Anger

Kathmandu, Nepal – Pabit Tandukar was shouting slogans against Nepal’s government outside the country’s parliament building in the capital Kathmandu when he felt sharp pain cutting through his leg.

The 22-year-old university student was taken to the trauma centre of Kathamandu’s Bir Hospital on Monday, where doctors confirmed he had been hit by a live copper bullet.

“We were there for a peaceful protest. They were initially firing tear gas at us and we were pushing back. Suddenly, I was shot,” Tandukar told Al Jazeera.

At least 19 protesters were killed, and hundreds – like Tandukar – were injured after security forces fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas shells at youth agitators on Monday, after what began as a peaceful protest descended into violent clashes with law enforcement officers.

The killings have pushed Nepal into a political crisis. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned from the position on Monday evening, claiming moral responsibility, and on Tuesday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned.

But the thousands of young people who hit the streets of Kathmandu and other cities in Nepal on Monday, as part of what the organisers have called a Gen-Z movement, are demanding more – a dissolution of parliament and new elections.

The protests have erupted amid growing criticism of alleged corruption, and anger over perceptions that the families of the country’s ruling elite – including leading politicians – live lives of relative luxury while Nepalis struggle with a per capita income of less than $1,400 a year.

Then, the government last week banned 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, YouTube and X, after they missed a September 3 deadline to register with the country’s authorities under a controversial new law. That ban further raised anger against the government among young, digitally native Nepalis, though the government said it was trying to stop the use of fake online identities to spread rumours, commit cybercrimes, and disturb social harmony.

By Tuesday, though, that simmering anger and the protests it led to had exploded into even more violence, with the killings of civilians by security forces becoming the lightning rod galvanising youth, who returned to the streets for a second day in a row.

“The government should not have fired bullets at students,” Tandukar said.

‘This one is for KP Oli’

Joining the protest near parliament on Monday, Megraj Giri* aimed a stone at a CCTV placed on the northern wall of the legislature building in New Baneshwor, in the heart of Kathmandu.

The government had imposed a curfew – which was extended on Tuesday – but Giri was defiant. “This one is for KP Oli,” he shouted, referring to the prime minister, as his missile shattered the camera.

That’s not how the organisers of the protest had imagined things would turn out.

“We planned a peaceful protest with cultural events and fun,” said Anil Baniya of Hami Nepal [translated as We Nepal], one of the organisers, speaking to Al Jazeera.

“During the first few hours, it went as planned, until some external forces and political party cadres joined in the protest and agitated the armed forces and pelted stones.”

Organisers have not named specific parties or external agents whom they blame for instigating the violence. But it was when some protesters began to climb the walls of the parliament complex to enter that security forces fired back, Baniya said.

Some of the protesters who were hit were schoolchildren still in their uniforms – it is unclear whether they were among any of the 19 who were killed.

The Kathmandu District Administration Office imposed curfew in that part of the city, and Nepal deployed its army. Armed forces also entered the Civil Service Hospital near Parliament to capture protesters, and shot tear gas, causing chaos in the facility. Toshima Karki, a doctor turned member of parliament, was at the hospital helping the injured when she witnessed the attack.

“No matter what, the government should not have used bullets. They murdered young people,” added Baniya.

Until late on Monday night, videos also emerged showing armed police officers carrying out search operations in houses near the protest area.

Among those killed was Sulov Raj Shrestha, who was studying civil engineering in Kathmandu.

“He was always smiling and had a friendly behaviour,” Sudhoj Jung Kunwar, a friend of Shrestha, recalled, speaking to Al Jazeera. “I just found out; he had his GRE exams today.”

Kathmandu Engineering College, where Shrestha studied, posted on Facebook: “We mourn, we protest, we condemn……  Sulov…..your nation has failed you…”

Political analyst Krishna Khanal blames “sheer negligence” on the part of the government for the killings.

“The young people should have been handled well; even if they crossed the parliament building, there were other ways to control them,” Khanal told Al Jazeera.

The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International have both condemned the killings and called for transparent investigations into the events of Monday.

Speaking to the press late Monday night, Prithvi Subba Gurung, Nepal’s communications and information technology minister, announced the social media ban was being lifted.

But while the ban might be over, it is the killings on Monday that have now emerged as the principal issue inflaming passions on Nepal’s streets.

‘We demand mass resignation’

While the social media ban drew global attention, many protesters said their grievances run much deeper.

“We need to kick these old leaders out of power. We are tired of the same old faces,” said 27-year-old Yugant Ghimire, an artificial intelligence engineer who took part in Monday’s protest.

“The government is on a power trip, there is rampant corruption, no one is accountable,” Ghimire told Al Jazeera.

The movement has found support from sections of the political class, including Balen Shah, the mayor of Kathmandu, who is also a popular rapper.

Posting on social media on Sunday, Shah wrote, “Tomorrow, in this spontaneous rally, no party, leader, worker, lawmaker, or activist will use it for their own interest. I will not attend due to the age limit, but it is important to understand their message. I give my full support.”

Meanwhile, before Monday’s protest, Oli was largely dismissive of the movement. “Just by saying Gen Z, one is free to do anything, just by saying you don’t like it,” Oli said to an audience of his party cadres on Sunday.

That approach appears to have backfired on the government. On Tuesday, as the government imposed an indefinite curfew in Kathmandu, protesters defied those restrictions to set the homes of several politicians on fire.

