Riot police fired tear gas at anti-government protesters in Serbia’s capital on Saturday after they rallied against populist President Aleksandar Vucic to demand an early parliamentary election.

The protest by tens of thousands of demonstrators was held after nearly eight months of persistent dissent led by Serbia’s university students that have rattled Vucic’s firm grip on power in the Balkan country.

The huge crowd chanted “We want elections!” as they filled the capital’s central Slavija Square and several blocks around it, with many unable to reach the venue.

Several protesters were handcuffed by police, and an officer was seen injured on the ground during the ongoing street battles. It was unclear whether others were injured.

As the protest formally ended, the demonstrators threw eggs, plastic bottles and other objects at riot police who were preventing the crowd from approaching a downtown park. At the park, hundreds of Vucic’s loyalists have been camping for months to form a human shield in front of his headquarters in the capital.

Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said participants in the protest attacked the police. He said police used their powers to restore public order and “arrest all those who attacked the police.”

Russia, Ukraine trade strikes as 2 killed

Russian drones struck the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, killing two people and injuring at least 17, Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday. Meanwhile, three attack helicopters and an anti-aircraft missile system were destroyed in the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Ukraine’s Security Service agency deployed special drones to attack the Kirovske military airfield, a Ukrainian security official said on Saturday.

“Available data indicate the destruction of multi-purpose and attack helicopters Mi-8, Mi-26 and Mi-28, as well as the self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and gun complex Pantsir-S1,” according to the official, who spoke about the operation on condition of anonymity.

In Odesa, a drone slammed into a residential tower block in the city, causing damage to three floors and trapping residents, emergency services said. The two killed in the attack were a married couple, according to regional Gov. Oleh Kiper, who added that three children were among the injured.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, over 40 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight and on Saturday morning over western Russia and Kremlin-occupied Crimea.

Ca. budget includes cuts to immigrant care

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a California budget Friday that relied on scaling back health care for immigrants lacking legal status, even as he and other California Democrats in recent weeks have condemned the Trump administration for cracking down on immigrant workers.

In signing the budget, Newsom backtracked on his earlier pledge to insure all low-income residents, regardless of their immigration status. But it came as the state faced a $12 billion deficit, driven in part by a large cost overrun in the state’s insurance plan for immigrants living in the country illegally, and it would have been politically difficult to cut programs for citizens without reducing benefits for immigrants lacking legal status.

The California budget for the fiscal year that starts Tuesday relies on prohibiting new enrollment of immigrants lacking legal status in the state’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, starting in January. Adults between the ages of 19 and 59 who were already enrolled will have to pay a new $30 monthly premium beginning in 2027. And the state will eliminate dental care in July 2026 for adults lacking legal status and other noncitizens.

Medi-Cal serves roughly 15 million people, including 1.6 million immigrants living in the country illegally.

Protests continue over ‘Alligator Alcatraz

Hundreds of people gathered in the heart of the Everglades on Saturday — signs raised and chants echoing — to protest “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention center being built on a former airstrip in Big Cypress National Preserve.

Demonstrators lined both sides of the narrow two-way road leading to the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a remote landing strip just north of Tamiami Trail. The site, located in Miami-Dade County, is where Attorney General James Uthmeier and Gov. Ron DeSantis have expedited construction of the controversial facility. According to officials, supply trucks have been arriving daily to have the center operational by next week.

Dozens of trucks carrying supplies could be seen going in and out of the facility on Saturday as protesters waved their signs towards them.

Signs included “Protect the sacred” and “Everglades Only,” while others called the construction of the detention center “Crimes against humanity.”

Described by authorities as “temporary,” the 1,000-bed facility will primarily consist of large tents and trailers, designed to detain undocumented immigrants apprehended in Florida and beyond.

Since the announcement, the project has faced sharp criticism from Indigenous leaders, environmental groups and members of the South Florida community. They argue that the detention center will damage critical wetlands, disrupt wildlife habitats, and undermine decades of restoration work.

