SERBIA: Police said today that they had detained 79 university students and other protesters as they broke up street blockades in several cities that are in revolt against President Aleksandar Vucic’s government.

Officers intervened on Wednesday night and early today in the capital Belgrade, the northern city of Novi Sad and the southern cities of Nis and Novi Pazar.

Protesters said police charged and injured many peaceful demonstrators. Witnesses told local media that riot police had beaten up protesters with batons and shields and that four students were in hospital. Authorities denied that excessive force had been used against demonstrators.

PERU: President Dina Boluarte has issued a decree that doubles her salary despite historically low approval ratings of only 2 per cent.

She will now be paid more than 35,500 soles (£7,300) per month. 

The government says the increase brings the unelected president into line with other heads of state in the region.

The news was met with derision on social media, with many describing the increase as “outrageous.”

FRANCE: Thousands of flights were cancelled today when air traffic controllers began a two-day strike in a dispute over working conditions.

A quarter of flights were cancelled at the main Paris airports, as were half the flights at Nice airport.

IRAQ: The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey, announced today that its fighters in northern Iraq would begin handing over their weapons, marking the first concrete step towards disarmament as part of a peace process.

The move come after PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm.