It turns out most of us no longer believe in progress. And when that happens, it quickly becomes a crisis for societies like ours

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Depending on your politics, the monsters are everywhere. Perhaps you see them in the form of tech billionaires and the artificial intelligence they’re developing. Perhaps you see them in the bin fire of social media they bequeathed us before that, or the legacy media that refuse to tell you “the truth”. You might see them in the manosphere, or the institutions teaching our kids gender fluidity. Maybe you see them in the migrant youth wielding machetes in the suburbs, or the refugee attempting to behead someone on a Belfast street. Or perhaps you see them in the violent anti-immigrant mobs that torched houses in response. If so, you’ll likely see them in the Marches for Australia or to Unite the Kingdom rallies, organised by far-right groups but attended by many more besides. You’ll almost certainly see them in at least one of Hamas, Israel or those local advocates at each other’s throats over the Middle East. I suspect you’ll see them in Russia but that can no longer be assumed. And I’d guess that you’d see them in at least one political party with a significant share of the vote.

Something in that paragraph probably outraged you. In which case, you’re probably seeing monsters in whoever sees different monsters from you. It would be easy here to make a point about polarisation. But I want to look at the deep disquiet that lies underneath.

Leading second-wave feminist co-founded Women’s Media Center with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem

Robin Morgan, a child star of the 1940s and 50s who grew up to become an all-American radical as a poet, essayist, editor and second-wave feminist, has died. She was 85.

Morgan’s death was confirmed Saturday by the Women’s Media Center, an organization she co-founded with Jane Fonda and the celebrated author and activist Gloria Steinem, who died Wednesday.

The activist made the movement mainstream – and became a receptacle for its hopes and disappointments

• Gloria Steinem, groundbreaking feminist campaigner, dies aged 92

• ‘We badly need to raise our boys more like our girls’: Gloria Steinem – a life in quotes

By the time she died on Wednesday, at 92 years old at her home in New York, Gloria Steinem was synonymous with feminism, a kind of human mascot for the movement. So it can be easy to forget that when she was born, feminism was over. It was something that had been faddish years before, among women who were now old ladies; something that seemed, in retrospect, like it might have been a bit overwrought and out of touch. To the girl Gloria Steinem, growing up in Ohio in the 1930s and 40s, the suffrage movement that had gained women the right to vote less than two decades prior probably seemed remote – especially to a girl like her, growing up itinerant and poor under the care of a single mother who was plagued by a violent and debilitating mental illness. You might say that growing up, Steinem had worries that were more immediate than the status of women.

But experience has a way of radicalizing women about their own gendered condition. Steinem attended Smith, and her education opened up previously unhoped for possibilities. En route to a postgraduate fellowship in India in 1957, when she was in her early 20s, she had an illegal abortion in London. Later, in 1969, while she was working as a journalist for New York magazine, she attended an “abortion speak-out” put on by a group of radical women from the emergent fringe of what was then called the Women’s Liberation movement.

Police aggressively dispersed protestors at an anti-government rally in Belgrade, whereover 100,000 demonstrators gathered on June 28 to demand snap elections.

The rally marks the latest mass action in a protest movement that started last fall, with activists calling for an end to corruption and the 12-year rule of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Crowds in Belgrade on June 28 chanted "We want elections!" — a key demand of the movement that Vucic has consistently refused. His term ends in 2027, which is also the date of the next scheduled parliamentary elections.

Police officers in riot gear used tear gas, pepper spray, and stun grenades to forcibly dispersed crowds, according to multiple media outlets. Dozens of protestors were detained, though the police did not provide an exat number.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic claimed that demonstrators attacked the police.

Protestors reportedly threw eggs, plastic bottles, and other objects at riot officers blocking the crowd from entering a city park where Vucic supporters were staging a counterprotest. Vucic reportedly bused in groups of his own supporters from around the country ahead of the rally.

As protests engulf Serbia, President Vucic looks for support East and West

Editor’s Note: Following a number of attacks against peaceful protestors in Serbia, the Kyiv Independent agreed to not publish the last names of people who gave comments for this story. BELGRADE, Serbia — Thousands of protestors walked 300 kilometers on March 1 from Belgrade to the southern city of Nis to

The Kyiv IndependentCamilla Bell-Davies

Vucic, a right-wing populist leader with authoritarian tendencies and warm ties with Russia, has repeatedly accused foreign states of inciting the protests in order to topple his government. He is provided no evidence to support these claims.

The current wave of protests in Serbia began in November, when a train station roof in the town of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15. The disaster was blamed on government corruption.

While Vucic has alleged that Western powers are trying to trigger a "Ukrainian-style revolution in Serbia," the Serbian protests are not markedly pro-Ukrainian or pro-Russian. Unlike mass demonstrations in Slovakia, where activists explicitly condemned the government's Kremlin-friendly agenda, the Serbian movement is focused on Vucic's corrupt leadership.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Serbia has attempted to navigate a delicate diplomatic path between Moscow and the West. It has positioned itself as neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war and balanced its status as an EU candidate with its longstanding ties to Russia.

Vucic made his first official visit to Ukraine on June 11.

Ukraine’s new top prosecutor known for high-profile cases, seen as Zelensky loyalist

Loyalty to the incumbent administration has been the key requirement for prosecutor generals in Ukraine. Ruslan Kravchenko, who was appointed as prosecutor general on June 21, appears to be no exception. Previously he had been appointed as a military governor by President Volodymyr Zelensky and is seen as a presidential loyalist. Kravchenko became Ukraine’s top prosecutor after a lengthy hiatus during which the position of prosecutor general remained vacant. His predecessor, Andriy Kostin, r

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

Kyiv Pride held a parade with over 1,500 participants in the Ukrainian capital on June 14, which was met with counterprotests.

"Other Ukrainian Prides also participated — including Kharkiv Pride and Ukraine Pride. Kyiv’s student community was represented, among others, by the Student Parliament of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Ukraine Global Scholars," Kyiv Pride said in a post to Facebook.

On June 7, a drone charity event for Kyiv Pride took place outside the Foreign Ministry building and was met with a nearby counterprotest.

The march was joined by representatives from the EU, Canada, the U.K., and various other countries, including France, Germany, and Spain.

The march was joined by the LGBT+ Military non-governmental organization (NGO) as Russia's war against Ukraine continues.

"Among the marchers was veteran Viktor Pylypenko, head of the NGO LGBT+ Military for Equal Rights. He drew public attention to the growing loss of military personnel and veterans who are dying at war — while their families remain unrecognized by law," Kyiv Pride said in its statement.

The march raised 20,000 hryvnia for the Serhiy Sternenko Foundation to purchase drones for the military.

Representatives, including Canada's ambassador to Ukraine, Natalka Cmoc, joined the event.

"Ambassadors, the Canadian embassy team, along with many diplomats, joined (the) Kyiv Pride march this morning," Cmoc said.

The Kyiv Pride event was met with a nearby counterprotest.

"With regret, we must note that those who incite violence still have broader access to public space and freely walk through the central streets, while participants of Kyiv Pride March are surrounded by police and restricted in their route. We continue to witness the spread of hate speech," Kyiv Pride said.

Kyiv Pride held a march in June 2024 for the first time since Russia began its full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.

‘Europe hasn’t decided what to do if US steps back’ — key takeaways from Zelensky’s closed-door briefing

“Both teams are working to ensure we meet,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir