Myanmar's last generation of tattooed headhunters

AFP / Ye Aung THUMany of the Naga tribes in Myanmar's far north have grisly histories

Ngon Pok remembers his father and grandfather returning triumphantly to his tribal village in Myanmar's far north with a human head -- and the agony of the tattoo he was given to celebrate their victory.

He is a proud member of the Lainong, one of dozens of Naga tribes -- many with grisly histories -- wedged in a semi-autonomous zone near the Indian border.

Ngon Pok, who believes he's around 80, gestures to his six-year-old grandson, saying he must have been about the same age when he received his tattoo.

AFP / Ye Aung THUNaga tribes in Myanmar's far north subscribe to a complex patchwork of customs, blending animist beliefs with various forms of Christianity brought by missionaries in recent decades -- and intertwining their warrior traditions

"People had to catch me and hold me down," he tells AFP, removing his jumper to reveal his chest adorned with parallel, vertical stripes and two warrior figures.

Tribes and villages commonly waged war over land, and there are reports of warriors hacking off their enemies' heads for trophies as late as the 1960s.

To celebrate, a thorn would be used to drive tree sap under the warrior's skin to ink a permanent reminder of his headhunting prowess -- and his family would often follow suit.

Ngon Pok's wife, aged about 75, says she chose to have the geometric designs etched on her arms, legs and face as a teenager.

AFP / Ye Aung THUThe Naga tribes in Myanmar's far north would use a thorn to drive tree sap under the warrior's skin to ink a permanent reminder of his headhunting prowess -- and his family would often follow suit

"It was so painful," Khamyo Pon Nyun remembers, hoisting up her skirt to expose her legs.

"But I told myself if my mum and my aunts could do it then so could I," she says, adding with a smile that -- unlike her husband -- she did not need to be restrained to withstand the pain.

- Naga nationalism -

The Naga consist of dozens of tribes in a region so isolated that neighbouring villages often speak completely different languages and dialects.

AFP / Ye Aung THUFor the Naga in Myanmar's far north, tattoos can signify tribal identity, life accomplishments or the completion of a rite of passage

Divided between India and Myanmar by a border many deem as artificial, today a proud sense of nationalism unites the disparate tribes.

This is one of the poorest corners of Myanmar, where many must walk for days to reach the nearest town, few children progress beyond primary school education and only 40 percent of villages boast electricity.

People subscribe to a complex patchwork of customs, blending animist beliefs with various forms of Christianity brought by missionaries in recent decades -- and intertwining their warrior traditions.

AFP / Ye Aung THUThe Naga live in one of the poorest corners of Myanmar, where many must walk for days to reach the nearest town

American anthropologist and author Lars Krutak has travelled the world studying tribal tattoos, including among the Naga.

"What strikes me as unique is the diversity of Naga tattooing patterns," he says, adding there are more than 20 tribes that tattoo across both sides of the border.

They can signify tribal identity, life accomplishments or the completion of a rite of passage.

In some cases, people believed they would need the designs to transition to the afterlife, Krutak explains.

- Gory tradition -

One of the most feared tribes was the Konyak, now divided between India and Myanmar, their villages so remote Christianity only made inroads here in the 1970s.

AFP / Ye Aung THUTribes and villages in Myanmar's far north commonly waged war over land, and there are reports of warriors hacking off their enemies' heads for trophies as late as the 1960s

The Konyak village of Longwa actually straddles the border, set on a high ridge commanding a view of both countries and is the seat of the tribe's king, whose house symbolically lies directly on the frontier.

Only a handful of the village's former headhunting warriors remain, sporting formidable tattoos that cover much of their faces in dark blue ink with skull-like patches left bare around the eyes.

Houn Ngo Kaw, 75, claims he helped put an end to the gory tradition in his village after he converted to Christianity in 1978 and admits "it's better now."

AFP / Ye Aung THUFew among the Naga in Myanmar's far north seem to lament the passing of a tattooing tradition that will soon be lost forever

Younger generations of Naga rarely wear the traditional tattoos associated with headhunting, but there are exceptions.

Ku Myo, 35, says her parents were less than impressed after she came home aged 15 with her face tattooed.

