WASHINGTON — President Trump’s pick to head the nation’s intelligence agencies struggled to win Democratic support in a contentious confirmation hearing Wednesday where he clashed repeatedly with them over the 2020 election.
Democrats asked Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, over and over again whether former President Biden won the election and defeated Trump. Echoing many of Trump’s nominees, Clayton said many times that the election was “certified” for Biden, declining to say outright that the Democrat won.
“I’m not going to get into this with you,” Clayton told Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, the last of several Democrats on the committee to grill Clayton on the 2020 election. Clayton appeared frustrated and flustered as Ossoff repeated the question several times. “I’ve answered it,” he said.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, who had praised Clayton’s nomination when Trump picked him for the role last month, expressed exasperation with him at the end of the hearing. Democrats say they are concerned that Trump will try to direct intelligence agencies to influence U.S. elections as the president has repeated his false claims that the 2020 contest was stolen.
“I’ve known Mr. Clayton for some time, I worked with him closely when he was at the SEC,” said Warner, the top Democrat on the intelligence panel. “But I am bitterly disappointed.”
While Clayton has broad support among Republicans, the acrimony with Democrats could be a blow to GOP leaders who had hoped to gain their consent for a quick vote to replace temporary intelligence director Bill Pulte, a former housing official with no known intelligence experience and who used his previous administration perch to target perceived adversaries of the president.
Senators in both parties have criticized Pulte, and Republicans had hoped to confirm Clayton immediately after he was nominated in June so Pulte did not take over when Gabbard left office. But Trump delayed Clayton’s nomination, allowing Pulte to take the job temporarily.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the committee will vote on Clayton’s nomination next week.
Clayton emphasizes national security experience
Clayton did not mention Pulte in the hearing. But he emphasized his own government and national security experience, attempting to assuage senators in both parties.
“I saw firsthand how a strong national security apparatus depends on decisive judgment, discipline, integrity, and effective communication and cooperation across different branches of the government,” Clayton said in his opening statement. “If confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, I will commit to upholding these principles every day.”
Cotton expressed frustration last month when the hearing was delayed. He said in his opening statement Wednesday that Clayton has a reputation for operating with “morality, decency and integrity” in his previous positions and that he hopes his nomination will win bipartisan support.
Democrats press Clayton on Gabbard’s election activities
Democrats also pressed Clayton on former National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s visit to a Georgia election office earlier this year during an FBI search related to the 2020 election. Trump administration officials have given varying explanations for Gabbard’s involvement in the search, which appeared to be outside of her intelligence role.
Clayton declined to say whether Gabbard’s visit was appropriate or how he would handle the same situation. At one point he said he wasn’t aware of Gabbard’s visit before this week, then later appeared to backtrack, saying “it wasn’t something on my mind” before he started to prepare for the hearing.
Warner said it “strains credibility” that Clayton wasn’t aware of Gabbard’s election activities.
Democrats also asked Clayton about Trump’s announcement that he will deliver a primetime address on Thursday with a focus on elections, after the president suggested he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat. Clayton said he had has no involvement with that speech.
As U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Clayton oversees vast portfolio
Clayton is currently the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most prestigious of the Justice Department’s prosecution offices. His cases have ranged from terrorism and espionage cases to security fraud and public corruption.
Democrats pressed Clayton on subpoenas of four New York Times journalists after they reported on security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called the subpoenas “an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country.”
Clayton said he was not able to discuss the details of the subpoenas and declined to elaborate on whether he spoke to the White House before they were issued. He said he is “confident in procedures we have in place to protect freedom of press.”
Under Clayton, the office also facilitated the unsealing of thousands of pages of court records from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — documents that were made public as part of the Justice Department’s release of records related to the late sex offender and his longtime confidant.
Clayton has also overseen the prosecution of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, on drug trafficking charges.
