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Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was detained by Russian police at passport control after flying back to Russia from Germany for the first time since being poisoned last summer. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny before takeoff from Germany bound for Moscow. Photo: AFP He flew from Berlin to Moscow, arriving in Russia for the first time since he was nearly killed by a nerve agent attack. The activist says the authorities were behind the attempt on his life, an allegation backed up by investigative journalists but denied by the Kremlin. Russia's FSIN prison authority confirmed that officers had detained him, the Interfax news agency reported. Metal barriers were erected inside the airport, Vnukovo, and Russian media reported that several activists - including key Navalny ally Lyubov Sobol - had been detained there. Navalny - who had been treated in Germany - earlier appealed to supporters to meet him off the flight, and a "Let's meet Navalny" page has been set up on Facebook (in Russian). Thousands of people have said they will go or expressed an interest, despite forecasts of extreme cold. After boarding his Pobeda airlines plane, the opposition politician said: "I'm sure that everything will be absolutely fine, I'm very happy today." He also accused the Kremlin of encouraging people to go to Vnukovo to see a pop star, Olga Buzova, in a bid to squeeze out his supporters. Navalny collapsed on an internal flight in Siberia last August, and it later emerged he had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. Russian authorities have consistently denied any role in the poisoning, and the Kremlin has rejected Mr Navalny's claims that President Vladimir Putin himself ordered it. The Putin critic has said he misses Moscow, is almost fully recovered from the attack, and that there was never any doubt he would return. Law enforcement officers stand guard in a terminal of Moscow's Vnukovo airport ahead of the arrival of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Photo: AFP Warned of imprisonment The Russian authorities had warned Navalny could face imprisonment after missing a prison service deadline in December to report at an office in Moscow. The prison service accuses him of violating conditions imposed after a conviction for embezzlement, for which he received a suspended sentence. He has always condemned the case as politically motivated. Separately, Russia's investigative committee has launched a new criminal case against him on fraud charges related to transfers of money to various NGOs, including his Anti-Corruption Foundation. Navalny has asserted that Mr Putin is doing all he can to stop his opponent from coming back by fabricating new cases against him. What happened to Navalny? In August, the opposition leader collapsed on a plane flying home from Tomsk in Siberia to Moscow and the pilot diverted the flight to the city of Omsk, from where he was eventually allowed to fly on to Germany in an induced coma. He was released from hospital in Berlin in September to continue his recuperation. Navalny said recently he was able to do push-ups and squat exercises, and therefore had probably almost fully recovered. Last month, investigative reporters named three FSB agents who had travelled to Tomsk at the time Mr Navalny was there, and said the specialist unit had tailed him for years. Navalny then, in a phone call, duped an FSB agent named Konstantin Kudryavtsev into revealing details of the operation against him, according to the Bellingcat investigative group. The agent told him that the Novichok used to poison him was placed in his underpants. Mr Kudryavtsev said during the phone call he had been sent to Omsk later to seize Mr Navalny's clothes and remove all traces of Novichok from them. President Putin has dismissed the investigation by Bellingcat and others into who poisoned Mr Navalny as "a trick" and said that he was backed by US intelligence services. - BBC

US music producer Phil Spector has died at the age of 81, while serving a prison sentence for murder. Phil Spector pictured in 2007 arriving for his murder trial at the Los Angeles Superior Court. Photo: AFP Spector, who transformed pop with his "wall of sound" recordings, worked with the Beatles, the Righteous Brothers and Ike and Tina Turner. In 2009, he was convicted of the 2003 murder of Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson. His death was confirmed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "California Health Care Facility inmate Phillip Spector was pronounced deceased of natural causes at 6:35 p.m. on Saturday, January 16, 2021, at an outside hospital. His official cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner in the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office," it said. Spector produced 20 top 40 hits between 1961 and 1965, AFP news agency reports. His production methods influenced major artists including the Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen. His life was ultimately blighted by drug and alcohol addiction, and he all but retired from the music scene during the 1980s and 1990s. In February 2003, actress Lana Clarkson was found dead at his house in Alhambra, California with a bullet wound to her head. Spector claimed the shooting happened when Clarkson "kissed the gun" - but his trial heard from four women who claimed Spector had threatened them with guns in the past when they had spurned his advances. Following an initial mistrial, Spector was convicted of second degree murder and given a sentence of 19 years to life. - BBC

