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Alexei Navalny's spokesperson confirmed on Saturday that the Russian opposition leader had died at a remote Arctic penal colony and said he was «murdered», but it is unclear where his body is. An official note handed to Navalny's mother stated that he died at 2:17 pm local time on Friday, Kira Yarmysh said. She added that an employee of the prison colony said that Navalny's body was taken to the nearby city of Salekhard as part of a probe into his death.

Alexei Navalny's mother was told on Saturday that Russia's most prominent opposition leader had been struck down by «sudden death syndrome» and that his body would not be handed over to the family until an investigation was completed, his team said. Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the «Polar Wolf» penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, where he was serving a three-decade sentence, the prison service said.

Navalny's death was ascertained, his mother was told on Saturday that Russian leader was struck down by "sudden death syndrome" and that his body would not be handed over to the family until an investigation was completed, his team was quoted by Reuters as saying. Navalny's death brought back into focus other critics and foes of Putin who died in "mysterious" circumstances. Here's a look at some other foes of Russian President Putin and their “mysterious fate": Yevgeny Prigozhin and the top lieutenants of his Wagner private military company were killed in a plane crash in August 2023.

Reuters reported quoting Navalny's team. The 47-year-old former lawyer's team even said that his body would not be handed over to the family until an investigation was completed. On Friday, the prison service had said that prison service was unconscious and died after a walk at the ‘Polar Wolf’ penal colony in Kharp – about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow – where he was serving a three-decade sentence.

BJP Chief JP Nadda appealed to the rank and file not to lose its focus from the goal of crossing the 370-seat mark in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and expressed confidence that the party will not only achieve a hat-trick of wins this time but also do so with a record margin. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing the party to this position, the country has made notable achievements in the last ten years- from the Ram temple at Ayodhya to the abrogation of Article 370 and reservation for women. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given a standing ovation during the inaugural session of the BJP national council here on Saturday when party chief JP Nadda thanked him for the consecration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya. Nadda also slammed the Opposition on the caste census issue, saying while it wants to divide the nation into several castes Modi has focussed on four groups- women, youth, farmers and the poor. In a speech that covered several achievements of the BJP and hailed Modi’s guidance and leadership, Nadda said the party has “won a century of elections” from the bottom up since 2014. He expressed confidence that BJP will meet the target of 370 seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

By Krisztina Than

(This Feb. 16 story has been refiled to fix a typo in 'blank-check' in paragraph 22)

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said that U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration stood ready to support Ukraine in its war with Russia for “as long as it takes” and would push for Russia to pay damages to Ukraine following the end of the war.

simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies but not with local body polls. The party has told the high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' that it supports holding Lok Sabha and state assembly polls together. It also said all local body polls — municipalities and panchayats — should be held together. However, the local body polls should not be held alongside elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies, it underlined.

Maharashtra Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar was asked if his faction of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will put up a candidate from the Lok Sabha constituency of Baramati, the pocket borough of the Pawar clan, against his the cousin Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, who is the sitting MP, he said, «Being the president of the party, I have the right to announce the candidates of my party, but I cannot comment on who will be contesting against them. I will announce the names of the candidates at the right time.» The name hasn't been announced yet but the buzz is Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar will be contesting against Sule. The fight, if it happens, will take the divide in the Pawar clan down to the family stronghold from where Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar and Supriya Pawar have won several assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Early this month, the Election Commission of India declared Ajit Pawar's faction, which had split away last year from patriarch Pawar and joined hands with the BJP, as the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Freshworks has cancelled the performance-based stock award of 6 million shares to founder and chief executive Girish Mathrubootham, according to a regulatory filing. Nasdaq-listed Freshworks’ board said the decision was taken in the backdrop of the macroeconomic headwinds that have created challenges for the company’s stock price. “As a result of macroeconomic conditions that are entirely outside the control of the company’s leadership team, the stock price hurdles were too far ahead of the current stock price for the CEO PRSU award to have the retention value expected at the time the award was granted,” the company said in the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 16.

Ukraine to be held up by political brinksmanship, Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday, as wrangling in Congress blocks $60 billion worth of military backing. «As it relates to our support for Ukraine, we must be unwavering and we cannot play political games,» she said, next to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference.

By Julia Payne

NDTV on Saturday. The comments came amid speculation about the former Madhya Pradesh Congress chief ditching the Congress and switching to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to the report, Kamal Nath conveyed his “unhappiness to the Congress leadership".

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s death Friday at a Russian prison camp in the Arctic silenced a man who was arguably the most influential remaining critic of President Vladimir Putin and the authoritarian state the former spy has methodically built on the wreckage of the Soviet Union. Putin, who has effectively run Russia for 24 years and is seeking to extend his time in office for another six years in elections set for next month, now strides the Russian political stage with almost no visible challengers.

Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Malone’s life ended moments after he pulled over a car without license plates by a Dollar General store in rural Mississippi last month. The driver pulled out a pistol illegally modified with a small device known as a Glock switch, which made it capable of fully automatic gunfire, according to police. Malone, a 44-year-old father of three, was killed instantly in a barrage of bullets.

Wang Yi said China will be a «force for stability» in the world during a speech on Saturday at a major security conference in Germany. «No matter the changes in the international situation, China as a responsible major country will always maintain the continuity and stability of its major policies and resolutely stay a force for stability in a turbulent world,» Wang said.

BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday underlined the party's meteoric rise since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office and lauded his leadership in the past decade that has been full of new achievements for the organisation. The Modi government will score a hat-trick and retain power for a third straight term after the Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May, he told nearly 11,500 party delegates who have assembled at Bharat Mandapam here for the two-day national convention. «We have to cross 370 seats and the NDA has to cross 400,» he said in his inaugural address, exhorting party members to put all their energy in achieving the target so that the party breaks its previous records. Thousands of party delegates from across the country rose to cheer Modi when Nadda made a mention of the women's reservation law and the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya while citing the highlights of the prime minister's tenure.

Ukraine withdrew 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. The pullback comes after Russian forces stepped up efforts to capture the eastern industrial hub in October, leading to mass casualties and destruction. Facing ammunition shortages and outnumbered on the battlefield, Ukrainian forces announced they had withdrawn in the early hours of Saturday.

Alexei Navalny's death after around an hour of the announcement and restricted themselves to just giving one-line update without any context about his death and his political life. One report didn't even mention his full name and referred to him as just "Navalny" but interestingly made some extra efforts to mention that "the most thorough investigation" will take place to find the reasons for his demise.

two-state solution in the Mideast, but as part of a negotiated settlement. With talks long stalled and Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza deepening, some European countries are voicing support for recognising a Palestinian state sooner. "Recognising a Palestinian state is not a taboo for France," Macron said Friday at a meeting in Paris with Jordan's King Abdullah.