A Moscow court sentenced opposition leader Alexey Navalny to three and a half years in a penal colony, drawing domestic and international rebuke. Prosecutors accused Navalny of violating the terms of a 2014 suspended prison sentence, which the European Court of Human Rights ruled was “arbitrary and unreasonable” (Moscow Times). Navalny will only serve two years and eight months because he previously spent time under house arrest.
 
The court’s decision further angered Navalny’s supporters, who were outraged by his detention last month after he returned to Russia from Germany, where he was recovering from a near-fatal nerve agent poisoning. Human rights monitors say almost 1,400 protesters in several cities were detained (BBC) yesterday. In Moscow, police were filmed beating protesters (NYT). International officials criticized the court’s ruling and voiced support for Navalny and protesters, with Germany refusing to rule out (DW) adding sanctions on Russia.

A lawyer for one of the twelve activists China detained in August while fleeing Hong Kong for Taiwan said China revoked his license (SCMP). The U.S. State Department urged Beijing to reverse the decision. Another lawyer for the group was stripped of his license last month.
 
China: Independent experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) visited a lab in the city of Wuhan that some critics of China have theorized (FT) was the source of the coronavirus. The team is investigating the virus’s origin.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains the role of the WHO.

Police charged Aung San Suu Kyi with illegally importing communications equipment after the military forced her from power (Al Jazeera) on Monday. A spokesperson for Suu Kyi’s party said she has been “remanded in custody” (Euronews) until February 15. The UN Security Council failed to condemn the coup after meeting yesterday.
 
CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick looks at potential policy responses to Myanmar’s coup.
 
India: High-profile international figures, including the singer Rihanna, voiced support (Reuters) for the tens of thousands of farmers protesting against India’s new agriculture laws. India’s government called the comments irresponsible and heightened security (SCMP) at protest sites near New Delhi.

Iran said it will free the crew, but not the captain, of a South Korean–flagged ship that it seized a month ago (NYT) for allegedly violating maritime pollution laws. Meanwhile, South Korea and the United States are in final talks (Yonhap) on paying Iran’s UN dues using Iranian money frozen in South Korean banks due to U.S. sanctions. Some believe Iran seized the ship to pressure South Korea over the frozen funds.
 
Libya: The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum voted to elect (Arab News) a three-member Presidency Council, which will be part of an interim executive body until national elections are held. No candidate received the necessary 70 percent of votes, forcing another round of voting.

Somali leaders kick off talks today (Garowe Online) to prevent a constitutional crisis when President Mohamed Farmaajo’s mandate expires on February 8. Disputes between Somalia’s central government and its states have twice postponed (DW) elections to choose new lawmakers, who select the president, leaving Farmaajo without a successor.
 
DRC: Violence committed by the Allied Democratic Forces (UN News Service) in the Democratic Republic of Congo could amount to crimes against humanity, the UN human rights office said. In 2020, attacks by the armed group killed at least 849 civilians in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella tapped Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank, to form a new government (WSJ) following the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte last week. The move comes after Italy’s ruling parties failed to meet a deadline (AFP, Local) to agree on a new government.

Authorities charged twelve police officers with homicide (WaPo) over their alleged involvement in the killings of nineteen people, including Guatemalan migrants, near the U.S.-Mexico border last month.
 
Brazil: Scientists told the Financial Times that a more contagious variant of the coronavirus originally detected in the Amazonian city of Manaus last month could become the country’s dominant strain. The variant devastated Manaus, which ran out of oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients.
 
This CFR In Brief explains the dangers of COVID-19 variants.

The Senate advanced a budget resolution with a 50-49 party-line vote, triggering a rule that could allow Democrats (NPR) to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan without Republican backing. Senate Republicans have proposed a $618 billion package, which Biden dismissed (AP) as too small.