Protests

Four activists from the Palestine Action group face sentencing in the United Kingdom as “terrorists” on Friday, despite only being convicted by a jury of other criminal charges.

Palestine Action was formally proscribed as a “terrorist” organisation in the UK last July.

Last month, four of six activists on trial were convicted at Woolwich Crown Court in London of criminal damage during a 2024 raid on a factory in Filton, Bristol, operated by Israeli defence firm Elbit. One of the defendants was also found guilty of striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.

The possibility that the judge will rule that the offences have a “terrorist connection” for sentencing purposes has prompted protests.

What is Palestine Action?

The protest group Palestine Action, launched in July 2020, describes itself as a movement “committed to ending global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime”.

It seeks to use “disruptive tactics” to target “corporate enablers” and companies involved in the manufacture of weapons for Israel, such as Israel-based Elbit Systems, Italian aerospace company Leonardo, French multinational Thales and Teledyne from the United States. The group has targeted British facilities linked to those companies.

The UK parliament voted in favour of proscribing the group on July 2, 2025, classifying it as a “terrorist” organisation, and bringing it into the same category as armed groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). The proscription came days after its activists sneaked into an air force base in southern England.

Critics decried the move by MPs, arguing that while members of the group have caused damage to property, they have not committed violent acts that amount to terrorism.

What were they convicted of?

In August 2024, Palestine Action activists raided a factory in Filton near Bristol in southwest England, operated by Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. They entered the site and caused extensive damage in an attempt to disrupt the production of weapons and drone components they say would be used by Israel in Gaza.

The raid, which prosecutors said caused about one million pounds ($1.36m) of damage, happened 10 months into Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza that began in October 2023.

Last month, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court convicted Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, of criminal damage. The four activists have become known as “the Filton 4”.

Corner was also found guilty of striking a police officer with a sledgehammer and convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Two other Palestine Action activists, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were found not guilty.

The verdict followed an earlier trial, at which all six defendants were acquitted of aggravated burglary, while the jury was unable to reach verdicts for the criminal damage charges.

Each of the defendants gave evidence, admitting that they damaged Israeli military drones and equipment inside Elbit’s research and development facility in Filton – in order to “save lives in Palestine”, according to a statement by their lawyers.

What would a terrorism sentencing mean?

The jury was not told that, if they convicted, the four could be sentenced under terrorism laws. Criminal damage is not usually a terrorism offence, but in England and Wales judges can decide to treat an offence as having a “terrorist connection” at sentencing, even when the charge itself is not a terrorism offence.

If the court decides there was a terrorism connection, the activists would have to serve their entire sentences in prison, unless they have already completed at least two‑thirds of the sentence and a parole board decides they can be released.

Conversely, non-terrorist prisoners usually serve about 40 percent of their sentence in custody and are released early, but under conditions and supervision, sometimes called licence conditions. If they break those conditions, they can be sent back to prison to finish their sentence.

Additionally, if the activists are sentenced in this way, they can be recorded as “terrorists” for the rest of their lives, would be required to register new mobile devices, email addresses and bank accounts with the police for their lifetime, and face being returned to prison if they breach their licence conditions or reoffend.

What has the reaction to all this been?

On Wednesday, a group of more than 50 lawyers and law professors published an open letter denouncing plans to sentence the four Palestine Action members as terrorists.

The letter highlights that damage to property has been a recurring feature of protest campaigns from the Suffragettes who fought for women to have the right to vote, to environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion.

“It has never previously even been suggested that those taking such action should be treated as terrorists. Blurring the distinction between principled direct action and terrorism is the hallmark of authoritarian regimes,” the open letter stated.

The letter has been signed by law professors from universities in the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada as well as by dozens of practising barristers and solicitors.

According to local news reports, a protest is expected at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday against the potential judgement.

At a motion for a vote of no confidence against Arwa Elrayess, the first Palestinian president of the University of Oxford’s debating society, Oxford Union, she was accused by a 20-year-old student of contributing to “an atmosphere of hostility and harassment”.

In a video of the forum last week at the prestigious university, which was shared with Al Jazeera, Elrayess is seen replying to Ben Ashworth, “Not just in my career within the union but in my existence as a Palestinian, there seems to always be this post-mortem vilification of Palestinians.”

