Europe

PARIS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - France will launch a campaign for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty as part of its upcoming presidency of the European Union, President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.

A conference will be held in Paris gathering civil society groups from countries where the death penalty is in use or suspended, Macron said in a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of France's abolition of the punishment.

LA PALMA, Spain, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Buildings near the volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma were engulfed by rivers of lava early on Saturday, with the drama of the red-hot eruption intensified by the spectacle of flashes of lightning.

The magma destroyed at least four buildings in the village of Callejon de la Gata, Reuters witnesses said.

"During the early morning new flows have caused more destruction of properties. Helplessness and pain in the face of so much damage," tweeted Anselmo Pestana, the Spanish government representative in the Canary Islands.

BUDAPEST, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Hungary has called on European Union institutions "to respect member states' sovereignty" after it backed a Polish court ruling that some EU law is incompatible with the Polish constitution.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban signed a Hungarian government decree on Saturday, his press chief told state news agency MTI, welcoming the ruling by Poland's Constitutional Court which has plunged the EU into an existential crisis.

PRAGUE, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's populist ANO party appeared headed for an election win on Saturday, according to partial results and projections, but it was unclear if the billionaire leader would be able to put together a majority in parliament.

Babis is seeking a second four-year term while battling criticism that he mismanaged the coronavirus pandemic, stoked fast-rising debt with handouts and tended to his own business interests in office. Babis denies all the accusations against him.

ROME, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Political leaders from Group of 20 (G20) countries should play key roles in tackling world hunger and climate change, said the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday.

Addressing participants at the G20 parliamentary summit, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said the FAO is eager to support efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition, calling for "deeper cooperation" between countries and multilateral groups like the FAO.

KIEV, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian lawmakers on Friday have voted to appoint Ruslan Stefanchuk, a lawmaker from the ruling party Servant of the People, as the new speaker of the parliament.

The nomination of Stefanchuk, who previously served as the first deputy speaker, was endorsed by 261 lawmakers in the 450-seat assembly, the parliament's press service said in a statement.

Stefanchuk replaced Dmytro Razumkov, who was dismissed by lawmakers on Thursday over his alleged failure to adhere to ruling party principles.

LISBON, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Portugal has completed the vaccination of 85 percent of its population against COVID-19, the country's Director-General of Health Graca Freitas said on Saturday.

Freitas told Lusa news agency that Portugal managed to lead global vaccination race by having "given an opportunity to everyone ... to be vaccinated" and thanks to the collaboration of the public and health professionals.

PARIS (AP) — France’s ambassador to Australia says Australian officials lied to his face and raised the risk of confrontation in Asia by crafting a secret submarine deal with the United States and Britain that undermined trust in democratic alliances.

France is determined to protect its interests in the Indo-Pacific region, and to put “muscle” into Europe’s geopolitical strategy toward an increasingly assertive China, Ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault said Friday. He spoke in an interview with The Associated Press before heading back to his post in Canberra.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — When Russian regulators approved the country’s own coronavirus vaccine, it was a moment of national pride, and the Pavlov family was among those who rushed to take the injection. But international health authorities have not yet given their blessing to the Sputnik V shot.

So when the family from Rostov-on-Don wanted to visit the West, they looked for a vaccine that would allow them to travel freely — a quest that brought them to Serbia, where hundreds of Russian citizens have flocked in recent weeks to receive Western-approved COVID-19 shots.

MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/: Red tape, together with political pressure from European officials, and unfair competition hinder the recognition of Russia’s Sputnik V jab by the European Union, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev said on Friday.