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 Filip Kuznetsov spent an entire night crammed into a police van with 17 other protesters because Moscow's detention centres were all full. He was among a record 4,002 people arrested across Russia last week, as large crowds took to the streets to demand the release of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny. Further protests have been called for Sunday, threatening to strain the system even further. "We didn't sleep all night. One person always had to stand for space, so we took it in turns," Filip told me by phone on Wednesday from the back of the police van, which he described as an "ancient vehicle with metal bars all round". Anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, fiercely critical of the Kremlin, was imprisoned on his recent return to Russia after recovering from an attempt to kill him with a nerve agent. A judge had sentenced Filip to 10 days in custody on Monday for his part in the protest. But it took police a further two days to find space in c

  The World Health Organization (WHO) has criticised the EU's announcement of export controls on vaccines produced within the bloc, saying such measures risked prolonging the pandemic. The EU introduced the measure amid a row with vaccine manufacturers over delivery shortfalls. But WHO vice-head Mariangela Simao said it was a "very worrying trend". Earlier WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "vaccine nationalism" could lead to a "protracted recovery". Speaking at the Davos Agenda - a virtual version of the global summit - he said vaccine hoarding would "keep the pandemic burning and... slow global economic recovery", in addition to being a "catastrophic moral failure" that could further widen global inequality. What is the EU doing? The European Union is introducing export controls on coronavirus vaccines made in the bloc, amid a row about delivery shortfalls. The so-called transparency mechanism gives EU countries powers t

 The European Commission has published its contract with drug-maker AstraZeneca to buy the company's Covid vaccine, amid a row over supplies. The move came hours after Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen increased pressure on the company over its decision to reduce supplies to the EU. The contract signed in August contained "binding orders", she told German radio, and called for an explanation. The vaccine is expected to be approved by the EU medicines regulator later. The EU decided to publish the contract to try to back its argument that the company is reneging on its commitments. Large sections of the contract, published with the agreement of AstraZeneca, have been blanked out - redacted - to protect sensitive information. These include some paragraphs dealing with costs, guaranteed delivery dates and intellectual property. Following publication, there has been debate over the phrase in the contract which says "best reasonable effort". https://wocomedia.com

 The EU has been criticised for the slow pace of coronavirus vaccinations across its member states. Roll-out has been hit by delays, supply problems and a row with one of the vaccine makers, AstraZeneca. Now, the EU is warning it may tighten exports of vaccines produced by its member states, and has said it will "take any action required to protect its citizens". How does the EU vaccine scheme work? The EU co-ordinates the purchase of vaccines for all of its 27 member states. The European Commission says this approach avoids competition between EU countries, as they can all access vaccines on the same terms, irrespective of their size or purchasing power. It says negotiating the purchase of large quantities also secures reductions in costs. Once the EU buys the vaccines, it distributes them between countries on the basis of their population. What's the problem? The EU approved the purchase of 300 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in December. But the company wa

 After more than 45 days of protests and eight rounds of talks with the government, India's farmers have refused to budge. Nothing short of a repeal of three market-friendly farm laws - designed to loosen rules around the sale, pricing and storage of farm produce - will make the farmers retreat from protest sites ringing the capital, Delhi. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court, responding to a bunch of petitions, put the laws on hold. The uncertainty lingers. So why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government fail to anticipate the blowback to the laws and misread the public mood in the affected states of Punjab and Haryana? Were they lulled into complacency because a Punjab-based ally initially supported the laws? (The Akali Dal later reversed its stand and quit the government.) Did the government believe that the laws would not lead to any significant erosion of popular support? Mr Modi has built a reputation for tough talking and playing hardball wi

  China's "Punchline Queen" Yang Li is no stranger to controversy. The 29-year-old is now one of the country's most well-known comedians, having risen to fame in recent months on a Chinese television show called "Rock and Roast". Every week, in front of a national audience of millions, she addresses controversial gender issues using a style unfamiliar to many Chinese viewers - stand-up comedy. She's attracted a huge following, but her punchlines haven't landed well with everyone - and now Yang is facing the biggest backlash of her career. In a December episode she talked about telling a male comedian her new jokes. He replied that she was "testing men's limits". "Do men even have limits?" Yang sarcastically asked, triggering a fresh wave of criticism. In recent weeks on social media, male netizens have accused her of "sexism" and "man hating". Meanwhile a group claiming to defend men's rights has called

  Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says a delay in the supply of coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca is "unacceptable". Both companies have warned they will not be able to deliver vaccines to the EU as agreed due to production issues. Mr Conte has accused them of serious contract violations. A senior Italian health official has warned that the country will have to rethink its vaccination programme if supply issues continue. The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed by Oxford University, has not yet been given EU approval; however the bloc's drug regulator is expected to give it the green light at the end of this month. A spokesman for AstraZeneca said on Friday that "initial volumes will be lower than originally anticipated" without giving further details. Officials have not confirmed publicly how big the shortfall will be, but an unnamed EU official told Reuters news agency that deliveries would be reduced to 31m - a cut of 60% - in the first quarter

 Hundreds of people have been detained as police try to stop nationwide protests in Russia in support of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny. Mr Navalny's wife, Yulia, said she had been detained at a protest in the capital Moscow, where officers were breaking up the demonstrations. Thousands of people have already taken part in rallies in Russia's Far East. Mr Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most high-profile critic, called for protests after his arrest last weekend. He was detained on 17 January after he flew back to Moscow from Berlin, where he had been recovering from a near-fatal nerve agent attack in Russia last August. On his return, he was immediately taken into custody and found guilty of violating parole conditions. He says it is a trumped-up case designed to silence him, and called on his supporters to protest. Several of Mr Navalny's close aides, including a spokeswoman, have also been detained in the run up to Saturday's protests. Prior to th

 Google has threatened to remove its search engine from Australia over the nation's attempt to make the tech giant share royalties with news publishers. Australia is introducing a world-first law to make Google, Facebook and potentially other tech companies pay media outlets for their news content. But the US firms have fought back, warning the law would make them withdraw some of their services. Australian PM Scott Morrison said lawmakers would not yield to "threats". Though Australia is far from Google's largest market, the proposed news code is seen as a possible global test case for how governments could seek to regulate big tech firms. Australia's code would tie Google and Facebook to mediated negotiations with publishers over the value of news content, if no agreement could be reached first. Google Australia managing director Mel Silva told a Senate hearing on Friday that the laws were "unworkable". "If this version of the code were to become

  Amanda Gorman has become the youngest poet ever to perform at a presidential inauguration, calling for "unity and togetherness" in her self-penned poem. The 22-year-old delivered her work The Hill We Climb to both the dignitaries present in Washington DC and a watching global audience. "When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?" her five-minute poem began. She went on to reference the storming of the Capitol earlier this month. "We've seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy," she declared. "And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated." In her poem, Gorman described herself as "a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother [who] can dream of becoming president, only to find her self reciting for one". Am