‘Rust’ crew members settle civil suit

Three crew members who worked on the Western movie “Rust” reached a settlement this past week in a lawsuit arising from the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the film’s set, according to court documents and lawyers.

They were seeking compensation from the producers of the movie, including Alec Baldwin as lead actor and co-producer. The suit accused the film’s producers of negligence and failing to follow industry safety rules, allegations that the producers denied.

The full terms of the settlement were not immediately available. Lawyers for the producers did not comment or were not immediately available Saturday.

The three crew members were independent contractors in New Mexico, where “Rust,” which was released last month, was filmed on a set outside Santa Fe. One was a dolly operator responsible for building and operating the apparatus for camera movement; another was the costumer; the third managed all the nonelectric support gear.

All three were on the set when Baldwin positioned an antique-style revolver for the camera on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin had been told that the gun was “cold,” meaning it had no live ammunition.

Sudan accepts U.N. weeklong ceasefire

Sudan’s military agreed to a proposal from the United Nations for a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher to facilitate U.N. aid efforts to the area, the army said Friday.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called Sudanese military leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and asked him for the humanitarian truce in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, to allow aid delivery.

Burhan agreed to the proposal and stressed the importance of implementing relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, but it’s unknown whether the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces would agree and comply with the ceasefire.

“We are making contacts with both sides with that objective, and that was the fundamental reason for that phone contact. We have a dramatic situation in El Fasher,” Guterres told reporters on Friday.

No further details were revealed about the specifics of the ceasefire, including when it could go into effect.

Sudan plunged into war in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the rival RSF escalated into battles in the capital, Khartoum, and spread across the country, killing more than 20,000 people.

Tropical depression forms near Mexico

A tropical depression formed Saturday in the Bay of Campeche off Mexico’s southeast coast and is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm over the weekend.

The depression was located about 130 miles (210 kilometers) east of Veracruz, Mexico. It had maximum sustained winds of 30 mph (45 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 7 mph (11 kph).

A tropical storm warning was issued from Boca de Catan south to Tecolutla.

The depression is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm before reaching the coast of Mexico, where it’s expected to make landfall Sunday night, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Heavy rains are forecast to continue over parts of Guatemala and southeast Mexico for the next few days.

Buffett announces $6 billion in donations

Famed investor Warren Buffett is donating $6 billion worth of his company’s stock to five foundations, bringing the total he has given to them since 2006 to roughly $60 billion, based on their value when received.

Buffett said late Friday that the shares of Berkshire Hathaway will be delivered on Monday. Berkshire Hathaway owns Geico, Dairy Queen and a range of other businesses, and Buffett is donating nearly 12.4 million of the Class B shares of its stock. Those shares have a lower and easier-to-digest price tag than the company’s original Class A shares, and each of the B shares was worth $485.68 at their most recent close on Friday.

The largest tranche is going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which will receive 9.4 million shares.

Nebraska Rep. Bacon won’t seek reelection

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., in his fifth term representing a centrist district in a deeply red state, will not seek reelection, according to a person familiar with his plans, handing Democrats a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in the closely divided House.

Bacon’s official announcement is expected Monday, and his departure is not unexpected. His willingness to publicly disagree with President Donald Trump has made him an anomaly in the tribal House Republican Conference, where members tend to fall in line behind the president’s agenda and rarely criticize him in the open. Democrats and Republicans alike had suspected that Bacon was heading for the exits.

But the upcoming announcement, which was reported earlier by Punchbowl News, marked a major break for Democrats hoping to win control of the House next year and, with it, a foothold for pushing back against Trump. Republicans control the House with a slim three-vote majority.

The political terrain in Bacon’s district has been trending to the left, making a reelection more difficult even for a Republican who managed to win a district that both former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris won by more than 4 points. Democrats are hoping it will be impossible for a Republican newcomer without Bacon’s reputation and unique electoral strength in his district.

— From news services