internacional, S.A. to its restricted list, saying the move will prevent the Cuban military from benefiting from financial transactions.

This CFR Backgrounder traces U.S.-Cuba relations.

Venezuela: The country’s oil exports plunged (Reuters) in 2020 as the United States imposed strict sanctions, sinking to levels not seen since the 1940s, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon and state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).