ENDED · The Guardian · 32 updates
Macron hosts security council meeting ahead of planned weekend of protests – Europe live
Rocky campaign nears end as Serbia prepares for watershed election – Europe live
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Closing summary
And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today. Make sure to join us on Sunday night for our live blog covering the Serbian parliamentary election as strongman Aleksandar Vučić faces the biggest test of his 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule in the country (16:54). Here is your s…
Join us on Sunday night for Serbia election night live blog
We will be live blogging the election night in Serbia on Sunday, so make sure to join us Sunday evening for all the latest including first projections and reactions after the polls close.
The people of Serbia v the Trump family - podcast
Presented by Helen Pidd with Tom Burgis In the heart of Belgrade, near the banks of the Danube, stands the General Staff building. Built in the 1960s, it embodies the difficult history of Serbia. It was designed to resemble a canyon of the Sutjeska River, where one of the most significant battles o…
A Gen Z protest movement could be about to oust Serbia’s strongman
A former central Europe correspondent for the Guardian and the BBC History may not be about to repeat itself in Serbia, but it is beginning to rhyme. Just over a quarter of a century ago, Serbian citizens turned out to vote in large numbers to inflict a historic defeat on the then strongman in Belg…
A student protest movement has gripped Serbia for two years. This weekend it will try to take power.
in Belgrade The Student List has rocked Serbia with two years of constant protests. On Sunday, the group will represent the most serious challenge Aleksandar Vučić has faced in his 12 increasingly authoritarian years in power, by putting forward their own candidates in parliamentary elections. They…
bbc.com
Serbian voters abroad face tricky trips and overnight voting
One of the curious quirks (to put it, erm, diplomatically) of this year’s election is that Serbian voters overseas are facing major hurdles in casting their ballots in a tight parliamentary election this weekend, as reported by AP. The authorities decided that the overseas vote will be open in line…
latimes.com
Serbian election result could be inconclusive or contested - what to watch out for?
Europe correspondent Opinion polls in Serbia are conflicting and not especially reliable, and there are significant concerns about electoral integrity, with allegations of state violence against opposition activists and government manipulation of voter registration lists and overseas voting arrange…
Rocky campaign nears end as Serbia prepares for watershed election
Now, it’s the last day of the electoral campaign in Serbia today ahead of this Sunday’s closely contested parliamentary election. 6.5 million voters go to the polls on 25 October in a watershed race characterised by civil unrest, a new political landscape, allegations of irregularities, an uncertai…
Angry lawyers and bewildered defendants: the fallout from fast-tracking French rioting cases
in Paris Awa, 18, stood in the dock in the tribunal de Paris, a small, mute and bewildered figure seeming unable to understand, let alone answer, the simplest of questions. The court was told she had joined young people who looted an Yves Saint Laurent store on Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris’s Le…
theguardian.com
Protesters take to streets in Paris despite bans
Dozens of protesters took to the Paris streets on Thursday despite bans on demonstrations ordered in multiple French cities following a weekend of clashes and widespread looting that marked France’s most violent unrest in years, AP reported. Organisers of the Paris protest said an administrative co…
actionnewsjax.com
Germany’s council of tax experts expects €43.4bn more in tax revenue for the state as a whole over 2026 to 2030 than forecast in May, updated projections show. Reuters reports finance minister Lars Klingbeil said: We are in a robust position … overall, we will not gain any new fiscal room fo…
reuters.com
Zelenskyy accuses Moscow of using cluster warheads in attacks on Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Russia hit Kyiv overnight with three ballistic missiles carrying cluster munition warheads. Reuters reports that Zelenskyy said such missiles were designed to detonate in the air as they approach their targets, spreading damage…
southernillinoisnow.com
There have been ugly scenes in Albania’s parliament, where AFP reports lawmakers grappled on the floor in a country which has seen a week of student demonstrations. Opposition MPs gathered in front of the speaker’s podium, calling for the session to be stopped because of the unrest, while holding p…
the-independent.com
Merz 'not surprised' by espionage arrest as Russia keeps 'consistently' targeting Germany
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was not surprised by the arrest back at home, as “Germany is a target of intensive espionage activity” all the time, as he welcomed the news that the authorities uncovered the alleged spy. “But let us not delude ourselves: the activities of Russian intellige…
dpa-international.com
Ukrainian man arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for Russia
We are also receiving news from Germany, where a Ukrainian national has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia, local prosecutors in Karlsruhe have announced. The man, identified in a press statement only as Vadym Y., is suspected of having been “in contact with a Russian intelligence serv…
