Serbia votes in historic election as students seek to end Vucic’s long grip on power

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By Mina PEJAKOVIC AFP | Posted by TOE Voting was under way in Serbia on Sunday in what is set to be its most fiercely contested parliamentary election in more than 14 years, as a student-led movement seeks to oust the party of veteran leader Aleksandar Vucic. The snap vote is the culmination of nearly two years of student-led protests sparked by the 2024 collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station that killed 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on corruption. The disaster triggered some of Serbia’s largest protests since the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. The Students’ List, a selection of candidates backed by the largely leaderless movement, now poses the biggest challenge to Vucic’s right-wing populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has dominated politics throughout its tenure. – High turnout – Eighteen electoral lists are vying for seats in Serbia’s 250-member parliament, but polls suggest ...
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Iran launches missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq in response to strikes

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Iranian state media has announced Iran has begun its “mighty and victorious” response to US strikes.

The state-run Tasnim agency says that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq. In the last few minutes, we’ve seen reports of explosions heard in Qatar.

Majed al-Ansari, official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, writes on X: “We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, its airspace, international law, and the United Nations charter.”

He says Qatar’s air defence systems “successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles” and the base had been evacuated earlier.

He adds: “All necessary steps were taken to ensure the safety of personnel at the base, including Qatari Armed Forces members, friendly forces, and others.

“We confirm that no injuries or human casualties resulted from the attack.”

The spokesperson says Qatar reserves the right to respond “in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression”.

By Andrew Mills, Parisa Hafezi and Alexander Cornwell Reuters

 Iran’s military said on Monday it had carried out a “devastating and powerful” missile attack on the Al Udeid U.S. airbase in Qatar, after explosions were heard across the Qatari capital following Tehran’s threat to retaliate for U.S. airstrikes.

The diplomat spoke soon after Qatar announced it had closed its air space temporarily to ensure the safety of residents and visitors. Earlier, the U.S. embassy in Qatar had advised Americans to shelter in place, out of what it said was “an abundance of caution”.

Iran has issued threats to retaliate against the United States after U.S. bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-busters on the country’s underground nuclear installations over the weekend, while President Donald Trump openly raised the possibility of the Iranian government being toppled.

Earlier on Monday, Israel struck a jail for political prisoners in Tehran in a potent demonstration that it was expanding its targets beyond military and nuclear sites to aim squarely at the pillars of Iran’s ruling system.

Two U.S. officials said Washington assessed that Iran could carry out attacks targeting American forces in the Middle East soon, although the U.S. is still seeking a diplomatic resolution that would see Tehran forgo any reprisal.

Despite Iran’s threats to challenge oil shipments from the Gulf, oil prices largely held steady , suggesting traders doubted the Islamic Republic would follow through on any action that would disrupt global supplies.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as Tehran sought backing from one of its last major power friends for its next steps.



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/UBoevMx

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