"I did it without them knowing and they beat me when they found out," she says, admitting she too would be furious if her children exhibited the same rebellious streak.

But few seem to lament the passing of a tradition that will soon be lost forever.

"I wanted to be one of the last tattooed warriors and I am," Konyak elder Houn Ngo Kaw says with a huge grin.

"Of course I'm happy."

Maldives gets Amal Clooney to fight for Rohingya at UN court

AFP / Tolga AKMENHuman rights lawyer Amal Clooney will represent the Maldives at the UN's highest court in the Rohingya case

The luxury tourist destination of the Maldives has hired prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to represent it at the UN's highest court in seeking justice for Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslims.

The Maldivian government said Wednesday it will formally join the mainly Muslim African state of The Gambia in challenging Myanmar's 2017 military crackdown that sent around 740,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh.

In a unanimous ruling last month, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Buddhist-majority Myanmar to implement emergency measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingya -- pending a full case that could take years.

Clooney successfully represented former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed and secured a UN decision that his 2015 jailing for 13 years was illegal.

With the fall of strongman president Abdulla Yameen in 2018, Nasheed as well as several other dissidents in the Sunni Muslim nation of 340,000 have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Nasheed is currently the atoll nation's speaker in the national legislature.

The government said it welcomed the ICJ's decision to order provisional measures to secure the rights of victims in Myanmar and prevent the destruction of evidence in the ongoing case.

"Accountability for genocide in Myanmar is long overdue and I look forward to working on this important effort to seek judicial remedies for Rohingya survivors," Clooney was quoted as saying by the Maldivian government.

Thousands are suspected to have been killed in the Rohingya crackdown and refugees brought widespread reports of rape and arson by Myanmar's military and local Buddhist militias.

Moscow police seize homemade 'Batmobile'

Russian Interior Ministry/AFP / HandoutThis handout photo from Russian Interior Ministry taken on February 22, 2020 shows Russian traffic policemen standing next to a vehicle in Moscow that bears a striking resemblance to the "Batmobile"

A homemade vehicle bearing a striking resemblance to the "Batmobile" featured in a recent Batman film has been seized in central Moscow, Russia's interior ministry announced.

Traffic police brought the all-black, lowrider vehicle with giant wheels to a screeching halt as it cruised down one of the main roads into the city centre on Saturday evening.

They impounded the car, styled after the famous car belonging to the superhero and owned by a 32-year-old Muscovite.

The "Batmobile" owner faces fines for numerous violations before being allowed to get his car back.

Police said Tuesday that the vehicle was assembled illegally at a private workshop, is not registered as a vehicle and does not adhere to road safety standards, as well as being supersized for a standard car at six metres (20 feet) long.

The car was built in the United States, then customised in Russia at an auto tuning workshop called Fast Boom Pro, whose logo is visible in a police video, Russian auto sites reported.

The workshop turned it into the spitting image of the vehicle featured in the 2016 film "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice".

The replica car was reportedly put on sale in Russia in October last year for 55 million rubles ($842,100).

It was described as armoured and equipped with a night-vision camera, a thermal imaging camera, a laser-aiming device and a model gun that imitates the sound of shooting.

Norway authorizes demolition of building with Picasso murals

AFP/File / ODD ANDERSENPicasso's 'The Fisherman' adorns a wall of the Y-block in Oslo which is to be demolished

Norway gave the go-ahead on Wednesday for the demolition of a bomb-damaged building adorned with drawings by Spanish master painter Pablo Picasso.

The government, which ruled out a further postponement to the 2014 decision to demolish the building, has said it would relocate the two Picasso murals.

Completed in 1969 in the centre of Oslo, the "Y block", named for its shape, bears drawings by Picasso sandblasted on its walls - the work of Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, who collaborated with the Spanish master painter.

Previously the home of a government ministry, the building was damaged in the deadly bomb attack carried out by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik on 22 July 2011, before he went on to carry out a mass shooting on the island of Utoya, killing a combined 77 people.

In 2014, Norway decided to demolish the building for security reasons as part of a major reconstruction project, and decided to relocate the murals "The Fishermen" and "The Seagull."

Anther building, "H block", which was also damaged in the blast and has three other Picasso murals, will not be destroyed.

