Europe

MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/: Russia and China do not aspire to be in charge of the world, while some other countries do, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Rossiya-1 TV channel on Sunday.

"Actualizing their bilateral relations, it is exactly Russia and China that don’t seek to be in the driver’s seat in the world. We know that other countries do show such tendency," Peskov said in a fragment of the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, shown on Sunday.

MOSCOW, September 18/TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephone calls on Sunday with the Kyrgyz and Tajik presidents, Sadyr Japarov and Emomali Rahmon, calling on the parties to prevent further escalation on the border.

According to the Kremlin press service, the presidents "discussed the situation on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border". "Putin urged the sides to prevent further escalation and to take measures to resolve the situation solely through peaceful, political and diplomatic means as soon as possible," the Kremlin noted.

LUGANSK, September 18. /TASS/: A Russian journalist was wounded in the city of Svatovo as a result of shelling from a HIMARS multiple rocket launcher by Ukrainian troops, the mission of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) to the Joint Control and Coordination Center said on Sunday.

"As a result of shelling of the city of Svatovo with the use of a US HIMARS multiple rocket launcher (two M31 GMLRS rockets were fired), a journalist of the Federal News Agency was wounded. The Vatra hotel was ruined, seven one-storey dwelling houses and a retail shop were damaged," it said.

PARIS, Sept 18 (Reuters) - French far-right Rassemblement National leader Marine Le Pen said on Sunday that her party will vote against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms and against the 2023 budget.

"We will oppose Emmanuel Macron's pension reform plans that are unfair and will divide (the country)," Le Pen told a party meeting in Cap d'Agde in southern France.

Macron wants to start implementing the reforms, which mainly consist of a progressive rise to 65 of the legal retirement age, next summer.

PARIS, Sept 18 (Reuters) - France will recognise a state of natural disaster for Guadeloupe after heavy rain tied to the powerful storm Fiona caused flooding in the French Caribbean island, killing one man, President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter on Sunday.

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is no longer expected to attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral on Monday, a British foreign office source said on Sunday, contrary to Britain's earlier expectations that he would.

Saudi Arabia would be represented instead by Prince Turki bin Mohammed al Saud, the source said. Prince Turki is a minister of state and has been a member of the cabinet since 2018. He is the grandson of late King Fahd and part of the new generation that has been brought to power by Prince Mohammed.

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the best advice the late Queen Elizabeth gave her on becoming a leader and a mother was "you just get on with it".

Ardern, in London for the queen's funeral on Monday, became the first woman in the country’s history to give birth while in office when she had her daughter in 2018, and was pregnant when she first met the queen.

Ardern, 42, is one of the few elected leaders to hold office while pregnant. Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto gave birth while she was prime minister in 1990.

CHISINAU, Sept 18 (Reuters) - At least 5,000 people rallied in Moldova's capital on Sunday, demanding the resignation of the government and pro-Western President Maia Sandu, blaming them for high inflation and rising energy prices.

Moldova buys its gas from the Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) under a contract that was drawn up last year. The price fluctuates monthly and is calculated from the spot price for gas and oil depending on the season. Spot prices have soared this year.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A top Vatican envoy and his entourage came under fire as they were distributing humanitarian supplies in Ukraine, the Vatican news service said on Sunday, but reported no injuries.

The incident took place near the city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday and forced Vatican Almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and others to take cover.

“For the first time in my life, I didn’t know where to run. Because it is not enough to run, you have to know where to go,” said the Polish-born cardinal, whose position makes charitable contributions in the name of the pope.

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said Sunday that the United States deplores recent attacks by Azerbaijan and called for a negotiated solution to the countries’ conflict.

Pelsoi’s visit to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, with a congressional delegation came just a few days days after two days of shelling by both sides that killed more than 200 troops. It was the largest outbreak of hostilities in more than two years.