Confirmation vote could unlock renewal of surveillance authority
Clayton’s confirmation could potentially clear the way for bipartisan legislation to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which stalled last month when Democrats had said they would not provide the necessary votes to pass the bill unless Pulte’s temporary appointment was withdrawn.
The law, which aims to prevent terrorist attacks by monitoring the communications of targeted foreigners located outside the United States, expired in June.
Even if Democrats relent, it is unclear if Trump would sign the bill. He said in his June social media post delaying Clayton’s nomination that he would not sign the FISA renewal without his legislation to require proof of citizenship for all voters. The voting bill does not have enough support to pass the Senate.
Jalonick writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
At least 28 people have been killed since protests began in June, as the region braces for a major protest march.
Published On 15 Jul 202615 Jul 2026
Islamabad, Pakistan – At least nine people were killed in clashes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Tuesday, as a planned protest march to the region’s capital, Muzaffarabad, temporarily stalled amid rising tensions.
Security personnel raided a house on the outskirts of Rawalakot town in the region’s Poonch district after receiving a tip-off about a weapons cache, but came under fire, officials said. An officer was killed.
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In a separate clash in Sudhnoti district, protesters blocked a security convoy, which officials said came under a barrage of stones and gunfire. Seven protesters and a police officer were killed, according to authorities. Police officials have said that security personnel acted in self-defence.
Deadly protests have periodically rocked the region since the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a group that is leading a major protest movement, was proscribed under anti-terrorism laws on June 5.
Protesters wait in Rawalkot before march on Muzaffarabad
Meanwhile, protesters gathered under the JAAC’s umbrella were still in Rawalkot on Wednesday evening, despite announcing they would set off at 2pm on Wednesday, officials told Al Jazeera. The government has severely restricted internet and phone access in the region, making it harder to reach the protesters directly.
Munir Qureshi, deputy commissioner of Muzaffarabad, said the situation in the capital and surrounding areas was calm.
“Muzaffarabad and its adjoining areas are all clear, and there is no disturbance to public life,” he told Al Jazeera. “Internet access is limited due to the security situation, but otherwise the situation is normal and there is no protest or violence.”
Liaqat Ali Malik, inspector general of police for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), told Al Jazeera the crowd in Rawalakot was estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000 people.
“There has been no violence today,” he said.
But tensions continue to simmer. The current unrest stems from a long-running dispute over political representation.
Political dispute
At the centre of the dispute are 12 seats in the region’s legislature reserved for Kashmiri refugees who migrated to Pakistan after 1947 and now live outside the region.
The JAAC argues the arrangement allows Pakistan-based political parties to influence the government of Pakistan-administered Kashmir while diverting development funds intended for the region.
Last month, the Supreme Court of the region ruled that the seats are constitutionally protected and cannot be abolished without a constitutional amendment, a decision that hardened the group’s protest campaign.
Elections in the region are scheduled for July 27.
At least 28 people have been killed since protests began on June 4, according to officials, while 79 have been injured.
Authorities said about 4,000 police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed across the region before the planned march to Muzaffarabad.
Khan, the Poonch commissioner, said marchers would not be allowed to pass through Rawalakot and would instead have to use mountain trails to reach Muzaffarabad.
Yemeni government officials say the Houthis launched a surprise offensive targeting army barracks in southern Hodeidah as fighting intensifies across western Yemen.
The renewed clashes come as both sides seek to regain territory and strengthen control over the strategic Red Sea coast.
European car suppliers and manufacturers are divided over Brussels’ “Made in Europe” strategy, an effort to shield the EU market from Chinese competition.
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The EU car industry is facing fierce competition from China, threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs across the bloc. To address the issue, the EU is preparing the so-called Industrial Accelerator Act, which is designed to favour electric vehicles constructed mostly with European components in public procurement and public support schemes.
However, EU car suppliers and manufacturers disagree over the proposed law, currently under discussion by EU countries and the European Parliament, which sets a 70 percent local content threshold for electric vehicles.
