WHO questions Russia over reports of second lab worker with pneumonia

The News International - Oct 7, 2026

WHO questions Russia over reports of second lab worker with pneumonia The World Health Organization has raised questions over the reports suggesting the case of a second laboratory employee allegedly suffering with pneumonia of undermined cause. In the wake of these concerning reports, the...

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Russia warns of 'false' information as second plague case reported

MOSCOW — Russia warned Wednesday against "false" information as reports emerged of a second suspected case of plague in Siberia, with Washington and Brussels calling for transparency and neighbouring Mongolia tightening health surveillance. Russian news outlet People of Baikal reported last Friday that a 28-year-old woman employed at a plague research institute in Siberia's Irkutsk region had died of the disease, possibly after contracting it from a broken test tube. International concern has meanwhile grown over the death and suspicions that a second employee at the institute fell ill. The United States, the European Union and the World Health Organization have all called on Russia to be transparent about the situation. Mongolia's government said Wednesday that "health surveillance and monitoring measures (were) being implemented at the border" with Russia. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also urged Moscow to clarify "media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause" at the Irkutsk institute. Russian authorities have played down the reports, determining the w

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Vance points to S. Korea's 'political dynamics' amid uncertainty over Alaska LNG project

WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice President JD Vance has pointed to "political dynamics" in South Korea amid uncertainty over Seoul's participation in a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska, according to a U.S. media report Wednesday. "I think you have some political dynamics, frankly, in South Korea, but we're going to get this done, whether the current government or the next government in South Korea, or frankly, whether we have to work with the Japanese and other nations, to get it done," Vance told Alaska's News Source in an interview on Tuesday while traveling the state. Vance did not elaborate on what he meant by "political dynamics" in South Korea. "People are desperate for the gas that comes out of the state. It's cheaper, it's higher quality, it's more reliable because it's coming from Alaska as opposed to some tin-pot dictatorship," he said. U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced South Korea's U.S. investment projects under last year's bilateral trade agreement: the construction of a gas-fired power plant in Texas, eight large-scale nuclear power plants and th

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The status of Iran's uranium enrichment programme

VIENNA — U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Reuters on Tuesday Iran must make a "meaningful" reduction in its uranium enrichment capacity to satisfy U.S. demands and end the countries' seven-month war. While it is not clear what exactly he meant, below is a summary of what is known, and not, about the current status of Iran's uranium enrichment programme, which is at the heart of its nuclear infrastructure. What did Iran have before the U.S. and Israel bombed? Israel launched airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities on June 13 of last year, soon followed by the United States. In a 12-day campaign, they destroyed or badly damaged the three uranium-enrichment facilities that were known to be operating in Iran at the time. They argued that Iran was getting too close to being able to produce a nuclear weapon, but the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said it had no credible indication of a coordinated weapons programme. Iran was, however, enriching uranium to up to 60 percent purity, a short step from the roughly 90 percent of weapons grade. The IAEA, which had acces

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GENEVA — The World Health Organization said Wednesday it could not produce a full risk assessment as it did not yet have the whole picture from Russia on the suspected plague death of a laboratory technician. "We don't yet have the full picture of this event and we're not able to conduct a full risk assessment," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.

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WHO questions Russia over reports of second lab worker with pneumonia

Russia warns of 'false' information as second plague case reported

Vance points to S. Korea's 'political dynamics' amid uncertainty over Alaska LNG project

The status of Iran's uranium enrichment programme

WHO says cannot conduct full risk assessment on Russia plague

Wall Street retreats from its record as stocks fall worldwide

Trump administration proposes $70,000 fee for int'l students to work in US

Japanese brands, factories gain traction in Vietnam despite Korean competition

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