Lai Chi-wai became the first in Hong Kong to climb more than 250 meters of a skyscraper while strapped into a wheelchair as he pulled himself up for more than 10 hours to raise money for spinal cord patients. Lai Chi-wai climbing Hong Kong's Nina Tower to raise money for spinal cord patients. Photo: AFP The 37-year-old climber, whose car accident 10 years ago left him paralysed from waist down, could not make it to the top of the 300 metre-tall Nina Tower on the Kowloon peninsula. "I was quite scared," Lai said. "Climbing up a mountain, I can hold onto rocks or little holes, but with glass, all I can really rely on is the rope that I'm hanging off." The event on Saturday raised $HK5.2 million ($NZ939,000) in donations. Lai, prior to 2011, was crowned Asia champion four times for rock climbing and at one point ranked eighth globally. After his accident, he resumed climbing by attaching his wheelchair to a pulley system. Five years ago he ascended the 495m Lion Rock mountain, a local folk culture symbol of Hong Kong's strength and grit. "Apart from just living, I wondered what drives me? So I began to chase that, knowing that there was a possibility I could climb mountains, even in a wheelchair," Lai said. "In a way, I forgot that I was a disabled person, I could still dream and I could still do what I liked doing." Although he did not make it to the top of the skyscraper, due to safety concerns, Lai hoped to send a message. "Some people don't understand the difficulties of disabled people, some people think that we are always weak, we need help, we need assistance, we need people's pity," Lai said. "But, I want to tell everyone, it doesn't have to be like that. If a disabled person can shine, they can at the same time bring about opportunity, hope, bring about light, they don't have to be viewed as weak." - Reuters

A bushfire in Perth's southern suburbs that destroyed at least one home yesterday remains unpredictable. Emergency vehicles at a bush fire in Kwinana, south of Perth, earlier this month. Photo: AFP or licensors About 150 firefighters spent the night battling the blaze, which started yesterday morning near a nature reserve in Oakford, and has so far burnt about 300 hectares. An emergency warning remains in place for people in parts of Oakford, Casuarina, Wandi, Wellard, Anketell and Oldbury in the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale and the City of Kwinana. The blaze started near the Modong Nature Reserve in Oakford, about 35 km south of Perth. Parts of Kwinana Freeway and other major roads in the area remain closed. While thousands of homes had been without electricity on Saturday afternoon, Western Power reported that number had dropped to 239 overnight. Services on the Mandurah train line have been restored, after some were cancelled yesterday. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services was unable to confirm any property losses on Saturday, but a house could be seen burning. It is not known if the property was occupied before the fire started yesterday. There have been no reports of injuries. Evacuation centres at Serpentine-Jarrahdale Recreation Centre, in Byford, and Kwinana Recquatic in Kwinana have now closed. Gusty afternoon winds a threat The Bureau of Meteorology said gusty easterly winds had continued throughout the night, reaching about 50 km/h. Winds could increase again this evening, while the area around the fire was forecast to reach a maximum of 35 degrees late this afternoon. - ABC

By Trevor Hunnicutt US President-elect Joe Biden will cap a busy day of inauguration pageantry by using the powers of his new office to push policy changes on housing, student loans, climate change and immigration, a top aide said on Saturday. Photo: AFP Biden, who campaigned on a raft of promises to undo President Donald Trump's legacy even before the novel coronavirus pandemic walloped the nation, will unveil "roughly a dozen" previously promised executive actions on Wednesday, incoming Biden chief of staff Ron Klain said in a memo distributed to reporters. The actions to be taken on Wednesday include rejoining the Paris climate accords, reversing a travel ban on several majority Muslim countries, extending a pause on federal student loan payments, halting evictions and foreclosures, as well as mandating masks in inter-state travel and on federal property. All of the measures were previously announced. Most of the measures are a reversal of policies Trump pursued and do not require congressional action. But Biden will also unveil a long-expected immigration proposal that would provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants that does require congressional action. That measure, as well as Biden's recent proposal for $1.9 trillion in spending on Covid vaccinations and economic stimulus, face uphill battles in a Congress narrowly controlled by Biden's fellow Democrats. A broader set of Biden's 'Day One' promises will be executed over the following nine days after inauguration, Klain said. Those measures include expanding Covid-19 testing and directing the government to favor American-made goods when it makes purchases. "President-elect Biden is assuming the presidency in a moment of profound crisis for our nation," Klain said. "During the campaign, President-elect Biden pledged to take immediate action to start addressing these crises and build back better." - Reuters

Indonesia's Mount Semeru has erupted, pouring ash and smoke an estimated 5.6km into the sky above Java, the country's most densely populated island. The volcano launched a hot cloud with a gliding distance of about 4.5 kilometers. Photo: AFP or licensors No evacuation orders have so far been issued, and no casualties reported. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (NDMA) warned villagers living on the mountain's slopes to be alert for ongoing volcanic activity. Footage showed ash from the 3,676m (12,060ft) volcano looming over homes. "The villages of Sumber Mujur and Curah Koboan [in Lumajang municipality] are located in the trajectory of the hot clouds," local official Thoriqul Haq said on Saturday. Residents of the Curah Kobokan river basin have been urged to watch for possible "cold lava" mudflow, which can be triggered by intense rainfall combining with volcanic material. Mount Semeru erupted at about 17:24 local time (10:24 GMT), authorities said. Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent volcanic activity as well as earthquakes. Semeru - also known as "The Great Mountain" - is the highest volcano in Java and one of the most active. It is also one of Indonesia's most popular tourist hiking destinations. The volcano previously erupted in December, when about 550 people were evacuated. Within the last week, Indonesia has endured multiple landslides, a deadly earthquake on Sulawesi island, and the loss of a Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737 with 62 people on board. - BBC