>NATO forces took part in drills in northern Poland on Friday, an area of crucial significance to the security of the alliance’s eastern flank.

>The Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated area of Polish territory lying between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, is of strategic importance because its takeover by Russia would isolate the Baltic states from the rest of NATO.

>Poland has been beefing up its armed forces in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and plans to raise defence spending to 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).

>“As part of these drills there were exercises that… were formulated based on our experience and observation of the battlefield in Ukraine,” said Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak. “We know what methods Russia uses and what methods (of defence) are effective.”

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 87%. (I'm a bot)

> The world's first trial of lab-grown blood could revolutionise transfusions; new sunglasses that let deaf people 'see' and recall conversations has been launched worldwide; some of the brightest young academic minds across the world have presented 100 ideas with the potential to change the way we live; egg whites have been shown to filter microplastics and salt out of water, and a study finds that daily meditation may work as well as a popular drug to calm anxiety.

> The clinical trial is a key first step towards making lab-grown red blood cells available for patients who frequently need transfusions, or who have rare blood types that are hard to source from donors.

> The humble egg could be an unlikely ally in the battle against plastic pollution, according to scientists at Princeton University.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: egg^#1 University^#2 blood^#3 people^#4 anxiety^#5

Naughty, stupid bot. Learn to summarize the article that is posted. Spank, spank, spank!

Any minute now Russia will be like you can’t do what you want on your own territory

EU should encourage Kaliningrad to break away.

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I get that it's a Russian oblast, but does it get treated diplomatically different because of its location?

It really doesn't get treated diplomatically in any way. It's Russian territory diplomatically represented by Kremlin. It's also a glorified military base.

Not happening, the population is like 86% Russian now. Might as well ask St Petersburg to break away.

12k dead Kaliningrad troops would make it hard for Putin to stop a revolt there. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/10/27/12000-russian-troops-once-posed-a-threat-from-inside-nato-then-they-went-to-ukraine-to-die/?sh=6c480d473375

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Yep, thats basically why Poland or Lithuania dont want it.

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Well… not sure you’re not on to something there, mate. spits into spittoon wisely

Yeah but he also probably wouldn't care. The citizens of Kaliningrad are unlikely to want to leave the Russian federation and Putin wouldn't care about unrest in the provinces. The only revolt he worries about is one in Moskva or St Petersburg.

Don’t forget the warning about grave consequences that will come with it.

OH NO!!! NOT "GRAVE CONSEQUENCES"!!! I'm scared....

Czechia already annexed Kaliningrad a coupla weeks ago. Now they finally have the Baltic Sea port they've always dreamed of. (Suck it, Slovakia!)

The problem with Russia is that it’s full of Russians

They've been saying that for years

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*internyet

Seeing what Königsbserg has become never fails to ruin my day.

I mean, joining other countries wouldn't happen, but Kaliningrad isn't particularly happy with Russia. The people there aren't receiving nowhere as much support from Moscow as they would prefer.

If EU subsidised it, I could see it turning into another European microstate. Lithuanians and Poles would be quite happy to help them get started with the independence as well I imagine.

My thought exactly.