The 2014 decision to knock down "Y block" provoked a backlash among champions of architectural heritage and the ensuing public outcry saw a delay to the demolition.

Three organisations and associations announced on February 13 their intention to take the state to court and asked the government to postpone the demolition until the court had ruled on the matter.

On Wednesday, the government rejected this request, arguing that further delays would lead to financial cost as well as the postponement of the reconstruction project which has already been decided.

SCANPIX NORWAY/AFP/File / STORLØKKEN, AAGENorwegian artist Carl Nesjar (left) sandblasting one of Pablo Picassos works into the concrete during the construction of the Y-block in Oslo

The ministry of local government and modernisation said in a statement that the agency in charge of managing the state's real estate assets, Statsbygg, had been given the "assignment to start preparation work for the demolition of the Y block."

No starting date has been set, but postponing the implementation of the measure beyond April 1 would cost between 30 and 50 million Norwegian kroner ($3.2 million to 5.3 million or 2.9 million to 4.9 million euros) per month, according to Statsbygg.

A petition launched a year ago to stop the demolition of "Y block" had gathered nearly 28,000 signatures by midday on Wednesday.

OIL DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBAL WARMING

Cannibalism on rise among polar bears, say Russian scientists

RUSSIAN ARCTIC NATIONAL PARK/AFP / Handout

Russians living in Arctic settlements have sounded the alarm over dozens of bears entering areas of human habitation, particularly to raid rubbish dumps for food

Cases of polar bears killing and eating each other are on the rise in the Arctic as melting ice and human activity erode their habitat, a Russian scientist said Wednesday.

"Cases of cannibalism among polar bears are a long-established fact, but we're worried that such cases used to be found rarely while now they are recorded quite often," said polar bear expert Ilya Mordvintsev, quoted by Interfax news agency.

"We state that cannibalism in polar bears is increasing," said Mordvintsev, a senior researcher at Moscow's Severtsov Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution.

Speaking at a presentation in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg, he suggested that the behaviour could be due to lack of food.

"In some seasons there is not enough food and large males attack females with cubs," he said.

The rise in cases may also be partly due to more people working in the Arctic and reporting such behaviour, he said.

AFP / Adrian LeungPolar bears face uncertain future


"Now we get information not only from scientists but also from the growing number of oil workers and defence ministry employees."

This winter the area from the Gulf of Ob to the Barents Sea, where polar bears used to hunt, is now a busy route for ships carrying LNG (liquefied natural gas), Mordvintsev said.

"The Gulf of Ob was always a hunting ground for the polar bear. Now it has broken ice all year round," he said, linking this to active gas extraction on the huge Yamal peninsula that borders the Gulf of Ob, and the launch of an Arctic LNG plant.

- Quitting normal hunting grounds -

Russia, already a key global oil and gas exporter, is keen to develop its LNG potential in the Arctic. It has also significantly upgraded its military facilities there.

Another Russian scientist, Vladimir Sokolov, who has led numerous expeditions by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, based in Saint Petersburg, said this year polar bears had mainly been affected by abnormally warm weather on Spitsbergen Island to the west in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, where there have been no ice floes and little snow.



Russian researchers have recorded growing numbers of polar bears moving away from their traditional hunting grounds as ice melts due to global warming.

Over the last quarter-century, Arctic ice levels by the end of summer have fallen by 40 percent, said Sokolov. He predicted that polar bears would eventually no longer hunt on sea ice and be confined to shore areas and high-latitude archipelagos.

Russians living in Arctic settlements have sounded the alarm over dozens of bears entering areas of human habitation, particularly to raid rubbish dumps for food.

Kenya bans controversial donkey slaughter trade

AFP / TONY KARUMBAKenya has decided to ban the slaughter of donkeys for use in Chinese medicine

Kenya has decided to ban the slaughter of donkeys for use in Chinese medicine, a practice condemned by animal rights activists as cruel, unnecessary and devastating to donkey populations in Africa, a minister said on Thursday.

Agriculture Minister Peter Munya told AFP that the ban, imposed earlier this week, came after "people petitioned my office to ban the slaughtering of donkeys because theft of donkeys to sell had increased".

