Russian President Vladimir Putin has told reporters his country has given approval to a vaccine for coronavirus.

Mr Putin said yesterday that the Russian-developed vaccine was safe and had been given regulatory approval. He added that one of his daughters had already been given the vaccine.

Named Sputnik-V, the vaccine is set to go into mass distribution in Russia this autumn.

But international onlookers have raised concerns about the speed of the vaccine’s development. Sputnik-V has reportedly only undergone two months of human trials, a process which normally takes much longer.

Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine, has also not released data on the effectiveness or safety of Sputnik-V, further raising concerns internationally.

Teams in the US, UK, Germany, and China are currently working on the most promising vaccines. Three vaccines are currently in the final stages of human testing, though experts say they will likely not be ready until early next year.

In Belarus, opposition figure, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has left the country as protests continue in the wake of last week’s presidential election.

Tikhanovskaya, who ran against incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko, claims the election was rigged. She has now left Belarus for neighbouring Lithuania, saying she fears for her life and the safety of her children.

Tikhanovskaya took up the mantle as opposition candidate after her husband Sergey was arrested and barred for running.

Speaking in a YouTube video posted yesterday, Tikhanovskaya said she had left the country for the sake of her children, adding that she had made the decision herself.

Before leaving, Tikhanovskaya formally demanded a recount of Sunday’s vote.

The Tricity SKM has been named among Poland’s most punctual rail services according to new figures from the Office of Rail Transport.

In 2019, the SKM had an „on-time” performance of 98%, the second-highest in Poland after WKD, the Warsaw Commuter Railway. Polregio trains were on-time just 93% of the time while PKP Intercity trains were punctual just 80% of the time.

However, the figures only count delays of 6 minutes or more, disregarding short delays which can be common of the SKM.

And Gdansk was lit up last night in red and white to show solidarity with the democracy campaign in Belarus.

Neptune’s Fountain, the Shipyard Workers’ memorial, and Galeria Bałtycka were just some of the buildings illuminated in red and white.

Meanwhile, at the historic gates of the Gdansk Shipyard, the famous Solidarity logo was joined by a twin, written in Belarusian.

Three stripes of white-red-white are the colours of the historical Belarusian flag. The colours are derived from those of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, of which Belarus was once part.

Weather

Bright and sunny going into this afternoon with temperatures a pleasant 22°C, 71°F thanks to some cool winds coming from the north.

A comfortable night with temperatures going down to 14°C, 57°F.

A bright start to tomorrow with no rain expected.

TH/ako