Protests

Hundreds of people marched on Saturday in the town of Soller, in the island of Mallorca against mass tourism. Protesters exclaimed that tourism has had an impact on the cost of living for locals, and that access to housing has become more difficult.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports from Buenos Aires, where police fired tear gas as thousands protested against a private property bill. Opponents fear it will lead to foreigners owning too much land, while the Milei government says the law would attract investment.

Min Aung Hlaing stressed that his government was focused on ending the civil war and restoring peace.

The head of Myanmar’s military-backed government has met Thailand’s prime minister in Bangkok as he seeks to boost his government’s legitimacy more than five years after seizing power.

President Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Thailand’s capital on Thursday, on his first official visit to the country since taking power in a coup in 2021.

Myanmar remains in the midst of a bloody civil war triggered by the coup, which has killed more than 100,000 people, according to monitoring group Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).

During a meeting with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Min Aung Hlaing stressed that Myanmar’s military-backed government was focused on ending the civil war and restoring peace to the resource-rich country.

“Myanmar has now reestablished itself on the path to democracy and is moving toward a better future,” Min Aung Hlaing said. “As the new government, we have now begun working on national stability, peace, and national reconciliation.”

Min Aung Hlaing is pushing for Myanmar to be readmitted to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), from which his government was barred after failing to implement a peace plan agreed with member states in 2021.

Thailand is one of Myanmar’s top foreign investors and has called for a “calibrated re-engagement approach” with its neighbour, with which it shares a 2,400km (1500-mile) border.

Following the meeting, the two leaders delivered speeches at the Thailand-Myanmar Business Forum.

Anutin said Thailand and Myanmar are ready to “step into the new chapter of economic cooperation that is built upon mutual trust and benefit for the people of the two countries”.

Min Aung Hlaing told attendees they could “invest with confidence” in Myanmar’s energy, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, technology and other sectors.

The visit has drawn criticism from activist groups such as Justice For Myanmar, which stated that the trip lends “false legitimacy” to Min Aung Hlaing and the ruling generals.

About a dozen demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations regional headquarters in Bangkok to oppose the visit. Some protesters could be seen holding placards denouncing him as a “criminal” who was not welcome in Thailand.

Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president of Myanmar in April following an election that UN experts dismissed as a “sham”.

Western governments have shunned and sanctioned Min Aung Hlaing and his associates for overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. Subsequent serious rights violations followed a deadly military crackdown on protests, which subsequently triggered a nationwide armed resistance movement and a bloody civil war.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who was overthrown in 2021 and remains under house arrest, was allowed to meet a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday.

Suu Kyi’s son Kim Aris welcomed the development but cautioned that he has not yet received independent confirmation of his mother’s condition or wellbeing.

Critics say the visit was a government stunt as it tries to rehabilitate its image.

MINNEAPOLIS — A crowd of critics and supporters of Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham’s stance on transgender participation in women’s sports gathered around and inside Target Center on Sunday as the Fever faced the Lynx in Minnesota.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a light blue shirt under her jacket that said “Trans kids belong” as she directed her team — the top team in the WNBA — to a 108-100 win over the Fever. There were fans in the stands wearing T-shirts that read, “Trans kids belong in sports.”

It’s the third straight Fever game that drew a rally after Cunningham recently voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports in an ESPN article published last week.

Before the contest, Cunningham and Reeve held a conversation at midcourt. Reeve didn’t want to share the exact nature of their talk.

Lynx guard Olivia Miles shoots over Fever guard Sophie Cunningham Sunday in Minneapolis.

(Abbie Parr / Associated Press)

“Both of us understand that we have platforms and we both talked about wanting to, more than anything, educate,” Reeve said. “There are some things that we have in common, and maybe some things you differ on, just like any issues. I think it’s how you handle things. It was nice to be in person, for sure.”

Cunningham was booed by the crowd on her first touch of the game and throughout.

Outside the arena, dozens of fans gathered near the entrance. A person using a loud speaker repeatedly said, “Protect trans women.” There were signs held up that read, “Love is truth” and “Thank you Sophie.”

Asked how she and the team are navigating the outside conversations, Caitlin Clark said after the game, “I think we’re excellent.

“I think it’s for leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions,” Clark said. “Our focus is on basketball. That’s what we talk about and how we can get wins and obviously we didn’t do that tonight. So we need to find an area to improve in that way.”

Any reaction?

“I just answered,” Clark said.

Cunningham said Friday in Portland that she wasn’t concerned about rallies against transgender participation in women’s sports becoming a distraction for the Fever.

“I think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I’m full of love. I’m bubbly. I love the people around me,” Cunningham said Friday. “I love basketball. I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light. And so that doesn’t even cross my mind. Doesn’t cross my teammates’ minds.”

Minnesota rookie sensation Olivia Miles spearheaded an efficient offense with 28 points and Courtney Williams added 27 points, helping the Lynx win their 10th straight game despite the controversy surrounding the contest.

People hold signs and point in defense of and opposed to trans athletes in women’s sports before a Lynx-Fever game Sunday.

(Abbie Parr / Associated Press)

Minnesota had a 96-82 lead with 6:41 to play before the Fever, who had scored 100 in a record sixstraight games, pulled within 100-98 with more than 2 1/2 minutes to go. Miles and Williams both came up with big baskets as the Lynx won their 10th straight for the first time since 2016.