Organisers of the protests have now released a set of “non-negotiable demands” which include the dissolution of the parliament, mass resignation of parliamentarians, immediate suspension of officials who issued the order to fire on protesters, and new elections.

Protest leader Baniya said the movement would continue “indefinitely until our demands are met”.

“We now have more of a duty to live up to the expectations of our friends who were murdered by the state,” said Baniya. “We need to topple this government, we demand mass resignation and we want them out. This is our country.”

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun says he is ‘deeply concerned’ over detention of 300 South Koreans, while opposition calls it a ‘grave matter’.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has ordered all-out efforts to respond to the arrests of hundreds of the country’s citizens in an immigration raid on a Hyundai Motor-LG car battery factory in the United States.

Thursday’s arrest of some 475 workers – more than 300 of them South Korean nationals – at the plant near Savannah in the southern US state of Georgia was the largest single-site enforcement operation carried out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an arm of the US Department of Homeland Security.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Saturday said President Lee has instructed officials to swiftly resolve the matter, stressing that the rights and interests of South Korean nationals and the business operations of South Korean companies investing in the US “must not be infringed upon”, South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency said in a report.

Cho said the government has set up a team to respond to the arrest of more than 300 Koreans at the facility, under construction in the southern state of Georgia, and that he may go to Washington, DC, to meet with officials if needed.

“We are deeply concerned and feel a heavy sense of responsibility over the arrests of our nationals,” Cho was quoted by Yonhap before an emergency meeting on Saturday to tackle the incident.

“We will discuss sending a senior Foreign Ministry official to the site without delay, and, if necessary, I will personally travel to Washington to hold consultations with the US administration,” he said.

The plant where the raid took place – part of US President Donald Trump’s escalating immigration crackdown – is intended to supply batteries for electric vehicles.

Responding to a reporter’s question about the immigration raid, Trump on Friday remarked during an event at the White House, “I would say that they were illegal aliens, and ICE was just doing its job.”

Steven Schrank, an ICE official, justified the detentions, saying some of those detained had illegally crossed the US border, others arrived with visas that prohibited them from working, and some overstayed their work visas.

South Korea’s opposition People Power Party (PPP) reacted angrily to the detentions, warning they “could pose a serious risk” to the country.

“This is a grave matter that could lead to broader repercussions for Korean companies and communities across the United States,” PPP chairman Jang Dong-hyeok said in a statement.

Senior PPP spokesperson Park Sung-hoon blamed Lee for the incident, saying his “pragmatic diplomacy” towards the US “failed to ensure both the safety of citizens and the competitiveness” of South Korean businesses.

He said Lee’s government even promised at least $50bn of investments during his recent meeting with Trump, a gesture that only resulted in a “crackdown” against South Korean citizens.

In a statement, Hyundai said it was “closely monitoring” the situation, adding that none of those detained “is directly employed” with the company.

LG Energy Solution said it was “gathering all relevant details”, adding it “will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities”.

South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, is a key automaker and electronics producer with multiple plants in the US. Its companies have invested billions of dollars to build factories in the US, in a bid to access the US market and avoid tariff threats from Trump.

A group of reportedly Jewish tourists sparked anger in the UK after dismantling a hillside cross made of stones to create a Star of David. Local media in Wales report residents have reassembled the cross they say had been there for 50 years.

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Right-wing Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sparked outrage from nations across the Middle East when he led a Jewish prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound. His actions broke a 1967 agreement that only Muslims are allowed to pray at the site.

It started with a violent crime. In June, in the centre of Torun, central-north Poland, a Venezuelan man stabbed 24-year-old Klaudia, a Polish woman, to death as she was walking home from work through a park.

That horrific incident led to a silent march by thousands of protesters through Torun on Sunday, July 6. Local media reported that the march had been organised by supporters of the far-right Konfederacja political alliance and people carried signs saying “stop illegal immigration”.

Then came the rumours and misinformation. On July 14, someone in Walbrzych, southwestern Poland, called the police to report a Paraguayan man who had allegedly taken pictures of children on a playground.

The police stopped the man but did not find anything incriminating on his phone. That didn’t stop two Polish men from beating him up soon afterwards. And, the next day, a group of about 50 people stormed the hostel he and other migrants were living in. Some people threw flares into the building, and the owner has since been forced to close the hostel down.

In recent weeks, anti-migrant sentiment in Poland has been on the rise, spurred by far-right rhetoric, which asserts that Poland has been flooded with “unconstrained illegal migration”. Claims that migrants take local jobs and that they pose a threat to Poles both physically and figuratively, with their “foreign lifestyle”, are common and even encouraged by lawmakers.

One MP from Konfederacja – Konrad Berkowicz from Krakow – told TOK FM radio: “Xenophobia is an important element of our national unity. Condemning xenophobia and stifling it in the West has led to rapes and terrorist acts, that’s why we should cherish xenophobia.”

Elmi Abdi, 62, a Somali who came to Poland in 1996 as a refugee, told Al Jazeera: “Today, migrants are seen as responsible for all of Poland’s problems; we are scapegoats that all parties attack, even though politicians know it’s all untrue.” Today, Abdi is head of the Good Start foundation, which supports migrants, offering help with access to language classes, legal assistance and other matters.

