The European Union summoned Russia's representative to the EU and called for an independent international investigation into the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the EU's diplomatic service said on February 20.

More than 400 people have been detained at events across 32 Russian cities since the death of Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most formidable opponent, according to rights group OVD-Info, as Russians continued to gather and lay flowers.

It has been the largest wave of arrests at political events in Russia since September 2022, when more than 1,300 were arrested at demonstrations against a "partial mobilisation" of reservists for Putin's military campaign in Ukraine.

Thailand’s jailed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, 74, who was jailed for eight years for abuse of power before a royal pardon reduced the term to one year, was granted release on parole, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters on February 20.

Thaksin swept to power in 2001 on a populist platform that appealed to rural Thais who had long been neglected by the country’s ruling elites. He was returned to office in a landslide five years later but the military soon seized power in a coup.

The United States has again vetoed a draft UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Israel’s war on Gaza, prompting widespread criticism from rivals and allies alike.

The move on February 20 was the third US veto of a UNSC resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, and came a day after Washington circulated a resolution that would support a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of all Israeli captives from the Palestinian enclave. 

Ghana's parliament on February 21 moved a step closer to holding a vote on a bill that seeks to further clamp down on the rights of LGBT people, rejecting a proposal that would have seen jail terms for gay sex replaced with non-custodial sentences such as counselling.

A coalition of Christian, Muslim, and Ghanaian traditional leaders have sponsored the legislation, which is favored by most lawmakers. It would punish the promotion of rights of those who are lesbian, gay, or other non-conventional sexual or gender identities with up to 10 years in prison.

The top United Nations court said that it notes the “perilous” situation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but has declined South Africa’s request for urgent measures to safeguard Palestinians being threatened by an Israeli ground assault there.

“The Court notes that the most recent developments in the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah in particular, ‘would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,’ as stated by the United Nations Secretary-General,” the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said in a statement on February 16.

Greece has become the first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex marriage despite opposition from the church and some politicians. It has also become the first country in southeastern Europe to have passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage.

The measure was passed by parliament late on February 15 with 176 lawmakers from across the political spectrum voting in favor, and 76 against. Two abstained and 46 were not present. The vote, which came after two days of debate and weeks of public reactions, will now legally allow same-sex couples to adopt children as well.

A senior bureaucrat in Pakistan has said he helped rig Pakistan’s elections, a week after polls marred by allegations of manipulation returned no clear winner.

On February 17, Liaqat Ali Chattha, commissioner of the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where the country’s powerful military has its headquarters, said he would hand himself over to police and step down from his position. “We converted the losers into winners, reversing margins of 70,000 votes in 13 national assembly seats,” he told reporters, also implicating the head of the election commission and the country’s top judge.

Venezuela has ordered the local office of the United Nations human rights body to suspend operations and given its staff 72 hours to leave, accusing it of promoting opposition to the South American country.