Long reads
Deep Dives
Long reads from the Control Room desk. Each deep dive starts from the news of the day and goes further: the background, the people and countries involved, what it means and what to watch next. Every claim is checked against the sources listed at the end of each piece.
1 deep dive
World7 min read
Russia plague outbreak: what we know about the death of an Irkutsk lab researcher
Russia plague outbreak reports: a lab researcher died in Irkutsk, nearly 200 contacts were watched and Moscow denies a lab accident. What we know.
By Control Room Desk · October 6, 2026
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