Border Tech & Food Safety: Latvia tightened rules for inspecting animal feed and other cargoes from third countries after concerns that stolen Ukrainian grain could be routed via Latvian ports and relabeled. The Food and Veterinary Service can sample batches for lab origin checks, with inspections potentially taking up to a month. Belarus Startup/Deep Tech Finance: Kiryl Rudy, ex-Belarus diplomat and former Andersen Lab leader, joined US venture fund BlueLake Ventures as a partner, focusing on deep tech and helping Belarus-rooted tech teams go global. Belarus in Global Rankings: Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2026 places Minsk at 604th out of 1,000 cities, with weaker scores in economics and human capital. Belarus Health Research: A study based on focus groups finds one in three Belarusian schoolchildren has abdominal obesity, while many families don’t see it as a health threat. Belarus Urban Development: Minskstroy plans new cottages on unused city plots, with 360 homes targeted across districts and engineering networks connected for buyers. International Recruitment via Online Ads: A POLITICO/Code for Africa investigation says Russia uses Facebook/Google and Western digital tools to recruit foreigners—including from Belarus—by disguising war-related contracts as jobs.