How Russia and the world are responding to a possible case of pneumonic plague after lab worker death - PBS

Sandra Guzmán is director at the Climate Finance Group for Latin America and the Caribbean (GFLAC), and Raju Pandit Chhetri is lead climate finance negotiator for the least-developed countries at the UNFCCC. Recent catastrophic floods in Nepal starkly remind us that the climate crisis demands urgent action. The initial estimate that the country will need to spend $5 billion on recovery will likely remain a major concern. However, that is only one part of the story. No financial metric can capture the value of lives lost in crises like this. And this is not a standalone event; from the mountains of Nepal to the coastlines of Latin America and the Caribbean, developing countries are increasingly facing severe climate impacts. The average annual loss from climate disasters in the Latin American and Caribbean region is estimated at $58 billion. Human suffering remains immeasurable in all these instances.

HealthA top official with the World Health Organization said Wednesday the UN health agency doesn't know how a lab worker in Siberia died amid concerns about plague, and is urging Russia to provide more information. UN health agency also checking unconfirmed reports of 2nd case linked to labJamey Keaten · The Associated Press · Posted: Oct 07, 2026 3:14 PM EDT | Last Updated: October 7Listen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. WHO investigates second pneumonia case linked to Russian anti-plague labOctober 7|Duration 5:27The World Health Organization is investigating reports of a second infection linked to an anti-plague institute in Siberia. This comes after the death of a researcher from the same laboratory earlier this month, which studies pneumonic plague. A top official with the UN's health agency doesn't know how a lab worker in Siberia died amid concerns about plague, and she's urging Russia to provide more information.

What we know about the suspected plague death in RussiaOctober 5|Duration 2:01Two-hundred people have been placed under medical observation in Siberia, Russia, after a laboratory worker died after a reported accident at a plague research facility. The World Health Organization says the public health risk remains low. An unnerving story has emerged from southeastern Russia involving the death of 28-year-old woman from pneumonia and fears that she may have been exposed to a form of plague at the lab where she worked. Yes, plague — specifically, pneumonic plague. Few details are confirmed. Russian authorities say there is currently no evidence that the illness was connected to any of the pathogens she worked with at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. But the governor of a neighbouring region fuelled speculation over the weekend when he posted on Telegram suggesting the woman had died of plague, later altering his comment to include "maybe. " People have been quarantined at the hospital where she died last week; many others who came in contact with her were put under medical supervision, according to Anna Popova, Russia's public health agency.

Israeli settlers have attacked European diplomats, including a French mayor, near the Palestinian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank. The delegation was visiting Palestinian olive harvesters on Saturday when the Israeli attackers confronted the group. The attack comes a day after settlers assaulted a US journalist north of Ramallah. In Saturday’s incident, the settlers targeted Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said. “A French mayor was assaulted and a Belgian vehicle damaged,” Prevot said, linking the attack to what he called Israel’s “illegal settlement policy” and pledging to push for further European Union sanctions. French mayor Bernard Baudoux, who was assaulted, told the AFP news agency that the violence suggests that “there is a tolerance on the part of the Israeli government” towards settler violence. Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, said the settlers surrounded the diplomats’ vehicles, pelted them with stones and smashed their windows.