The room was full of onlookers as Elrayess, who became the head of the Oxford Union late last year, stood tall in a green sequinned dress.

“Palestinians, when they talk, are for some reason a danger. Our very existence is something that is scary,” she added.

The motion was filed after screenshots of text messages from Elrayess were quoted in outlets including The Telegraph and the BBC as saying that the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023 was “proportional”.

The text also said groups branded as terrorists were often later “lauded as heroes”.

Ashworth cited the Sunday Telegraph directly in his accusation. The newspaper’s political editor, Camila Turner, whose father serves as chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, had carried the claim that Elrayess said Hamas would be “lauded as heroes”.

But Elrayess did not make any statement of support for Hamas.

Nine months ago – before Elrayess was president – she was in a group chat of students meant to discuss politics.

In the group chat, October 7 and Palestine – and broader conversations on resistance groups – were discussed.

“Analysing something is not giving it moral legitimacy,” she told Al Jazeera. “Even though I described explicitly in all the messages that I’m not describing this as legitimate or morally justified, I’m just providing analysis; all of this was stripped away when it was reported in The Telegraph or the Daily News.”

The full quote in question on the group chat read: “Any resistance group will inevitably be deemed a terrorist organisation by the West until they achieve their liberation, by which time they’ll be lauded as heroes as history has historically proven.”

‘Entirely misquoted’

The messages were not meant as commentary on Hamas specifically, she argued.

“It was entirely misquoted; I believe it was entirely intentional to frame as having said something that I simply did not say,” she told Al Jazeera.

To the Jewish Chronicle, though, Elrayess reiterated her position by saying, “I condemn Hamas’ targeting of innocent civilians, just as I condemn the targeting of innocent civilians by the [Israeli army] or any other actor.”

After refuting the allegation and misquotations, Ashworth is seen in the video yelling at Elrayess, asking whether she condemns Hamas again.

Ashworth, who is not Jewish, has faced criticism for recently visiting Israel with the Pinsker Centre, a think tank formerly known as the Pinsker Centre for Zionist Education.

The motion for a vote of no confidence overwhelmingly failed, receiving 126 votes, 116 of which were online signatures, far below the 150 needed to proceed to a poll.

This is not the first misinformation campaign against Elrayess.

In October 2025, just before her election as president of the debating society, falsified minutes were ratified by an unnamed member of the union, alleging that Elrayess “argues that alumni members shouldn’t be allowed to vote, reiterating her claims that they are incapable of making a rational judgement”.

Elrayess believes that the minutes were made up and spread to “paint me as someone who hates alumni of this institution”.

After an internal disciplinary process, the person who falsified the minutes was suspended from office and the minutes were de-ratified.

Shortly after her win, opposition within the Union brought forward a number of charges against Elrayess, ranging from misuse of social media to antisemitism. In January, it was found that the charges were un-evidenced. By this point, however, Elrayess had lost two months of her presidency.

Alongside this, an article was published in the Oxford Standard alleging that she was related to a leader of Hamas who happened to share the same surname as her, and that she had created and shared a cartoon of herself stepping on a lizard and a hook-nosed anti-Semitic caricature to celebrate her victory.

The claims, again, were false. The cartoon linked to an anonymous meme page that Elrayess had nothing to do with, and she had no family ties to Hamas. The article had no author attributed to it, and the Oxford Standard did not contact Elrayess or reply to her emails, fact-checking the article.

Within days, Elrayess had emails from journalists at The Jerusalem Post, Jewish Chronicle and The Telegraph, asking her to clarify her family affiliation with Hamas and her views of Jewish people, stemming from the stark untruths shared in the nameless Oxford Standard article.

The only cause for the allegations, some have observed, appeared to be Elrayess’s Palestinian identity.

A colleague and friend of Elrayess, who wished to remain unnamed, described to Al Jazeera a sense of distress among Elrayess and her friends.

“The level of attacks that Arwa and her friends received was astounding,” he said.

The Oxford Standard, which no longer exists, deleted both the article and their website altogether. But the rumours they began, with no facts to back them up, have snowballed into national news headlines of Oxford Union’s first Palestinian president being a supporter of Hamas and a proud anti-Semite.

Tweets by prominent Zionist influencers like Eylon Levy, former spokesperson for Israel, sharing the lie that Elrayess is a Hamas heiress, with now-broken Oxford Standard links and no factual corrections.

‘I’m a very proud Palestinian’

Elrayess’s dedication to debate and free speech has brought controversy to her tenure. She invited prominent Israel supporter Tommy Robinson to a debate, triggering widespread protest in Oxford, and has engaged with conservatives and Zionists in her union and her own appointed committee.

Oliver Jones-Lyons, director of finance of the Oxford Union, works alongside Elrayess and describes himself as a “pretty public Zionist”.

Still, despite their diametric positions, Lyons-Jones does not endorse the growing smear campaign against Elrayess.

“I have never felt oppressed, abused or discouraged from sharing my views openly, quite the opposite in fact,” said Jones-Lyons in a statement to Al Jazeera. “Me and Arwa obviously vehemently disagree on a lot of issues; however, our conversations about issues that are deeply personal to both of us have never once been aggressive and have always been productive, in fact I can certainly say Arwa has changed my mind on issues I never thought I would.”

Oxford Union member Oliver Goldstein said, “Personally, I like Arwa. I don’t agree with many of her comments, but do I feel unsafe as a Jewish student at the Oxford Union? No … I don’t think she’s an anti-Semite.”

Despite the inundation of misinformation, Elrayess remains determined.

“My father is from Gaza,” she said. “He would always tell me, ‘It doesn’t really matter what you say or do not say; people will always find a way to spin it in such a way that you become a target, because you’re already a target.”

She said she lives by her father’s words.

“I’m not resigning from my position. They can throw 1,000 different letters in 1,000 different articles. I’m very vocal, and I’m a very proud Palestinian.”

Thousands of migrants shelter in a Durban park after being driven from their homes ahead of a June 30 expulsion ultimatum.

More than 3,000 Malawians, including hundreds of children, are staying in an open field in South Africa’s port city of Durban, after fleeing what they described as escalating anti-immigrant threats and attacks.

For weeks, groups armed with sticks, whips and shields have marched through parts of the country demanding that foreigners with no papers leave by June 30.

At the park, which transformed into a makeshift transit camp in Durban on Wednesday, many people said repatriation was their only safe option.

“It’s hard to stay here,” Falesi Chukuwumba, a Malawian national, told Al Jazeera. “You can see we are outside. How can we stay in this cold? Our children can get sick.”

Sayiba John, 33, a Malawian who fled Nazareth township with her husband and three children, told the AFP news agency her daughter, a Grade 2 pupil, was forced to abandon her exams.

“They said we must go. We have no choice in the matter,” John said. “It’s better our government take us away from here than to face the anger of the South Africans.”

Ellen Mwamulima, a 45-year-old widow, mother of three and former domestic worker in Mossel Bay in the Western Cape, fled a mob who nearly caught up with her and had to hide out in the bush for two weeks.

“It’s been very difficult because we lost everything, they burnt our houses and all our belongings,” the Malawian told Al Jazeera.

The anti-migrant marches have been backed by the MK Party, led by former President Jacob Zuma, which commands strong support across KwaZulu-Natal province.

When the party called on supporters to march against undocumented migrants, thousands responded. Demonstrators accuse foreign nationals of taking jobs and economic opportunities from South Africans.

“There are undocumented foreigners working everywhere in our business field,” Mythobisi Sabelo, one of the protesters, told Al Jazeera in Durban. “People here have been trying to find work for a long time and given up. It’s becoming an issue.”

Waves of xenophobic violence

But while demonstrators blame foreigners for South Africa’s economic and social issues, others argue that foreigners, particularly those from elsewhere in Africa, are being wrongly blamed.

The violence has spread well beyond KwaZulu-Natal. Five Mozambicans have been killed in Mossel Bay. More than 150 Malawians were bussed out of the Western Cape province over the weekend.

Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique have repatriated hundreds of nationals this month, and a flight carrying the first group of Nigerians is due to depart Johannesburg.

About 150 additional migrants from Burundi, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe are sheltering at a government office not far from the Durban park.

South Africa has faced recurring waves of xenophobic violence since 2008, when dozens of migrants were killed and thousands displaced. Some three million foreigners – about 5 percent of the population, more than 63 percent of them from within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc – live in the country.

The latest flare-up comes as political parties campaign ahead of local government elections in November.

Protesters chant ‘Albania is not for sale’ as demonstrations swell against Kushner-backed luxury resort plan.

