Europe

The Kremlin on Wednesday appeared to reject reports of a second suspected plague case in Siberia, telling reporters when asked about the accounts that most media reporting on the situation was "false". The United States, the European Union and the World Health Organization have all called on Russia to be transparent over the reported plague death of a laboratory technician at a plague research institute in Siberia's Irkutsk region last week. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also called Wednesday for Moscow to clarify "media reports of a second employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause". Read moreRussian lab worker's death sparks plague fears as unverified claims spread online Asked about the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "the media reports a great dea...

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would speak very soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the reported plague death of a laboratory technician, as Washington pressured Moscow for transparency. Russian authorities denied that they were imposing anti-plague measures and played down the reports of an incident at an anti-plague institute in Siberia's Irkutsk region last week. But Washington is showing growing concern, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on Russia to be open about the situation. "We encourage Russia to be transparent and share more information with the world so that all of us could react accordingly and appropriately," Rubio said during a trip to Iceland. "Depending on what we learn about it, we would learn how to respond." Trump later said he would be ...