Serbian police used teargas and crowd control vehicles in Belgrade on Friday evening to disperse anti-government protesters who threw firecrackers and flares at officers, marking a sharp escalation in the nine-month-long demonstrations.
Protesters gathered at around 8 p.m. local time in front of the army headquarters building that was bombed by NATO in 1999. Hours later, they began throwing flares at police. Trash containers were overturned and set on fire, and one tree caught fire. Police deployed teargas to push the crowd back.
Demonstrations also took place in Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac and Valjevo. Teargas was used in Nis. No official figures were released on the number of injured.
The protests began after 16 people died when a roof collapsed at a renovated railway station in Novi Sad. The gatherings had been largely peaceful until Wednesday when clashes left 27 police officers and about 80 civilians injured. Forty-seven people were detained.
President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday that 3,000 police are deployed each evening across Serbia and that they are facing assaults and injuries.
Protesters have accused the government of corruption over the Novi Sad disaster and are calling for early elections. Opposition groups, students and anti-corruption watchdogs allege links between Vucic and organised crime, the use of violence against rivals, and media suppression. The president and his allies deny the allegations.
Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Michael O'Flaherty said he was closely following events in Serbia and voiced concern over human rights issues. He condemned what he described as disproportionate police force in Valjevo and urged authorities to avoid excessive force, end arbitrary arrests and de-escalate the situation.
Armenia is looking to turn shared environmental challenges into opportunities for regional cooperation, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan highlig...
The U.S. has banned government employees working in Saudi Arabia from using airports in the country without special authorisation. It com...
In an interview with AnewZ’s Sabir Safarov, Houthi-aligned journalist Hussain al-Bukhaiti warns of possible attacks on Saudi Arabia’...
The Saudi-led coalition said early Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for the recent drone and missile strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities in Dhahran and Riyadh and at King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia, vowing to carry out more attacks in the coming days.
The U.S. has banned government employees working in Saudi Arabia from using airports in the country without special authorisation. It comes after a deadly Houthi strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed at least 13 people last week.
Ukraine's soldiers have had their access to Starlink satellite internet restricted. Kyiv's troops use the terminals, made by Elon Musk's SpaceX, to pilot drones. A source in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said the restrictions would make it harder for Kyiv's army to down Russian drones.
Ukraine is set to restart attacks on Russian oil refineries following a two-day pause, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, amid growing tensions with Washington over energy strikes and U.S. military support.
A Norwegian teenager recruited by a Swedish criminal network to carry out a contract killing in Britain has been sentenced to 20 years’ detention after police uncovered the murder plot.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called it “a disgrace” that Ukraine has resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries. Attacks are continuing from Russia and Ukraine as media reports say Ukraine has almost run out of Patriot interceptor missiles.
Romanian rescuers resumed their search for seven missing sailors on Friday (16 October) after a drone strike set a chemical tanker ablaze near the country’s Black Sea coast. The attacks have raised fresh security concerns along a vital regional trade route.
Students, lecturers and university staff marched on Argentina’s Congress in Buenos Aires on Thursday to demand President Javier Milei’s government implement a university funding law which would boost staff salaries and increase financial support to institutions to cover operating costs
A 16-year-old shooter opened fire on Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon in the United States, killing four people, including three children, before being killed by an armed member of the community who had pursued the assailant into the school, police said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment