Serbia is in political turmoil after Prime Minister Miloš Vučevićresigned Tuesday following months of mass protests touched off by a deadly accident at a railway station.
The background: In November, a section of the roof at the central station in Novi Sad, one of Serbia’s largest cities, collapsed, killing 15 people. The station had recently been renovated by a Chinese-led construction consortium as part of a broader Budapest-Belgrade rail link. Critics blamed the accident on graft, and mass protests led by students and other critics of the country’s right-wing populist government swelled.
The resignations and criminal prosecutions of top officials responsible for the project failed to quell popular outrage. Last week, tens of thousands of people joined a general strike, and on Monday, farmers groups joined in, blocking streets in the capital.
What’s next: President Aleksandar Vučić – a prominent, China-friendly ally of Hungary’s “illiberal” PM Viktor Orbán – must now decide whether to try to form a new government or go to early elections, which is what protesters and the opposition want. Vučić, in power virtually uncontested since 2017, has said he will decide within 10 days. The streets are watching.In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer weighs in on the politicization of the Olympics after comments by Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess sparked backlash about patriotism and national representation.
100 million: The number of people expected to watch the Super Bowl halftime performance with Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar and newly minted Album of the Year winner at the Grammys.
Brazilian skiers, American ICE agents, Israeli bobsledders – this is just a smattering of the fascinating characters that will be present at this year’s Winter Olympics. Yet the focus will be a different country, one that isn’t formally competing: Russia.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), appeals for a candidate during a street speech of the House of Representatives Election Campaign in Shintomi Town, Miyazaki Prefecture on February 6, 2026. The Lower House election will feature voting and counting on February 8th.
Japanese voters head to the polls on Sunday in a snap election for the national legislature’s lower house, called just three months into Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s tenure.