A ministry statement said rampant theft of donkeys was hitting farmers who use them to transport agricultural produce and water, and causing "massive unemployment".

Four abattoirs dealing in donkey meat have been given a month to stop the practice.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) hailed Kenya's decision to "cut ties with a cruel trade that sentences gentle donkeys to miserable deaths by the millions."

"No one needs donkey skin except the animals who were born in it," said PETA Senior Vice President of International Campaigns Jason Baker.

Donkey skins are exported to China to make a traditional medicine known as ejiao, which is believed to improve blood circulation, slow ageing, and boost libido and fertility.

It was once the preserve of emperors but is now highly sought after by a burgeoning middle-class.

A PETA investigation last year showed donkeys being cruelly beaten by workers, or dead after long truck journeys from neighbouring countries.

UK-based animal welfare organisation The Donkey Sanctuary told AFP at the time that there were tales of the animals being rounded up and machine-gunned or bludgeoned to death

China is increasingly looking to Africa to satisfy demand as its own donkey population has nearly halved in recent years.

However several African countries have now banned Chinese-funded abattoirs or implemented policies to stop the export of donkey skins to China.

Donkeys reproduce slowly and do not handle stress well, and activists have raised fears that populations could be wiped out in east Africa in a matter of years.

Emaciated lion Jupiter returning home to 'mother'

Cali Mayor's Office/AFP / Guillermo Gutiérrez / Alcaldia de CaliTwenty-year-old lion Jupiter does not have the strength to stand up after almost two years of being kept in dreadful conditions

Emaciated with a vacant gaze and without the strength to stand upright, 20-year-old lion Jupiter's life is in danger.

But authorities are acting to try to save him after he was discovered in a "critical state."

Leading attempts to restore Jupiter to full health is the woman who rescued him from the circus where he was born and brought him up as her "son" from the age of three months.

Ana Julia Torres has run the Villa Lorena animal sanctuary in Cali, Colombia for more than 30 years.

But in April 2019, environmental authorities confiscated Jupiter over a lack of required documentation and accusations that Torres was mistreating hundreds of wild animals, most of which arrived at her sanctuary showing signs of previous mistreatment.

When Jupiter was transferred to the Los Caimanes zoo in the department of Cordoba he weighed 250 kilograms (550 pounds), Torres said. Now his weight is down to just 90 kilos.

AFP / Lina GilKeeper Ana Julia Torres rests next to Jupiter, a diminished 20-year-old lion, at Los Caimanes zoo in Monteria, Colombia

When the zoo closed he was taken to a nearby facility.

"Clearly he was locked up and that's when he started losing weight," said Torres, who claimed she had felt a mother's instinct that her progeny needed her help.

"He hasn't eaten for several days. It's a fact that an animal deteriorates" in such conditions, she said.

Dramatic pictures of Jupiter have gone viral on social media where a campaign was launched to help him.

Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo announced the lion would be sent home on an air force plane.

"This animal should never have left, nor been mistreated," said Cali's mayor Jorge Ivan Ospina.

He said local authorities were looking into building "appropriate" accommodation for Jupiter while the attorney general's office and police opened an animal cruelty enquiry.

Animal cruelty can be punished with up to three years in prison and a $12,000 fine.

Crucially, though, this king of the jungle -- who has never set foot in one -- is going home where his former carer is hoping to nurse him back to health.

"This love that he and I have for each other will save him," said Torres.

"That's the connection between a mother and a child."

LIVING IN CLOUD KOO KOO LAND

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To 11 million Brazilians, the Earth is flat

AFP / Florence GOISNARD"Flat-Earthers are the smartest. Write that!" says Anderson Neves, a 50-year-old entrepreneur who is convinced that the Earth is flat

Sitting by a model of the Earth shaped like a pancake, Brazilian restaurant-owner Ricardo lets out an exaggerated laugh: "'Hahaha!' That's how people react when you tell them the Earth is flat," he says.

Ricardo, who declines to give his full name for just that reason, is a 60-something man whose restaurant in Sao Paulo has become a meeting place for people who, like him, reject the notion that the Earth is a sphere.

"The only things I know for certain are that I'm going to die someday and that the Earth is flat," he says.

