Poisoned Russian opposition leader Navalny able to leave hospital bed

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny can now breathe on his own and briefly leave his hospital bed, his doctors said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Germany announced that French and Swedish labs have confirmed its findings that he was poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent, Novichok.

Mr Navalny, 44, a high-profile Kremlin critic, was flown to Berlin last month after becoming ill on a domestic flight in Russia and being treated in Siberia.

Germany has demanded Russia investigate the incident, while Moscow has accused the West of a campaign to smear Russia.

Mr Navalny has “successfully been removed from mechanical ventilation” and is able to leave his bed “for short periods of time”, the hospital said on Monday.

Doctors warned that even though Mr Navalny was recovering, long-term health problems could not be ruled out.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the incident.

The news about the activist’s condition came as his associates made some gains in regional elections held across Russia on Sunday.

In Novosibirsk, the head of his regional headquarters, Sergei Boiko, won a seat on the city council.

United Russia, the main Kremlin party, lost its majority on the council, early returns show.

Another of his representatives, Ksenia Fadeyeva, won a city council seat in Tomsk.

The German government said tests by labs in France and Sweden backed up findings by a German military lab that Mr Navalny was poisoned with Novichok.

It is the same class of Soviet-era agent that Britain said was used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England, in 2018.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny out of coma

Russian opposition leader poisoned with Novichok

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “deep concern over the criminal act” against Mr Navalny, during a phone call Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin said Mr Putin “underlined the impropriety of unfounded accusations against the Russian side” and stressed Russia’s demand for Germany to hand over analyses and samples for its investigation.

He also called for collaboration between German and Russian doctors.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of using the incident as a pretext to introduce new sanctions against Moscow.

Mr Lavrov, who has cancelled a scheduled trip on Tuesday to Berlin, said Russian authorities had conducted a preliminary inquiry.

He said they documented the meetings Mr Navalny had before falling ill, but he said they needed to see the evidence of his poisoning to launch a full criminal investigation.

“We have our own laws, whereby we cannot believe someone’s say-so to open a criminal case,” he said.

Asked why no samples from Mr Navalny have been given to Russia, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr replied: “Mr Navalny was in Russian treatment in a hospital for 48 hours.”

Russian doctors who treated Mr Navalny in Omsk, Siberia, said no evidence of poisoning could be found, adding he was too unstable to be transferred.

A German charity sent a plane to take him to Berlin.

Mr Navalny was kept in an induced coma for more than a week as he was treated with an antidote before hospital officials said a week ago that his condition had improved enough for him to be brought out of it.

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

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Results

2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m; Winner: AF Al Baher, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).

2.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,600m; Winner: Talento Puma, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.

3pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,950m; Winner: Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.

3.30pm: Jebel Ali Stakes Listed (TB) Dh500,000 1,950m; Winner: Mark Of Approval, Patrick Cosgrave, Mahmood Hussain.

4pm: Conditions (TB) Dh125,000 1,400m; Winner: Dead-heat Raakez, Jim Crowley, Nicholas Bachalard/Attribution, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.

4.30pm: Jebel Ali Sprint (TB) Dh500,000 1,000m; Winner: AlKaraama, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.

5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,200m; Winner: Wafy, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 1,400m; Winner: Cachao, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.

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The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 640hp
Torque: 760nm
On sale: 2026
Price: Not announced yet

The%20specs

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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

RACE CARD

6.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh82.500 (Dirt) 1,400m

7.05pm Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m

7.40pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (Turf) 2,410m

8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,900m

8.50pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (D) 1,600m

9.25pm Dubai Trophy (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (T) 1,200m

10pm Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,400m

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme

Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Kumulus Water

Started: 2021

Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid

Based: Tunisia

Sector: Water technology

Number of staff: 22

Investment raised: $4 million

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Results

4.30pm Jebel Jais – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (Turf) 1,000m; Winner: MM Al Balqaa, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Qaiss Aboud (trainer)

5pm: Jabel Faya – Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 (T) 1,000m; Winner: AF Rasam, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

5.30pm: Al Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Mukhrej, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6pm: The President’s Cup Prep – Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Mujeeb, Richard Mullen, Salem Al Ketbi

6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club – Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Antonio Fresu, Abubakar Daud

7pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Pat Dobbs, Ibrahim Aseel

7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Nibraas, Richard Mullen, Nicholas Bachalard

Overview

What: The Arab Women’s Sports Tournament is a biennial multisport event exclusively for Arab women athletes.

When: From Sunday, February 2, to Wednesday, February 12.

Where: At 13 different centres across Sharjah.

Disciplines: Athletics, archery, basketball, fencing, Karate, table tennis, shooting (rifle and pistol), show jumping and volleyball.

Participating countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Qatar and UAE.

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Sour%20Grapes

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Profile of Bitex UAE

Date of launch: November 2018

Founder: Monark Modi

Based: Business Bay, Dubai

Sector: Financial services

Size: Eight employees

Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings

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Top tips to avoid cyber fraud

Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:

1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.

2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.

3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.

4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.

5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.