Five European nations announced on Saturday that they believe Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a rare and lethal toxin derived from poison dart frogs, two years after his death in a Siberian prison. The governments of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands released a joint statement confirming the presence of epibatidine in Navalny's body, a toxin not naturally found in Russia, and asserted that the Russian government was the likely perpetrator.
According to the joint statement, the analysis of samples taken from Navalny's body provided conclusive evidence of the poison. The statement emphasized that there was "no innocent explanation" for the toxin's presence. Navalny's death occurred in a remote Siberian prison.
The announcement follows a period of heightened scrutiny of the Russian government's treatment of political opponents. The news comes as the Berlin Film Festival, also known as Berlinale, issued a statement addressing political backlash at the festival, stating that artists should not be "expected to speak on every political issue," according to Variety.
The United States celebrates Presidents' Day on the third Monday of February each year, a federal holiday honoring the birthday and legacy of George Washington, the first U.S. President. The holiday is observed through patriotic parades and historical reenactments, according to Time. Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, told Time that Presidents' Day is "a really good opportunity to reflect on the origins of the presidential office."
Discussion
AI Experts & Community
Be the first to comment