Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the electoral defeat of former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Brazil’s surprise presidential election results, and the race for United Nations secretary-general.

A New Era for Belgrade

Tens of thousands of Serbs flooded the streets of Belgrade on Monday to celebrate the electoral defeat of strongman Aleksandar Vucic, who has dominated the country’s politics for more than a decade. His ouster is the culmination of nearly two years of student-led protests against one of Europe’s most staunchly populist regimes, and it ushers in a new era of governance led by a youth-organized grassroots movement.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the electoral defeat of former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Brazil’s surprise presidential election results, and the race for United Nations secretary-general.

A New Era for Belgrade

Tens of thousands of Serbs flooded the streets of Belgrade on Monday to celebrate the electoral defeat of strongman Aleksandar Vucic, who has dominated the country’s politics for more than a decade. His ouster is the culmination of nearly two years of student-led protests against one of Europe’s most staunchly populist regimes, and it ushers in a new era of governance led by a youth-organized grassroots movement.

Since taking power in 2014, Vucic has cracked down on democratic freedoms. He has relied on systemic election fraud to keep his Serbian Progressive Party in power, used violence to quell unrest, and sidled closer to Russia and China despite European condemnation. Oscillating between the president’s and prime minister’s office to remain in control, Vucic managed to extend his reign for years.

But a student-led protest movement years in the making appears to be what finally upended Vucic’s grip on power.

In November 2024, demonstrations erupted over the collapse of a concrete railway station canopy that killed 16 people. Activists accused Belgrade of negligence, corruption, and poor state oversight. Security forces responded with excessive force, arbitrary arrests, and digital repression.

Still, the protest movement never died out, and on Sunday, the Student List group won 52.54 percent of the vote, with voter turnout hitting nearly 69 percent—a more than 30-year high.

“It is clear that we have lost these elections,” Vucic said in a televised speech.

Vucic blamed foreign interference for his defeat without providing evidence. “This........

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