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Serbian riot police have clashed with anti-government protesters calling for snap elections and an end to the 12-year rule of President Aleksandar Vucic.
The protest by tens of thousands of demonstrators was held in Belgrade on Saturday after months of persistent demonstrations led by Serbia‘s university students that have rattled Mr Vucic’s grip on power.
The crowd chanted “We want elections!” as they filled the capital’s central Slavija Square and several streets around it.
Students gave speeches. One, who didn’t give her name, said: “Elections are a clear way out of the social crisis caused by the deeds of the government, which is undoubtedly against the interests of their own people.
“Today, on June 28 2025, we declare the current authorities illegitimate.”
Tens of thousands joined the protest. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Tensions were high before and during the gathering.
Riot police had been deployed around government buildings, parliament and nearby Pionirski Park, where hundreds of Mr Vucic’s loyalists from across the country have been camping for months.
As the protest ended in the evening, some demonstrators threw bottles, rocks and flares at the police who were preventing the crowd from approaching Pionirski Park and confronting Mr Vucic’s backers.
Skirmishes between riot officers and groups of protesters lasted for several hours, with police firing tear gas to disperse crowds in several locations across Belgrade’s city centre.
Police said they detained several dozen demonstrators. Pic: Reuters
Police detained several dozen protesters, while six officers were reported injured in the clashes, Dragan Vasiljevic, the director of police, told a news conference late on Saturday.
Responding to the violence, President Vucic said in an Instagram post: “Serbia always wins in the end.”
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University students have been a key force behind nationwide demonstrations that started after a renovated rail station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people in November last year.
Many blamed the concrete roof crash on government corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects, leading to recurring protests.
President Aleksandar Vucic. File pic: Reuters
President Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly refused the demand for an early parliamentary vote and accused protesters of planning to spur violence on orders from abroad, which they have not specified.
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A former extreme nationalist, Mr Vucic has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power more than a decade ago. He formally says he wants Serbia to join the European Union, but critics say he has stifled democratic freedoms and strengthened ties with Russia and China.
While demonstrations have shrunk in recent weeks, the large showing for Saturday’s rally suggested that the resolve persists, despite relentless pressure and after nearly eight months of almost daily protests.
The scene in Slavija Square. Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
Serbian police, who are tightly controlled by Mr Vucic’s government, said 36,000 people were present at the start of Saturday’s protest.
An independent monitoring group that records public gatherings said a total of around 140,000 people were in attendance.
Serbia’s presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2027.
If Hungary’s authorities thought banning this year’s Pride march would keep people off the streets, they were wrong.
Thousands turned out in Budapest, defying a law which said LGBTQ+ events like this should be cancelled to protect children.
The crowd was determined to fight for their rights.
Rainbow flags were on display everywhere as people celebrated Pride. Pic: Reuters
Huge crowds crossed the Elisabeth Bridge over the Danube. Pic: Reuters
“This is a special march, not just because it was the 30th, but also because it was banned,” said Orsi, who proudly wore a rainbow headband and waved a rainbow flag.
“I mean that’s all the more reason to go out on the street and show that Budapest and Hungary is a place where everybody is welcome, where love is equal,” she added.
Orsi told Sky News that it was a special march and worth the risk of being fined
Attendees had been warned that just being there could mean a 500 euro fine or prison time for the organisers.
They were told police would use facial recognition cameras to identify them, but they didn’t care.
Orsi said it was worth a fine.
Leonas had travelled from Poland to show his support and was also happy to take the risk.
“LGBT rights are attacked across the whole world, and we need to defend each other and work with each other,” he said.
Leonas from Poland felt it was important to defend LGBTQ+ rights
Viktor Orban’s government has repeatedly pitched family values against LGBTQ+ rights.
“The mother is a woman, the father is a man and leave our kids alone,” he told conservative audiences in the past.
He says he is protecting Hungary’s Christian values, but critics say this is just part of a wider attack on democracy which has happened during his 15 years in control.
The Pride ban is just the latest targeting of LGBTQ+ communities.
Budapest was transformed into a sea of bright colours, as marchers defied a ban. Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
In 2020, the country abolished its legal recognition of transgender people, and in 2021, politicians passed a law banning the depiction of homosexuality to under-18s.
While many were outraged by the attempt to cancel the Pride march, a small number of far-right activists organised demonstrations to show their support:
“Hungary and the Hungarian nation don’t want the aggressive LGBTQ+ propaganda. They are dangerous for our families, they are dangerous for our kids,” said Gabor Kelemen, a member of the 64 Counties Youth Movement.
Gabor Kelemen, from a far-right group, thinks Pride represents LGBTQ+ propaganda that is ‘dangerous for our families’
However, the packed streets showed many disagree.
At one point, as far as the eye could see, the march snaked through streets and across the city’s bridges. The sound of drums and whistles mixing with gay anthems blaring out of speakers.
The organisers said they believed this will be the largest Pride march ever in Budapest.
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The crowd was eclectic, with Hungarians from different communities joining a demonstration which many believe is now part of a fight for Hungary’s future.
“This is not only about the complexity of Pride, not only about love or equality… for Hungarians, it’s about sticking together, supporting each other, showing the government that we believe in a different kind of Hungary. We believe in freedom, we believe in democracy,” said activist Adam Kanicsar.
Activist Adam Kanicsar believes the Pride march will send an important message to Hungary’s government
Despite the ban, today Pride attendees were celebrating a victory. But make no mistake, many in Hungary do not support the parade or what they see as an attack on traditional values.
Next year, the country will hold a general election, a vote which will expose how divided Hungary really is.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tehran to mourn top military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Iran’s 12-day war with Israel.
State-run Press TV said the event – dubbed the “funeral procession of the Martyrs of Power” – was held for 60 people, including four women and four children.
It said at least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among the dead, including head of the Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Salami and the head of the guard’s ballistic missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Pic: Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Their coffins were driven to Azadi Square on trucks adorned with their pictures as well as rose petals and flowers, as crowds waved Iranian flags.
Chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” could be heard.
Attending the funeral were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures, including Ali Shamkhani who was seriously wounded during the fighting and is an adviser to Iran‘s supreme leader.
There was no immediate sign of the supreme leader in the state broadcast of the funeral.
Pic: Reuters
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi kneels in front of a coffin. Pic: Reuters
Iran’s president later thanked people for turning out.
“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you dear people,” Mr Pezeshkian wrote on social media.
“With love, you bid farewell to the martyrs of our homeland, and our voice of unity reached the ears of the world.”
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi called the deaths “hard and painful”.
Seemingly referencing the recent airstrikes, he added: “Institutions and structures, however important and valuable, return with new glory and greater strength over time, even if it takes years.”
A woman holds a picture of Iran’s supreme leader. Pic: Reuters
Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said its attacks on Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
The US joined in by launching strikes on three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, which Donald Trump said left them “obliterated”, however the exact extent of the damage remains unclear.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons programme and the UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons project.
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New details on US attacks on Iran
Over almost two weeks of fighting, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, before a ceasefire began on Tuesday.
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According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed, 13 of whom were children and 49 were women.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 people were killed there in Iranian attacks – with 3,238 injured.
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