Unknown (AFP) – Alexei Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya accuses President Vladimir Putin of killing her husband and promises to “name names and show faces” of those she claims are responsible for his death, three days after Navalny died in an Arctic prison. Her video address comes as the Kremlin said an investigation into his death was “ongoing” and his mother Lyudmila was denied access to his body for a third day.
Ōshū (AFP) – Hundreds of naked men tussle over a bag of wooden talismans, performing a dramatic end to a thousand-year-old ritual in Japan that took place for the last time. The “Sominsai” festival, regarded as one of the strangest festivals in Japan, is impacted by the country’s ageing population crisis that has hit rural communities hard.
Tel Aviv (AFP) – Thousands of Israelis protest against the government and the judicial overhaul, demanding that new elections be held. This comes as Israel has faced increasing calls, including from its closest ally the United States, to hold off sending troops into the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million people have fled.
Nabatieh (AFP) – Grieving mourners attend the funeral of seven civilians from the same family who were killed in an Israeli strike on Nabatiyeh, south Lebanon. The Israeli army says it carried out the strikes on 14 February after a soldier was killed by rocket fire from Lebanon. The attack, resulting in the bloodiest day for Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on 7 October, has raised fears of a broader conflict between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.
Dakar (AFP) – Thousands join a protest in Senegal’s capital, calling for elections to take place before President Macky Sall’s term officially ends in early April. The demonstration comes two days after the country’s top court overturned the president’s decision to delay elections to the end of the year, which had triggered the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
Bangkok (AFP) – The former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrives back at his Bangkok home from a police hospital just six months after he was arrested following a dramatic return to the kingdom from 15 years of self-imposed exile.
Auf See (AFP) – The Philippines has accused Chinese coast guard ships on Saturday of “dangerous” manoeuvres after they repeatedly blocked a Filipino vessel delivering supplies to fishermen at a reef off the Southeast Asian nation’s coast. The incidents happened near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal on Thursday and Friday, several days after the Philippine Coast Guard made similar accusations against Chinese boats in the same area.
Kiew (AFP) – Ukraine has withdrawn troops from the besieged eastern stronghold of Avdiivka to save the lives of its soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, handing Russia its biggest symbolic victory since May.
Wilhelmina Bay (AFP) – Marine biologists collect skin samples from humpback whales and leopard seals in Antarctica to detect the presence of mercury in their bodies. The toxic heavy metal is believed to reach the ocean through rivers or rain. According to the UN environmental agency UNEP, if an animal consumes mercury, it may suffer “reproductive failure, behavioural changes and may even (die).”
Paris (AFP) – A Russian journalist in self-exile says he does not believe the death of imprisoned opposition figure Alexei Navalny was ‘a coincidence’. His death in an Arctic prison was announced on 16 February after three years in detention and a poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
Washington (AFP) – Supporters of Alexei Navalny turned out across Europe and in the United States on Friday to pay tribute to the man widely acknowledged as Russia’s main opposition figure, even when he was behind bars.
Tokyo (AFP) – Wrapped in seaweed and stuffed with delicious fillings, “onigiri” rice balls are shaking off their reputation as a cheap and uninspiring snack in Japan, and enticing hungry converts abroad.
