Briefly

PORTUGAL

Voting for new president begins amid pandemic

Masked, socially distanced and each given their own pen to avoid spreading germs, Portugal headed to the polls on Sunday to vote for the largely ceremonial post of president even as coronavirus cases reach record levels. Pollsters predicted record abstention of 60-70 percent in part because hundreds of thousands of voters are themselves in quarantine. Opinion polls showed that the incumbent, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of the Social Democratic Party, was likely to win with ease. The country of 10 million people is experiencing a severe post-Christmas pandemic surge, with more than 15,300 new cases on Saturday.

UNITED STATES

Republican warns of impeachment tit-for-tat

Prominent US Senate Republican John Cornyn warned on Saturday that former president Donald Trump's second impeachment trial could lead to the prosecution of former Democratic presidents if Republicans retake the chamber in two years. "If it is a good idea to impeach and try former presidents, what about former Democratic presidents when Republicans get the majority in 2022? Think about it and let's do what is best for the country," Cornyn, a 19-year veteran of the Senate, said in a Twitter post. Trump this month became the first US president to be impeached twice after the Democratic-controlled House voted to charge him with incitement of insurrection.

FRANCE

Macron calls for tougher child sex abuse laws

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a series of tweets on Saturday that the law had to change to better protect victims of child sexual abuse, after nationwide outrage sparked by the publication of a book accusing French professor and constitutional specialist Olivier Duhamel of abusing his stepson. In recent weeks, hundreds of people have taken to social media to tell their stories of incest, and Duhamel resigned this month from his post overseeing Sciences Po, one of France's top universities, following publication of the book. "We will go after the aggressors," Macron said.

Agencies via Xinhua