Venezuela freed a group of prominent opposition leaders on Sunday, according to statements from the country's press union, the political opposition party, and relatives of the freed prisoners. The releases, which included figures like Juan Pablo Guanipa and Perkins Rocha, came as the government appeared to be courting support from the United States. At least 35 political prisoners were released on Sunday, according to the rights group Foro Penal, which had reported over 650 detainees the previous week.
The government made no official statement regarding the releases. However, Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela's de facto leader, had made recent statements on the matter. Ramón Guanipa Linares, son of Juan Pablo Guanipa, expressed his joy on social media, writing, "After more than eight months of unjust imprisonment and more than a year and a half of being separated, our entire family will soon be able to embrace each other again."
In other international news, Japan's ruling party, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, was on course to win Sunday's snap election by a landslide. The coalition led by Takaichi's Liberal Democrat Party (LDP) secured 352 of 465 seats in Japan's House of Representatives, with the LDP alone holding a majority of 316, according to figures collated by public broadcaster NHK. Takaichi had sought a clear public mandate by calling the election just four months after becoming party leader.
Meanwhile, in Thailand, Prime Minister Anutin Charnavirakul claimed victory in the general election, with preliminary vote counts showing his ruling conservatives ahead of their rivals. Anutin stated that his success belonged to "all Thais, no matter whether you voted for us or not," after his party's expected result defied opinion polls that had placed the reformist People's Party ahead. With 90% of the votes counted, Anutin's Bhumjaithai party was projected to win 194 seats in Bangkok's 500-seat parliament, with the People's Party in second place with 116 seats.
In Russia, authorities identified three suspects in the shooting of high-profile military figure Lt Gen Vladimir Alexeyev. The attack occurred in a residential block of flats in the north-western outskirts of Moscow. One of the suspects, Lyubomir Korba, a Ukrainian-born Russian citizen, was accused of carrying out the attack. Russia's Investigations Committee (SK) said Korba arrived in Moscow in late December "on assignment from Ukrainian intelligence services to commit a terrorist attack." Kyiv has denied involvement.
Finally, a murder trial in France was complicated by the fact that the two identical twin brothers on trial for murder have the same DNA. The 33-year-old brothers are among five defendants accused of a double murder and several subsequent attempted killings in 2020, according to French newspaper Le Parisien. Both brothers are suspected of conspiring to plot the double murder, but DNA on an assault rifle used in one of the later gun battles could only be from one twin. A police officer told the court that forensic experts were unable to determine which of the brothers had been conclusively implicated.
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