According to the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), the Commission’s proposal is a step in the right direction. Based on a study commissioned from management consultancy Roland Berger that Euronews has seen, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery-electric vehicles manufactured in Europe already contain between 80 percent and 90 percent made-in-Europe components.
Consequently, it considers the Commission’s 70 percent threshold to be achievable.
But the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) is pushing for a different methodology, under which regulators would assess finished vehicles instead of the local content in vehicle components.
“A vehicle is far more than the sum of its parts. Its value also lies in the R&D, advanced engineering and highly skilled workforce behind it,” ACEA said in a position paper published on 1 July.
CLEPA responded that under this methodology, a finished vehicle would require only 50 percent EU-made parts and components, with the remaining 20 percent coming from R&D, design and other activities.
This 20 percentage-point dilution of the requirement for EU-made parts “could result in the loss of 350,000 jobs”, CLEPA warned, saying the Commission’s component-level approach would “safeguard the existing manufacturing base”.
“What we are looking at right now is significant competition from best-cost countries, and the dragon in the room is China,” CLEPA Secretary General Benjamin Krieger told Euronews.
“A ‘Made in Europe’ threshold that ignores where the actual parts are built is a label that ignores the European worker,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said overnight clashes in the Gulf between Tehran and Washington showed how Iran will respond to the enemy with strength and power.
Police crack down down on supporters of the Joint Awami Action Committee, which plans to hold a rally Tuesday.
Published On 8 Jun 20268 Jun 2026
At least 11 people have been killed as police clashed with supporters of an outlawed group in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, officials said on Monday, a day before a planned protest over political rights and legislative representation.
Dozens of others, including police officers and civilians, were wounded in the violence that erupted Sunday after the Supreme Court of Pakistan-administered Kashmir ruled that 12 legislative seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan are constitutionally protected and cannot be abolished without a constitutional amendment.
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The landmark ruling came before a rally planned for Tuesday by the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee, or JAAC, which has long demanded greater political rights for people in the region and the abolition of the refugee seats, on the grounds that the refugees have disproportionate influence.
The group has organised large protests in recent years, a number of which have turned violent.
“Four police officers and a passer-by died after miscreants shot at them,” Sardar Waheed Khan, commissioner of the Poonch sector in the region, told the Reuters news agency. “As the result of the law enforcers’ response, six protesters were killed,” he said.
Police Chief Liaqat Malik said 23 security officials and 50 protesters were among the injured in Sunday’s incident, with 30 offenders arrested in the Himalayan region that is a flashpoint with neighbouring India.
According to the regional police, armed supporters of the JAAC opened fire on security forces in Rawalakot, a city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and later surrounded the Combined Military Hospital, disrupting medical services.
Authorities said security forces eventually dispersed the crowd and restored order.
Police accused protesters of setting fires and damaging government and private property.
“The state has begun a massacre of our people in Rawalakot,” Shaukat Nawaz Mir, a JAAC leader, said in a video message on X, referring to the district where the incident happened. He pledged that the group would stay united to take part in the June 9 rally.
On Friday, the regional government designated the JAAC as a proscribed group under an anti-terror law, and advised domestic and foreign tourists to leave the region before June 9.
Mass demonstrations in the last two years by the JAAC against the rising costs of flour and electricity have turned deadly after violent crackdowns on protesters by security forces.
Khan, the police commissioner of the Poonch sector, said, “The JAAC leadership is misleading the masses by terming it a massacre. The state’s action was meant to restore law and order.”
When security forces tried to disperse the protesters, activists used automatic rifles, petrol bombs, and other weapons to target them, he said.
Mogadishu, Somalia – Mustafa, 33, dreads election time in Somalia. He drives a bajaj — a three-wheeled taxi — and says that when tensions rise, as they always do when polls are near, the whole city feels it, and drivers like him are among the first.
On Wednesday, he was passing through the Hawl Wadaag district when heavy gunfire between government and opposition forces erupted all around him.
