Jailed Russian opposition leader develops 'allergy'

Russia's most prominent opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, has been taken from jail to a hospital in Moscow.  Officials gave no details of his condition but Mr Navalny's spokeswoman said he had had an allergic reaction with severe facial swelling - something she said he had not experienced before.

A hospital source told Russian media his condition was satisfactory. Mr Navalny was jailed for 30 days last week after calling for unauthorized protests, which took place on Saturday. More than 1,000 people were detained during demonstrations against the barring of opposition candidates in forthcoming local elections. Mr Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, taking to twitter has said that the opposition leader had never experienced an allergic reaction before. He was being given the "necessary medical assistance" in a hospital ward under police protection, she said. Mr Navalny made his name in Russia as a grassroots anti-corruption campaigner who led the country's biggest street protests against President Vladimir Putin during the winter of 2011. He has been repeatedly jailed, usually for his involvement in unauthorized demonstrations, but also (at a retrial in 2017) for embezzlement in a case he says was farcical. His fraud conviction barred him from standing against Mr Putin in the 2018 presidential election. Script Courtesy to BBC News