Europe

TVER, September 23. /TASS/: A Su-30 fighter that crashed in Russia’s Tver Region on Tuesday may have been accidentally hit by another plane during military exercises, a source in the region’s emergency services informed TASS on Wednesday.

"According to preliminary data, the Su-30 was accidentally hit during the drills by another aircraft," the source said.

MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin is certain that the amendments to the Constitution must cement the basic foundations of national development for decades to come, and preserve Russia as a strong presidential republic, he said during the meeting with the senators Wednesday.

The president thanked the Federation Council members for their participation in preparation of the amendments to the basic law.

MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/: Russia has made a decision to expand on a parity basis the retaliatory list of EU officials banned from entering the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement the ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova read out at a news briefing on Wednesday.

23 Sep 2020; MEMO: The European Union announced the lifting of sanctions imposed on the Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives in the eastern city of Tobruk, Aguila Saleh, and outgoing President of the General National Congress (GNC), Nouri Abusahmain, while imposing sanctions on two other Libyan citizens and three companies.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union must agree a system to handle migrants over the long term, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, saying the recent fire in the migrant camp on the Greek island Lesbos was “a stark reminder” of the need to act.

“Migration is complex, the old system to deal with it in Europe no longer works,” von der Leyen said in a statement to the media as the Commission presented a new proposal.

“We need to find sustainable solutions on migration,” she said. “Moria is a stark reminder,” she said of the Lesbos fire.

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss parliament re-elected supreme court judge Yves Donzallaz on Wednesday after attempts by his right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) to oust him triggered a wave of protests.

The SVP group, the parliament’s biggest, had asked the Federal Assembly not to re-elect Donzallaz, arguing he had betrayed his party’s values, but he actually got move votes than in 2014 when he was last elected.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil edged up to around $42 a barrel on Wednesday after a report said U.S. fuel inventories fell, although rising crude supply and growing numbers of coronavirus cases that raise concern of stalling demand capped gains.

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said stocks of gasoline and distillate fuel dropped, while crude inventories rose. [API/S] Official inventory numbers from the Energy Information Administration are due at 1430 GMT.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany still does not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as president of Belarus even after his inauguration on Wednesday, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

Lukashenko was sworn in for a new term on Wednesday in an inauguration denounced as illegitimate by the opposition, which called for more protests against his 26-year rule.

A German Foreign Ministry spokesman said Berlin wanted to agree European Union sanctions against Belarus as quickly as possible.

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union is determined to get a Brexit trade deal with Britain but will be firm and realistic with London after Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to break the divorce agreement, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Wednesday.

The United Kingdom left the EU in January but remains a member in all but name until the end of the year, by which time it hopes to have clinched a free trade deal with the bloc.

MOSCOW, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Washington is using the case of the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to block the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project designed to ship Russian natural gas to Europe, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin said Tuesday.

"It is extremely important for Washington to secure the closure of this project, which threatens the White House's plans to increase the supply of U.S. liquefied natural gas to Europe," Naryshkin said in a statement.