Virus cases rising in Russia as crisis eases elsewhere

VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, ELENA BECATOROS and NICK PERRY Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — As the coronavirus outbreak eases in Western Europe and parts of the U.S., cases are rising steadily in Russia in a crisis that has damaged President Vladimir Putin's standing and stirred suspicion that the true death toll in the country is being concealed. Russia is now behind only the United States in the number of reported infections. Cases are also spiking in such places as India, South Africa and Mexico. On Tuesday, new hot spots emerged in Russia, and the country recorded nearly 9,300 new infections in 24 hours, bringing the total to almost 300,000, about half of them in Moscow. Authorities say over 2,800 people with COVID-19 have died in Russia, a figure some say is surely higher. Some experts