Evening Medusa

What will happen if Russia does not release Navalny, as required by the ECHR. How news about Australia disappeared from Facebook and why it is important for everyone. What is “vaccine diplomacy”

Good evening,

This is Meduza's daily newsletter about the most important news of the day. I would like to start today’s episode with Zemfira’s new video for the song “Austin”. This is the debut single from the singer's first album in eight years. Austin is a butler character from the popular mobile game Homescapes. And he, according to Zemfira, infuriates her. Well, now we can guess why the singer has been working on the album for so long.

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Pulse

The main thing for the day is as short as possible

Food packaging has become more expensive in Russia. Because of this, food prices may rise . Norilsk Nickelagreed to pay 146 billion rubles for a fuel spill at a thermal power plant. Muscovites will be asked who should erect a monument on Lubyanka : Felix Dzerzhinsky or Alexander Nevsky (why?!). The Investigative Committee of Belarus admitted that the first person killed during the protests was killed by security forces, but did not initiate a case . A former prisoner of a Yaroslavl colony was awarded compensation for torture - 20 thousand rubles instead of 500 thousand. For the first time since 2005, a Russian tennis player, Daniil Medvedev, will play in the Australian Open final. Russians' attitudes toward the United States improved for the first time in a year.

Texts of the day

What will happen if Russia does not release Alexei Navalny, as the ECHR demands?

The ECHR believes that Navalny’s life is in danger in the pre-trial detention center. Russia is a member of the Council of Europe and has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, under which the ECHR operates. Despite this, the Russian Ministry of Justice called the demand to release Navalny “deliberately impossible.” If Russia does not comply with the demands of the ECHR, then the worst thing that can happen is expulsion from the Council of Europe . In fact, there are no other levers of pressure on Russia. It is difficult to say how important it is for the Russian authorities to retain a seat on the Council, but Putin said that it was not very important.

How Australia is at war with Facebook and why it matters to the whole world

As of February 18, Australians can no longer post news on Facebook. And residents of the rest of the world can share links to Australian media. It's all about a new law that requires digital platforms to enter into agreements with news organizations and pay them to publish content. Facebook chose not to pay anything - unlike Google, which made a compromise. By the way, not only the media were affected, but also some government organizations: for example, the page of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology was blocked. It is quite possible that users from other countries will soon face similar blocks: the European Union and Canada are supporting publishers on digital platforms.

We show in numbers what Navalny has achieved and faced during his career

How many employees work in the regional headquarters of the politician and in the Anti-Corruption Foundation (recognized in Russia as a “foreign agent”, we indicate this at the request of the authorities), how many Muscovites voted for Navalny in the 2013 Moscow mayoral elections, how many days he spent in a coma and under arrest - and how many percent of his life passed under Putin. These and other amazing numbers are at the link .

Coronavirus

What is “vaccine diplomacy” and “vaccine nationalism”?

The division between these terms is simple: the United States and the European Union are vaccinating their own citizens, while Russia and China are actively supplying their vaccines to other countries where they are in short supply. Western media and experts believe that in this way Beijing and Moscow are trying to expand their geopolitical influence. In the case of Russia, vaccination is also called a way to divert attention from Navalny’s verdict. The most sensible question seems to come from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: “Why is Russia offering [other countries] millions and millions of doses without making sufficient progress in vaccinating its own population?”

Other news about coronavirus:

• The Russian Foreign Ministry invited all foreign diplomats to be vaccinated with Sputnik V. Representatives of those states where the vaccine has been approved agreed. The American ambassador refused.
• At the same time, according to The Washington Post, other employees of the American embassy asked to be vaccinated with the Russian vaccine due to a shortage of American ones.
• In 2021, Russia plans to produce 500 million doses of Sputnik V. A "significant portion" will be made in India .

Podcast “What Happened”

India has a space program, nuclear weapons and a developed IT industry. But the caste system still operates there

In early February, 35-year-old Sneha Parthibaraja from Velluru received an official document stating that she did not belong to any religion or caste. This happened for the first time in history. Despite this local success, the system is still in effect. For example, more than 200 million Indians belong to the lowest caste, untouchables. India specialist Evgeniy Pakhomov talks about how ancient laws work in a modern and democratic country.

Listen to “What Happened” on Meduza . And subscribe to Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Yandex.Music and other podcast services.

Also, today the “What Happened” podcast turns one year old! 🎉 Thank you for listening to us!

Landing of the day

The Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars. Everyone is happy!

The rover landed on the surface of the planet on the night of February 19. The landing took place in fully automatic mode, and project participants on Earth had to endure “seven minutes of horror” while the rover slowed down and selected a suitable landing site. But everything ended well: just look how happy everyone is ! And also how users upload their pictures to a special image generator.

We hope to answer the question “What happened?” for many more years. Your "Medusa"