Europe News
Russian would-be fugitive receives labour camp sentence
A 68-year-old Russian man who swam across the Nemunas River from Russia's Kaliningrad exclave into neighbouring Lithuania in an attempt to seek asylum has been sentenced to six years in a strict-regime penal colony in Russia for "publicly justifying terrorism."
Russia
Russia asks Vietnam for planes as seized Western fleet falls apart
Moscow proposed wet-leasing Vietnamese aircraft, crews and maintenance, but any transfer would involve Airbus or Boeing jets, exposing Vietnamese carriers to secondary sanctions. Nearly a fifth of Russia's largest airlines' planes are already grounded, double the normal downtime rate.
Europe Today
Siberia plague outbreak is an 'isolated incident', virologist says
Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst says that while people may think of plague as “something medieval”, cases are reported every year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar. However, he says the laboratory link makes this incident “a little more serious”.
Russia
Russia denies plague death but quarantines 200 without explanation
Rospotrebnadzor said Darya Shipilova, 28, died of "pneumonia of unknown aetiology" with no links to her work at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, but imposed quarantine on her contacts, confined 60 colleagues inside the facility and restricted access to hospitals including a maternity ward.
Health news
Pneumonic plague in Russia: What do experts say about the risk?
Russian authorities are investigating the death of a laboratory worker from an unexplained respiratory infection after unconfirmed reports suggested pneumonic plague. Experts say the disease is treatable with antibiotics and is unlikely to spread widely.
Europe News
How Russia targets Baltics' elections from fake NATO deaths to Epstein
Russia-linked disinformation campaigns targeting elections in Estonia and Latvia have focused less on individual candidates or the voting process itself and more on sowing confusion around the security issues shaping voters’ decisions, according to a new report.