Europe

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland’s ruling nationalists signed a new coalition agreement on Saturday, ending weeks of in-fighting in the three-party alliance over how it will govern over the next three years.

The leaders of the Law and Justice (PiS) party and the smaller conservative United Poland and Accord groups signed the deal at PiS headquarters in Warsaw on Saturday but gave no details on how the coalition will work in practice.

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday the causes of a military plane crash which killed 26 people would be investigated promptly and impartially.

A military transport plane carrying air force cadets crashed and burst into flames near a highway in northeastern Ukraine on Friday evening.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said 27 people had been on board the plane - seven crew members and 20 students. Only one cadet managed to survive.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - An Italian cardinal fired from his powerful Vatican post said on Friday Pope Francis had accused him of embezzlement and nepotism, but he denied wrongdoing and said he was still ready to lay down his life for the pontiff.

Speaking to reporters the day after his shock ousting, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, a key mover and shaker in the Vatican hierarchy, said he had had a “surreal” meeting with the pope on Thursday night when he was sacked.

MINSK (Reuters) - Belarusian security forces detained dozens of protesters on Saturday as crowds rallied in central Minsk accusing President Alexander Lukashenko of rigging last month’s election.

One group of women chanted “Our president is Sveta!” - referring to opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya who they say won the vote - before riot police dragged many of them into vans. Other protesters were arrested nearby.

SKOPJE, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Slovenian President Borut Pahor on Friday voiced his country's support for North Macedonia's European aspirations and urged the European Union (EU) not to delay the intergovernmental conference scheduled for the end of 2020.

On a two-day official visit to North Macedonia, Pahor met his host and counterpart, Stevo Pendarovski.

Pahor told reporters that delaying the intergovernmental conference with North Macedonia could be detrimental to the interests of the country and also of the region and the EU as a whole.

MOSCOW (AP) — A Ukrainian military plane carrying aviation school students crashed and burst into flames Friday while landing, killing 22 people, the country’s emergencies service said.

Two other people on board were seriously injured and four people were missing. The An-26 crashed while landing at the airport in Chuhuiv, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of the capital Kyiv.

Reports said that the plane had a military crew and that most of those aboard were students at an aviation university run by the defense ministry.

MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/: The Project 949A Antey-class multipurpose nuclear-powered submarine Irkutsk, which has been awaiting repair and modernization for more than 20 years, may return to tactical composition of the Pacific Fleet in 2023, a source in the shipbuilding industry told TASS.

"Given the opportunity, the expected return date for Irkutsk is 2023," the source said.

Earlier it was expected that Irkutsk submarine will return to the Pacific Fleet in 2017. Then the dates were shifted to 2019, then to 2022.

MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/: Russia is not planning to introduce more serious restrictions to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic so far, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"As far as I am aware, this is not being discussed right now," he said, answering a question on whether stricter measures would be required in Russia to curb the spread of the epidemic.

KAPUSTIN YAR PROVING GROUND /Astrakhan Region/, September 25. /TASS/: The main phase of the strategic exercise Kavkaz-2020 at the proving ground Kapustin Yar in the Astrakhan Region has ended with the enemy defeat by the coalition force. Russian President Vladimir Putin observed the final events on site.

"Coalition forces incorporating contingents from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, China, Myanmar and Pakistan carried out a counter-offensive operation to inflict a crushing defeat on the enemy force at the Kapustin Yar proving ground," the Defense Ministry said on Friday.

MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/: Moscow recorded 1,560 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the highest number since June 12, the anti-coronavirus crisis center’s data shows.

Moscow’s daily increase stands at 0.6%. Yesterday, the city identified 1,050 infections over the previous 24-hour period.

Over the past 24 hours, 1,227 recovered from the virus and 14 more people died from the virus-related causes.