The league’s No. 1 offense definitely made life difficult for the league’s No. 2 defense, but the Fever, who played in Portland on Friday night, couldn’t stop the Lynx on the offensive end. Both teams shot 57% with 11 three-pointers and went 11 of 15 from the foul line with a combined 55 assists. The big difference was Indiana had 12 turnovers compared with six for Minnesota, which had an 11-5 advantage in offensive rebounds.

Napheesa Collier had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Lynx (25-6). Natasha Howard scored 13 points and Kayla McBride had 10.

The Fever (19-11), who had their five-game winning streak halted, were led by Kelsey Mitchell with 37 points, her fifth 30-point game of the season and 14th straight 20-point game, second in league history behind A’ja Wilson’s 15 straight in a single season. Clark added 19 points and 10 assists and Aliyah Boston had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Police cases, social media takedowns and online abuse have followed many who took part in India’s Cockroach Janta Party-led demonstrations that ended on July 25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he forgives ‘misled children’ who abused him during the protests.

Police detained several protesters in Lahore, Pakistan as they rallied in solidarity with Pakistan-administered Kashmir. A banned Kashmiri activist group says that at least 30 people have been killed in clashes during regional elections this past week.

Warsaw asserts missile recently made, illustrating Russia’s nightly barrage against Ukraine is draining arsenal.

Poland has summoned the Russian ambassador in protest over a missile incursion into one of its eastern regions.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Friday that the ambassador had been summoned after Warsaw confirmed that the projectile, which landed in the village of Tarnawa Kolonia in the Lublin region on Thursday, was a Russian Kh-101 missile. No casualties or injuries have been reported.

An investigation into the incident suggested that Russia’s weapon stockpiles may be running low as it continues to launch nightly barrages of drones and missiles at Ukraine while its more than four-year war drags on.

“The ambassador was informed of our unequivocal condemnation of hostile actions directed against the security of a sovereign state and its citizens,” Maciej Wewior, spokesman for Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told journalists.

“We emphasised that any escalation at the border of the European Union and the North Atlantic alliance [NATO] is unacceptable,” he added, underlining that the root of the incident was “the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation”.

The incident marked the latest in a series of incursions on NATO’s eastern flank. Drones and missiles intruding on the territory and airspace of Poland, Romania and the Baltic states have fuelled fears that the war in Ukraine may spill over the alliance’s borders.

NATO and European leaders have been swift to support Poland and condemn Russia for the missile.

Depleted stockpiles

Poland has identified the missile as part of an attack that killed at least eight civilians in Ukraine and injured more than 50.

Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz reported that Warsaw had established that the missile was produced near Moscow in the second quarter of this year.

“This means that Russia is using newly produced missiles to strike Ukraine,” he wrote on social media. “It confirms reports that Russian wartime stockpiles have been depleted.”

An expert from Ukraine who arrived at the scene “did not have the slightest doubt” about the origins or model of the missile, Marcin Kozak, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in Lublin, said.

“I will point out that this type of missile is used exclusively by Russian strategic aviation,” Wewior noted.

Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori has been granted permission to challenge the UK government’s decision to designate the group a terrorist organisation at the Supreme Court.

Pakistan is facing accusations that its security forces have killed dozens of unarmed protesters in the past week of demonstrations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Al Jazeera’s James Bays asked panellists on Inside Story if Islamabad is borrowing tactics from Indian-administered Kashmir.

Deadly clashes reported in Pakistan-administered Kashmir amid first round of voting for regional elections on July 27.

Watchdogs have raised concerns over mounting reports of deadly clashes during regional elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where a banned activist group has boycotted the vote and staged protests.

The clashes between police and protesters earlier this week killed more than 30 people in the region, according to the leaders of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

In a video statement on Wednesday shared by Arab News Pakistan, JAAC committee member Sardar Umar Nazir claimed 20 of the group’s supporters had been killed during a march on Monday, when the first round of voting took place.

He listed reports of at least 10 other protesters being killed the following day in the towns of Rawalakot, Mirpur and elsewhere, including during sit-ins.

“Our demand was peaceful, it was peaceful, we tried to keep it non-violent and bullets were fired at it,” said Nazir in the video statement.

Pakistani authorities said a member of the security personnel was killed and five more were injured in clashes on Monday.

Rights group Amnesty International called the reports of lethal force against protesters in the area “disturbing” and urged an investigation.

Pear Pandya, a senior analyst at conflict monitor ACLED, said the violence in Pakistan-administered Kashmir “is bound to overshadow the legitimacy of the entire electoral exercise”.

Monday’s first-round vote – covering the districts of Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber – will be followed by two more rounds on August 2 and August 10.

Pakistan’s primary governing party, ⁠the PML-N, won nine out of the 13 seats that were up for election on Monday.

No justification to ‘mete out violence’

JAAC was banned by the local government under “anti-terrorism laws” in June, causing deadly protests to erupt in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Banking, roads and internet services have largely been disrupted since then, hindering the flow of information.

Pakistani officials have justified the crackdown by alleging that armed and India-backed fighters joined the Kashmiri protesters. India has rejected similar accusations in the past.

Amnesty has called the ban on JAAC unlawful and said it does not provide justification for authorities to “mete out deadly violence against protesters”.

The rights group has also urged Pakistani authorities to ”restore all communications access and allow media and independent observers into the area”, its acting regional director for South Asia, Isabelle Lassee, said.

‘Controversial’ seats

One of JAAC’s central demands regarding the regional elections is the abolition of 12 assembly seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees.

