- Philippines challenges China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Mets advance on Lindor blast, Dodgers stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Injury-ravaged Krygios aiming to return at Australian Open
- Greek international Baldock, dead at 31: family
- EU talks deportation hubs to stem migration
- Deaths and repression sideline Suu Kyi's party ahead of Myanmar vote
- S. Africa offers a lesson on how not to shut down a coal plant
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- Taiwan President Lai vows to 'resist annexation' of island
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Zelensky on whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Lindor powers Mets past Phillies into NL Championship Series
- Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970: WWF
- 'Sleeper agent' bots on X fuel US election misinformation, study says
- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
- Musk's X returns in Brazil after 40-day showdown with judge
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Run blitz edges India and South Africa closer to World Cup semi-finals
In life or death, Navalny will 'influence history': lawyer
Alexei Navalny's top lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, said on Wednesday that in life or in death the opposition leader would "influence history" as she paid an emotional tribute to the late Russian opposition icon.
Mikhailova, who is arguably the most high-profile member of Navalny's defence team, had defended the opposition leader for 16 years.
She was often pictured by his side as President Vladimir Putin's top critic sought to clear his name in a years-long legal tug-of-war with the Kremlin.
Now a target of a criminal probe herself, Mikhailova left Russia in October last year and is applying for asylum in France.
"Alexei Navalny is an amazing, courageous, charismatic politician," Mikhailova, who looked visibly upset, said at a Russian opposition event in Paris.
"The authorities claim that he is dead. Even if that is so and he was killed, I am sure that he will not only go down in history but will also influence the future course of history," Mikhailova told several dozen people, her voice sometimes breaking.
Russian authorities said on Friday that Navalny, 47, suddenly died in his Arctic prison. The announcement plunged his supporters around the world into a state of shock.
Speaking at the event organised by the Russie-Libertés association, Mikhailova sometimes spoke of Navalny using the present tense.
"He's not like regular people. He is an iron man," she said.
Navalny barely survived a poisoning with the Soviet-designed nerve agent, Novichok, in 2020. Following treatment in Germany, he returned to Russia in 2021 and was immediately arrested and subsequently jailed.
Mikhailova said she warned the opposition politician against coming back to Russia.
"In Berlin, I told him, 'You'll be jailed for 10 years," Mikhailova said.
"And he replied with a smile: 'You always say I'll be jailed. Well, you'll be defending me then."
Upon return he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Last year a Russian court sentenced him to 19 years behind bars on extremism charges.
Then the Russian authorities cracked down on Navalny's defence team.
In October, three lawyers defending Navalny were detained and charged with taking part in an "extremist organisation."
Mikhailova, who says she was on holidays abroad when the three members of the defence team were arrested, decided against returning to Russia where she knew she would be jailed.
Writing on Facebook in January, she said life abroad was difficult. "We have no home and a lot of problems," she added.
In mid-February, a Moscow court ordered Mikhailova's arrest in absentia.
Ch.Kahalev--AMWN