UPDATE 1-EU conservatives vote to keep von der Leyen as bloc’s chief executive

The European Union's leading political group, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), was voting on Thursday to endorse European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as its candidate for a second term running the bloc's executive. The only candidate in the EPP ballot, von der Leyen listed the war in Ukraine, the crisis in Gaza destabilising the Middle East, and the raise of China as key challenges ahead of the 27-nation EU, a wealthy bloc of some 450 million people. "Our peaceful and united Europe is being challenged like never before by populists, by nationalists, by demagogues… they want to trample our values and they want to destroy our Europe."