Europe

OSLO/STOCKHOLM, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Sweden's Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP) said on Friday reversed a ban against exporting military equipment to Turkey, following the Nordic country's decision to join the NATO military alliance and agreement to overcome Turkish objections.

The Sweden and Finland sought membership to NATO earlier this year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but faced a hurdle as its application needs the approval of all 30 current members, with Turkey raising objections.

KYIV, Sept 30 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced a surprise bid for fast-track membership of the NATO military alliance on Friday and ruled out talks with President Vladimir Putin, striking back at Moscow after it said it had annexed four Ukrainian regions.

Zelenskiy signed the NATO application papers in an online video clearly intended as a forceful rebuttal to the Kremlin after Putin held a ceremony in Moscow to proclaim the four partially occupied regions as annexed Russian land.

MOSCOW, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Russia registered 37,286 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its national tally to 20,985,756, the official monitoring and response center said Friday.

The national death toll increased by 106 to 387,269, while the number of recoveries grew by 61,225 to 20,040,988, the center said.

Meanwhile, Moscow reported 3,341 new cases, taking its total caseload to 3,195,548.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Azerbaijan’s president said Friday that his country is a reliable partner and will stick to an agreement to double gas exports to the European Union by 2027.

Speaking to reporters in Bulgaria’s capital, President Ilhan Aliyev called a new gas interconnector with Greece “a historic achievement and an opportunity for Azeri gas to reach Europe in larger quantities.”

GENEVA (AP) — Russian athletes who do not endorse their country’s war in Ukraine could be accepted back into international sports, IOC president Thomas Bach said in an interview published Friday.

“It’s about having athletes with a Russian passport who do not support the war back in competition,” Bach told Italian daily Corriere della Sera, adding, “We have to think about the future.”

Most sports followed International Olympic Committee advice in February and banned Russian team and athletes from their events within days of the country’s military invasion of Ukraine.

LONDON (AP) — Like many small business owners in Britain, Harry Niazi hoped for government help to keep his south London fish and chip shop going in the face of rocketing energy bills and soaring inflation.

But an economic stimulus plan announced last week by Prime Minister Liz Truss’ new government brought no relief — far from it.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties Friday for an illegal annexation of occupied Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of his seven-month invasion of Ukraine. Its leader immediately countered with a surprise application to join the NATO military alliance.

Putin’s land-grab and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s signing of what he said is an “accelerated” NATO membership application sent the two leaders speeding even faster on a collision course that is cranking up fears of a full-blown conflict between Russia and the West.

YUZHNO-SAHALINSK, September 29. /TASS/: Repairing the ruptures that occurred on the lines of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines may take more than six months, Pavel Zavalny, who heads the State Duma’s (lower house) Committee on Energy, believes.

In his opinion, there are two ways to fix the damage: making a caisson (a watertight chamber used in underwater construction work or as a foundation - TASS), or hoisting the gas pipelines to the surface.

MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/: Kiev and its American handlers do not want to accept reality, cynically questioning the procedure and results of referendums on becoming part of Russia in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.

MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 38,739 over the past day to 20,948,470, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Thursday.

A day earlier, 40,017 daily cases were recorded.

As many as 3,154 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 4.4% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients increased in 32 regions, while in 46 regions the figure decreased. The situation remained unchanged in seven regions. A day earlier, 3,300 people were rushed to hospitals.