JAAC supporters say the seats are used by major Pakistani political parties to tip the composition of the local parliament in their favour with those who mostly live outside the region.

To form a regional government, the PML-N would likely need the support of some of the 12 representatives, said Hasan Askari, ‌a political analyst.

“But when their government is dependent on those 12 controversial seats, how would it be able to find a solution for this issue?” Askari told the Reuters news agency.

Even among the candidates that did not boycott the vote on Monday, the results were contested. Parties accused each other of ballot ‌box ‌stealing and vote rigging.

Caracas, July 29, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan government headed by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has delivered a note of protest to Iranian authorities over “derogatory and inappropriate comments.”

The Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian Ambassador Ali Chegini on Tuesday to formally communicate Caracas’ position.

“The Venezuelan government demanded an end to references that undermine the country’s dignity, sovereignty, institutionality, or reputation,” a press release from the Foreign Ministry read.

The Venezuelan government went on to emphasize its commitment to international relations based on “mutual respect and non-interference in countries’ internal affairs.”

The controversy stemmed from a recent interview where Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi defended Tehran’s resistance against US-Israeli aggression and affirmed that “Iran is not Venezuela.”

“Iran is not Venezuela where you take one person and everyone else gets scared and backs down,” Araghchi said in an interview with Mehr News, referencing the January 3 operation that saw US aircraft bomb Caracas and nearby states while special forces kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.

The attack killed over 100 people, including 32 Cuban soldiers who were part of Maduro’s security detail. Venezuelan officials, including Acting President Rodríguez and then Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, justified the decision not to respond to the military aggression, instead prioritizing “diplomacy” with Washington.

Following the Venezuelan government’s protest, the Iranian embassy in Caracas sought to ease tensions, recalling the “deep and historic” ties between the two nations and suggesting that Araghchi’s words had been taken out of context and “twisted.”

“The Iranian Foreign Minister’s words in no way convey a negative judgement about the proud Venezuelan people, their authorities, or their national sovereignty,” the statement read. The Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran, for its part, has yet to comment on the matter.

The recent diplomatic spat is indicative of the growing rift between the two formerly strategic allies since January 3. In the 2000s, former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez pushed for stronger ties with Iran, then under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, grounded on the countries’ shared opposition to US aggression and violations of international law.

The two nations forged bilateral agreements on energy, defense, technology, and other fields. With Venezuela suffering from acute fuel shortages under US sanctions in 2020, Iran defied US threats to send multiple gasoline cargoes to the South American country.

However, following the January 3 strikes, the acting Rodríguez government fast-tracked a diplomatic reengagement with Washington. The Trump administration has exercised significant influence on Venezuelan affairs, with Venezuelan export revenues presently managed from a US Treasury Department account.

The rapprochement with the US has coincided with a broader shift in Venezuela’s geopolitical alignment. In February, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning Iran’s response to the February 28 US and Israeli aggression. The communiqué was deleted a few hours later following strong criticism.

During the US-Israeli war against Iran, the acting Venezuelan administration manifested its “solidarity” with Washington allies Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. 

In the wake of the June 24 double earthquake, Rodríguez welcomed a military and diplomatic mission from Israel. The acting leader praised the Israeli team, which included multiple IDF officers, as “highly trained and professional” and thanked them for their on-the-ground work. Tel Aviv is reportedly set to continue assisting Caracas in “reconstruction” planning. Chávez severed ties with Israel in 2009, excoriating its occupation and genocide in Palestine and Lebanon, a stance maintained by Maduro.

Caracas’ objection to the Iranian official’s comments contrasted with its lack of response to recurring statements about Venezuela from Trump and other administration officials.

On Saturday, the US State Department applauded Venezuela’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court while implying that the Caribbean nation does not have a “competent and independent judicial system.” It also boasted that Maduro is “facing justice in a US court.”

Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to charges including drug trafficking conspiracy. Their trial is set to begin in June 2027.

Edited by Lucas Koerner in Cali, Colombia.

An Indian student from Bihar says he has been charged over ‘Cockroach’ protests despite being in Russia for the last four months. Hundreds of students across India have faced arrest for participating in the youth-led demonstrations.

An Indian police officer has been suspended after firing an AK-47 rifle at students protesting over leaked exam papers. The protests, which led to the education minister’s resignation, have sparked accusations of excessive police force.

Protesters shut roads and ministries in Tripoli as a civil disobedience campaign over power cuts spreads to more areas.

Protesters in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, have shut down roads and public buildings across the city as a civil disobedience campaign, launched over prolonged power cuts and high electricity rates, spread to more districts.

Crowds blocked the coastal road in Janzour, west of Tripoli, late on Sunday, and gathered outside the West Tripoli power station, closing the local municipal council building in protest at the prolonged outages.

Videos posted online, verified by Al Jazeera shows, protesters burning tyres and closing down major roads elsewhere in the capital.

The footage also shows protesters unloading a truck loaded with dirt in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the district of Sater Turba in Tripoli to close it.

The mostly young protesters also shut the offices of state telecoms operator Libyana in the district of Souq Al-Jumaa, according to the DPA news agency, carrying banners criticising Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dabaiba.

The campaign was launched by the Souq Al-Jumaa Movement, which has opposed the Government of National Unity since May 2025. It said its aim was to “completely paralyse the government” rather than disrupt ordinary life.

It called for accountability over alleged corruption and for the dissolution of Libya’s existing political institutions, including the government, the House of Representatives, the State Council and the Presidential Council.

The unrest also spread to the district of Tajoura, where the Tajoura Families and Youth Movement said it would begin a full boycott of state institutions from Monday, rejecting both the unity government and the House of Representatives.

It said in a statement that the call was in protest against the deterioration of services, citing the decline in electricity, water, education and health services, alongside continuing fuel and liquidity crises and medicine shortages, while “officials are preoccupied with political conflicts”.

There was no immediate comment from the Government of National Unity.

Blackouts in Tripoli and other areas have reached up to ten hours a day, prompting the state-run General Electricity Company to reinstate load-shedding measures after two years of relative network stability.

The outages have compounded existing public frustration over inflation, currency instability, fuel and liquidity shortages, and Libya’s protracted political deadlock.

Separately, Massad Boulos, the White House adviser for African affairs, said he had held a “productive call” with Dabaiba on Sunday to discuss steps toward Libyan unification, including security cooperation between the country’s eastern and western factions.

“We also reviewed opportunities to further coordination and interoperability between Libyan forces and Africom,” Boulos said on X, adding that Washington remained committed to supporting Libya’s unification “in order to achieve durable peace, stability and prosperity”.

Five years after Tunisian President Kais Saied suspended parliament and attained sweeping powers, the country remains sharply divided, grappling with a severe economic downturn and a worsening political deadlock.

Saied’s supporters continue to view the measures taken by him in July 2021 – when he suspended parliament and dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi – as a necessary “correction” to save the country. The opposition says that since then, state institutions have collapsed, promises have gone unfulfilled, and there has been an unprecedented concentration of power in his hands.

Speaking to Al Jazeera’s Ma Waraa al-Khabar (Behind the News) programme, political and economic experts debated the legacy of Saied’s five-year rule, painting a picture of an economy hindered by a poor business climate, populist policies, and a lack of clear vision.

An economy in free fall

Since Saied assumed near-total control of the levers of power five years ago, Tunisia’s economic indicators have largely plummeted.

Ridha Chkoundali, an economics professor at the University of Tunisia, said that the investment rate in the country has dropped from an average of 20 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) between 2015 and 2019 to just 8 percent in 2023.

Chkoundali attributed this sharp decline to an environment that drives away investment, exacerbated by a significant burden from taxes, which have risen by five percentage points since 2015.

Taxation, he argued, is no longer used to stimulate investment but simply to collect revenues at the expense of economic growth.

The crisis has hit ordinary Tunisians the hardest. Food inflation has reached nearly three times the general average, severely eroding purchasing power. Meanwhile, unemployment has surged, particularly among university graduates, pushing many to leave the country for better economic opportunities abroad.

Mohamed Abbou, a former minister of state and former secretary-general of the Democratic Current party, argued that the crisis is rooted in Saied’s style of governance, adding that the rule of law has been replaced by a climate of intimidation and threats.

“Tunisia has lost all credibility,” Abbou said. “Everyone fears the situation in Tunisia because there is no rationality… there is no stability in laws, taxes, or anything else.”

Abbou particularly criticised Saied’s approach to international finance, pointing out that the president rejected a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) purely to maintain a populist image. At the same time, he quietly implemented many of the IMF’s harsh austerity demands, such as halting public sector hiring and reducing imports.

However, supporters of the current government argue that it is unfair to blame Saied’s administration entirely for an economic crisis that predates his rule.

Political analyst Souhaib Mezrigui says the current situation is the result of an absence of any clear economic or social vision over the past 10 years. He placed blame for the current crisis squarely on the political class that has ruled Tunisia since the 2011 revolution.

Protests and political prisoners

Tunisia’s economic stagnation has manifested into tangible anger on the streets. Coinciding with the five-year anniversary, thousands of Tunisians rallied in the capital’s Habib Bourguiba Avenue on Saturday, protesting against deteriorating living conditions, rolling water and electricity cuts, and a backsliding in democracy.

Organised by a coalition of opposition parties and the “Nafas” civil initiative, the crowds called for Saied to “leave” and revived the 2011 democratic revolution’s rallying cry: “The people want the fall of the regime”.

A central demand of the protests was the release of political prisoners, who have filled Tunisia’s jails since Saied began his crackdown on dissent. Among the most prominent detainees is Rached Ghannouchi, the 85-year-old former parliament speaker and Ennahdha leader, who was recently sentenced to life in prison.

Ghannouchi’s health has rapidly deteriorated in detention. He recently fainted in Mornaguia prison, where temperatures reportedly reached 52 degrees Celsius (126 degrees Fahrenheit). Rights groups and families of detainees, such as opposition politician Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, have repeatedly warned about the dire conditions inside the detention facility and the toll it is taking on elderly inmates.

Imed al-Khamiri, a spokesman for the Ennahdha party, told Al Jazeera that the continued detention of political figures and opposition leaders remains a “disgrace to the Tunisian state”.

US lawmaker calls for sanctions

Saied’s consolidation of power has also drawn renewed international condemnation. Marking the anniversary, US Representative Joe Wilson issued a scathing statement, accusing Saied of transforming the Arab world’s only constitutional democracy into a “one-man dictatorship”.

Wilson accused the Tunisian regime of phenomenally increasing corruption, destroying opportunities for the youth, and shifting its alliances to become a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iran, and Hezbollah.

Noting that Saied’s government has even jailed US citizens, Wilson urged the US State Department to issue a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory for Tunisia.

