Europe

MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 15,640 over the past day to 21,248,603, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Wednesday.

A day earlier, 13,970 daily cases were recorded.

As many as 1,813 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 27.7% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients decreased in 53 regions, while in 23 regions the figure increased. The situation remained unchanged in nine regions. A day earlier, 2,506 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov hit out at a G7 scheme to use Russian assets to restore Ukraine as international racketeering and legalized theft.

Replying to a question about the Kremlin's take on the ideas voiced at the G7 summit, Peskov noted that they were perceived "extremely negatively". According to him, "they are talking about blatant attempts to discuss the possibility of legalizing previously committed theft."

MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/: Russia is ready to start gas supplies to Europe over the single remaining string of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at the Russian Energy Week forum.

"Its [surviving string - TASS] capacity is 27.5 bln cubic meters per year, about 8% of total gas imports to Europe. Russia is ready for a start of such supplies. The ball is on the European Union’s side, as the saying is. We do not limit anyone, including readiness to supply extra volumes during the winter season," the President said.

WARSAW, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Germany said on Wednesday it was receiving less oil but still had adequate supplies, after Poland found a leak in the Druzhba pipeline that delivers crude from Russia to Europe that Warsaw said was probably caused by an accident rather than sabotage.

The discovery of the leak in the main route carrying oil to Germany, which operator PERN said it found on Tuesday evening, comes as Europe is on high alert over its energy security in the aftermath of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine which has cut supplies of gas.

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Another wave of COVID-19 infections may have begun in Europe as cases begin to tick up across the region, the World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday.

"Although we are not where we were one year ago, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic is still not over," WHO's Europe director, Hans Kluge, and ECDC's director, Andrea Ammon, said in a joint statement.

"We are unfortunately seeing indicators rising again in Europe, suggesting that another wave of infections has begun."

MOSCOW, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that major leaks which suddenly erupted in the Nord Stream gas pipelines running from Russia to Europe were an "act of international terrorism".

Putin said the attacks on the pipelines, which European and Western governments have called sabotage, set a "dangerous precedent".

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday scolded Western leaders for engaging in "provocative" nuclear rhetoric after a series of warnings from Russia, the United States and NATO on the dangers of escalating the Ukraine conflict into a nuclear war.

President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 21 warned the West he was not bluffing when he said he would be ready to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia against what he said was "nuclear blackmail" from major Western powers.

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - A flurry of military activity in Belarus this week has caught the attention of Ukraine and the West as a potential sign that President Alexander Lukashenko may commit his army in support of Russia's flailing war effort in Ukraine.

Lukashenko has ordered troops to deploy with Russian forces near the Ukraine border, and his defence ministry says "combat readiness" drills are under way. On Tuesday, the interior ministry held exercises to eliminate "sabotage groups" near Yelsk, only 20 km (12 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

BRUSSELS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - A Russian nuclear strike would change the course of the conflict and almost certainly provoke a "physical response" from Ukraine's allies and potentially from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a senior NATO official said on Wednesday.

Any use of nuclear weapons by Moscow would have "unprecedented consequences" for Russia, the official said on the eve of a closed-door meeting of NATO's nuclear planning group on Thursday.

LONDON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom's (UK) gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 0.3 percent in August, after growth of 0.1 percent in July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday.

The 0.3 percent GDP fall in August was below economists' previous forecast of zero growth, deepening the concerns that the UK economy is sliding into recession.