Woman cured of rat typhus using ChatGPT after doctors misdiagnosed

Every day, countless events occur around the world, making it impossible to keep up with the news flow. That«s why we»ve compiled the key stories in this digest. Today, we summarize January 27.

Moscow hit by snowfalls and traffic jams

Heavy snowfalls hit the Russian capital, paralyzing traffic in many districts and disrupting air travel. Sheremetyevo Airport temporarily limited flight arrivals.

Authorities urged Muscovites to avoid using personal vehicles if possible, as car journeys took 40–50 minutes longer than usual.

According to the Moscow Department of Transport, traffic was hampered on the outer side of the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD) in the areas of Volokolamskoye and Besedinskoye highways due to truck towing. Traffic jams were also observed on the inner side of the MKAD near Volokolamskoye Highway.

The severe weather conditions will persist in the coming days. The Hydrometeorological Center noted that on January 27 and 28, Moscow and the Moscow region are expected to experience heavy snow, snowdrifts, and icy conditions with temperatures ranging from -4 to -8 degrees Celsius (24.8°F to 17.6°F). The capital has declared an orange level of weather danger due to a cyclone, while the Moscow region is under a yellow level.

Child support payments proposed to be covered by state

A bill has been submitted to the State Duma proposing that child support be paid by the state. This would apply in cases where a parent in arrears has not transferred money for over six months.

The initiative was put forward by deputies from the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) party led by leader Leonid Slutsky. According to him, temporary payments are proposed to be made by guardianship authorities. The debtor will then be obliged to repay all this money to the state.

Slutsky also stressed that at the beginning of 2026, there are over 300,000 parents in Russia evading child support obligations. Many of them hide income, use legal loopholes, and deliberately drag out the collection process, leaving children without regular financial support, reports Gazeta.Ru.

The State Duma believes that the absence of child support directly affects a child«s quality of life and deprives them of the means necessary for normal development and upbringing. Deputies emphasized that thanks to their initiative, the child will be provided with everything necessary »here and now,« without waiting for lengthy procedures by bailiffs, and unscrupulous parents will in any case be obliged to repay the state the money paid on their behalf.

Unified federal register of pregnant women to launch in Russia

A register of data on pregnant women will appear in Russia. It will launch on March 1. Details were provided by Vasilina Kulieva (LDPR), a member of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood, and Childhood Issues.

«In Russia, starting March 1, 2026, a register of data on pregnant women will begin functioning, which is one of the measures provided for by the Strategy for Implementing Family and Demographic Policy until 2036. In fact, this register will contain information about patients receiving medical care in the field of »obstetrics and gynecology« in connection with pregnancy,» said Kulieva.

The register will include information about those who registered within 12 weeks. It will record the outcome of the pregnancy, the presence of critical obstetric conditions, including information about children who developed certain conditions in the perinatal period, as well as congenital anomalies diagnosed after birth.

All this will help assess the childbirth situation and improve the quality of medical care, as well as strengthen maternal and child health, Kulieva said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

Damage from fraudsters may be allowed to be claimed from telecom operators

Russians may be given the right to demand compensation from telecom operators for damage caused by fraudsters if they did not provide appropriate protection to their subscriber. This initiative was put forward by the association «National Council of the Financial Market.» The proposal has already been sent to the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, reports RIA Novosti.

The point is that if a telecom operator does not transmit information about fraudulent calls or messages to the GIS «Antifraud» (State Information System «Antifraud»), this will hinder the process of detecting banking transactions conducted without customer consent, consequently increasing the risk of damage from scammers.

The authors of the initiative emphasized that fraud is most often aimed at illegally obtaining money that is not on the subscriber«s personal account but in their bank accounts.

If in the case of fraud, telecom operators are to be held liable, then in the case of UAV attack threats, the opposite is true. Mobile operators will be obliged to cut off communication at the request of the FSB.

In such a situation, they will not be liable to subscribers for cutting off calls and the internet. Moreover, people will still pay for services. We have detailed the story here.

State Duma comments on impending Telegram blocking

In Russia, Telegram may be completely blocked using the same scheme as the YouTube video hosting site. Such assumptions were expressed by Mikhail Delyagin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy.

«I expect Telegram to be closed according to the YouTube scheme around the elections (September 2026 — Ed.»s note). But part of the audience will remain, as we see with Instagram (an extremist organization, activity banned in the Russian Federation), where about half of the audience remained,« the parliamentarian noted in the press center of NSN (National News Service).