“It is sad because we [immigrants] do everything to work safely here, pay taxes, and integrate into society.”

As misinformation – such as in the Walbrzych incident – about immigrants spreads, the Polish Migration Forum, a rights group, has called the atmosphere in Poland “pre-pogrom-like”.

“What distinguishes today’s situation is the violence. We are in a very bad place,” said Agnieszka Kosowicz, head of the forum. “Acts of violence already take place, people are subject to insults, threats and displays of hostility and contempt. This is a very alarming situation that requires a decisive response from the state.”

Rumours of ‘illegal returns’

On July 7, Poland reinstated border controls with Germany and Lithuania. That followed similar restrictions Germany imposed earlier in the year to discourage asylum seekers from entering through Poland.

Poland is also now actively monitoring the return of migrants – both asylum and non-asylum seekers – by the German police, as per European Union rules. These are people who arrived in Poland from outside the EU before crossing to Germany.

These returns of migrants by the German authorities are legal, but as rumours on the internet about “illegal returns” of migrants continue to spread, unofficial, far-right patrols have appeared at the borders to monitor the situation and make “citizen arrests” of individuals they believe to be entering the country illegally – so far without much success.

The EU accused Belarusian and Russian authorities of fomenting the EU’s migration crisis to destabilise the continent, by encouraging people from the Global South to travel to Belarus and then onwards into Europe via Poland.

In 2022, Poland built a fence along the border with Belarus to prevent migrants from entering the country irregularly. The fence, however, did little to physically stop migrants from coming in.

So, in March this year, Poland suspended the right to claim asylum altogether in a bid to deter people from coming.

All of this has served to stir up anti-migrant fear in Poland, which has been further amplified by far-right groups for their own political purposes.

‘We are being humiliated’

The hysteria reached a new high nearly two weeks ago, when, on Saturday, July 19, anti-migrant marches organised by the far-right Konfederacja party and football fans swept through 80 Polish towns and cities, shouting racist slurs and slogans.

Sixteen-year-old Nikola, who did not want to give her surname, told Al Jazeera that she had travelled 125km (80 miles) from her home in Gorlice, southern Poland, to attend the march in Krakow. She said she came along after watching videos on YouTube claiming that, in Western Europe, people are “afraid to leave their homes” because of the number of undocumented immigrants.

She said it was important to her to join a cause that “unites Poles today”.

“I wanted to be part of a community. People are showing those at the top that they care about security and that Poland is our country. We should do everything we can to prevent what’s happening in Western Europe,” she said.

“I’d like to feel safe in my city, and I’ve already seen a few people who looked like they are not from here,” she added.

On the march, Nikola joined a large column of several hundred people, many of them wearing Polish patriotic T-shirts and emblems of the Wisla football club, walking to Market Square. On the way, they passed tourists, some of whom were filming the protesters.

Three elderly women proudly waved white-and-red Polish flags among the football fans. “The nation has had enough of what’s happening. It’s waking up because we’re living under terror, being humiliated,” said Danuta, 60, who also did not want to give her full name. “The borders are not sealed and have to be defended by civilians,” she added, referring to the right-wing groups who patrol the Polish-German border.

On Market Square in the centre of the city, the march crossed paths with a smaller counterdemonstration organised by local left-wing groups, and the two groups exchanged insults while separated by the police.

The police did not record any major incidents during the day. But Abdi and other migrants Al Jazeera spoke with by telephone said they did not dare to leave their homes on Saturday.

Fake news fans the flames

According to experts, anti-migrant sentiment in Poland has been spurred by misinformation and fake news about the number of people entering the country, which does not reflect reality.

“Poland is not experiencing any large-scale irregular migration,” said Kosowicz. “Within the Dublin procedure [under EU rules], Germany returns people who claimed asylum in Poland and then crossed into Germany. In 2024, there were 688 such people, and this year – 318. This is nothing new.”

According to the International Migration Outlook report for 2024 from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2.2 percent of Poland’s population was foreign-born in 2023. This is low compared with other European countries such as the UK (15.4 percent), Germany (18.2 percent) and France (13.8 percent).

In 2022, 152,000 immigrants obtained residence permits for more than one year in Poland, the OECD said.

At the Polish-Belarusian border, which has been used by migrants from Global South countries trying to reach Europe since 2021, incoming numbers of migrants have not been particularly high, either. According to official data, from January to late June this year, 15,022 illegal crossing attempts were recorded, of which only 5 percent were successful.

In 2024, there were nearly 30,000 attempts, out of which, by contrast, one-third (10,900) were successful. In 2021, before Poland built a fence at the border with Belarus, the number of attempts reached 52,000.

Kosowicz also blames the government, which she says has failed to build awareness about the costs and benefits of development and migration, making all foreigners potential victims of hate attacks.

“A study by Deloitte and UNHCR says that 2.7 percent of Polish GDP comes solely from the work of Ukrainian refugees. But this isn’t the information we hear from politicians,” she said.

Abdi, who is married to a Polish woman with whom he has two children, worries greatly about their future.

“When I arrived here, the Poles welcomed me wonderfully, and I care deeply about Poland; it’s my home. I want it to be safe for everyone,” he told Al Jazeera in fluent Polish.

“At the marches, people shout that they want a white Poland. I’m old enough, I’m not afraid of anything. But I am worried about my children.”