It is a curious but remarkably large club: more than 11 million people in Brazil -- seven percent of the population -- believe the Earth is flat, according to polling firm Datafolha.

And their influence stretches surprisingly far, in a country currently swept up in the post-truth era and the anti-intellectual, climate-change-skeptic worldview embodied by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

One of Bolsonaro's most prominent ideologues, the writer and former astrologer Olavo de Carvalho, has said he "cannot refute" Flat-Earth theory.

Yet Brazil's Flat-Earthers are also a secretive, at times paranoid, community, communicating via encrypted messages on WhatsApp, invitation-only Facebook groups and especially on YouTube, where their channels have tens of thousands of followers.

There, they are free to state what they believe, without fear of ridicule: that the Earth is a flat, stationary body.

It is an argument they advance with varying interpretations of physics, optics and the Bible, dismissing all evidence to the contrary as a conspiracy.

- 'Humankind's greatest lie' -

Brazilians who believe the Earth is flat are mostly men, often Catholics or evangelical Christians, and with relatively low levels of education, according to Datafolha.

But don't confuse education with knowledge, the Flat-Earthers warn.

"Flat-Earthers are the smartest. Write that!" says Anderson Neves, a 50-year-old entrepreneur, who has come to Ricardo's restaurant armed with a pamphlet denouncing the "hoaxes" of Newton and Copernicus.

"A malignant pseudo-science has corrupted the education system around the world," says another text he is carrying.

It calls the idea of a round Earth "humankind's greatest lie, dictated by the global elite."

Next to him, Ricardo's Flat-Earth model shows the sun and Moon as little balls, equal in size, suspended above a disc-shaped planet.

"Just look at the horizon. Climb a mountain and take pictures. You can see the Earth isn't curved," says Neves, clutching a level to illustrate his point.

NASA/AFP/File / Nick HAGUEFlat Earthers give little credit to photographs of the Earth taken from space, and are convinced that NASA is perpetrating a giant fraud

The Flat-Earthers are brimming with counter-factual questions: If the Earth is rotating at 1,700 kilometers (1,000 miles) per hour at the equator, why doesn't the movement make everything fly off? If it's a sphere, why can't we see the curve from an airplane?

They give little credit to photographs from space or scientists' answers about gravity, Foucault's pendulum and two millennia of astronomical observation.

"We've known for certain the Earth isn't flat since Galileo, since the early 17th century. But the ancient Greeks had pieced it together more than 2,000 years ago," says astronomer Roberto Costa of the University of Sao Paulo.

"To scientists, this (Flat-Earth theory) seems more like a topic for psychologists or sociologists to study. The Earth's shape isn't a scientific problem to astronomers."

- Tilted Eiffel Tower? -

One of the most prominent of Brazil's Flat-Earthers is Afonso de Vasconcelos, a geophysicist with a PhD from the University of Sao Paulo.

Vasconcelos is based in the United States, which is also home to a large community of Flat-Earthers. One of them died last week attempting to launch himself more than 1,500 meters (nearly a mile) into the sky in a homemade rocket.

Vasconcelos operates a YouTube channel called "True Science" (Ciencia de Verdade) where he expounds his ideas to 345,000 followers.

Fellow YouTuber Siddhartha Chaibub, "Professor Flat-Earth" (Professor Terra Plana), has nearly 30,000 followers. Last November, Chaibub helped organize the first-ever convention for Brazilian Flat-Earthers, which drew hundreds of people in Sao Paulo.

One of the favorite targets for Flat-Earthers' conspiracy theories is NASA. They accuse the US space agency of pulling a giant fraud.

"Man never landed on the Moon. That was a studio set," says Ricardo.

As for satellite images showing Earth's curvature from space, he demands: "Where's the tilted Eiffel Tower?"

Mexico court jails man over murder of journalist Valdez

AFP/File / PEDRO PARDOMexican journalist Javier Valdez was murdered in May 2017

One of the murderers of acclaimed journalist and AFP contributor Javier Valdez Cardenas was sentenced Thursday to 14 years and eight months in prison by a Mexican court.

Heriberto Picos Barraza, nicknamed "El Koala", was one of the perpetrators of the crime committed in the northwestern city of Cualiacan in May 2017, according to the prosecution.