“I will also continue to work to pass the Tunisia Democracy Restoration Act imposing sanctions on Saied and his inner circle,” Wilson stated on the social media platform X, adding: “Democracy in Tunisia will win in the end. Madmen tyrants will not last.”

July 25 (UPI) — India’s education minister resigned Saturday amid a scandal that led hundreds of thousands of young people and students to the streets in one of the country’s largest protests.

Demonstrations began in New Delhi in early June, after it came to light that answers to one of the country’s most prestigious college-entrance exams, taken by millions of students, had been leaked.

At least a dozen students died by suicide after the government announced they would have to retake the exam.

The protests, organized by the youth-led Cockroach Janata Party, swelled to hundreds of thousands of people across the nation early this week, forcing the hand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s government.

“This is one of the most historic days for our country,” one protester, Rochelle Cope, told The Guardian. “For the first time in 12 years, someone from the government has been held accountable for wrongdoing. And it wasn’t political parties that did this — it was the people.”

The education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, said in his resignation letter “the events of the past ten days have saddened me deeply.”

“During this period, individuals holding responsible positions also tried to mislead many students and create obstacles, which caused me deep anguish,” he said in a statement.

Pressure began to grow this week after police brutally cracked down against protesters, using tear gas and batons to clear them out.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said he would raise the issue in India’s parliament, holding Home Minister Amit Shah “directly responsible for the violence inflicted.”

“He authorized the firing on our students, authorized the use of lethal weapons, and authorized the use of pellet guns against them,” Gandhi told the BBC. “That’s a fundamental issue.”

Modi’s government announced late Saturday that the education ministry would be assigned to Pralhad Joshi, who’s already the minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, as well as new and renewable energy.

Following the education minister’s resignation, leaders for the protests instructed the crowd to disperse.

“All our demands have been accepted, so we request the protesters to withdraw immediately and return home peacefully,” Saurav Das, a spokesperson for the Cockroach Janata, told reporters.

Thousands marched in Tunisia’s capital to demand the resignation of President Kais Saied five years after he suspended parliament. Protesters revived the 2011 revolution’s slogan ‘the people want the fall of the regime’ as they decried democratic backsliding, economic hardship and political repression.

Protest group says at least 200 demonstrated in Israeli capital a day after major escalation of West Bank violence.

Israeli police have arrested nine people at a Tel Aviv demonstration decrying settler violence in the occupied West Bank, according to media reports and protest organisers.

Hundreds of people gathered on Kaplan Street on Saturday to demonstrate against the settler violence and Israeli military rule in the occupied Palestinian territory, according to Israeli media. The protest was organised by the left-wing Hadash party and its allies.

The Mothers Against Violence protest group said more than 200 people took part in the demonstration, and accused police of using force against demonstrators, including the nine they confirmed were arrested.

Israeli police said demonstrations had gone ahead without authorisation and had begun to “disrupt public order and block the roadway”, according to local media.

The protest came a day after Israeli forces shot dead four Palestinians in the town of Tal, near Nablus, during a settler incursion on their land. Two Israelis were also killed in the confrontation.

On Friday, about 30 settlers entered Tal, next to the illegal Israeli settlement of Havat Gilad, and tried to break into two houses on Friday, said Essam Saifi, a local Fatah official. Residents confronted them, and the settlers opened fire.

A video shows a Palestinian man seizing a rifle from a settler and shooting him before soldiers shot him dead. Three others were killed and four wounded.

Ubai al-Aboudi, a rights activist in Ramallah, told Al Jazeera that one week prior, settlers set fire to a home in Tal with the family still inside. “It was a miracle that the residents of Tal were able to get that family out of the house before they were burned alive,” he said.

In retaliation for Friday’s shooting incident, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a wide-scale military operation across the West Bank, and Israeli forces arrested nearly 50 Palestinians in Tal while raiding about 70 homes.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said at least 80 Palestinians were held across the West Bank the day after the incident, calling it “collective punishment”.

Funerals for the four killed were held before dawn under restrictions on attendance.

Political analyst Ori Goldberg said video of the attack on Tal had made denial impossible for the Israeli public.

“They saw the Jewish terrorist come into the villages and they saw the response … I’m not expecting the public to rise in protest in response, but I do expect this might revivify the last dregs of liberal Zionism in protest,” he told Al Jazeera.

“This may be a threshold moment in what Israelis have previously termed as ‘settler violence’ in an attempt to distance it from themselves,” Goldberg added.

At least 1,182 Palestinians have been killed, 13,000 wounded and nearly 24,000 arrested in the occupied West Bank since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, according to official Palestinian figures.

India’s young protesters are mocking their government. And the jokes are landing.

As thousands of demonstrators take to the streets in the Indian capital, they are waging a parallel campaign online, flooding social media with memes, parody videos and self-deprecating jokes.

In doing so, they are also beating Narendra Modi – the powerful but image-conscious prime minister – at his own game.

Modi built his political brand through social media. Now protesters are using that same platform to mock his administration, ridicule pro-government television news coverage, transform confrontation with police into viral content and seize control of the online narrative.

The campaign has taken the protests demanding accountability and education reforms beyond the streets, broadening its reach and intensifying pressure on a government wary of appearing to yield to a rapidly growing youth movement.

Strava streaks and Subway Surfers

The “Cockroach” movement’s digital campaign has been largely powered by humour.