dpa-international.com
Paris police approves main union-backed demonstration, but bans another one
Meanwhile, the Paris prefecture has approved the proposed route of the main Parisian demonstration on Saturday, from Place de la Bastille to Place de la Nation. But a separate demonstration organised by the students collective Interfac and the so-called “yellow vests,” which wanted to go from Basti…
Strong response from Macron as he seeks to differentiate between legitimate protests and ultra-left riots - snap analysis
It’s a strong political response from Emmanuel Macron as he seeks to draw a clear line between legitimate demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions and the looser, often spontaneous gatherings called by the “ultra-left” that descend into rioting and street violence – and show the state’s…
reuters.com
France will seek to ban demonstrations not organised by trade unions, Macron says
Macron declares the government will show “absolute” determination to stop the riots, with a “multi-pronged” approach in response to the events to restore order. He says that legitimate demonstrations held by trade union groups will be “reviewed in accordance with our laws” and allowed to go ahead i…
france24.com
Macron condemns 'ultra left's ... seditious acts' aiming to 'bring down the Republic'
Macron begins by acknowledging there were some “shortcomings” in response to last weekend’s protests, with “an element of surprise.” He says the government needs to learn from that and apply it to this weekend’s events. He says that local authorities have been empowered to adopt local measures, suc…
reuters.com
Macron briefing press after French security council talks
Finally! France’s Macron is speaking now after this morning’s security council meeting on protests across the country. I’m listening and will bring you the key lines here.
reuters.com
International criminal court awarded the EU's 2026 Sakharov human rights prize
The international criminal court and its officials have been awarded the prestigious 2026 EU Sakharov human rights prize, the European parliament’s speaker Roberta Metsola just announced. “The European Union is built on respect for multilateralism and international institutions, and this prize reco…
reuters.com
French city of Lyon bans all protests on Saturday fearing repeat of riots, street violence
Officials have banned “all protests” in France’s third-biggest city of Lyon on Saturday, ahead of nationwide demonstrations that day following rallies last weekend that descended into widespread street violence, AFP reported. The prefecture for the Rhone region said on Thursday in a statement to me…
bbc.com
Police presence at this weekend's French protests expected to be '20% higher,' minister says
As we are waiting for Macron, first details of the planned police response to this weekend’s protests are emerging. Junior interior minister, Jean-Didier Berger, said that the police presence will be “20% higher” than last weekend, with reinforcements from the army, elite police forces and gendarme…
Southern Italy brought to standstill with food, fuel shortages, and business impact
in Palermo As lorry drivers’ protests bring much of southern Italy to a standstill amid food and fuel shortages, with businesses warning they are on the brink of collapse, Italian authorities have launched a police crackdown on road blockades. The interior ministry said on Wednesday that 1,339 prot…
reuters.com
And as we wait for Macron, we have an update for you from Italy on lorry drivers’ protests there.
Macron set to speak after emergency security council soon
I am keeping an eye on France, where Emmanuel Macron is set to speak shortly after this morning’s emergency security council meeting ahead of more protests expected this weekend. I will bring you the key lines when he shows up.
Russia, Ukraine exchange fallen soldiers' bodies
Meanwhile, we are getting more lines from Ukraine, with Belarusian state news agency reporting that Russia and Ukraine exchanged bodies of their war dead today. Moscow handed over 252 corpses, and received 25 bodies in return, it said. We will no doubt hear about this from the official channels lat…
tag24.com
France reports first human Shamonda virus case
Meanwhile, French health authorities said they had detected the Shamonda virus usually affecting livestock in a human for the first time in a patient who later died, while adding that they saw no risk to the general population at this stage. Shamonda virus is an insect-borne Orthobunyaviru…
mahoningmatters.com
1 more NewsBreak article
Deadly Shamonda virus detected in human for first time in France
the-independent.com
Italy, Spain agree to drop post-Ceuta Schengen suspension
Italy and Spain have dropped mutual border controls introduced in the aftermath of the Ceuta border crisis. We covered that scenario on the blog last week (Europe Live, Friday). In a statement, the Italian interior ministry said the two interior minister held “a cordial telephone” and “agreed that…
reuters.com
Zelenskyy appears to take dig at Witkoff for his praise for 'humanitarian' Putin after Kyiv attacks
Oh, that’s tasty. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to overnight attacks on Kyiv with a dig at US peace envoy Steve Witkoff’s comments lauding Russia’s Vladimir Putin as “a humanitarian”. Zelenskyy said: “Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian ‘human…
washingtonexaminer.com
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