Plus: The animal kingdom's 'virgin births', and identifying a mystery sea creature
| | | | | | | Hello. Family and supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a penal colony on 16 February, have gathered in Moscow's Maryino district to pay their final respects under heavy police presence. Russia editor Steve Rosenberg is at the scene. In Nigeria, one struggling family has been overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers after sharing their adversities in a BBC interview. From the animal world, we cover the wonders of parthenogenesis, and the discovery of a species of sea slug in UK waters. |
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| | | | Top of the agenda | | A funeral riddled with uncertainty | | | | Mourners arrived to find metal barriers around the church. Credit: Reuters |
| | Two hours beforethe funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was due to take place, small crowds had begun to gather outside the church in Moscow's Maryino district. More people kept joining, eventually forming a line outside the church of more than 300m (980ft). Some were carrying flowers. The vast majority simply stood in silence. Nothing about Mr Navalny's burial has been easy. Since news of his death in a prison colony broke two weeks ago, his family said they had to fight to get his body returned, then struggled to find a funeral parlour that would organize the service. Addressing the European Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya expressed concerns about whether the funeral would proceed as planned, without violence or police arresting attendees. Previous attempts at commemorating Mr Navalny's death have been met by a heavy-handed response. | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | AT THE SCENE | Abuja, Nigeria | | Strangers donate to struggling family | | Earlier this week, thousands took to the streets in Nigeria to protest against the government's handling of the economy and the surging prices of basic goods. One of the people struggling to feed her family was 32-year-old Shamsiyya Abubakar, whose candid interview to the BBC sparked an outpouring of help. | | | | Mansur Abubakar, BBC News |
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| | This unexpected response has "changed her life", she said when the BBC caught up with her for a second time. "I have never seen such huge amounts of money in my life... I am really grateful." Her husband Haruna Abubakar also expressed delight at their change of fortune. "On the day of the BBC video, we had nothing to eat, I struggled to get them 500 naira (£0.25; $0.32) to buy cups of rice," he said. "Today, I am a happy man as our lives has changed and we have enough to eat." |
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| | | | Beyond the headlines | | The man selling poison on suicide forums | | | | The chemical may be linked to more than 130 UK deaths. Credit: BBC |
| | A Ukrainian man has been selling a deadly poison, advertised on websites promoting suicide, since at least November 2020. Leonid Zakutenko boasted to an undercover reporter he was sending five parcels a week to the UK, but he denied the claims when confronted by a BBC crew outside his home in Kyiv. | | | | |
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| | | | Something different | | Like a virgin | | Parthenogenesis is rare, but some animals fall pregnant on their own. | | |
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| | | | And finally... | | A UK marine scientist has identified a new species of sea slug swimming in British waters. The creature, which has distinctive feathery gills on one side of its body, has been named Pleurobranchaea britannica.It belongs to a group found in warmer waters, which could be migrating north due to climate change. |
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| | | | | | US Election Unspun newsletter | | Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday to your inbox. | | |
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– Sofia |
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