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“I couldn’t even think. Everyone was shouting and running for their lives, and we all fled from the bullets,” he told Al Jazeera. “We haven’t seen fighting this bad in years.”
The shooting that began that afternoon around the homes of former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and, later, former President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, came as opposition figures were planning to organise protests against what they describe as an illegal term extension by incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Khaire and Sharif Sheikh Ahmed were among opposition leaders spreadheading the planned protests amid rising tensions with the federal government.
The government said the planned protests would undermine security in a city still grappling with persistent armed violence.
Hundreds of families fled neighbourhoods near the fighting, and by the next day, many of the capital’s central areas had emptied. The sudden eruption of violence ended a period of improving security in Mogadishu, shattering the perception that the city had begun turning a corner.
“The most frustrating thing is that we have nothing to do with it, and it impacts so many of us,” Mustafa said. “We make our living in this city”.
Security forces sealed Maka al-Mukarama Road, one of Mogadishu’s main arteries, while Bakara market, the largest commercial hub in the city, was effectively closed for business.
Maka al-Mukarama Road, Mogadishu’s main thoroughfare, is usually a bustling commercial hub, but recently, it has been largely empty, with the exception of military vehicles [Faisal Ali/Al Jazeera]
“Look, it’s midday, and there’s almost no one here, shops are closed, and usually by this time the place is jammed,” Ahmed, a street vendor at Bakara market, told Al Jazeera, gesturing at shuttered stalls.
Ali Wardheere, the deputy central bank governor, estimated the direct cost to businesses and services at $3.8m, though he stressed the figure was a model-based projection, not an official or final tally.
Like most Somalis, Mustafa has never voted for a president or a member of parliament. The country has not held a direct election for national leadership since the late 1960s.
Since the state was re-established in 2012 after its 1991 collapse, leaders have been selected through an indirect system negotiated by clan elders and political elites.
As presidential terms near their end, low trust among political actors often leads to intense competition over power — and at times violence — as disputes over the electoral timetable come to a head.
At a press conference in late May, Sharif warned that the political deadlock could turn violent if negotiations failed.
“Where do things stand? [We say] Leave, and [you say] I won’t leave. What comes next? Bullets.”
The warning echoed events in 2021, when then-President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo remained in office more than a year beyond the end of his term, triggering clashes in Mogadishu before a political agreement was reached.
Higher stakes this election
This time, the political standoff carries higher stakes.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says that constitutional amendments approved by parliament extended his mandate by an additional year from May 15. The opposition rejects that and has begun referring to him as a “former president”.
Two of Somalia’s most influential federal states also reject the amendments, leaving the country divided over the constitutional framework governing the next election, with no constitutional court to resolve the dispute.
After parliament approved the changes, Mohamud declared that the “provisional constitution, and the provisional era, was a sun which set yesterday,” signalling that his administration would press ahead despite objections from its opponents.
Tensions had been building for days. Ahead of a protest planned for Thursday, opposition leaders left the heavily fortified “green zone” near Mogadishu’s airport and returned to their residences across the city.
Some opposition figures said they would deploy their own armed guards at the demonstration, a proposal Mohamud rejected. The dispute heightened fears of a confrontation before fighting eventually broke out.
Both sides blame the other for starting the clashes. Khaire accused Mohamud of directing a “sustained and indiscriminate military assault” that lasted more than 20 hours, a claim Sharif echoed after fighting reached his own residence.
Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, the defence minister, accused the opposition of militarising the standoff, likening it to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and alleging that opposition figures had “distributed mortars and artillery across the capital”.
“Force and militias,” he said, would no longer be allowed to “seize power or block the state.”
How it came to this
The roots of the crisis run back to the 2012 provisional constitution, which set up a federal, parliamentary system built on broad consensus and clan-based power-sharing, which every government since has promised to achieve and failed to attain.
This year, after a long review, parliament amended the constitution through a disputed process that split the political class. The government has insisted that the new constitution advances the statebuilding process and that the Somali public should be allowed to directly elect its representatives.