He had served as a driver for two men, Juan Francisco Picos Barrueto and Luis Idelfonso Sanchez, who shot Valdez outside his office.

A co-founder of the weekly newspaper Riodoce, Valdez, 50, was one of the most prominent chroniclers of Mexico's deadly drug war in a state where notorious kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman once reigned.

The public prosecutor's office ordered the accused to pay 9 million pesos (around 420,000 euros, $460,000) to the journalist's family.

The sum will be covered by the Executive Commission for Victim Assistance (CEAV), a branch of the interior ministry.

The prosecution argued that the assassination was ordered by Damaso Lopez Serrano, the son of a drug trafficker, who was furious at having been criticized in an article by Riodoce.

Lopez Serrano, who allegedly paid 100,000 pesos for the killing and supplied the weapons, has always denied the claims.

Juan Francisco Picos Barrueto, having refused to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of 20 years and eight months in prison, will be tried in March as the main perpetrator.

The murder in one of the deadliest countries for members of the press sparked international condemnation.

 In virus-hit China, coat maker adapts to make hazmat suits

AFP / NOEL CELISUgly Duck Industry in Wenzhou, eastern China, has switched production from winter coats to hazmat suits

The coronavirus outbreak in China is preventing clothing manufacturer Ugly Duck Industry from resuming its normal production of winter coats, so it has pivoted to another in-demand product: hazmat suits.

The company in the eastern China export hub of Wenzhou hastily repurposed its assembly line, putting the few dozen workers it could muster to produce thousands of single-use protective suits daily.

Ugly Duck -- referring to the proverbial duckling that becomes a swan -- is among countless Chinese manufacturers heeding calls to address desperate shortages of face masks, medical equipment, and other supplies to fight the new coronavirus.

The contagion has killed more than 2,800 people and infected some 79,000 in China, sparking global fears and a run on supplies.

AFP / NOEL CELISUsing a repurposed assembly line, Ugly Duck is producing thousands of single-use protective suits daily

Wenzhou is one the hardest-hit areas, with 504 cases and one death as of Friday, compared with 337 infections in far larger Shanghai.

Along with other cities in Zhejiang province, Wenzhou adopted harsh restrictions on residents' movements on February 2. Ugly Duck was asked by local authorities to do its part.

"As soon as we received this mission, we reorganised our production line within 60 hours," company president Pan Yue told AFP.

The suits are sold to the government at cost and intended for local epidemic-control efforts.

But with the virus now hitting other countries, the company plans to continue hazmat suit production even after normal operations resume as expected in the coming weeks.

"We are considering export to Italy or wherever they are needed," Pan said. "We want to contribute to society and to the world."

- Hazmat-clad workers -

Major production areas in the five-story concrete factory are ghostly quiet expanses of idle sewing machines -- testament to the paralysis inflicted on Chinese manufacturing.

AFP / NOEL CELISThe workers at Ugly Duck's factory are clad in head-to-toe suits to prevent contamination of the new hazmat gear

But in one workshop nearly the size of a football pitch, the bright-white polypropylene material is first cut into basic shapes, then stitched together in stages, and finally folded and packaged on an assembly line by workers who are also clad in the head-to-toe suits to prevent contamination.

Each worker has a bottle of hand sanitiser at their work table.

Underlining China's enduring ability to foster mass, collective efforts, companies across China -- from iPhone maker Foxconn to car manufacturer BYD -- have pitched in after news that doctors in front-line epidemic areas were treating patients without proper masks or suits, or were forced to reuse single-use equipment.

Wenzhou, with around three million people in its main urban core, is famed for its commercial prowess.

AFP / NOEL CELISWenzhou is one of the areas hardest-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in China

A trade entrepot for centuries, it was an early pioneer in China's manufacturing-led economic transformation beginning in the 1970s and today produces a large portion of the world's eyeglasses and shoes.

But the city remains subdued, its factories hobbled.

Much of Ugly Duck's roughly 300-strong labour force are migrants from less-developed provinces like Yunnan and Guizhou in China's southwest.

Only half of the workers have managed to navigate travel restrictions and reduced rail and bus traffic.

