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The death of Alexei Navalny has been confirmed by his spokesperson, but it remains unclear where the body of the Vladimir Putin critic is.

Spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said in a post on X the most prominent face of the Russian opposition to Mr Putin was “murdered” at a remote Arctic penal colony.

She said Mr Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, was informed by authorities that her son had died on 16 February at 2.17pm, local time.

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Prominent Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov added that prison officials told Mr Navalny’s mother that he had died due to “sudden death syndrome”.

But the body of the 47-year-old has not yet been located or released by authorities.

Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, leaves the regional department of Russia's Investigative Committee in the town of Salekhard in the Yamal-Nenets Region, Russia February 17, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
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Alexei Navalny’s mother has not been able to see her son’s body. Pic: Reuters

Mr Navalny’s mother was told by a prison official that her son’s body was taken to the nearby city of Salekhard as part of a probe into his death, Ms Yarmysh said.

But when they arrived at the morgue, it was closed, and workers said the body was not there.

Hours later, Ms Yarmysh said lawyers for the politician were told Mr Navalny’s body would not be handed over to his relatives until an investigation into his death had been completed.

She accused the Investigation Committee in Salekhard of “driving us around in circles and covering their tracks” as only hours before they were told the investigation had already been concluded, and nothing criminal had been established.

A woman lays flowers paying the last respect to Alexei Navalny at the at the monument to the victims of soviet occupation in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
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Pic: AP

Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service reported on Friday that Mr Navalny felt sick after a walk and became unconscious at the penal colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets region, which is within the Arctic Circle.

More than 340 detained in Russia

Meanwhile, more than 340 people have been detained in Russia since the moment Mr Navalny’s death became public, according to independent human rights organisation, OVD-Info.

This included 230 people across multiple cities who were detained on Saturday.

Police detain a man as he wanted to lay flowers paying their last respect to Alexei Navalny at the monument, a large boulder from the Solovetsky islands, where the first camp of the Gulag political prison system was established, in St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo
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Pic: AP

Police officers detain a man during a gathering in memory of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny near the Wall of Grief monument to the victims of political repressions in Moscow, Russia February 17, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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Pic: Reuters

OVD-Info said others had been detained the day before when they came to lay flowers in memory of Mr Navalny.

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Among the held included a priest who went to a memorial in St Petersburg to conduct a service in the politician’s memory.

From Georgia to Germany, people mourn for Navalny

In Russia, authorities moved swiftly to crush any possible resistance in Alexei Navalny’s name; detaining supporters at memorials and trying to sweep away the flowers they left.

But beyond their borders, they couldn’t stop the crowds.

From Georgia to Germany, thousands gathered for Mr Navalny.

In the shadow of the Russian embassy in Berlin, a steady stream of people arrived to lay flowers below a picture of the 47-year-old activist.

I watched a group of three Russian friends huddled to light their candle in the wind.

They told me they had come to pay their respects, acutely aware it was an act being punished back home.

“A lot of my friends want to take flowers for Navalny in Moscow but they can’t do that. I want to do this for my friends and for me,” Polina said.

Among the grieving was Elena who stood quietly as tears rolled down her face.

“He was the last hope of freedom, of peace in Russia. I guess there is no hope anymore,” she explained.

Like Elena, many today said they are not just mourning a man but what he represented to Russia: hope of resistance and change.

In Moscow, social media footage showed a large group of people chanting “shame” as police dragged a screaming woman from the crowd.

Photos of Alexei Navalny is seen among flowers and candles at the monument to the victims of soviet occupation in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Poster with the words reading "Putin is a killer", left,. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
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Tributes to Navalny. Pic: AP

Putin ‘should be held accountable’

Hours after Mr Navalny’s death was reported, his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, made a dramatic appearance at a security conference in Germany where many world leaders had gathered.

She said that she was unsure if she could believe the news from official Russian sources, “but if this is true, I want Putin and everyone around Putin, Putin’s friends, his government to know that they will bear responsibility for what they did to our country, to my family and to my husband”.

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Starmer: ‘Navalny was incredibly courageous’

Reacting, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “moved” by Mrs Navalnaya’s words, adding that Russia has to be held to account.

It came after the UK’s Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: “We should hold Putin accountable for this. And no one should be in any doubt about the dreadful nature of Putin’s regime in Russia after what has just happened.”

Foreign ministers of the G7 – made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US – have called on Russia to fully clarify the circumstances of Mr Navalny’s death.

