It was like a scene out of a movie: a tense parliamentary meeting interrupted by opposition party lawmakers, who launched smoke grenades, threw eggs and lit incendiary flares before unfurling a banner announcing, "Serbia has risen to bring down the regime."

When the literal smoke cleared, at least three lawmakers had been injured in the chaos – the latest chapter in months of unrest that has shaken the Balkan nation, as protesters blame government cronyism and corruption for a railway station disaster.

What did the commentators say?
Tuesday's chaotic legislative session, ostensibly called to "vote on a bill to increase university funding", ended up "highlighting" Serbia's "deep political divisions", said The Independent.

The violence began after opposition lawmakers accused the Serbian Progressive Party, which leads the ruling coalition, of trying to push through "dozens of other decisions", said The Associated Press. As well as hurling smoke bombs, opposition MPs "used pepper spray and threw bottles at cabinet ministers", said Bloomberg. The parliamentary session later resumed, "despite chants from some legislators".

The wave of protest began in November, after the roof of a newly-renovated train station in the city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people. Protesters have attributed the building collapse to "corruption they link to President Aleksandar Vucic's decade in power", Reuters said. Starting out as vigils for the victims, organised by student groups, the movement was soon joined by "teachers, farmers and other workers", and has become "the biggest threat yet" to Vucic's presidency.

Vucic has "weathered plenty of protest movements over the years", said the BBC, but this surge of unrest is proving "unusually tricky" to quell. "Everyone has a reason to be unhappy," analyst Bojan Elek told the broadcaster. "Terrible salaries, poor working conditions – everyone had something to add to the huge dissatisfaction that's in the population."

What next?
Today will see a general strike across Serbia, following a similar day of action in January. A major demonstration in Belgrade is planned for 15 March, which organisers believe will be the largest yet.

The country's ruling coalition maintains that Western nations are "trying to destabilise Serbia" and "topple the government by backing the protests", Reuters said.

Clothed interlopers are being banned from German nudist beaches, in the latest effort to preserve the country's centuries-long naturist culture.

But, as German naturists fight to maintain their stripped-down way of life, "nude recreation" is enjoying a popularity surge in the historically prudish UK.

'Penchant for baring all'
Beach wardens in the German city of Rostock, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, now have the power to expel clothed visitors from the naturist-only areas of its beachfront. But, along with these increased protections for naturists, Rostock's revised beach code also reduces the amount of space reserved for nude bathing – reflecting the German public's declining desire to go buff on the beach.

Stereotypically, the "penchant for baring all in public" is "as German as bratwurst or garden gnomes", said The Times, but naturism is actually "struggling to recruit new members". Last year, the German Association for Free Body Culture had to cancel its 75th anniversary celebrations, due to "lack of interest". The group's "senior nudist" blamed social media for promoting a "perfect body image" that gives young people "unrealistic ideals, and makes them uncomfortable about being naked".

'Something of an image problem'
But in Britain, despite its buttoned-up reputation, attitudes to naturism are becoming more positive. A 2022 Ipsos poll found 14% – roughly one in seven – of UK adults describing themselves as nudists or naturists, said The Independent. That's a big jump up from a similar survey in 2001, in which just 2% of Brits said the same.

Naturism "suffered something of an image problem" in the past, said The Guardian, dismissed as "fuddy-duddy" or "titteringly elided with suburban swinging". But now British Naturism's 9,000-strong membership has been seeing its fastest growth since 1964, fuelled partly by a "new generation who prefer naturist social media" to traditional in-person gatherings.

And while Britain may lack the "sun-blessed" and "naturist-friendly" coastlines of its European neighbours, legally at least it offers a "warm climate for the unclothed". Being naked in public is not inherently a criminal offence in England and Wales, as it is in other countries and many US states.

Bedfordshire: Homewood Lodge, Northill
A handsome 19th century lodge set in more than 6.5 acres of gardens and woodland. 5 suites, 1 further bed, family bath, kitchen/recep, sitting room, study, garden, garage. £2m; Fitzjohn Estates

Oxfordshire: Courtiers, Clifton Hampden
Stately 18th century house with an impressive Georgian frontage. The property has plenty of period features, as well as a walled garden and croquet lawn. 6 beds, 2 baths, shower, kitchen/breakfast room, 2 receps, cellar, garden, outbuildings, parking. £1.35m; Savills

Gloucestershire: Lock House, Framilode
A fine Georgian house in an idyllic riverside setting with more than 150 feet of private river frontage. 4 suites, kitchen/breakfast room, 3 receps, utility, study, garden, garage. £950,000; Hamptons

Dorset: Old Ford House, Blandford St Mary
Picturesque house with an attractive colour-washed render, set in mature gardens close to Bryanston School. 2 suites, 2 further beds, family bath, kitchen/ breakfast room, 3 receps, 2-bed annexe, garden. £1.25m; Symonds & Sampson

It's the age of regret: gen Z grew up glued to their screens, and missed the joy of being human
Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian
The first generation never to know "life without social media" is now "grown-up enough to reflect on what it may have done to them", writes Gaby Hinsliff. And four in five say "they'd keep their own children away" from it. "This isn't how anyone talks about something they love." Young people, sent down the "path of isolation", want to "rebuild the lives they clearly feel they've been missing".

Donald Trump's economic delusions are already hurting America
The Economist editorial board
Donald Trump has "painted a fantastical picture" in which the "American Dream is surging bigger and better than ever before", says The Economist. But "with his aggressive and erratic protectionism", the president is "playing with fire". Policies are being set on a "whim" and will wreak "lasting damage at home and abroad". Trump "has no patience for being told that he is wrong" and the "world will pay the price".

Thanks, Prince William – but we really don't need employment advice from you
Emily Watkins in The i Paper
I'm sure Prince William's suggestion that NHS workers have career breaks "comes with the best intentions", writes Emily Watkins. But "without a plan to pay people" on these breaks, his idea "amounts to firing them briefly, rather than a nice sabbatical". I'm putting "his foot-in-mouth moment down to naivety", like when a child makes "suggestions about the adult world that cause the grown-ups around them to chuckle wryly".