독 정부 "나발니, 노비촉에 공격당해"…메르켈 "러 답해야"<br /><br />It's time now for our Thursday edition of Arirang's 'The World Now'. I'm Kim Jae-hee.<br />We begin with updates on Russian President Vladimir Putin's most prominent opponent, Alexei Navalny.<br />The German government said Wednesday, there's "unequivocal proof" that the Russian critic was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.<br />"The results provide indisputable proof that a chemical nerve poison gas of the Novichok group was present."<br />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.<br />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.<br />The German chancellor on Wednesday strongly condemned Russia, and demanded answers.<br />"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."<br />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.<br />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.<br />A Kremlin spokesman on Wednesday called on Germany for a full exchange of information, and said they are ready to cooperate.<br />Meanwhile, the news has thrown previous suspected poisonings of the Kremlin's foes into the spotlight.<br />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.<br />
