1. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died, the prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region where he had been serving his sentence said. According to the statement, Navalny "felt unwell" after a walk on Friday, and "almost immediately lost consciousness".
2. Egypt is preparing an area at the Gaza border which could accommodate Palestinians in case an Israeli offensive into Rafah prompts an exodus across the frontier, four sources said, in what they described as a contingency move by Cairo.
3. Politicians, military officers and diplomats from around the world are gathering in Munich for a security conference. Europe Affairs Editor Andrew Gray tells the Reuters World News podcast the event will be dominated by the wars in Israel and Ukraine as well as fears over the US commitment to defending its allies.
4. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was expected to visit Germany and France to try to drum up vital military assistance and sign bilateral security commitments as the war nears its third year. The trip comes as Kyiv's troops are trying to hold back Russian forces closing in on the eastern town of Avdiivka.
5. A New York state judge is expected to rule in a $370 million civil fraud case against former US President Donald Trump, who is accused of inflating his net worth to dupe bankers into giving him better loan terms. Justice Arthur Engoron's ruling could deal a major blow to Trump's real estate empire.
6. The Bank of Japan is on track to end negative interest rates in coming months despite the economy's fall into recession, say sources familiar with its thinking, though weak domestic demand means they may seek more clues on wage growth before acting.
7. OpenAI is working on a software that can generate minute-long videos based on text prompts. The software, called Sora, is currently available for red teaming, which helps identify flaws in the AI system, as well as for use by visual artists, designers and filmmakers to gain feedback on the model, the company said.
Source: Reuters
=FRESH NEWS
