Poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny is able to leave his bed for short periods and is no longer using a ventilator, the German hospital where he is being treated said on Monday. The improvement to Mr Navalny’s health comes as three independent laboratories confirmed the top Kremlin critic was poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok last month. Moscow had dismissed Berlin doctors’ diagnosis of Novichok poisoning, accusing them of “rushing to conclusions”. But German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday that laboratories in France and Sweden “have now confirmed independently of one another the proof of a nerve agent of the Novichok group”. He added that the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was also testing samples.
