POLAND: Warsaw saw rival marches today backing the two candidates in next weekend’s presidential runoff.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed the rally backing his European Civic Platform candidate Rafal Trzaskowski, saying his victory was essential to maintain Poland’s place in Europe.

The nationalist Law & Justice candidate Karol Nawrocki made a pitch for votes that went to third-placed candidate Slawomir Mentzen in the first round, signing a list of pledges Mr Mentzen proposed including opposition to Ukraine joining Nato.

VENEZUELA: Elections to the parliament and for all regional governors took place today.

Opposition leaders called for a boycott of the vote, which they expected to lose. Five opposition leaders, who travelled to the United States earlier this month after a year hiding in the Argentinian embassy, met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday to seek Washington’s support for regime change.

UNITED STATES: Texas’s legislature gave preliminary approval on Saturday to a law making all state schools display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives backed the law, which must also pass in the Senate and be approved by Governor Greg Abbott, who backs it.

A similar law in Louisiana has been put on hold by judges, who say it violates the constitutional separation of church and state, increasingly being challenged by the Republican Party.

FRANCE: Taxi drivers who have held five days of strikes and protests are threatening to block access to the French Open, a renowned tennis tournament, today.

Their protests are over a pricing reform aimed at standardising fares, and changes to rules around transporting hospital patients. A meeting with the PM on Saturday failed to defuse the dispute.