Politics

Photos: Clashes in Belgrade as student-led protests challenge Vucic

Published On 24 May 2026

Clashes have broken out between protesters and riot police after an antigovernment rally in the Serbian cital, Belgrade.

Large crowds of demonstrators poured into central Belgrade on Saturday, many carrying banners and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the Students win motto of the youth movement that organised the gathering.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has sought to rein in mass demonstrations that have challenged his hardline rule in the Balkan country. The size of Saturday’s turnout suggested that dissent remains strong more than a year after protests first began with demonstrators demanding accountability for a train station tragedy in northern Serbia in November 2024 that killed 16 people.

Anticorruption protests forced then-Prime Minister Milos Vucevic to resign in January 2025 before the authorities moved to clamp down on the movement. Many in Serbia blamed the concrete canopy collse at the station on alleged corruption-fuelled negligence during renovation work carried out with Chinese companies.

On Saturday, Serbia’s state railway company cancelled all trains to and from Belgrade in what peared to be an effort to prevent at least some people from travelling to the cital from other parts of the country.

In a video posted on Instagram on Saturday, the president said protesters have shown their violent nature and that they cannot stand political opponents. Vucic, who was en route to China for a state visit, added: The state is functioning and will continue to work in line with the law.

Students on Saturday demanded early elections and the rule of law, accusing the government of crime and corruption. They said they now plan to challenge Vucic in this year’s elections, which they hope will unseat his right-wing populist government. Vucic said on Thursday that the parliamentary elections could be held between September and November.

Clashes were first reported near a park camp of Vucic loyalists outside the Serbian presidency building. The camp was set up before another large antigovernment rally last March as a human shield against protesters. Folk music blared from a fenced-off area surrounded by rows of riot police in full gear.

The Serbian president has come under international scrutiny for his hardline tactics against demonstrators over the past year, including arbitrary arrests and the use of excessive force. The Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Michael O’Flaherty, criticised Serbia’s government in a report after he visited the country last week and said he will monitor the situation closely.

O’Flaherty also cited reports of police protecting unidentified and often masked attackers of journalists and protesters. He said the overall human rights situation has deteriorated since his previous visit in ril 2025.

Serbia is seeking to join the European Union while cultivating close ties with Russia and China. Democratic backsliding under Vucic could cost the country about 1.5 billion euros ($1.8bn) in EU funding, the bloc’s top enlargement official warned last month.

Politics

Bengals Falta election: How Jahangir Khan of Trinamool, who backed out before repoll, is still getting votes as per EC

As the Election Commission of India (ECI) counted the votes for the Falta assembly constituency repoll in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Jahangir Khan continued to accumulate votes on the official results portal. And that’s despite Jahangir Khan publicly announcing withdrawal from the election contest earlier this week.

The BJP’s Debangshu Panda was leading by a large margin after more than half the votes had been counted just after noon on May 24. Panda was getting 67% of the total votes. Sambhu Nath Kurmi of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was in second place with around 23% votes, followed by Abdur Razzak Molla of the Congress at around 6%.

The TMC’s Jahangir Khan, who did not even cast his own vote in the repoll on may 21, was at over 3% despite his political exit from the contest.

Why Jahangir opted out

Jahangir Khan had announced his withdrawal from the election on May 19, just two days prior to the re-voting. He cited among his reasons the developmental promises made by Suvendu Adhikari, the new chief minister, Bengal’s first from the BJP after the party defeated an entrenched TMC.

The CM has announced a special package for the development of Falta, which is why I have decided to move away from the re-polling process in the constituency, said Khan, 41, a prominent Muslim businessman and political face in a Hindu-majority state where about third of the population is Muslim.

Not seeking to confront the Centre’s ruling BJP that had finally wrested power in Bengal, he explained at a press briefing, I am the son of Falta, and I want the area to be at peace and grow… I dreamt that Falta should become ‘sonar’ (golden) Falta. I am stepping aside to ensure peace and prosperity for Falta and for its people.

After Khan described his exit as a step toward the region’s growth, the TMC issued a clarification stating that the withdrawal was his personal decision and not authorised by the party.

Bengal has seen poll-related violence as the 15-year rule of Mamata Banerjee-led TMC ended with the results of 293 of the 294 assembly seats announced on May 4.

Falta was marked for repolling after reports of widespread pre-poll and voting-day violence, mainly by BJP supporters. Khan and IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma, deputed as a police observer by the EC, had a face-off too as voters alleged the TMC cadres were putting black te on other names on the EVM.

Why he remained on EVM

But Khan’s public exit from the contest, after the May 4 results showed the BJP was anyway in power, was essentially a political announcement.

