Europe

MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/: The situation with the spread of the coronavirus infection in Russia has become more complicated, the incidence is growing in 60 Russian regions, Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova said in an interview to the Russia-1 TV channel.

MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/: Head of the department of pulmonology of the Sechenov University, chief non-resident pulmonologist of Russia’s Healthcare Ministry Sergey Avdeyev considers the current restrictive measures for the prevention of the novel coronavirus infection insufficient since citizens continue to ignore the safety precautions, particularly in public places.

MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 cases grew by 11,493 in the past day and the total case tally reached 1,260,112, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Thursday.

According to its data, a 0.9% growth rate in the past five days was recorded.

Moscow confirmed 3,323 new COVID-19 cases versus 3,229 a day earlier. Another 461 cases were registered in St. Petersburg, 433 in the Moscow Region (the highest figure since June 25), 261 in the Rostov Region and 234 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

MOSCOW, Oct 8 (NNN-TASS) – Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, held phone talks with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, to discuss the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

“On the evening of Oct 7, Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu held talks by telephone with Armenian Defence Minister, David Tonoyan, and Azerbaijani Defence Minister, Zakir Hasanov,” it said.

“During the talks, the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh was discussed,” it added.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has not opened its own criminal investigation into wanted Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the interior ministry in Moscow said on Thursday.

Tsikhanouskaya was added to Russia’s wanted list through a mechanism outlined under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regional bloc, the ministry said in a statement on its website. Belarus, a traditional ally of Russia, is a member of the CIS.

MOSCOW/BISHKEK (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday that Kyrgyzstan had descended into chaos and that Moscow was obliged by a security treaty to prevent a total breakdown in the country, where rival groups have claimed power in post-election unrest.

The Central Asian nation, where Russia has an airbase, has been gripped by instability since parliamentary elections on Sunday which government critics and western monitors said were marred by vote-buying.

Protesters stormed government buildings on Tuesday and various groups have said they are in charge.

LONDON (Reuters) - British airline easyJet EZJ.L warned on Thursday its first ever annual loss could be as much as 845 million pounds ($1.1 billion) as the pandemic meant it was flying just 25% of planned capacity.

The airline has signalled to the government it may need more financial support, according to media reports.

The headline loss before tax forecast for the year ended Sept. 30 of 815-845 million pounds was worse than the loss of 794 million expected by analysts, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee are the final candidates to head the World Trade Organization, ensuring the 25-year-old WTO will have its first female leader.

The WTO said on Thursday that the two women were the remaining candidates for director-general after the field was cut from five to two, confirming what Reuters reported on Wednesday.

PARIS (Reuters) - The EU must stand up to Russia when it violates international norms, France and Germany’s foreign ministers said on Thursday, adding that a decision to push sanctions over the poisoning of a Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny did not end dialogue.

France and Germany said on Wednesday they would propose European Union sanctions against Russian individuals after receiving no credible answers from Moscow over the use a nerve agent on Navalny.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny requires an international reaction and must not be treated as a German-Russian conflict, Germany’s foreign minister said when asked why sanctions proposals against Russia did not mention the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Paris and Berlin said on Wednesday they would propose European Union sanctions against Russian individuals after receiving no credible answers from Moscow over the Navalny poisoning with a nerve agent.