For Ahmed Abdi Koshin, a federal MP who boycotted the draft, the danger is that the whole settlement comes apart. The process, he said, “clearly doesn’t have buy-in,” and the original constitution, for all its faults — “an imperfect product of compromise” — was the “only glue holding Somalia together”.
Koshin is not against a direct vote in principle, he said, but does not believe the country is ready for one. “We don’t have legislation for a direct vote; censuses and the security situation remains compromised. It really is up to the president to either reach a deal and save Somalia, or watch it fall apart,” he said.
The opposition, organised as a coalition known as the Somali Future Council and including two serving federal-state presidents, former prime ministers and a former president, has pressed Mohamud to accept that his mandate has ended and negotiate a new electoral framework, as in past transitions.
It alleges that his push for a direct vote is a pretext for extending his term and potentially securing another.
The government rejects that, casting a national one-person, one-vote election — the first since the 1960s — as essential to a drawn-out state-building project. When electoral talks collapsed on May 15, the Ministry of Information accused the opposition of bringing demands that ran counter to “the citizen’s fundamental right to vote and to be voted for”, and vowed to press ahead.
Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, a lower-house MP who backed the amendments, said further delay could not be justified. “We’ve waited for more than 12 years,” he told Al Jazeera.
“If they had arguments against them, they should have taken part in the process and raised their issues. A constitution isn’t a Quran, and they should come back and work through parliament to make their views clear.”
A whole generation of Somalis, he noted, have never cast a ballot, and a real election “would be a major milestone and would bring some hope”.
The old indirect system, he added, was notoriously corrupt, with parliamentary seats changing hands for anywhere from $100,000 to as much as $1.3m. “This system is too dirty and keeps people out,” said Maliumuu. “It needs to be changed.”
A deeper problem
A regional official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media, described an elite “divided strategically over what type of country they want, whether a strong centralised state or a weak decentralised one, and tactically over who the right candidate is to take them there”.
Mohamud, the official said, had moved from a decentralised vision for Somalia that embraces federalism towards a stronger executive, and his early, promising relationships with the federal-state leaders had since soured.
Those fractures have opened on several fronts at once.
Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991 and has stayed out of the constitutional review entirely, was recognised by Israel late last year after earlier courting Ethiopia.
Puntland and Jubaland, two of Somalia’s six federal states, have withdrawn from the federal system over the new constitution, while more than 100 MPs and senators from both boycotted the final vote.
Broader regional crises, from Sudan’s civil war to disease outbreaks elsewhere on the continent, have pushed Somalia further down the list of international priorities, leaving international engagement more fragmented and inconsistent.
The country is also grappling with a deepening humanitarian crisis and aid cuts, prompting famine monitors to warn of a heightened risk of hunger in parts of Somalia.
Yusuf Aynte, a veteran religious leader and former MP, said Somalia’s leaders needed to build consensus rather than push through changes that risk deepening divisions.
“The president says what he is doing is good, and that may be so,” he told Al Jazeera. “But the most important thing is what everyone can agree on.
“At the moment, Somalia has too many problems, and can’t afford to be distracted like this.”
Jamal Shiil, a youth activist, told Al Jazeera that Somalia’s large youth population would ultimately bear the cost of the persistent instability.
“Young people want to make a living here, for Somalia to be peaceful and not to have to leave because of the problems,” he said. “But if things don’t change it won’t leave them much of a choice”.
NEWARK, N.J. — The mayor of Newark imposed a curfew early Sunday around an immigration detention center in New Jersey after a series of intense clashes between protesters and police.
The curfew around Delaney Hall will be in place between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. until further notice, Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement.
The move came after another night of standoffs between law enforcement and demonstrators at the facility, as protesters could be seen in photographs and videos fighting over barricades as police used riot shields to push them back. A video posted on social media showed police on horseback marching into crowds, attempting to break up groups of demonstrators.