Thousands of Albanians have taken to the streets of the country’s capital, Tirana, in the ⁠largest protest yet against a luxury resort development backed by United States President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Protesters on Wednesday held signs that said “Albania is not for sale” and chanted “New Albania” outside Prime Minister Edi Rama’s office as the crowd stretched half a mile down one of the city’s main boulevards.

The project, expected to cost about 5 ⁠billion euros ($5.8bn), has provoked outrage in the Balkan country because of its location near a protected wetland home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites.

Critics have also raised concerns about a lack of transparency surrounding the plans designed by foreign investors.

“This is the prime example of what has been happening in Albania for the last 35 years,” protester Leand Lakrori told the Reuters news agency. “So today, enough is enough.”

The protests, which erupted in the village of Zvernec on the southern coastline where the resort is planned, have been dubbed the Flamingo Revolution, in reference to the protected wetland at the development site that serves as a migratory stop for the birds.

Rama has sought to play down the ecological concerns, saying an environmental impact assessment would be completed and that the project would proceed responsibly.

“We are very proud of what we have done for the wildlife in Albania,” he said. “The ‌European Commission has no reason to doubt our firm will to protect whatever has to be protected when it comes to wildlife and nature.”

EU warning

The European Union, which has said it could admit Albania and other Balkan countries by 2030, warned that alignment with European environmental law would be a condition of accession.

“Albania should refrain from action that could undermine the fulfilment of the closing benchmark,” said EU spokesman Guillaume Mercier. “We expect the Albanian authorities to act without delay.”

The protests are the latest test for Rama, who has been in power since 2013 and who many now blame for not eradicating widespread corruption or doing enough to improve basic services like healthcare.

Rama said he has made strides to deal with corruption by creating a special prosecution office, which has opened a series of ⁠high-profile investigations.

Still, clashes also broke out earlier this year as protesters demanded the resignation of Rama’s deputy, ⁠Belinda Balluku, over alleged corruption. Rama fired Balluku, but ⁠the mistrust remains.

“I’m here to protest, to finish this saga of the Albanian government. It’s always the same two parties,” protester Fabio Bracaj told Reuters. “We want a new era. We want a better country.”

The resort development is the ‌brainchild of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who described falling in love with Albania a few years ago while visiting on a yacht.

Opposition ignited last month when developers erected a fence around part of the Zvernec site. The fence was later removed following an outcry.

Rama has said the project will go ahead regardless.

Migrants say they are living in fear after a campaign group gave people living illegally in South Africa until June 30 to leave. Nigeria’s diplomatic mission in South Africa says many of those returning no longer feel safe to continue living or working in the country.

Anti-immigration protesters have torched buildings and vehicles in the capital of Northern Ireland, a day after a knife attack was captured in a graphic video.

Hundreds of protesters, many of them masked, gathered at several locations across Belfast on Tuesday evening. A bus and several cars were set alight, while a building on the edge of the city centre caught fire and its residents had to be evacuated.

Police helicopters patrolled above the city, and shops closed early.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the initial knife attack, which took place in north Belfast late on Monday evening, as “sickening”.

The attack comes at a time of heightened tensions in the United Kingdom following the murder of a student who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer falsely alleged a racist attack.

It also follows repeated protests over immigration, with populist parties saying the UK’s asylum policy has allowed dangerous men into the country. There was anti-immigration rioting in Northern Ireland last year amid anger over an alleged sexual assault.

Immigration has become a highly charged political issue and has helped fuel the rise of the hard-right Reform UK and Restore Britain parties in opinion polls.

Northern Ireland’s political leaders and the region’s chief constable have urged people not to incite hate and fear or target particular communities.

Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic reports from Belfast, where protests over a recent stabbing have escalated into violent riots. Tensions flared after a Sudanese asylum seeker was charged with attempted murder. Riot police have deployed to the scene as buses and vehicles are set alight.

It’s called the Joint Awami Action Committee, and it’s being accused of fuelling protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The group has been demonstrating against a rule that sets aside legislative seats for refugees from India-administered Kashmir who live in Pakistan. They say it gives them disproportionate influence in the divided region.

But the government says any change would require constitutional reform.

The issue has long been a subject of political debate in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. But how will its government deal with tensions rising once again?

