Briefly

SERBIA

Ruling coalition achieves record election victory

The coalition around the Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS, led by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic achieved a landslide victory at the parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to the Republic Electoral Commission. Preliminary results showed that the coalition around the SNS won 63.35 percent of votes, while a junior coalition partner Socialist Party of Serbia led by Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic collected another 10.62 percent.

FRANCE

Police clash with music festival fans

French police clashed sporadically with people attending music festivals in Paris and the western city of Nantes on Sunday, TV stations BFM and C News reported. Many cities in France were holding annual Fete de la Musique events, which were monitored closely by police to ensure people were complying with social-distancing measures imposed to curb the coronavirus. BFM TV said police had to move in to disperse crowds from Paris' Canal St Martin, while C News and residents of Nantes broadcast images of police using tear gas on crowds in Nantes.

MEXICO

Sending of farmworkers to Canada will resume

Mexico will resume sending temporary farmworkers to Canada after the two countries reached an agreement on improved safety protections for laborers on Canadian farms during the coronavirus pandemic, the Mexican government said on Sunday. Mexico said last Tuesday it would pause sending workers to farms with coronavirus infections. Mexico's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Temporary Agricultural Workers Program had "entered into operation once again after a temporary pause." The two nations "reached an agreement to improve the sanitary conditions of the nationals who work on farms," the statement added.

VENEZUELA

Iran ship with cargo of food reaches waters

An Iranian ship has entered Venezuelan waters with a cargo of food that will supply the South American nation's first Iranian supermarket, according to Refinitiv Eikon and Iran's embassy in Venezuela. Iran supplied 1.5 million barrels of fuel to Venezuela last month amid a collapse of refinery operations and tightening sanctions by the United States that have made it more difficult for Venezuela to obtain fuel on international markets.

GERMANY

19 officers injured after drug check sparks riots

Twenty-four people were arrested and 19 police officers injured after a police drug check triggered riots in the German city of Stuttgart late on Saturday and early Sunday, local police said on Sunday evening in a statement. The riots broke out during a police inspection over a suspected drug offense in the city center of Stuttgart. A large number of people then began to attack the police during the preliminary arrest of a suspect at around 11:30 pm, the police said. Eventually several hundred people were involved in the clashes, throwing stones and bottles at the police, and rescue workers deployed were also attacked, the Stuttgart police said.

Agencies - Xinhua