Dissident Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko is alive, despite earlier reports of his 'murder' yesterday in Ukraine;; key Kremlin critic briefly arrested in Spain; school principal still being held hostage in Cameroon; Hungary's latest attempt to demonize refugees; two more activists arrested in Saudi crackdown; opposition barred from running in Maldives' elections; FIFA's new complaints mechanism for #WorldCup2018; wheels of justice begin to turn in Bangui; & Ethiopia finally releases death row British national Andy Tsege. 

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**UPDATE** The dissident Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko is alive, despite numerous reports that he had been shot dead outside his apartment in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, yesterday evening. Babchenko, a well-known critic of President Vladimir Putin who's received hundreds of death threats, fled Russia for Ukraine last year, and was reportedly shot in the back three times late last night. But this afternoon he emerged safe and well at a news conference in Ukraine, and told reporters that his "murder" had been staged in order to expose Russian agents. Numerous tributes to Babchenko had begun to pour in after initial reports of his death. 

Staying with Russia, the British financier Bill Browder, a high-profile critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been briefly arrested in Spain on a Russian arrest warrant.

In other news, armed separatists are holding hostage a school principal in Cameroon’s Southwest province. Her abduction, five days ago, took place during heightened violence and abuses in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, just days before national school exams began. A second school principal who was abducted in a different area but on the same day was released yesterday, suffering from machete wounds. 

The UN Refugee Agency is calling on Hungary's government to withdraw a package of laws set to be introduced in parliament that would "significantly restrict" the ability of charities and individuals to support asylum-seekers and refugees. 

Saudi authorities have arrested at least two more human rights activists since May 15, when it began a large-scale crackdown on women’s rights activists, HRW confirmed today. Saudi activists fear more arrests are forthcoming, and the crackdown overshadows the expected government announcement to lift the ban on women driving at the end of June.

Opposition candidates have been barred from running in the Maldives' upcoming presidential elections, which are slated to take place in September. The move leaves only the incumbent president, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, eligible to run for office. 

FIFA has launched a complaints mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists to make a formal report if they consider their rights "have been violated" while performing work related to FIFA's activities.

Rebel groups and their commanders in the Central African Republic who kill and rape at will could be sleeping much less comfortably after news that the country's new Special Criminal Court - set up specifically to try war crimes and crimes against humanity - is one step closer to becoming operational

And finally, welcome news from Ethiopia, which has now pardoned and released Andargachew 'Andy' Tsege, a British national who has been held on death row in Ethiopia for four years. 

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