BELGRADE (AP) – Former Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat in Sunday’s snap parliamentary election, as independent projections and leaders of a student-backed movement born out of anti-corruption protests confirmed an outright parliamentary majority that ends the Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) 14-year grip on power. Initial projections released by polling agencies Ipsos and CeSID showed the “Student List -- Students Win” winning 52 percent of the vote, well ahead of Vucic’s SNS-led coalition, “Aleksandar Vucic -- United Serbia”, which stood at 39.3 percent.

 

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LONDON (Reuters) - Senior hospital doctors in England are set to stage a two-day strike in November, the British Medical Association said on Monday, following a government recommendation of a below-inflation pay rise.The strike, due to take place on November 25 and 26, is the latest example of disputes over pay and working conditions across Britain’s National Health Service which have led to more than a dozen rounds of industrial action since 2023. The government’s proposal of a 2.4% rise to the body that sets doctors’ pay for the 2027/2028 financial year, is a “significant real-terms pay cut by all current measures of inflation,” the BMA said. It noted that senior doctors had seen a 25% cut to their pay in real terms over the last 17 years.

 

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BEIJING (Xinhua) - China on Monday rejected Washington’s designation of the Confucius Institute Cultural Centers as a threat to U.S. national security, calling the move “vilification.” “We reject vilification and smears against Confucius Institute,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing. “Educational exchange and cooperation between China and the U.S. help enhance mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries. They are desired by both sides and benefit both sides and should not be held back or disrupted,” he added. The U.S. State Department last week designated the Confucius Institute at American universities and campuses as a threat to U.S national security.

 

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MOGADISHU(AFP) - Forces loyal to an ousted regional leader in southwestern Somalia again clashed with federal soldiers near the outskirts of Baidoa city, officials and witnesses said Monday. Several states in the deeply fragmented country are opposed to control by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and in March his government sent in troops to oust the head of South West State, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen.

 

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CAIRO (Reuters) - Paramilitary drone strikes hit power stations in southeast Sudan on Monday, cutting power across the region, the state electricity company said. The operator accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — which have been fighting a civil war with the army for around 3-1/2 years — of knocking out power in four states, which cover about half the territory currently held by the military. The Rapid Support Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the account from the Sudan Electricity Holding Company.