Ecuador Grants Asylum to Assange, Defying Britain

The New York Times: The nation of Ecuador has decided that it will provide asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. For two months, Assange has been living in Ecuador’s London Embassy, waiting for the country to decide his fate.

However, the asylum only protects Assange as long as he remains in Ecuador’s territory. For now, that means he can’t leave the embassy, because if he does, British officials have promised to arrest him and extradite him to Sweden, where he is wanted on charges of sexual misconduct. Still, Ecuador is hoping to work out a deal with Britain that will allow Assange to travel to Ecuador.

For its part, Sweden has called the asylum decision “unacceptable.”