Presenter: Imran Khan

Guests:
Maria Iqbal Tarana – Senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz

Sahar Khan – Nonresident fellow at the Institute for Global Affairs

Imtiaz Gul – Executive director at the Center for Research and Security Studies

Gunshots, water cannon and tear gas have been used by Kenya’s police in the central town of Nanyuki, where hundreds of protesters lit fires and hurled stones at law enforcement officers as they demonstrated against a quarantine centre for US citizens exposed to Ebola.

Tuesday’s violence came as the proposed quarantine centre at the town’s Laikipia Air Base has caused anger among Kenyans who accuse the United States of shifting the risks of caring for people exposed to the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda onto Kenya.

Kenya has never recorded a case of Ebola, and many residents oppose bringing potential carriers of the virus into the country.

The centre is designed to have 50 isolation beds, run by US staff, and was nearing completion late last week.

Construction has continued despite a temporary halt order from Kenya’s High Court and vocal opposition from local politicians.

President William Ruto’s government has pledged to press ahead with the project, arguing that Kenya owes Washington for years of financial and technical support.

The US has committed $13.5m to support Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts.

At least 11 people were killed on Sunday during clashes between police and protesters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s Rawalakot city, capital of Poonch district, before a major demonstration scheduled by a banned civil society group for Tuesday.

Authorities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir deployed federal paramilitary troops and issued a strict travel advisory before the Tuesday protest, which has gone ahead despite the restrictions.

Here is what we know about the latest unrest.

What’s happening in Pakistan-administered Kashmir?

Eleven people have been killed in clashes between the police and protesters, while more than 70 have been injured. The ban on the organisation, alongside regional grievances, set off the protests.

On Tuesday, Sardar Waheed Khan, commissioner of the Pakistan side of the Poonch district, a militarised region shared between Indian-administered and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, told the news agency Reuters that four police officers and a passer-by died “after miscreants shot at them”. Six protesters were killed, he said.

Police Chief Liaqat Malik said 23 security officials and 50 protesters were among those injured in Sunday’s clashes.

On Friday, local authorities issued an advisory urging visitors to avoid travelling to the area.

“The measure is advised to save intending visitors from any unexpected situation or inconvenience,” an unnamed official said in a statement issued by the region’s Press Information Department (PID).

“The government also requests those already in the territory for sightseeing or any other purpose to leave by Friday evening so that they do not confront any unpleasant situation,” the statement added.

Kashmir is a disputed Himalayan region which is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, with China also controlling a portion of the territory. Pakistan-administered Kashmir – known locally as Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) – is governed under a semi-autonomous system, with its own prime minister and legislative assembly, but ultimate authority resting with Islamabad. Its population exceeds four million people, according to the 2017 census. It is separated from India-administered Kashmir by what is known as the Line of Control (LoC).

The LoC is the 740km (459-mile) military border dividing the disputed Kashmir region between Indian-administered and Pakistan-administered territories.

Who is behind the protests?

The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) is a grassroots umbrella organisation that emerged in 2023 as the leader of a protest movement across the Pakistani-administered part of the region. The JAAC, led by activist Shaukat Nawaz Mir, represents traders and civil society groups.

On Friday, the local government proscribed the JAAC under a regional legislative framework in Pakistan-administered Kashmir called the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2014.

In a circular, the government’s home department claimed the JAAC “is engaged in terrorism, acted in a manner prejudicial to the peace & security of the State, involved in creating anarchy in the State by intimidating public, promoting hatred & creating sense of insecurity in society and public at large, etc”.

In the past, protests organised by the JAAC have led to violent clashes between protesters and security forces, leading to casualties.

In a video message on X responding to Sunday’s incident, Mir accused the authorities of unleashing violence in Rawalakot, saying, “The state has begun a massacre of our people in Rawalakot.”

In response, Khan, the commissioner of Pakistani Poonch, said, “The JAAC leadership is misleading the masses by terming it a massacre. The state’s action was meant to restore law and order.”

On Tuesday, the internet monitoring group NetBlocks said that its data showed that access to the web remained severely restricted in Pakistan-administered Kashmir for a third day in a row.

What is the trigger behind these protests?

These protests are against the reservation of 12 seats in Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s legislature for refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir who now live in other parts of Pakistan. If the refugees live in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, they are not eligible to contest for these reserved seats.

