Protests in Serbia turn violent; Europe awaits Polish runoff election

Protests in Serbia; Polish Runoff Election | Europe In :60 | GZERO Media

Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, with this week's Europe In 60 Seconds (from the Adriatic Sea):

What's going on in Belgrade and what's going to be the consequence of that?

Well, a wave of protests partly met by fairly substantial police violence. It's partly against new COVID restrictions, there's an outbreak of COVID. But partly the general political situation in the country with a sort of very harsh regime in the effect, or a very dominant regime to be precise. We'll see what happens.

What's my take on the run-off in the Polish presidential election this Sunday?

Well, that's going to be a most important election for Poland, primarily, but also for Europe as a whole. The regime and sitting President Duda has been calling out all of the propaganda means conceivable in order to win the election. But still, according to opinion polls, too close to call. Let's just hope for a positive surprise from Poland on Sunday.

More from GZERO Media

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses lawmakers as he presents the so-called 'Victory Plan' during a parliament session, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 16, 2024.
REUTERS/Andrii Nesterenko

On Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his much-discussed “victory plan” to Ukraine’s parliament.

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 25, 2024.
REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

From the IDF’s offensive in Rafah to its more recent invasion in Lebanon, there have been myriad examples of Israel taking escalatory steps that Washington has vocally opposed.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa interacts with the leader of the opposition party, John Steenhuisen ahead of National Assembly members' questions in parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, November 3, 2022.
REUTERS/Esa Alexander

This unexpected alliance between South Africa’s long-ruling ANC and the Democratic Alliance has shown early signs of promise.

FILE PHOTO: At a secret jungle camp in Myanmar's eastern Karen state, a fitness coach and other civilians are training with armed ethnic guerrillas to fight back against the country's military takeover.
REUTERS/Independent photographer

After a year of rebel victories that have left Myanmar’s ruling junta on the defensive, its chairman, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, invited ethnic minority armies to peace talks in a state television broadcast on Tuesday.

In this episode of “Energized: The Future of Energy,” a podcast series from GZERO Media's Blue Circle Studios and Enbridge, host JJ Ramberg and Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel talk to Justin Bourque, President of Athabasca Indigenous Investments, and Mark Podlasly, Chief Sustainability Officer of First Nations Major Project Coalition. They discuss how a partnership deal between Enbridge and 23 Indigenous communities in northern Alberta is improving life for those communities and how Indigenous peoples are investing in the energy transition—and their futures. Listen to this episode at gzeromedia.com/energized, or on Apple, Spotify, Goodpods, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pays tribute to the 309 victims of the earthquake that struck, in L'Aquila, Italy, on 5 April 2009.
Andrea Mancini/NurPhoto via Reuters

1.25: Surrogacy has been banned in Italy for 20 years, but Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’sconservative government has just gone a step further and criminalized seeking surrogacy abroad.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Tuesday that certifying elections is a required duty of county election boards in Georgia, and they’re not allowed to refuse to finalize results based on suspicions of miscounts or fraud.
TNS/ABACA via Reuters Connect

On Tuesday, a judge in Georgia blocked a new rule requiring that election ballots be hand-counted in the state, a change that allies of former President Donald Trump wanted. Opponents of the rule, which the Georgia State Election Board passed in September, said it would cause unnecessary delays in results and lead to avoidable electoral pandemonium.