Tensions are palpable in the West African nation of Togo as highly anticipated local government elections are being held following weeks of angry protests calling for leader Faure Gnassingbe to resign.

Although small, Togo commands weight as a developing maritime and transit hub in the region because of an important port in the seaside capital, Lome, which is perched on the edge of the Atlantic. The country serves as a gateway into inland Sahel nations and is also home to a major West African airline, meaning unrest there could reverberate across the region.

Voters heading out to cast their ballots on Thursday, July 17, are expected to elect leaders of the country’s 117 municipalities, amid a heavier-than-usual security presence and shuttered land borders.

At the same time, demonstrators have scheduled protests in the capital, Lome, to intentionally clash with the date of the vote, prompting fears of possible widespread violence.

Led largely by the country’s youth population, antigovernment demonstrations erupted in June after a controversial constitutional change. Protests have been met with brute force from Togolese security forces; at least seven people have died, local rights groups say. The protests are only the latest in the restive country, where more frequent demonstrations in recent years are pressuring the decades-long dynastic government.

Here’s what to know about the current political situation in Togo:

Why are Togolese protesting?

Large demonstrations have been held in Lome in recent years, with Togolese calling for Gnassingbe, who has led the country since 2005, to step down.

Between 2017 and 2018, thousands of protesters took to the streets in demonstrations tagged “Faure Must Go” and “Togo stands up”. The uprising rocked the nation of four million and resulted in violent crackdowns from security officials. The government thereafter banned public demonstrations for “security reasons”.

Although officially a democracy, Togo operates in practice as a militarised state, with the army heavily involved in politics. The capital is crawling with stern-faced, armed gendarmes who are often accused of arresting and torturing dissidents.

This year’s bout of protests was triggered after popular rapper and TikToker Tchala Essowe Narcisse, popularly known as Aamron, was arrested for publishing a video where he called for protests to mark the president’s June 6 birthday.

However, anger had been simmering over the high costs of living in the country, and particularly, over new constitutional reforms that opposition leaders and civil society organisations say could see Gnassingbe rule for life. Thursday’s municipal elections will be the first polls held under the new reforms.

First approved in April 2024 by a parliament dominated by the governing Union pour le Republic (UNIR) party, the constitutional amendment swapped the presidential system in the country for a parliamentary one.

Controversially, though, it also introduced a new all-powerful position: President of the Council of Ministers. The role essentially regains all the powers of a president and is without clear official limits. Opposition leaders argued at the time that it would allow Gnassingbe to appoint a dummy president and remain the de facto leader until at least 2030. They called it a “constitutional coup”.

On May 3 this year, Gnassingbe was sworn into the new executive role, as critics predicted. Politician Jean-Lucien Savi de Tove, 86, is now president, and is the oldest in Togo’s history.

In late June, thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of Lome in anger, calling for Gnassingbe to step down from office after rapper Aamron’s arrest and alleged torture. Protesters set up barricades and hurled stones at security forces, who responded with force, firing tear gas canisters into the crowd, according to reporting by the Reuters news agency.

Le Front Citoyen Togo Debout, a coalition of 12 civil society and human rights groups, accused security officials of arbitrarily arresting civilians, beating them with batons and ropes, and stealing and destroying private property.

At least seven people were discovered dead in the aftermath of the protests, according to the coalition, including two minors. Their bodies were discovered days after the demonstrations in various lagoons and lakes around Lome.

Meanwhile, a Togolese government statement said the deaths were caused by drowning and cautioned residents living near water bodies to be extra careful in the current rainy season.

The ‘Don’t Touch My Constitution’ movement demanded an international investigation into the claims, while Togo’s Catholic Bishops said the levels of violence were “unacceptable and unjustified”.

Who is Faure Gnassingbe?

Just days after his father died in 2005, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe was hurriedly installed as the country’s president by the army, extending decades of his family’s rule over Togo.

Despite outrage in the country, which led to widespread protests in which at least 500 people were killed, the younger Gnassingbe did not relinquish power and went on to organise and win elections that year, which many critics called a ruse.

His father, the late Gnassingbe Eyadema, seized power in a military coup and ruled the country with a tight fist for 38 years (1967-2005), making him the longest-serving African ruler at the time he died. His “rule of terror” was characterised by a one-party system and deadly repression of dissent, according to Amnesty International. The younger Gnassingbe, while having fostered multi-party rule and infrastructural development in the country, appears to be angling for his father’s record, critics say.

Combined, the father-son duo has commandeered Togo for 58 years. With 60 percent of the population under 35, most Togolese have never experienced life under a different political administration.

Gnassingbe has won every election since 2005. In 2019, in an attempt to circumvent demonstrations calling for his resignation, parliament ushered in constitutional amendments that, the government argued, automatically reset Gnassingbe’s terms. That allowed him to run for the 2020 and 2025 presidential elections.

At first glance, the latest reforms from 2024 appear to acquiesce to what some critics have been demanding: A weakened president elected by the parliament for a single six-year term, rather than an all-powerful leader.

However, what most did not see coming was that Gnassingbe would be appointed to a more powerful position.

Are protesters being targeted? And what is the M66 Movement?

As tensions simmer, demonstrators and civil society accuse Togolese officials of targeting protest leaders, many of whom are living in exile in neighbouring countries, as well as France and the United States.

