Europe

(Reuters) --- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a decree allowing the transfer of presidential power to the security council if he is murdered or otherwise unable to perform his duties, state Belta news agency reported on Saturday.

Lukashenko said in April he was planning to change the way power in Belarus is set up.

Previously, if the president’s position became vacant, or he was unable to fulfil his duties, power would be transferred to the prime minister until a new president took oath.

(Reuters) --- Five boats carrying hundred of migrants landed in Lampedusa after being intercepted by Italian authorities off the coast of the Mediterranean island, ANSA news agency reported on Sunday.

Lampedusa is one of the main landing points on the route for migrants departing mostly from Tunisia and Libya to reach Europe.

"Migrants arrivals are resuming alongside good weather", Lampedusa mayor Toto Martello told state broadcaster RAI. "We need to restart discussions about the immigration issue," he said.

RIGA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Latvian President Egils Levits and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday signed a joint declaration on Ukraine's further integration with the European Union (EU), the Latvian president's spokeswoman Justine Deicmane informed.

PARIS (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron’s plans for bringing France out of the pandemic aren’t just about resuscitating long-closed restaurants, boutiques and museums. They are also about preparing his possible campaign for a second term.

A year before the next presidential election, Macron is focusing on saving jobs and reviving the pandemic-battered French economy as his country inches out of its third partial lockdown.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday invited the leaders of the U.K.’s devolved nations for crisis talks on the union after Scotland’s pro-independence party won its fourth straight parliamentary election.

Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, said the election results proved that a second independence vote for Scotland was “the will of the country” and that any London politician who stood in the way would be “picking a fight with the democratic wishes of the Scottish people.”

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin marked the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe with a speech warning that Nazi beliefs remain strong.

Speaking to the annual military parade on Moscow’s Red Square, Putin on Sunday decried “attempts to rewrite history, to justify traitors and criminals, on whose hands lies the blood of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people.”

PORTO, Portugal (AP) — The European Union cemented its support for Pfizer-BioNTech and its novel COVID-19 vaccine technology Saturday by agreeing to a massive contract extension for a potential 1.8 billion doses through 2023.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said her office has approved a contract for a guaranteed 900 million doses with the same amount of doses as a future option.

PORTO, Portugal (AP) — European Union leaders cranked up their criticism of the U.S. call to waive COVID-19 vaccine patents Saturday, arguing the move would yield no short-term or intermediate improvement in vaccine supplies and could even have a negative impact.

On the second day of an EU summit in Portugal, the European leaders instead urged Washington to lift export restrictions if it wants to have a global impact on the pandemic.

LONDON (AP) — The Scottish National Party won its fourth straight parliamentary election on Saturday and insisted it will push on with another referendum on Scotland’s independence from the U.K. even though it failed by one seat to secure a majority.

Final results of Thursday’s election showed the SNP winning 64 of the 129 seats in the Edinburgh-based Scottish Parliament. The result extends the party’s dominance of Scottish politics since it first won power in 2007.

Vienna, May 7 (AP) World powers began a fourth round of high-level talks in Austria aimed at bringing the United States back into the nuclear deal with Iran, with major stumbling blocks remaining Friday but both sides suggesting a resolution was possible.