Clashes with police have become viral content. Videos showed protesters joking about keeping their Strava streaks alive — a reference to the fitness tracking app used by runners — as they ran from police baton charges.

Others edited footage of themselves dodging police barricades to mimic the popular endless runner mobile game Subway Surfers.

Some women have borrowed influencer culture, posting “get ready with me” videos before marches and “fit check” posts featuring helmets, goggles and other homemade protest gear. Other protesters have created spoof videos mocking pro-government television anchors and their dramatic style of broadcasts that have labelled the protesters “anti-national” and “foreign-funded conspirators”.

Several protesters spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from authorities.

One 25-year-old protester said the memes are more than comic relief; they are a way of coping. She sees them as a generational trait.

Unlike older generations, who learned to endure hardship, hers has little patience for “simply putting up with it,” she said.

“If our phone data runs out, we can’t even bear that. So we’re definitely not going to tolerate this,” she said, referring to Monday’s police crackdown on protesters in the capital.

‘We find speeches boring’

The street protests erupted a month ago, fuelled by anger over a string of exam scandals, including the illegal sharing of entrance exams for the national medical programme.

Young people say the scandals have jeopardised their futures and eroded trust in the education system. They blame Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who resigned on Saturday.

But the demonstrations have expanded into wider anger over government accountability, spreading to other cities.

Much of that expansion has been driven by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical group that started the movement two months ago. Through memes, humour and satire, it has given younger Indians a new way to express their frustration with the government and helped turn a single-issue campaign into a broader youth movement.

At the main protest site in New Delhi, that influence was hard to miss.

Some protesters marched in Spider-Man masks and Batman costumes, carrying tongue-in-cheek placards. Other protest signs echoed the irreverent tone of social media, with memes and pop culture references woven into the demonstrations.

One poster featuring the education minister asked: “When will AI take his job?” Another captured the movement’s spirit with the slogan: “Every joke is a [tiny] revolution.”

Some slogans and posters took on an overtly profane and risque tone. A 23-year-old student said the protesters were simply speaking the language of their generation.

“We find speeches boring, we are the summary generation. We have a habit of consuming things in a short span of time, so we are using the same ways to put our message across,” she said.

Jokes now target Modi

For Modi, who is entering his 13th year in office, the protests present an unusual challenge.

His image is built on strength and decisiveness, but he risks alienating young people if he responds too forcefully. Nearly half of India’s population is under 25, making young voters one of the country’s most influential electoral groups.

But the protests have broken a longstanding taboo: mocking Modi himself.

Jokes about Modi were rare during earlier protests, when his government was criticised for suppressing dissent. But now, even he has become a target of taunts.

Modi’s gestures, pauses and mannerisms have been turned into viral edits that turn his own words into political jokes.

When Modi released a late-night, selfie-style video on Thursday addressing the protesters, he promised swift legal action against those responsible for leaking academic or job exams.

But many internet users edited the clip with parody voiceovers and references to his past promises they said had gone unfulfilled.

One video went particularly viral.

Modi’s original address began with him referring to the protesters as “friends”. A parody video kept that opening, and abruptly cut to three young girls staring into the camera and responding: “No, we are not.”

A 21-year-old student said there is no better way to challenge Modi than by using social media that helped build his political brand.

“We are just answering him in his language,” he said.

Leaders of India’s youth-led “Cockroach” movement are set to hold talks with government representatives on Friday in an effort to resolve a growing political crisis triggered by national examination paper leaks. Despite the dialogue, protest leaders have made clear that nationwide demonstrations will continue until their key demands, including the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, are met.

The negotiations come after activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike overnight, raising hopes of a possible breakthrough in the weeks-long standoff that has brought tens of thousands of young protesters to the streets of New Delhi.

The movement has become the biggest youth-led challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he first took office in 2014. Opposition parties have backed the protesters’ demands and disrupted the ongoing monsoon session of parliament, turning the issue into one of the most significant political crises of Modi’s third term.

Government and Protest Leaders Prepare for Talks

Representatives of the self-styled Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which emerged from an online satirical movement into a nationwide protest campaign, will meet government ministers at a neutral venue.

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the movement hoped the government would engage seriously with protesters’ concerns.

“We hope that the government comes with an open mind and listens to the people of this country who have been on the streets for so long,” Das told reporters. “We will explain our demands in greater detail, and we hope the government will respond positively.”

However, he stressed that negotiations would not halt the movement.

“We are not backing out,” Das said. “Real change begins at the grassroots, and that is exactly what we intend to continue.”

Education Minister’s Resignation Remains Central Demand

While the government has indicated its willingness to continue discussions, protesters insist accountability must begin with the removal of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Thousands gathered again at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site on Thursday, where demonstrators vowed to remain until Pradhan resigns.

“We will continue protesting until Dharmendra Pradhan is removed,” protester Sudesh Singh said. “If we stop now, we compromise the future of millions of students.”

The demonstrations were sparked after authorities cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), India’s highly competitive medical entrance examination, following the discovery that question papers had been leaked. Nearly two million students were affected by the cancellation, triggering widespread anger over repeated failures in India’s examination system.

From Online Satire to National Movement

The Cockroach Janta Party began as an online satirical campaign involving only a few hundred young supporters. It rapidly evolved into a nationwide movement after the examination scandal, attracting millions of followers on social media and drawing large crowds to protests across the country.

Monday’s march toward parliament saw tens of thousands of protesters defy restrictions before clashes broke out with police, who used tear gas and batons to disperse demonstrators.