Last week, the government issued international arrest warrants targeting those believed to be leading organisers, especially members of the M66 Citizens’ Movement – a political collective of bloggers and activists, named after Gnassingbe’s June 6 birthday date. Officials say the group is “inciting unrest and terrorism” in the country.

“The countries where these individuals reside are urged to cooperate,” Security Minister Calixte Madjoulba said at a news briefing. “Wherever they are, we will pursue them.”

M66 members called for renewed protests on July 16 and 17 in a bid to boycott the municipal elections, which form part of a wider push by the government to devolve power at the centre and attempt to improve local governance. Local elections were not held between 1986 and 2020, as the government kept postponing them. Instead, the central authorities designated special administrators who critics say served the government’s interests.

Some opposition leaders have also called for boycotts, although Jean-Pierre Fabre, leader of the main opposition National Alliance for Change, told reporters this week that taking part in the vote was necessary to show Togolese what’s possible.

“The elections will not change anything in this country and we know it very well,” Zaga Bambo, a France-based music artist who claims to be a member of the group, said in a Facebook post. Bambo also dismissed the arrest warrants, telling French media channel RFI that he was unfazed by it.

Activist Farida Nabourema echoed calls for boycotts on social media platform X. “You participate, you lose, you cry out, then you fall silent. And every five years, you start over,” she wrote.

Lome, Togo – The chants have faded in the streets, the barricades have been cleared, and an eerie calm hangs over Togo after days of mass protests in the West African nation’s capital. But beneath the surface, anger simmers, security forces remain stationed at key intersections, and many fear the storm is far from over.

From June 26 to 28, thousands took to the streets of Lome to protest constitutional reforms that critics say enable President Faure Gnassingbe to remain in power indefinitely. The 59-year-old – in office since 2005 following the death of his father, who ruled for 38 years – was recently sworn in as president of the Council of Ministers, a powerful executive role with no term limits under a newly adopted parliamentary system.

The protests were swiftly and violently suppressed.

At least four people are believed to have died, dozens were injured, and more than 60 were arrested, according to local civil society groups. Verified videos circulating online show beatings, street chases, and men in plain clothes dragging civilians away.

But in a country long used to political fatigue and fractured opposition, the past week marked a rupture.

Rejecting a political dynasty

To many observers, these protests represent more than a reaction to constitutional reform: They signal a generational break.

“These young people are not simply protesting a new constitution,” said Pap Koudjo, a Togolese journalist and essayist. “They are rejecting 58 years of political inheritance, from father to son, that has brought nothing but poverty, repression, and humiliation.”

Most of the protesters were under 25. Many have never known another leader. They have grown up with frequent blackouts, crumbling infrastructure, joblessness and shrinking freedoms. The constitutional change, which removed term limits from the new executive role and eliminated direct presidential elections, was a red line.

The government attempted damage control. A steep 12.5 percent electricity price hike – another source of rage – was quickly withdrawn. The activist singer Aamron, whose arrest days earlier had galvanised public anger, was discreetly released.

But neither move stemmed the unrest.

“The arrest of Aamron was a trigger,” said Paul Amegakpo, a political analyst and chair of the Tamberma Institute for Governance. “But the real story is that this regime has lost its ability to offer a negotiated and institutional solution to the crisis. It is relying purely on military strength.”

He points to signs of disquiet within the state itself. A rare statement from former Defence Minister Marguerite Gnakade, condemning the violence and Gnassingbe’s leadership, suggests fractures may exist at the highest levels of the security apparatus.

“There’s an institutional void,” Amegakpo said. “Two months after the transition to the Fifth Republic, the country still has no appointed government,” he added, referring to the post-amendment Togo.

Civil society fills the vacuum

Perhaps more telling than the protests themselves is who led them. Not traditional opposition parties, which have been weakened by years of cooptation and exile, but influencers from the diaspora, civil society activists, artists and uncelebrated citizens.

“The opposition has been exhausted – physically, politically, and financially,” said Koudjo. “After decades of failed dialogue and betrayed agreements, the youth has stepped in.”

As protests surged, more institutional voices followed. Several civic organisations issued strong statements condemning the “disproportionate use of force” and demanding independent investigations into the deaths and disappearances. Though not leading the mobilisation, these groups echoed growing alarm about the government’s response and the erosion of civic space.

The Media Foundation for West Africa warned that the environment for free expression in Togo was “shrinking dangerously”, a sentiment echoed by other international observers.

To Fabien Offner, a researcher for Amnesty International, the crackdown is part of a larger, entrenched system.

“What we’re seeing is not an isolated event – it’s the continuation of a repressive architecture,” Offner told Al Jazeera. “We’ve documented patterns of arbitrary arrests, beatings with cords, posturing torture, and impunity – all now normalised.”

Amnesty says families are still searching for loved ones taken during the protests. Some have received no information on their whereabouts or legal status.

“This is not just about protest management. It’s about the systematic denial of fundamental rights,” Offner said.

He added that the government’s claim that protests were “unauthorised” is a misreading of international law. “Peaceful assembly does not require prior approval. What’s unlawful is systematically preventing it.”

Amnesty is calling for an independent inquiry into the deaths, a public list of detainees, and full transparency from prosecutors. But Offner also addressed a more uncomfortable truth: international silence.

