Briefly

MOLDOVA

Ruling party wins parliamentary polls

Moldova's ruling party secured a majority in Sunday's parliamentary elections with just over half of the vote, according to data released on Monday by the Central Electoral Commission. With nearly all votes counted, President Maia Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity won 50.1 percent of the vote, followed by the Patriotic Bloc with 24.1 percent, the Alternative Bloc with 7.9 percent, Our Party with 6.2 percent and the Dignity and Truth Platform Party with 5.6 percent. All five parties surpassed the electoral threshold to enter parliament. A total of 14 political parties, four electoral blocs and four independent candidates contested the 101-seat legislature.

UNITED STATES

Leaders meet as govt shutdown draws closer

Democratic and Republican congressional leaders were heading to the White House for a meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday in a late effort to avoid a government shutdown, but both sides have shown hardly any willingness to budge from their entrenched positions. Republicans are daring Democrats to vote against legislation that would keep government funding at mostly current levels, but Democrats have so far held firm. Trump has said repeatedly that he fully expects the government to enter a shutdown this week. "If it has to shut down, it'll have to shut down," he said on Friday. "But they're the ones that are shutting down government."

UNITED KINGDOM

Tougher rules for migrants planned

United Kingdom Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood on Monday proposed strict new rules for migrants seeking to settle in the UK.Migrants looking to remain indefinitely will have to have a job, not claim benefits, and undertake volunteer community work under plans designed to claw back support among voters drawn to the anti-immigrant Reform UK party, whose popularity is soaring. The government will consult on the changes later this year, according to a Labour party press release. Meanwhile, authorities in northern France said on Monday that security forces rescued almost 400 migrants seeking to take advantage of good weather and make the perilous crossing across the English Channel to Britain in a weekend that also saw several fatalities.

Agencies - Xinhua