International

Navalny says subjected to ‘educational activities’ in prison

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Friday he was made to sit for hours under a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he described his daily routine in his new prison.

His allies including Leonid Volkov and Kira Yarmysh said his new routine was a form of “torture.”

Last month Putin’s top foe was transferred to a strict-regime penal colony described by his allies as “one of Russia’s scariest prisons”. He was taken there after his jail time was extended to nine years in March, in a move supporters say is punishment for challenging Putin.

Describing his life at the new prison, near the town of Vladimir east of Moscow, Navalny said he had to sew for seven hours five days a week.

“After work, you continue to sit. For several hours on a wooden bench under a portrait of Putin,” he said in a post on Facebook.

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“This is called ‘educational activities,’” he said.

Navalny was made to sit on a wooden bench even on Sunday, his official day off.

“In the Putin administration, or wherever my unique routine was conceived, they know a thing or two about rest,” he quipped.

“On Sundays, we sit on a wooden bench in a room for 10 hours,” he added.

“I don’t know who such activities can ‘educate’, except for a crooked invalid with a bad back,” he said. “But maybe that’s the purpose.”

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Navalny has described his new jail as a “prison within a prison” and said he was serving time with convicted murderers. He said on Friday his prison barrack was surrounded by a six-metre fence.

Despite his ordeal he said he tried to keep his chin up.

“I am having fun as much as I can,” he said.

He added he had learnt a soliloquy from Hamlet at work. He said he was told by his fellow inmates that “when I close my eyes and mumble in Shakespearean English something like ‘in thy orisons be all my sins remembered’, it looks like I’m summoning demons.”

In 2020, Navalny barely survived a poisoning attack with Novichok, a Soviet-designed military-grade nerve agent. He has blamed Russian authorities, but the Kremlin has denied any involvement.

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International

Brazil offers to mediate Colombia-Ecuador tensions, calls for restraint

The government of Brazil has offered to mediate in the ongoing tensions between Colombia and Ecuador, while calling on both nations to exercise restraint.

In a statement released Wednesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the parties involved to act with moderation and seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

“Brazil encourages all sides to act with moderation in order to find a peaceful solution to the controversy. It stands ready to support dialogue efforts aimed at preserving peace and security in the region,” the statement said.

Brazil also expressed “serious concern” over reports of deaths in the border area between Colombia and Ecuador, noting that the circumstances surrounding the incidents have not yet been clarified.

The diplomatic move comes amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries, increasing regional concern over stability and security along their shared border.

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International

U.S. lowers travel advisory for much of Venezuela but keeps high-risk zones under warning

The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday that it has lowered its travel advisory for much of Venezuela to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), reflecting what it described as improved security conditions in parts of the country.

However, the agency will maintain the highest Level 4 warning (“Do Not Travel”) for several regions, including the states of Táchira, Amazonas, Apure, Aragua and Guárico, as well as rural areas of Bolívar, citing ongoing risks such as crime, kidnapping and terrorism.

The updated advisory marks a shift from December, when the United States raised the alert for Venezuela to Level 4 nationwide, warning of severe security threats.

Despite the partial downgrade, U.S. authorities continue to urge caution, emphasizing that conditions remain volatile in certain areas and that travelers should carefully assess risks before planning any trips to the country.

International

EU lawmakers move to ban AI tools that generate non-consensual nude images

Members of the European Parliament are pushing to ban across the bloc artificial intelligence services that allow users to digitally “undress” people without their consent.

The proposal, adopted on Wednesday at committee level, aims to prohibit applications that generate non-consensual explicit images. Irish lawmaker Michael McNamara, one of the sponsors, said the measure seeks to stop tools that “have caused significant harm for the benefit of a few.”

Dutch MEP Kim van Sparrentak welcomed the move, calling it “a major victory, especially for women and children in Europe.”

The amendment, part of broader EU legislation on artificial intelligence, was approved by the Parliament’s civil liberties and internal market committees. It specifically targets systems that use AI to create or manipulate sexually explicit or intimate images resembling identifiable individuals without their consent.

The proposal will be put to a full vote in the European Parliament on March 26. If adopted, lawmakers and European Union member states will need to agree on a final version before it can take effect.

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Separately, representatives of the 27 EU countries recently backed a Franco-Spanish amendment seeking to ban AI services used to generate non-consensual sexual images or child sexual abuse material.

The initiative follows controversy surrounding a feature introduced in Grok, developed by xAI, which allowed users to create simulated nude images from real photos. The tool sparked widespread criticism and prompted an EU investigation.

In response, xAI restricted image generation features in mid-January to paying subscribers and stated it blocks the creation of sexualized images in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.