Further confrontations occurred on Wednesday night when more than 10,000 people gathered in central Delhi.

Analysts say the movement reflects broader frustrations among India’s youth over limited employment opportunities, repeated examination scandals and declining confidence in public institutions.

Security Tightened Across the Capital

Authorities have significantly increased security measures around the protests.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation announced that 17 metro stations in central Delhi would remain closed again on Friday, marking the third major shutdown of the capital’s transport network this week.

Mobile internet services around the protest area were also disrupted, with Reuters journalists reporting patchy connectivity throughout Friday morning.

Officials say the restrictions are necessary to maintain public order, though protesters argue they are intended to suppress demonstrations.

Government Plans Legal Reforms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Thursday that his cabinet would consider legislation aimed at strengthening punishment for those responsible for examination paper leaks.

The proposed amendments would seek faster prosecutions and tougher penalties for individuals involved in leaking examination papers.

Protest leaders, however, argue that stricter punishments alone will not solve the problem.

They say systemic reforms are needed to restore confidence in India’s examination process and prevent future leaks before they occur.

Political Stakes Continue to Rise

The protests have quickly evolved from a dispute over examination integrity into a broader political challenge.

Opposition parties, led by the Congress Party, have embraced the movement’s demands, seeing an opportunity to pressure Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of several important state elections scheduled for next year, including contests in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab.

Political analysts warn that the growing movement could reshape India’s political landscape if the government fails to address the concerns of young voters, who form a crucial part of the BJP’s electoral base.

The protests have also been accompanied by an unprecedented surge in online criticism, memes and satire targeting Modi, reflecting what observers describe as diminishing public hesitation to openly challenge one of India’s most influential political leaders.

Friday’s talks may provide the first opportunity for both sides to de-escalate the crisis, but with demonstrations set to continue regardless of the outcome, pressure on the government is unlikely to ease in the near term.

With information from Reuters.

New Delhi, India — She darted through a sprinting crowd, running from a cloud of tear gas just above her head. Her eyes stung so badly she could barely see, yet she filmed the chaos on her phone.

“I saw policemen brutally beating up unarmed girls and peaceful children,” said Avanshika Singh, who has been turning up for student protests that shut down the national capital, demanding the education minister’s resignation.

On her return home, the 18-year-old put together a rough cut from the chaos and captioned it on Instagram: “Today, we rang Parliament’s doorbell and ran.”

The march to the Indian parliament on July 20 against serial examination paper leaks brought the nation’s capital to a standstill as tens of thousands of protesters occupied central roads leading to the country’s corridors of power. More than 100 students were injured in a crackdown by police, operating under the direct instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

But since then, Indian internet has turned into a relentless reel of police excesses: shaky smartphone footage, rapid-fire edits pulsing to hip-hop tracks, and a tidal wave of memes and expletives.

“This is the only thing anyone is talking about. If nothing, we are televising our revolution,” Singh, a teenager, told Al Jazeera, standing amid a sea of protesters choking Parliament Street on Wednesday. “The entire country today feels the sting of batons and tear gas with us.”

Twelve years ago, Modi rode to power and pioneered in many ways, leveraging social media platforms to reach the masses. Today, Gen Z is flipping his Hindu majoritarian party’s dominance on social platforms, weaponising against it the very tools the Bharatiya Janata Party has long relied on.

“Hating Modi is cool on the internet now, after years of criminalising dissent,” she said, before bursting into slogans: “Uncle Modi, go back, go back.”

Evidence of police excess

After the July 20 demonstrations against the government’s handling of paper leaks, the police denied all the protesters’ allegations and media reports of excess force in the crackdown.

But by then, social media was flooded with evidence, recorded by the protesting students.

A New Delhi police officer thrusting a baton on a female protester’s back; usage — potentially by a paramilitary force that was deployed alongside the police — of lethal pellet guns, for the first time in the national capital; a mother crying and pleading with dozens of police officials; another officer slapping and chasing unarmed students; police officers wearing Meta glasses; law enforcement agents planting a damaged car outside a protest strip; and footage where an officer casually trips the students running from tear gas.

No sight escapes the cameras at the Jantar Mantar protest strip, where thousands of protesters keep recording round the clock. The visuals from July 20 have prompted protests across India, in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Patna, Lucknow and Aizawl.

The Cockroach Janta Party, a political pressure group that has been leading the students’ protest, has said the demonstrations would continue “peacefully” until three demands are met. They want Dharmendra Pradhan, the education minister, to resign; for the Modi government to assure that no criminal cases would be pursued against protesters; and for compensation of about $105,000 for families of students who died by suicide due to exam paper leaks and cancellations.

Niharika Soni, a 19-year-old, stood among the thousands-strong crowd that occupied Parliament Street on Wednesday, distributing water bottles to protesters. She did not take part in the July 20 march and did not care much about it either.

Then, the visuals appeared on her feed.

“My mother and I cried for two hours, watching the videos together at home,” she said, adding that her mother has been a staunch supporter of PM Modi.

“We hugged each other and come here every day now,” she added, now holding her mother’s hands, as part of a human chain, ready to confront government forces if attacked.

‘Leaking any responsibility’

It is also a meme fest on the Indian internet.

Protesters pose, mock and tease police personnel stationed near the protest site. Some offer flowers to them while reminding them that the officers only offered baton hits.