“Togo has become a diplomatic blind spot,” he said. “We need stronger, more vocal engagement from the African Union, ECOWAS, the United Nations, and key bilateral partners. Their silence emboldens the cycle of repression. They must speak out and act.”

Even the country’s Catholic bishops, traditionally cautious, warned in a rare statement of the risks of “implosion under suppressed frustration”, and called for “a sincere, inclusive and constructive dialogue”.

Togo’s unrest also reflects a broader trend across West Africa, observers note, where youth-led movements are increasingly challenging entrenched political orders – not just at the ballot box, but in the streets, on social media and through global solidarity networks.

From the recent mobilisations in Senegal to popular uprisings in Burkina Faso, young people are asserting their agency against systems they view as unresponsive, outdated or undemocratic. In Togo, the protests may be domestic in origin, but they are part of a wider regional pulse demanding accountability and renewal.

The government holds its line

“These were not peaceful assemblies – these were attempts to disrupt public order,” said Gilbert Bawara, minister of public service and senior figure in the UNIR governing party.

Bawara denied that security forces committed systematic abuses, and insisted that “if there were any excesses, they should be examined based on facts, not rumours.” He added that the government remains open to dialogue, but only with “visible, structured interlocutors”, not anonymous calls from abroad.

He also defended the recent constitutional changes, arguing that they had followed a legitimate process. “If anyone disagrees, they can petition, they can participate in elections. These are the foundations of a democratic society,” Bawara told Al Jazeera.

But critics argue that such avenues are largely symbolic under the current government. With the governing party dominating institutions, controlling the security forces and sidelining opposition figures through arrests, exile and cooptation, many view the political playing field as fundamentally rigged.

“There are democratic forms, yes,” said analyst Paul Amegakpo. “But they are hollow. The rules may exist on paper – elections, assemblies, petitions – but power in Togo is not contested on equal footing. It is captured and preserved through coercion, clientelism and constitutional engineering.”

Amegakpo said the regime’s recent moves suggest it is more focused on optics than engagement.

“The government has announced its own peaceful march on July 5,” he noted. “But that reveals something deeper: they are not listening. They are responding to social and political suffering with PR and counter-demonstrations.”

Moment of reckoning

What comes next is uncertain. Protests have subsided for now, but the heavy presence of security forces and internet slowdowns suggest continued anxiety.

Analysts warn that if unrest spreads beyond Lome, or if cracks widen within the security apparatus, the country could face a deeper crisis.

“We are not yet in a revolutionary situation,” Amegakpo said. “But we are in a deep rupture. If the regime keeps refusing to acknowledge it, the cost may be higher than they imagine.”

For the youth who led the protests, the message is clear: they are no longer willing to wait.

“There is a divorce between a generation that knows its rights and a regime stuck in survival mode,” said Koudjo. “Something has changed. Whether it will lead to reform or repression depends on what happens next.”

For months, CBS News has been roiled with trepidation that parent company Paramount Global would write a big check to make President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit go away.

On Tuesday night, those fears came true.

Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to settle Trump’s legal salvo against “60 Minutes” over the editing of an interview with his 2024 opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Within the news organization, there was anger over what is widely seen as a capitulation to Trump in order to clear a path for Paramount’s $8-billion merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media. The case was labeled as frivolous by 1st Amendment experts.

But among some CBS News veterans, tempers were calmed by a sobering reality: that the outcome could have been worse.

The biggest concern inside the news division since Trump’s complaint was that the media company would be strong-armed into making an apology or statement of regret over a case that they believed had no merit. Amid the internal anger over the settlement, there is relief that that did not happen.

“Everybody knew that was a line in the sand,” said a relieved CBS News veteran not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

Another journalist at the network, speaking on the same condition, said the thinking among many was that any financial payment of less than $20 million without an apology would count as a partial win.

As the negotiations to end the suit lingered, it became more apparent that corporate interests overrode any concerns about the appearance of caving to Trump’s demands.

Trump filed suit in October, claiming “60 Minutes” edited an interview with Harris to make her look smarter and bolster her chances in the election, which Trump won decisively. CBS denied the claims, saying the edits were routine.

“If there wasn’t a merger pending and they took this to court they would have won,” the journalist said of Trump’s case. “I think they understood that if they made an apology they would have an internal rebellion and they would have because there was nothing to apologize for.”

Some say that the departures of former “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News and stations head Wendy McMahon were enough to satisfy the Trump camp‘s desire for an apology. Both executives were adamant that CBS News did nothing improper in the handling of the Harris of interview.

Trump’s legal team claimed victory.

“President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit,” a spokesman said in a statement.

But while “60 Minutes” avoided the humiliation that would have come with a statement of contrition, the program that is the foundation of the news division now has to move forward in an era of media mistrust on the political right and disappointment on the left by those who believe courage is in short supply.

According to several CBS News insiders who spoke to The Times, no one is expected to depart “60 Minutes” in protest of the settlement decision.

Andrew Heyward, a former CBS News president who is now a consultant, said it will be up to the new owners of CBS to maintain the program’s journalistic independence. “If that’s jeopardized in the future, that would be unfortunate for CBS News and the country,” he said.

Though there is anger, many feared a bleak future for the news organization and the rest of the network if Paramount Global couldn’t close the Skydance deal. The lawsuit was seen as an obstacle to the deal, which needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission, run by Trump appointee Brendan Carr.