"The outbreak has impacted the company because (production) has been delayed for a month," said Pan.

"But we will do everything to recoup the losses."

Opposition urges 'Russia without Putin' in rally for slain liberal

AFP / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEVA Moscow rally marks five years since the assassination of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, but its organisers also want to send a message to President Vladimir Putin

Thousands rallied in central Moscow on Saturday to call on President Vladimir Putin not to stay in power indefinitely, in the first major protest by the Russian opposition since the Kremlin chief announced controversial plans to change the constitution.

The rally marked five years since the assassination of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, but its organisers also want the event to send a message to Putin after he proposed major constitutional changes.

Organisers, including the country's most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny, called for a mass turnout to show Putin that he must not consider staying in power by any means when his current mandate ends in 2024.

Moscow authorities gave permission to the rally -- after a succession of demonstrations urging fair elections last summer were roughly dispersed -- and the street was packed by a flow of protesters, an AFP correspondent said.

"The Putin regime is a threat to humankind," said the slogan on one placard next to a portrait of Nemtsov.

AFP / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEVOpposition supporters attend a march in memory of murdered Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov in downtown Moscow. It is the first such rally since Russia's Vladimir Putin announced controversial changes to the constitution in January.

"Putin's policies are based on total lies," said another, quoting the liberal politician who was assassinated in central Moscow on February 27, 2015.

"Russia without Putin!" the crowds chanted repeatedly as they marched.

The White Counter monitor which counts attendance at protests said 22,300 people took part in the march. The interior ministry said 10,500 took part.

- 'Stay in power by any means' -

Putin, who has dominated Russia for two decades, in January unleashed a political storm, proposing an overhaul of the constitution, the first changes to the basic law since 1993.

Analysts see the plan as beginning preparations for succession when Putin's fourth presidential term ends in 2024, while the opposition says the Kremlin strongman wants to remain leader for life.

AFP / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEVOrganisers of the march want mass turnout to show Vladimir Putin should not consider staying in power by any means beyond the end of his term in 2024

"I think that this is a crime, that it is mocking the constitution," said Semyon Pevzner, a pensioner aged 75. "The only aim is to stay in power by any means possible."

Putin first came to power as prime minister in 1999 under Boris Yeltsin before becoming president in 2000. He served the maximum two consecutive terms between 2000 and 2008 before a four-year stint as prime minister.

He returned to the Kremlin in 2012 for a newly-expanded six-year mandate and was re-elected in 2018. But opponents fear he could remain Russia's number one even if the job of president nominally goes to someone else in 2024.

Kseniya Telmanova, a 21-year-old student, reflected that Putin had been president for her whole life, except her first few months. "Probably those were the best months of my life," she said, laughing. "The leaders should fear the fact they can lose power."

AFP / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEVA picture of Boris Nemtsov wearing a facemask left during the rally in downtown Moscow

Russia is planning to hold a referendum on the constitutional amendments on April 22.

One of the organisers of the Moscow protest, opposition leader Ilya Yashin, said the event had shown an "important dynamic" in that more people had turned out than at a similar anniversary event last year.

Asked whether the opposition was planning any more protests in the near future, he said: "I don't know so far. This was the main event we had been preparing."

- 'No major progress' -

Around 2,000 people gathered for a similar demonstration in Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg on Saturday, clutching flowers, portraits of Nemtsov and banners reading "They feared you Boris".

"This is basically the only chance we have to go out and say that we are against what is going on in the country and against this police state," said Galina Zuiko, 55.

Nemtsov -- one of Putin's most vocal critics and a former deputy prime minister in the Yeltsin government -- was shot and killed on a Moscow bridge near the Kremlin.

AFP / Dimitar DILKOFFOpposition supporters push for release of political prisoners in Moscow rally, the first since Vladimir Putin controversial changed the constitution in January

In 2017, a court found a former security force officer from Chechnya guilty of his murder and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Four other men were found guilty of involvement in the killing.

But Nemtsov's family and allies insist the authorities have failed to bring the masterminds to justice.

"We have not seen any major progress" in the probe, Navalny said in brief comments to pro-opposition channel TV Rain. "We will continue to turn out (every year) until this case is solved."