<span style="color: #222222;">EU lawmakers have chosen centre-right Maltese lawmaker Roberta Metsola, as only the third woman to head the European Parliament, despite controversy over her anti-abortion stance.<br />''<br />''Metsola – a member of the largest bloc, the European People's Party won a large majority with 458 votes to become the third woman to head the chamber after a deal between the leading political groupings.<br />''<br />''Elected on the day she turns 43, the politician from the European Union's smallest nation becomes the youngest president ever to run the chamber. She takes over at a time of mourning for the legislature as it marks the sudden death last week of its speaker David Sassoli.<br />''<br />''Metsola was eventually elected as an MEP on her third try, in 2013, on the ticket of Malta's Nationalist Party.</span><br />