Europe

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: The departure of global companies from China would change the market and push other companies to develop production, Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University Alexey Maslov told TASS.

VOSTOCHNY COSMODROME /Amur Region/, October 22. /TASS/: A Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle carrying three Gonets-M satellites and a Skif-D module, launched under the Sfera program, has lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, TASS correspondent reported from the site on Saturday.

In about nine minutes, the main part - the upper stage Fregat with four satellites - will separate from the third stage. It will take a little more than four hours to put the satellites into orbit. It will be carried out with the help of the booster.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: A Su-30 fighter jet crashed in a residential area in the city of Irkutsk during a trial flight, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry told TASS on Sunday.

"A Su-30 plane crashed during a trial flight. The plane fell within city limits, in the area of single-family homes," the ministry said.

The plane fell on a wooden single-family home, setting off a fire. First responders are working at the scene.

LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly endorsed Boris Johnson's bid to return to 10 Downing Street as prime minister on Sunday.

"I know Boris has learned lessons from his time in No. 10 and will ensure the focus is on the needs of the country from day one," Cleverly said on Twitter.

"I will be supporting him to return to the role of PM."

PARIS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Britain's destiny lies in Europe and the country had been sold "a sort of mirage" with Brexit, said European Union industry chief Thierry Breton on Sunday, as he commented on the political turmoil currently afflicting the UK.

"They had been sold a sort of mirage. Clearly its destiny is Europe," French politician Breton, who is the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, told RTL radio.

Oct 22 (Reuters) - A former owner of a prestigious aircraft engine builder in central Ukraine has been detained on treason charges, Ukrainian media reported on Saturday, quoting security sources.

Several of Ukraine's most prominent media outlets said Vyacheslav Boguslaev, the "honorary head" of the Motor Sich company in the central city of Zaporizhzhia, had been detained and was being taken to Kyiv in a convoy.

IRKUTSK, Russia, Oct 23 (Reuters) - A Russian military jet crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk on Sunday and the two pilots were killed, officials said, the second such fatal incident in six days involving a Sukhoi fighter plane.

In a post on Telegram, Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev said the plane crashed into a two-storey house in the city. He published a video showing firefighters clambering over the wreckage and directing jets of water at the still smouldering rubble.

No one on the ground was hurt, the governor said.

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told his French counterpart in a telephone call on Sunday that the situation in Ukraine was rapidly deteriorating and trending towards "uncontrolled escalation".

In a phone call with French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu published by the Russian side, Shoigu said Moscow had concerns Ukraine could use a "dirty bomb" in the conflict, without providing evidence to support the suggestion that Ukraine might use such a weapeon.

LISBON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Seventy-two people were arrested for the crime of forest fire so far this year in Portugal, the highest number since 2017, the country's National Republican Guard (GNR) revealed on Saturday.

According to GNR data sent to Portuguese Lusa News Agency, this year's figure was a 38 percent increase compared to that in 2021 when 52 arrests were recorded.

FRANKFURT, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The 74th Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest of its kind in the world, concluded on Sunday on the Frankfurt exhibition grounds.

This year's book fair attracted around 90,000 trade visitors from over 100 countries and regions, surpassing expectations, according to Juergen Boos, president and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair. He expects further progress in the coming year with a diverse literary landscape.