“We can get outraged all we want, but the fact is we were in a really precarious situation,” said one of the journalists not authorized to speak publicly. “If that merger went dead, I don’t know if anyone would have come along and bought the whole company.”

While ownership change usually generates fear and uncertainty through media organizations, insiders at CBS News say they will be happy to see Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone in their rearview mirror once the Skydance deal is done.

The feelings inside the news division regarding Skydance range from hope for new investment from deep-pocketed Ellison to resignation that “it can’t get any worse.”

As for any damage to its reputation, CBS News is taking some comfort in the fact that ABC News hasn’t noticeably suffered from its own $16 million settlement over anchor George Stephanopoulos mistakenly saying Trump was convicted of rape rather than sexual abuse in the civil suit brought by E. Jean Carroll. Stephanopoulos signed a new contract at the network amid the controversy and his program “Good Morning America” hasn’t suffered a ratings loss since.

Viewers have high expectations for “60 Minutes,” which after 57 seasons still ranks as the most-watched news program on television (it’s also the most profitable show on CBS). If the program is allowed to maintain the same standard of deep reporting it’s known for, the audience will get past a bad corporate decision, according to Heyward.

“People on the right will say it’s another example of mainstream media getting what it deserves,” Heyward said. “People on the left will say it’s another example of a corporation caving to President Trump for its own selfish interests. And most people will go back to watching ’60 Minutes’ and expect strong independent reporting without fear or favor — that’s what really matters.”

The United Nations Security Council convened an emergency meeting on Friday after Israeli attacks on Iran. China and Russia condemned the bombings, while Israel’s allies, including France, doubled down on support for Israel.

Iranians awoke to bombs dropping across the country, as Israel launched a major attack on the country. Israel says it targeted military and nuclear sites and officials, but entire residential buildings have been destroyed.

This story contains many spoilers for “The Last of Us” Season 2, Episode 6.

The infected have learned to stalk and sprint. The Cordyceps fungus is now airborne. And Joel (Pedro Pascal) isn’t immortal. The first five episodes of “The Last of Us” offered up several new threats and at least one major death. Deep into its second season, HBO’s series adaptation of the popular video game remains true to its namesake by sending its protagonist Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and her partner Dina (Isabela Merced) on a revenge mission from their fortified compound in Wyoming to the wilds of Seattle. Their aim is to find Joel’s killer, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). But the Pacific Northwest presents challenges beyond cauliflower-headed flesh eaters and deadly mean girls. The brutal conflict between the Washington Liberation Front and the primitive religious cult the Seraphites makes Ellie’s mission all the more dangerous and complex — and the show’s imagery more gruesome.

Episode 6 brought Joel back from the dead in a series of flashbacks that gave insight into his unique parenting skills, revealed the event that triggered the rift between Joel and Ellie and uncovers what happened to therapist Gail’s (Catherine O’Hara’s) husband, Eugene (Joe Pantoliano). While on patrol, Eugene was bitten by the infected. Ellie made Joel promise he would not kill Eugene until he had the chance to say goodbye to his wife. But when Ellie leaves for a moment to retrieve their horses, Joel breaks the promise.

Like Episode 3 of Season 1, Sunday’s installment of the series was the rare episode that deviated from the game’s narrative to tell a deeper story about the characters. Beginning at Ellie’s 15th birthday and moving through subsequent ones, the episode chronicled the shifting dynamic in the main characters’ father-daughter relationship, from a tight bond between orphan and her adopted protector to near estrangement.

Lorraine Ali, Tracy Brown and Mary McNamara gathered to discuss the latest episode of the spore-filled thriller.

The source of tension between Gail (Catherine O’Hara) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) is revealed in Episode 6.

(Liane Hentscher / HBO)

Ali: “The Last of Us” features flesh-eating zombie-like things and death-worshipping cults, but I love that the true terror at the heart of Season 2 is the prospect of parenting a teen. The theme at the core of Episode 6 was largely centered on the fraught father-daughter dynamic between Joel and Ellie and the dangers of passing down generational trauma. We even get some backstory on Joel’s rough childhood, though I wish there had been more on that front.

What we do get a lot more of is Ellie’s hostility toward Joel, and it’s exhausting in ways that the showrunners probably never intended. Naturally there is plenty of ire in Ellie as she hurtles toward adulthood in a hopeless hellscape with an assassin/guardian who’s repeatedly lied to her. But now that she’s the lead character of the series, I need more from Ellie than just one or two gears of rage and scorn, especially given the complexity of their relationship.

Joel killed to save her and doomed humanity in the process! A bond forged in such tragedy should inspire a truckload of emotions, even in a defiant teen who’s still clumsy at expressing her feelings. But that depth or nuance just wasn’t there for me, even when the series cued us up for such moments. The flashbacks to Ellie’s birthday celebrations with Joel felt like explainers of how the two grew apart as opposed to emotional snapshots that captured the roots of their estrangement. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the surprising depth and beauty of Season 1? I miss the terror and joy of that abandoned mall.

Brown: It’s interesting that you mention the abandoned mall, Lorraine, because I think that’s what it all comes back to for Ellie. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve spent many hours playing as Ellie in “The Last of Us” games, or because I understand what it’s like to be an angsty teenager much more than being a parent, but I thought Episode 6 did help shed some light on Ellie and Joel’s behaviors and dynamic.

