The number of prisoners freed in Venezuela has increased to 18, human rights organisations reported on Saturday, up from nine on Friday afternoon.
The release of political detainees in the South American nation has long been demanded by rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, who has several close allies still behind bars.
Both U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuela’s leading lawmaker Jorge Rodríguez, brother of acting president Delcy Rodríguez, have described the releases as a gesture of peace; Trump added in a post on Truth Social that he had called off a second wave of attacks on Venezuela after securing cooperation from Caracas.
The announcements cap a week of intense political upheaval in Caracas, marked by the U.S. strike on Venezuela, the dramatic capture and arraignment of President Nicolás Maduro on narcoterrorism charges in New York, Rodríguez’s swearing‑in as acting president, and the U.S. plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude.
Opposition and human rights groups have long accused the Venezuelan government of using detentions to suppress dissent — allegations authorities deny. There is no official list of those to be released, nor confirmation of how many will ultimately be freed.
Local rights group Foro Penal estimates around 811 political prisoners remain in the country, including more than 80 foreigners, among them two U.S. citizens and one U.S. resident.
Five Spanish nationals, including Venezuelan‑Spanish rights activist Rocío San Miguel, were the first confirmed freed on Thursday and arrived in Madrid the next day. Former opposition presidential candidate Enrique Marquez is also among those who have been released.
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A British national was among at least 19 people killed when a passenger bus plunged off a mountain highway into the Trishuli river in Nepal before dawn on Monday (23 February), authorities said. A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among those injured.
Against a backdrop of mounting environmental pressure across Central Asia, the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources has announced that the Regional Ecological Summit (RES) 2026 will take place from 22–24 April in Astana.
Iran has signed a secret €500 million arms deal with Russia to rebuild air defences, weakened during last year’s war with Israel, the Financial Times has reported. The agreement, signed in December in Moscow, will see Russia deliver 500 Verba launch units and 2,500 9M336 missiles over three years.
A seven-month-old Japanese macaque has drawn international attention after forming an unusual bond with a stuffed orangutan toy after being rejected by its mother.
Divers have recovered the bodies of seven Chinese tourists and a Russian driver after their minibus broke through the ice of on Lake Baikal in Russia, authorities said.
Iran announced on Saturday (21 February) that it has designated the naval and air forces of European Union member states as “terrorist entities” in a reciprocal move after the EU blacklisted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Pakistan said it carried out cross-border strikes on militant targets inside Afghanistan after blaming a series of recent suicide bombings, including attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, on fighters it said were operating from Afghan territory.
Italy said a fond farewell to the Winter Olympics on Sunday with an open-air ceremony in the ancient Verona Arena that celebrated art and sporting achievement at a Games lauded as a model for how to stage such events.
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The European Parliament on Monday (23 February) postponed a vote on the EU’s trade deal with the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed a blanket 15% import duty.
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