In this case, the messenger will be completely replaced by MAX, which is actively developing. It will also become available for business.

Delyagin emphasized that in a changing environment, entrepreneurs will have to find new ways and adapt to changes to occupy niches that will help Russians maintain their standard of living. At the same time, the deputy clarified that this is just a hypothesis, and he does not have accurate information about restricting the messenger.

In Stavropol Krai, child picks up explosive toy on street

A boy from Stavropol Krai picked up a toy on the street that resembled a plastic grenade and brought it home. The device detonated in the apartment.

An ambulance was called for the child, doctors examined him and decided to hospitalize him. The boy was taken to the ophthalmology department of the regional children«s hospital. He is now under the supervision of specialists and receiving all necessary medical care. Doctors assess his condition as stable. Fortunately, serious consequences for life and health were avoided.

After this incident, city mayor Ivan Ulyanchenko reported in his Telegram channel that law enforcement agencies are investigating. Following the inspection, the incident will be given a legal assessment.

The city mayor separately warned parents about safety rules and urged them to convince children not to pick up any objects, toys, or money on the street.

Cubans die in Moscow region hostel

A fire broke out in a three-story cottage in Balashikha in the morning. As a result, a 15-year-old teenager was injured and taken to the hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning, reported the Investigative Committee«s Main Investigative Directorate for the Moscow Region.

Six people evacuated the building on their own. After the fire was extinguished, rescuers discovered the bodies of four people in one of the rooms: two men and two women. According to preliminary information, the deceased may have been labor migrants from Cuba.

Investigators note that the cause of the fire may have been careless handling of fire. Operational services stated that hostel residents lit a fire indoors to keep warm. Allegedly, electricity in the building had been cut off due to non-payment, reports REN TV.

The editorial office of MSK1.RU found out that the cottage was rented out. According to data from classifieds websites, the house area is 82 square meters, with a total of 17 rooms. The property has a sauna, a barbecue area, and a gazebo.

«Beds in rooms for 2, 4, 8 people are rented out, rooms are available daily and monthly. The number of people is negotiable,» the ad text says.

The price for one bed per day started at 600 rubles (about $8 at current rates). Renting an entire room cost from 1,200 rubles (about $16 at current rates) per day. According to information, the property owner lives abroad.

A criminal case has been initiated on the fact of the incident for causing death by negligence resulting in the death of two or more persons (Part 3 of Article 109 of the Russian Criminal Code). The maximum punishment under this article is 4 years of imprisonment.

Omsk pensioner spent six months proving in court that he is alive

A 62-year-old man from Omsk went to another city and there received a message from «Gosuslugi» (State Services) about his death. Because of this, his bank cards and account on the website were blocked.

«The same information was confirmed during his personal appeals to banking organizations, state bodies, and budgetary institutions. The reason for recognizing the citizen as deceased was violations of patient identification procedures by healthcare institutions,» reports the portal NGS55.RU.

The whole point is that the man«s data was mistakenly entered into medical documents when an ambulance brought an unknown man to the hospital. Information about the Omsk resident also appeared in the primary medical examination.

«Based on medical documents, the civil registry office performed state registration of the death of a living person,» the message says.

The man appealed to the prosecutor«s office and spent six months trying to prove that he was actually alive. The prosecutor»s office made a presentation to the medical organization and went to court to legally challenge the pensioner«s »death« and change the documents.

The court granted the requirements. The man was paid compensation for moral damages in the amount of 40,000 rubles (about $533 at current rates).

Russian woman defeats deadly disease with the help of a neural network

While vacationing in Thailand, a resident of Yoshkar-Ola cured rat typhus. The woman turned for help not to doctors but to the ChatGPT neural network.

According to the Telegram channel Shot, the tourist was staying at a rented villa and encountered a rat there. A few days after contact with the rodent, she developed a fever, delirium, severe headaches, and shortness of breath.

The patient called an ambulance. Doctors then gave her a preliminary diagnosis of «dengue fever» and prescribed medications that did not help.

She got worse: she developed pain in her lungs and intestines, and her leg began to go numb. Refusing hospitalization, she decided to engage in self-diagnosis.

She uploaded all her medical test results into the ChatGPT neural network. The artificial intelligence analyzed the data and suggested that the cause of the illness was rat typhus, recommending a course of antibiotics. After undergoing this treatment, the woman felt improvement within four days.