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Spain floods: Epicentre now a bizarre medley of debris – as video shows miraculous rescue

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Spain floods: Epicentre now a bizarre medley of debris - as video shows miraculous rescue

To walk through the streets of Paiporta is to see nature at its most vicious.

Everywhere, there is chaos in this town. Lives have been ripped apart, turned upside down and ended.

Spain floods latest: Looting breaks out as flood deaths surpass 150

You can’t drive into Paiporta, a suburb about 4 miles to the southwest of Valencia, so we cover the final mile by foot. For most of the walk, we pass past fruit groves. The sun is getting warmer.

It could be a normal day. Except then you arrive in the town, and normality has gone.

We turn a corner and find a road that has been wholly blocked by a wall of cars, thrown together.

Damaged cars smashed into each other from flooding in Valencia, Spain

To the side, a family is wading through their garage, which is under three feet of water.

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All around is a bizarre medley of debris. Most of it is coated in thick, sticky mud that clings to everything – the road, your clothes and all these chunks of everyday life that have been swept away and mixed together.

So there is a child’s shoe, a beer chiller, a jumper, a corkscrew and a lump of an engine block. All of them muddled, muddy and sad.

“We have to clean,” says the woman, staring at the endless water in her garage. Her son is wading in, pulling out possessions.

There were three motorbikes in here, two of them new. All of them are ruined. Everything in sight is ruined. But they know they are lucky.

Down the road, on the other side of the wall of cars, they knew a couple who were in their car when the flood water came, with shocking speed.

They both died – two of forty people who are known to have died in this town so far.

The damage is utterly random. A car lies, absurdly, on top of a children’s slide. Paving stones lie in a pile while front doors flap open, offering a view of homes that have been engulfed by water and mud.

Outside, there are people trying to push the water away, using brooms and shovels.

Valencia
A map showing the locations of Paiporta and Catarroja

Down the road, we visit Catarroja, normally a pretty town that welcomes plenty of tourists.

Now the main high street is covered in pebbles and as we drive in, we have to gingerly avoid holes in the road, industrial dustbins that have rolled into the street, and a long line of crumpled vehicles.

Everywhere we go, in fact, it is the cars that are the symbol of these floods – tossed around carelessly, thrown into gardens, into a playground, into rivers and streams, on top of each other and into houses.

Valencia

They are smashed, upturned, filthy, and broken, and the cars have, in turn, broken so much else. When the water rushed through these towns, it picked them up and used them as weapons.

A woman walks past, pleading with me to tell the world that they have no water and no food. Everything has been cut off and the shops are shut.

Half an hour later, I see her and a friend walking along the street with a shopping trolley loaded with food, arguing with other people. They have, quite clearly, helped themselves to what they needed.

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Across the road, half-wedged in a tree, is a boat. We are a decent way from the sea, and nobody seems to know whose boat it is, or where it came from.

But there it is, a symbol of how this flood created such instant discordant chaos.

Valencia

We meet Veronica, walking along with her two children. She is taking them to a grandparent, whose house is out of town.

She tells me that they had precious little warning before the flood hit – merely a request earlier in the day to take children home from school because there was a storm on the way.

Veronica in Valencia, Spain
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Veronica, who is taking her children out of town

“One minute there was just rain and then there was two metres of water,” she says.

“It was very scary. People have been hurt and some people have died. Now we have to help each other to repair this town.”

She looks around. “It will take a long time.”

Valencia flooding

There are happier stories, tales of survival and courage. Three young girls come to talk to us in the street, showing us a video of their father rescuing a man from the water at the very moment their road had turned into a churning river (VIDEO AT TOP).

The man, a local called Luis, is being swept along, desperate to survive.

Their father, leaning out of the window of the family’s apartment, has thrown down a rope and is clinging on.

As we watch, you can hear the screams of the man and the encouraging shouts of the onlookers.

Slowly, slowly, he is pulled out of the water and clambers over a balcony to safety.

The girls burst with pride; their father, clearly, saved this man’s life. In the midst of this horror, there are shards of valour and joy.

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Emma Lovell: Teenager found not guilty of murder of British mother in Australia

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Emma Lovell: Teenager found not guilty of murder of British mother in Australia

A teenager who broke into the home of a British mother in Australia – where another teen stabbed her to death – has been cleared of murder.