The region votes on July 27 to elect its next legislature, which has 45 seats in all — including the 12 reserved ones.

The JAAC is calling for the abolition of the reserved seats, arguing that all seats in the legislature must go to those who actually reside in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and not those living in other constituencies scattered across Pakistan.

Abdul Jabbar Nasir, a journalist currently based in Karachi, but originally from a village near the LoC in the Gilgit Baltistan area, which is the majority of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir region, told Al Jazeera that the seats are reserved for those who migrated from Indian-administered Kashmir to Karachi or any other part of Pakistan in 1947.

Nasir explained that the reserved seats have existed in various forms since the late 1940s and were formalised in Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s 1974 interim constitution, which treats the region as a self-governing, autonomous state, with its own prime minister, president and courts, while defence, foreign affairs, currency and communications remain under Pakistan’s control.

“If the constitutional protection provided begins to be changed by these protesters, then I don’t think things can function,” Nasir said.

“It is essential for these seats to exist. If we abolish them, on one hand, Pakistan’s own case for Kashmiri statehood in the United Nations will be weakened, and India’s case will be strengthened,” he added.

He drew a parallel with India, noting that New Delhi historically kept a number of seats vacant in its parliament and the former Jammu and Kashmir assembly as a way of asserting that those bodies represented the entire former princely state, including areas under Pakistani control. If Pakistan now dismantles refugee representation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, he warned, India could argue that both countries have effectively “regularised” their control over their respective portions of the disputed region.

Marathon talks between a federal ministerial team, including leaders from Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and JAAC leadership in late May failed to yield a breakthrough. This resulted in the JAAC announcing that the protest on Tuesday would proceed as planned.

On Sunday, a top court in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, called the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, ruled that the 12 reserved seats are constitutionally protected, and a constitutional amendment would be needed to abolish the reservation.

“This ruling effectively closed the legal route for groups seeking to challenge the existing arrangement and intensified calls for protest by the [JAAC],” Raja Qaiser Ahmed, director for the Area Study Centre for Africa, North and South America at the Islamabad-based Quaid-i-Azam University, told Al Jazeera.

What are the deeper issues?

Experts say the current crisis is part of a deeper, long-running debate about governance, political representation, resource allocation and regional autonomy in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The protest on Tuesday is the fourth such protest led by the JAAC.

“The current crisis reflects a broader and longer-term debate about governance, political representation, resource distribution, and regional autonomy in AJK,” Ahmed said.

“While the refugee-seat issue has become the focal point of the present mobilisation, it is intertwined with wider grievances that have surfaced repeatedly over the past several years.”

In September and October 2025, the JAAC officially released a comprehensive 38-point charter of demands and initiated a lockdown. The government, in response to a lockdown initiated by JAAC, imposed a complete communications blackout.

The protests had their roots in May 2023, when residents first protested skyrocketing electricity bills alongside widespread flour smuggling and acute shortages in subsidised wheat supplies. The movement hit its first major flashpoint in May 2024, when protesters set off on a long march towards Muzaffarabad. The ensuing violent clashes left at least five people dead, among them a police officer.

The 38-point charter remains the focal point of current tensions. The demands of the charter include economic subsidies, investigation of corrupt officials, social welfare and infrastructure, as well as the abolition of the 12 reserved seats.

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), the party with the most seats in Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s Legislative Assembly, said on Sunday that he would meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss the ongoing tensions in the region.

“Thirty-five out of 38 demands have been implemented,” Bhutto-Zardari said during a news conference in Islamabad, explaining that the rest of the demands are not feasible or have court orders barring their implementation.

“More fundamentally, the protests reveal an ongoing tension between constitutional arrangements linked to the broader Kashmir dispute and growing demands for greater local accountability and political participation,” Ahmed said.

“The debate is therefore not only about a specific set of assembly seats but also about competing visions of representation, governance, and the future political trajectory of the region.”

Brits heading to popular Spanish islands this summer may find themselves at the heart of anti-tourism protests, with a pressure group insisting that there will be a “historic turnout”

Spain’s anti-tourism protests could escalate this summer, as pressure group Menys Turisme Més Vida (Less Tourism More Life) announced plans for a major demonstration that it expects to have a “historic turnout”.

