Four Russian Airports Reopen after Suspending Flights

People look at an information board at Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, November 7, 2015. REUTERS/Peter Kovalev/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
People look at an information board at Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, November 7, 2015. REUTERS/Peter Kovalev/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Four Russian Airports Reopen after Suspending Flights

People look at an information board at Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, November 7, 2015. REUTERS/Peter Kovalev/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
People look at an information board at Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, November 7, 2015. REUTERS/Peter Kovalev/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Russian airports in the cities of Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, Izhevsk and Perm, which temporarily halted flights on Sunday morning to ensure the safety of civilian aircraft, have resumed normal operations, the aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said.
It did not specify a reason for the pause in flight arrivals and departures, but Russian airports have previously closed due to a risk of Ukrainian drone strikes in the area, Reuters said.
The restrictions at the airports were all lifted by 11:00 a.m. (0800 GMT), Rosaviatsia said. The four cities are located east of Moscow.
Kazan's airport suspended flights on Dec. 21 due to a Ukrainian drone attack on a residential complex and other areas of the city in which no one was injured.
 



China Discovers Cluster of New Mpox Strain

A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
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China Discovers Cluster of New Mpox Strain

A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Chinese health authorities said on Thursday they had detected the new mutated mpox strain clade Ib as the viral infection spreads to more countries after the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency last year.
China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention said it had found a cluster outbreak of the Ib subclade that started with the infection a foreigner who has a history of travel and residence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Reuters reported.
Four further cases have been found in people infected after close contact with the foreigner. The patients' symptoms are mild and include skin rash and blisters.
Mpox spreads through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. Although usually mild, it can be fatal in rare cases.
WHO last August declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that spread to neighboring countries.
The outbreak in DRC began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But the clade Ib variant appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.
The variant has spread from DRC to neighboring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the emergency declaration from the WHO.
China said in August last year it would monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox.
The country's National Health Commission said mpox would be managed as a Category B infectious disease, enabling officials to take emergency measures such as restricting gatherings, suspending work and school, and sealing off areas when there is an outbreak of a disease.