Emma Lovell, 41, was killed in North Lakes, Queensland, on Boxing Day in 2022 while fending off two intruders.

In May this year, the teenage attacker who pleaded guilty to her murder, was jailed for 14 years.

The second teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, did not stab anyone but was also charged.

Following a three-day judge-only trial at Brisbane’s Supreme Court, Justice Copley found the second teen not guilty of murder and the lesser offence of manslaughter of Ms Lovell and not guilty of malicious acts with intent in relation to her husband Lee, who survived the attack.

He was found guilty of burglary and assault.

Ms Lovell, a mother-of-two who had emigrated to Australia from Ipswich in 2011, died of a single stab wound to the heart.

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The case against the second teen centred on whether he was aware his co-defendant was carrying a knife at the time of the break in.

CCTV footage reportedly shown to Justice Copley saw the pair approaching the Lovell family home. The second teenager is believed to have turned around to look at his co-defendant who was holding the weapon, according to Australian broadcaster ABC News.

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But the judge ruled that the evidence does not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the second teenager knew about or had seen the knife when they entered the property.

Mr Lovell said outside court that he was disappointed with the outcome of the trial, and according to ABC, he told reporters: “We’re the ones left with a life sentence now, and everyone carries on what they’re doing.”

The second teen will be sentenced in December.

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Looting and violence breaks out after Los Angeles Dodgers win baseball’s World Series

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Looting and violence breaks out after Los Angeles Dodgers win baseball's World Series

The Los Angeles Dodgers have won baseball’s World Series for the second time in five years but the celebrations were marred by looting and violence.

The Dodgers took the title by beating the New York Yankees 4-1 in the best-of-seven final in New York on Wednesday night, US time.

But soon after the match ended and jubilant Dodgers fans spilled on to the streets to celebrate, there were reports of a bus being set on fire, shops being looted and fireworks thrown at police in scenes of “absolute chaos” in downtown LA.

Los Angeles Dodgers players pose for a photo during a ceremony in the small hours of Oct. 31, 2024, after clinching the MLB World Series with a 7-6 win over the New York Yankees in Game 5 at Yankee Stadium in New York. (Kyodo via AP Images) ==Kyodo
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Los Angeles Dodgers players celebrate winning baseball’s World Series. Pic: AP

At around 10.45pm, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said it received reports of “looting at several stores in the area of 8th and Broadway”.

Ordering people to “leave the area immediately” on X, the force reposted a video of looters raiding a Nike store where a door had been removed so thieves could get in.

A Dodgers fan celebrates on the street after the Los Angeles Dodgers' victory over the New York Yankees to win the World Series in Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 30, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Cole     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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A Dodgers fan celebrates in Los Angeles. Pic: Reuters

Several dispersal orders were issued for different locations in the city, including in streets close to the Dodger Stadium in the Elysian Park area.

A bus was set on fire as part of the disorder.

Eyewitness and LA resident Taylor Rosa, 27, told Sky’s US partner network NBC News it was “absolute chaos”, as people “got out of control and started looting and jumping on top of a bus”.

Among the comments on Instagram were “damn embarrassment” and “they act like the Dodgers lost”.

Multiple arrests were made throughout the night in Echo Park and the downtown area, according to the Los Angeles Scanner account on X.

The LAPD later spoke of a “hostile crowd” and that “various projectiles”, including rocks and bottles, were being thrown at officers.

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Meanwhile, two Yankees fans missed the end of the series after they were banned for interfering with play during the fourth match, the New York team’s only win.

They grappled with the Dodgers’s Mookie Betts as he tried to catch a shot by the fence at the Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night.

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As Betts leapt at the wall and caught the ball, one fan grabbed his glove with both hands and wrenched the ball out, as another grabbed Betts’s other hand.

They were thrown out of the game and banned from the next one.

Los Angeles Dodgers players celebrate after clinching the MLB World Series with a 7-6 win over the New York Yankees in Game 5 on Oct. 30, 2024, at Yankee Stadium in New York. (Kyodo via AP Images) ==Kyodo
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The Dodgers beat the Yankees 7-6 in game five. Pic: AP

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani celebrates in the locker room after their win against the New York Yankees in Game 5 to win the baseball World Series, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani with the trophy. Pic: AP

The last time the Dodgers won the title, in 2020, the season was shortened by the COVID pandemic, which prevented them from staging a victory parade.

This year’s parade is to take place on Friday.

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