Back in Episode 4, while trying to explain her immunity to the Cordyceps fungus to Dina, Ellie mentions that there are a lot of the times she wishes she wasn’t immune. In this latest episode, we learn that one of the reasons Ellie is angry with Joel is because he lied to her about what happened back in Salt Lake City with the Fireflies. But she’s also mad at him because he took away the one thing she thought could give her life and immunity purpose. “My life would have mattered, but you took that from me,” she says to him on their porch, in what appears to have been their very last conversation.

We know that Joel’s been shaped by the guilt of not being able to save his daughter Sarah at the start of the outbreak. For Ellie, I think the loss that’s affected her the most is Riley and the guilt of surviving their trip to that abandoned mall. If she wasn’t immune, Ellie would have died that day with her best friend and first love. Because she didn’t, she needed something to help justify why she’s still alive. What greater meaning could someone find for their life in a world ravaged by a pandemic than to be the reason humanity is able to find a cure?

McNamara: I’m grateful for the episode if only because it gave my own teenagers what they wanted most — more Pedro Pascal. (I miss him too but with much less passion.) But as you say, Tracy, survivor’s guilt is real and now Ellie is eyeing another emotional burden — Joel was killed for actions he took to save her life.

Revisiting Ellie’s birthdays was very touching, bridging the changes in both characters. How the hard-edge Joel from Season 1 became the softly anguished therapy patient of Season 2. Why Ellie was so rude and dismissive toward him. She knew all along that he had lied to her about Salt Lake City, and he suspected she knew — the presents, especially the trip to the science and natural history museum, seemed equally motivated by love and penance.

On one of Ellie’s birthday’s, Joel takes her to a science and natural history museum.

(Liane Hentscher / HBO)

I also loved their time in the the space portion of the museum because it underlined the vagaries of human history — this is not the first advanced civilization to fall, leaving ruins behind. Joel remembers when humans traveled to the stars (and had the resources to build museums); for Ellie, a journey from Wyoming to Seattle is just as fraught. They were always essentially time-travelers in each others lives.

But most important for me, this episode resolved just how Ellie had left it with Joel before Abby ruined everything. The truth was finally spoken — both Joel’s and Ellie’s. That she didn’t think she could forgive him but she wanted to try. That he was taken from her before she could find her way to forgiveness must certainly drive some of the rage, no?

Ali: OK, I officially feel hard-hearted, especially since we’re discussing an episode designed to plumb the characters’ and viewers’ emotions. I’m glad Season 2 is connecting with you both, and millions more HBO and Max subscribers. Or is it HBO Max? Or plain old HBO? Regardless, this round of the series is not resonating with my adult, parenting self or my inner sullen teen, i.e. the part of my being that guides many of my rash decisions and dictates my slouchy posture. That said, I do love the chemistry between Ellie and Dina. Their love and fierce loyalty toward one another is a high point of Season 2. And it looks like they’re now going to be parents.

Brown: As Ellie says, she’s going to be a dad! The way Ellie and Dina’s relationship developed over the course of the season has been one of my favorite differences between the show and the game. But speaking of the game, the birthday trip to the museum and the porch conversation where Ellie tells Joel she wants to try to forgive him that Mary mentioned are both big flashback moments directly adapted from “The Last of Us Part II” with some minor changes. In the game, Ellie and Joel spend time checking out a dinosaur exhibit before getting to the space exploration exhibit, which I admit I’m a little sad we did not get to see. And Ellie confronting Joel about the truth of what happened in Salt Lake is a separate moment long before the porch conversation in the game.

Eugene (Joe Pantoliano) is shot by Joel after he is bitten, breaking his promise to Ellie to let him live to say goodbye to his wife, Gail. It’s a change from the video game, where the character dies of natural causes.

(Liane Hentscher / HBO)

One major difference between “The Last of Us Part II” and the show is the storyline involving Eugene and Gail. The Eugene in the game was a resident of Jackson who lived out his life until he died of natural causes in his 70s, which is something the younger generation can only dream of. Gail, on the other hand, is an original character, and my response to her introduction was mostly “hooray Catherine O’Hara, hooray therapy.” Catherine O’Hara is always a delight and it’s clear everybody living in the world of “The Last of Us” could use some therapy. But in Episode 6 we see that Eugene and Gail’s story also serves as a flashpoint in Joel and Ellie’s estrangement.

We already knew Joel had killed Eugene from his therapy session with Gail earlier in the season, but what did you think about that whole sequence, Mary? Did it affect your understanding of Joel or Ellie in any way?

McNamara: Well, I have to say that was an example of bad parenting. The patrol has rules, tough but necessary for the safety of the community. Ellie (who is, hello, freaking immune) wanted to bend them. Classic parent/child face-off. But instead of just saying “no” to her and “any last words?” to Eugene before shooting him, Joel allowed her believe she was getting her way, which was just dumb. Of course he was going to shoot Eugene; he had to shoot Eugene. But it honestly did not make sense to lie about it, especially when the lie would be exposed almost instantly. Sometimes a parent just has to be the bad guy, even if it means making Catherine O’Hara really mad at you.

And though I agree with you both about the energy of Ellie and Dina offering love in place of vengeance during their excursion to Seattle, I wish the writers could have figured out a way to bring O’Hara along.