According to Section 37 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a candidate is legally permitted to withdraw their nomination only up to a strictly specified deadline following the initial scrutiny of pers. Once that timeline expires, the final list of contesting candidates is legally locked.

For Phase 2 of the West Bengal assembly elections, which included the Falta constituency, the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures was ril 13. Because Jahangir Khan announced his decision to step away on May 19, weeks after this statutory deadline, his name and symbol could not legally be removed from the ballot.

After the EC ordered the May 21 fresh election across all 285 booths in Falta following reports of “severe electoral offences and subversion of the democratic process” during the original ril 29 phase, the rules remained that such a repoll must be conducted with the same candidate roster and machine configuration as the initial polling.

Jahangir Khan wielded significant control over the grassroots party cadre in the South 24 Parganas district, making him the party’s choice as a new candidate after it won the last three elections here plus a bypoll.

Because his name and the two-flower symbol of the TMC remained on the EVM, voters who went to the polls still had the option to press it. Whether done by loyal party supporters who chose to vote for the TMC anyway, or by those unaware of his political announcement, or some indifferent people, every press of that button is a legally valid vote and has to be counted.

Politics

US police responding to dozens of shots fired near the White House

Secret Service investigating reported gunfire, with Al Jazeera correspondent saying more than 30 shots heard from North Lawn.

Published On 23 May 2026

US law enforcement agencies are responding to reports of more than 30 gunshots fired near the White House.

A suspect is down and was transported to George Washington Hospital, an unnamed law enforcement official told the news agency on Saturday. He did not ⁠specify the suspect’s condition ⁠or how he was brought down.

Scrap income tax on overtime hours, says Reform UK

Helen Miller from the Institute of Fiscal Studies said the Reform proposal was “problematic in principle and practice”, and “if the intention is to increase labour supply, it is not clear why an incentive should be targeted at increasing the hours of employees already working at least 40 hours a week”.

Politics

Delhi Gymkhana Club seeks meeting with Centre over eviction notice, says priority is uninterrupted operations

The Delhi Gymkhana Club on Saturday informed its members through a notice that it had sought an urgent meeting with officials from the ministry of housing and urban affairs after the Union government directed the club to hand over its 27.3-acre premises to the land & development office (L&DO) by June 5.

A car is seen entering the Delhi Gymkhana Club, in New Delhi. (PTI)

Located in the centre of Lutyens’ Delhi, the club sits next to the Prime Minister’s residence on Lok Kalyan Marg. Established in 1913 as the Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club, it was renamed after Independence and remains one of the country’s oldest elite institutional clubs.

What Delhi Gymkhana Club said on govt order

In a statement issued on Saturday, the club said it was looking to ensure uninterrupted functioning and had requested an urgent meeting with officials from the ministry of housing and urban affairs.

The secretary said members had decided to send a letter to the ministry’s land & development office (L&DO) as the matter concerns both members and employees associated with the club.

The officiating secretary said in a statement, Pursuant to the sudden development, the GC today met on an urgent basis and after detailed deliberation decided to write an immediate response to L&DO requesting clarity on several issues in the interest of the members and employees of the Club.

“The communication also requests an urgent pointment for the GC members to meet with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs officials. The immediate priority of the GC is to ensure that the operations of the Club continue without dislocation. Further developments will be communicated after the response is received,” the statement read.

The Delhi Gymkhana Club is considered among India’s oldest and most prominent clubs. It moved to its current premises in 1913 and operated under the name “Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club”, with Spencer Harcourt Butler becoming its first president.

After India’s Independence in 1947, the word “Imperial” was removed, and the club became known as the Delhi Gymkhana Club.

Why Centre ordered club to vacate premises

The order, signed by deputy land and development officer Suchit Goyal, says that the property falls within a “highly sensitive and strategic area” of the national cital and is needed for strengthening defence facilities and public security requirements, HT had reported earlier.

“The land is essential to fulfil urgent institutional needs, governance infrastructure, and public interest projects, integrated with the resumption of adjoining government lands,” the L&DO order, issued under the the ministry of housing and urban affairs, said.

The order also said that, after re-entry, the entire plot, including all buildings, structures, lawns, and fittings on the premises, would come under the full ownership of the President of India.

It also said that if the club does not meet the deadline, possession of the property will be taken according to the law.

With inputs from Soumya Chatterjee and agencies

Politics

Massive fire engulfs residential area in the Philippine capital

Massive fire engulfs residential area in the Philippine cital

NewsFeed

A massive fire is tearing through a densely-populated neighbourhood in Manila. Authorities in the Philippines have raised the severity to the fifth alarm level amid intense efforts to contain the ridly spreading flames.

Published On 23 May 2026