독 정부 "나발니, 노비촉에 공격당해"…메르켈 "러 답해야"

It's time now for our Thursday edition of Arirang's 'The World Now'. I'm Kim Jae-hee.
We begin with updates on Russian President Vladimir Putin's most prominent opponent, Alexei Navalny.
The German government said Wednesday, there's "unequivocal proof" that the Russian critic was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.
"The results provide indisputable proof that a chemical nerve poison gas of the Novichok group was present."
The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner was taken ill on a return flight to Moscow last month, after drinking tea at an airport cafe.
His flight made an emergency landing in Omsk, Siberia, where he was sent to an intensive care unit, before being transferred to Berlin two days later.
The German chancellor on Wednesday strongly condemned Russia, and demanded answers.
"Alexei Navalny is the victim of a crime. He was meant to be silenced and I condemn this in the sharpest possible manner in the name of the entire German government. We expect the Russian government to explain itself to this incident."
The chancellor also said Germany's NATO and EU partners had been informed of the results of the investigation, and they would decide on the appropriate response.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also condemned the attack as "outrageous", and the U.S. said it would work with the international community to hold those in Russia accountable.
A Kremlin spokesman on Wednesday called on Germany for a full exchange of information, and said they are ready to cooperate.
Meanwhile, the news has thrown previous suspected poisonings of the Kremlin's foes into the spotlight.
The Novichok nerve agent was used in an attack on a former Russian spy and a double agent in 2018, which Kremlin denied any involvement in.