Navalny to end hunger strike

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny yesterday said he was ending a 24-day hunger strike he launched to demand medical treatment behind bars, after allies said his life was in danger. The announcement came after Navalny's personal doctors said Thursday that he had received treatment at a civilian hospital and urged him to put a stop to his protest. Navalny's protest in prison had raised the stakes in a standoff between President Vladimir Putin and Western leaders, who said Russia would face repercussions if the Kremlin's most outspoken opponent died in detention. Navalny was thrown behind bars in February for more than two years on old embezzlement charges, just weeks after he returned to Moscow from Germany where he had been recuperating from a poisoning attack that nearly left him dead.He blames Russian authorities for the attack with nerve agent Novichok -- a claim the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.