A stroll through the protest site and nearby roads is like scrolling an Instagram feed: posters and graffiti now line central New Delhi.

Even when they speak, protesters use language riddled with smart one-liners and mockery of the government.

“This government is leaking any responsibility towards the youth of this country,” Ipshita Gulyari, a 20-year-old, told Al Jazeera. Modi, she said, had messed with the “wrong generation”.

“There is a lot of arrogance in him — and, you know, teenagers do not tolerate that, bro.”

Another duo carried the popular Japanese manga One Piece, a symbol adopted by Gen Z protest movements worldwide. A group of friends donned fictional superhero costumes from Marvel’s Avengers: Spider-Man, Iron Man and Hulk, sitting together on police barricades, looking onto Parliament Street.

“We, the Gen Z people, are born on and for the internet. We were using Instagram before I could read a clock,” said Gulyari.

Mainstream television news channels friendly to Modi have faced accusations of not covering the protests adequately. But young people like Gulyari rely increasingly on independent small publications, and, even more, on social media.

“Gen Z is taking it lightly, being funny about it, because humour is our coping mechanism,” said 18-year-old Yashvi Kumar, a friend of Gulyari at the protest.

“In the middle of all chaos, somewhere we decided that to rebel, we need to find a way that unites us. The memes are uniting us.”

On the other hand, social media posts put up by the BJP are spammed by thousands, calling for the minister to resign.

Flipping the game

In 2014, Modi was among the first world leaders to understand and leverage social media to take his narrative to the masses. The Congress party, now in opposition, was trounced by Modi’s BJP in national elections that year, and has long struggled to keep up with the BJP’s social media dominance.

But with years in power, as India slid in multiple democratic indices, Modi’s government faced mounting accusations that it was criminalising dissent, with several critics jailed for years without a trial.

Modi’s party also mobilised extensive resources in the last decade in its so-called IT Cell, where a bunch of anonymous accounts, or creators friendly to the government, dox, troll and delegitimise social media criticism.

It is fitting, therefore, analysts say, that the biggest challenge Modi has faced on the streets stems from an online joke. After India’s chief justice casually likened the youth to “cockroaches” and “parasites”, the resulting fury led to the formation of the Cockroach Janta Party.

Before the Cockroach movement, “there was an undercurrent of memes from anonymous accounts, masked people, mocking the government,” said Anurag Minus Verma, a cultural critic and author of The Great Indian Brain Rot.

“In a post-ironical world, anything said with irony travels faster — and irony becomes a central feature of the internet during this kind of protest,” he said. “The pent-up anger found a channel at Jantar Mantar, allowing youth to do their thing, speak in their language.”

The most remarkable turnaround for Verma, he said, has been the unmasking of critics at the protest, where demonstrators ridicule and mock Modi, erasing the fear.

Verma argued that the Modi government had crushed and criminalised protests by labelling them anti-nationals and breaking them into sections. “The Gen Z protesters already identify themselves ridiculously enough: they are cockroaches,” he said. “It becomes a single identity — and that becomes easier to penetrate the virality zone.”

“Some are recreating the popular memes from Nepal, Bangladesh and Hong Kong uprisings,” he told Al Jazeera. “The criticism and hate directed at Modi in the capital is not only acceptable now, but even cool.”

Modi, in a tacit acknowledgement of the power of the social media wave that’s against his government, on Thursday morning offered his first comments on the student protests — on X.

“Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth!” he wrote, before mentioning that his government had set up fast-track courts to punish those behind the paper leaks.

But the CJP’s leader Abhijeet Dipke was quick with his riposte on X.

Playing on Modi’s own words, overlaid on a photo of Education Minister Pradhan, Dipke wrote: “Hi, my name is Nothing”.

UN rights chief condemns worsening repression in Nicaragua, urging the restoration of freedoms and the rule of law.

The United Nations human rights chief has condemned Nicaragua’s escalating crackdown on civil and political rights, days after President Daniel Ortega announced a plan to block elections and shut out the opposition.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Wednesday that the “latest developments further deepen the severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the dismantling of civic space, and the steady erosion of the rule of law” in the Central American country.

Ortega, a former leftist fighter who has ruled Nicaragua for almost two decades alongside his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, said on Sunday that “there won’t be elections” in the country, a move that would remove any prospect of a challenge to the couple’s rule.

General elections were due in November, but constitutional reforms passed 18 months ago extended the presidential term from 5 to 6 years, pushing the vote back to 2027.

Turk said power in Nicaragua was increasingly being concentrated “under the co-presidency”, with the ruling Sandinista party already holding full control over parliament, all municipalities and the regional councils on the North and South Caribbean Coast.

He called on the authorities to “reopen civic space, and restore the rule of law”, warning that “independent expression of thought or opinion is systematically suppressed”, urging that “people of all political viewpoints must be allowed to vote and run for office, in line with the State’s international human rights obligations”.

The statement also cited the government’s abrupt revocation of several lawyers’ credentials earlier this month, which it said had no legal justification, and noted that at least 46 people remain arbitrarily detained on political grounds.

Turk further raised concern over the treatment of religious groups, pointing to the unclear whereabouts of Bishop Abelardo Mata Guevara, 80, who was detained on June 29, and urged Managua to release all those held arbitrarily “with humanity and dignity”.

Since a deadly crackdown on protests in 2018 – in which more than 300 people were killed, according to UN figures – Ortega and Murillo have tightened their grip on Nicaraguan society.