Pox virus, illustration. (Photo by Roger Harris / Science Photo Libra / RHR / Science Photo Library via AFP)

Belgium has become the first country to make the 21-day quarantine compulsory for the monkeypox patients after four cases of the disease have been reported last week.

The Belgian health authorities took this decision on Friday, Saudi Gazette reported citing Belgian media.

According to a study by a team of Potsdam scientists, global food system needs to be transformed in order to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The group led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) used a quantitative food and land system model to gauge the effects of degrowth and efficiency proposals on the food sector's greenhouse gas emissions.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP

The latest data from ForwardKeys reveals that Russian outbound tourism, already severely handicapped by pandemic travel restrictions, has fallen even further, because of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. In the week before the outbreak of war (w/c 18th Feb), outbound international air tickets from Russia stood at 42% of pre-pandemic levels; but in the week immediately after the invasion (w/c 25th Feb), issued air tickets fell to just 19%. Since then, flight bookings have sunk deeper still and have been hovering at around 15%.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a statement on the Commission's proposals on the topic of "REPowerEU, defence investment gaps and the relief reconstruction of Ukraine" at the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 18, 2022. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Ukraine has received the second tranche of 600 million euros (634 million U.S. dollars) of the European Union's (EU's) emergency macro-financial assistance program, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said Friday.

"The funds will be used to maintain financial stability in Ukraine during the war," the ministry said in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech during the Victory Day military parade at Red Square in central Moscow on May 9, 2022. - Russia celebrates the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany during World War II. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday defended the country's military action in Ukraine in his speech at a Victory Day parade on Moscow's Red Square on Monday. Speaking at the Red Square marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, he said, "We (Russia) will never give up our love for the country, faith, traditional values, ancestral customs and respect for all peoples and cultures. As for the West, it seems to be determined to cancel these millennia-old values."

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto during a press conference after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland on April 29th, 2022.

Covid-19 left a relatively short-lived mark on the economic and fiscal outlooks of Finland and Sweden, which are well positioned to face the economic impacts of war in Ukraine. Exposure to geopolitical risks is now at the top of government agendas.

The economies of Finland (AA+/Stable) and Sweden (AAA/Stable) proved resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Passenger passing through the thermal monitor shows the body temperature at international arrival gate of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten priovince, on Wednesday, May 15, 2019. (Photo by Aditya Irawan / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has decided to convene an emergency meeting of experts to discuss the latest outbreak of monkeypox in wake of rapidly rising cases, according to Russian media.

The meeting's agenda is believed to be the ways of the virus' transmission, its high prevalence in gays and bisexual men,

A NATO ship visiting in Turku on 25th of April 2022.

Finland's and Sweden's possible accession into NATO would be detrimental to their security and that of Europe, Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov told Sputnik.

"Finland and Sweden will be put in a position where they are forced to treat Russia as an adversary.

A man stands on a scale. More than half of adults in Europe are too fat, according to the 2022 Regional Obesity Report presented by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday.

The new WHO European Regional Obesity Report 2022, published on 3 May by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, reveals that overweight and obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions across the Region and are still escalating, with none of the 53 Member States of the Region currently on track to meet the WHO Global Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) target of halting the rise of obesity by 2025.

The Gasum gas station in Imatra.

The Russian gas to Finland under Gasum's supply contract has been cut off, the company said on Saturday.

"Natural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum's supply contract have been cut off. starting today, during the upcoming summer season, Gasum will supply natural gas to its customers from other sources through the Balticconnector pipeline.

A employee works near gas pipes at the gas compressor station of Bulgartransgaz in Ihtiman, on May 5, 2022, a week after the halt of Russian gas supply to Bulgaria. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Russian gas deliveries to Europe can be entirely redirected to the Asia-Pacific region where gas demand is rising, but it would require prompt infrastructure modernization, an energy expert at the Russian company Vygon Consulting, Ivan Timonin, told Sputnik on Sunday.

An aerial view shows the Sunny Liger, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker with a consignment of Russian diesel, anchored in the North Sea, near IJmuiden, on April 30, 2022. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

The European Union is working on the next package of anti-Russia sanctions that aims to "de-swift' more banks and targets imports of Russian oil, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday.

President of Finland Sauli Niinistö (left), U. S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson during press conference at the Rose Garden in White House in Washington D.C. Thursday, May 19, 2022.

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he will work with Finland and Sweden to remain vigilant against any threats to their security as NATO is considering their membership bids.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson (L) and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin speak to the media prior to a meeting on whether to seek NATO membership, in Stockholm, Sweden, on April 13, 2022. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says that the time for Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance is now, while Russian President Vladimir Putin is "preoccupied" with Ukraine.

Research conducted by the EU-funded FOCUS project in Jordan, Croatia, Germany and Sweden has shown that migrant and longer-term resident communities are spending way too little quality time together for integration to actually occur.