The high-profile demonstrations at Delaney Hall began this month after advocates said detainees launched a hunger strike over poor living conditions at the 1,000-bed facility, the latest focus of opposition over the federal government’s immigration crackdown.
The private company GEO Group operates the lockup under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The shuttered facility reopened for immigration detainees in February 2025.
New Jersey state police on Friday replaced federal immigration enforcement agents who had been facing off against protesters at the facility for days.
In a statement Sunday morning, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said masked people attacked a barrier in a designated protest area set up by state police and were “throwing projectiles, utilizing the barriers as weapons, and lighting tires on fire in the street.”
“These actions put both peaceful protesters and law enforcement in danger,” Sherrill said, urging calm to focus on advocating for “better conditions for the detainees, for their families, and ultimately, for the closure of Delaney Hall.”
Sherrill also said that the federal government has reopened family visits at Delaney Hall starting Sunday.
Asked about visitations resuming, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement, “To be clear: Visitation was only suspended because of violent riots. Now that we have a secure perimeter, visitation can resume.”
EastEnders’ Danny Dyer has teamed up with Hollywood star Rob Lowe for a hilarious ad campaign ahead of the launch of the World Cup where the two actors have something of a culture clash
Ex-EastEnders star Danny Dyer has joined forces with Rob Lowe for a new ad campaign ahead of the World Cup(Image: Paddy Power)
Danny Dyer faces off against movie star Rob Lowe for a hilarious World Cup ad campaign. The Rivals actor, 48, and Hollywood star, 62, battle over cultural differences to promote bookie Paddy Power.
Pitted as a clash of cultures, the ad explores everything from having a “pint and a slash” in a pub on the British side, to the glamour of halftime shows that tend to take place in the US. Eventually, Danny takes his shirt off whilst Rob keeps his on and rocks a cowboy hat amid their tense culture clash. At one point, Danny shouts out: “It can’t go on like this, can it?”
Then, former Wolves manager Mick McCarthy responds: “It can!” as a sad-looking Peter Crouch pops up amid the threat that the French could take the cup.
Rob admitted had not seen Danny in anything, but told the Daily Star: “I’d heard he was a bit of a legend over here in the UK and I have to agree, he is really funny, genuine, and a very good actor.
“When he walked on set, within about four minutes I’m thinking he’s got this energy and presence about him. Completely magnetic. As an American, you think you’re prepared for big personalities, but Danny’s got this very specific British edge to him and it was great working with him.”
Rob explained: “I’ve been to a Chelsea game at Stamford Bridge. It’s a great old stadium. I know they’re supposedly building another one, but Stamford Bridge is pretty sick.”
He then addressed the age-old issue of what the beautiful game shout be called, as it differs dramatically on each side of the Atlantic. He said: “If I’m in America, I call it soccer, but if I’m anywhere other than America, I call it football. Football becomes American Football when I’m abroad too.”
Hollywood film star Rob Lowe stars as the face of Paddy Power’s new World Cup ad campaign alongside UK national treasure Danny Dyer. The ad will air from Saturday 30th May across TV and online.
Clashes have broken out between protesters and riot police after an antigovernment rally in the Serbian capital, 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 collapse 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 appeared to be an effort to prevent at least some people from travelling to the capital 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 April 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.
US Navy veteran Marisol, who Katie Price’s missing husband Lee Andrews followed on InstagramLee Andrews and Katie Price haven’t spoken since last WednesdayCredit: Instagram
However, The Sun can reveal Marisol blocked Lee’s account.
When users block someone on Instagram, they are automatically unfollowed and removed from following them.
Katie’s fans noticed Lee Andrews had started following another account on InstagramHe had only been following Katie until her fans noticed the change and alerted her
Thousands of protesters gathered in India’s northeastern Manipur state to mark three years since ethnic violence erupted in May 2023 between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki-Zo communities. The conflict, driven by disputes over land and political power has killed nearly 260 people and displaced around 60,000.