The news comes as sites in the Canary Islands have been daubed with anti-tourist graffiti, including reports from local news outlet Canarian Weekly of a ‘kill a tourist’ slogan being spotted in Tenerife. The graffiti was spotted by two expats hiking in Punta del Hidalgo, who then claimed they saw further disturbing graffiti during a walk to Bollullo Beach on the island’s north coast.

In a separate incident last week, five estate agents in Majorca with international names were daubed with graffiti including ‘guilty’ and ‘Guiris out!’ in an overnight attack. Guiri is a derogatory Spanish term used for tourists from Northern Europe.

Menys Turisme Més Vida announced a protest in Palma, a popular destination for Brits on the island of Majorca on July 26, which coincides with the start of the busiest school holiday season. Meanwhile there are protests planned in Menorca on June 13 with a similar anti-tourism sentiment.

In a statement on its website, the group said: “️We consider that the demands expressed during previous mobilisations have been ignored while problems such as the housing access crisis, tourist saturation, the destruction of the territory, the precariousness of living conditions and the pressure on public resources and services continue to worsen.

“Under the slogan ‘Majorca at the limit’, the call aims to once again demonstrate the strength of existing social unrest in the face of an economic model that continues to break tourism records while the living conditions of a growing part of the resident population worsen.”, it added.

The group claims that the protest has the support of 53 social , environmental, trade union, neighbourhood and cultural groups on the island, which sees nearly 13 million tourists annually, with Brits the second-largest percentage after Germany.

Majorca saw protests last June that organisers claim were attended by 30,000 people, although varying reports claim numbers from 5,000 to 8,000. This included reports of some people sitting on terraces being harassed by protestors. Another notable protest took place in Barcelona on June 15, 2025, in which smoke devices were used and tourists soaked with water pistols.

While there have been reports of a tourist slowdown in the Balearics and Canaries, anti-tourism protests do not seem to have a massive impact on visitor numbers. In April, the Canaries saw a drop in visitors of 8.3% compared to the year before, but this meant 1.2 million foreign tourists still visited the islands. It was also the first drop seen on the volcanic archipelago since the pandemic.

Over Easter, the Balearics reported a fall of nearly 20% in in-person tourist spending by card, despite an overall increase in spending across Spain as a whole, suggesting visitors were choosing to spend their money elsewhere.

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

June 8 (UPI) — Thousands of teachers continue to block streets and maintain an encampment in Mexico City’s historic center just days before the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as negotiations with the federal government remain deadlocked.

Mexican educators have sought to use the visibility of the tournament to pressure President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration for higher wages and pension reforms.

The National Coordinator of Education Workers, known by its Spanish acronym CNTE, reaffirmed Sunday that it will continue its strike indefinitely and intensify demonstrations in the coming days despite calls from the federal government to end the work stoppage, according to Infobae.

“There are groups that want to provoke the Mexican government and are not necessarily teachers,” Sheinbaum said during her daily news conference. “What they want is repression. They want the national headline to be ‘Mexico represses teachers.’ They are not going to get that.”

The protests are concentrated around Mexico City’s Zócalo, the capital’s main public square, where FIFA has organized official fan activities.

Visitors seeking access to the FIFA Fan Festival must pass through the teachers’ encampment and additional security checkpoints, according to TV Noticias Telemundo.

The report said the historic center remains affected by the encampments, creating disruptions for tourists, residents and local businesses.

CNTE leaders are also considering extending demonstrations to Azteca Stadium, which is scheduled to host the World Cup opening match Thursday.

Interior Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez urged teachers Saturday to end the protests and continue negotiations, arguing that the demonstrations are affecting students, workers, merchants and tourism activity in the city center.

The CNTE rejected the government’s pension proposal as insufficient and announced that additional groups of teachers will join the protests this week.

Sheinbaum called Monday for patience while awaiting decisions in the coming days and said she remains confident that the opening of the 2026 World Cup “will be very good, without repression.”

The dispute comes as Mexico hopes the tournament will boost tourism and economic activity.

According to tourism industry estimates, the World Cup could generate as much as $3 billion in economic activity and attract more than 5 million international visitors.

Mexico City’s three host cities, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, reported hotel occupancy rates of about 60% ahead of the tournament.

Nelly Carrasco Godínez, secretary of Culture and Tourism for the State of Mexico, said the state expects to receive about 1.6 million visitors in small historic towns and tourist destinations promoted during the World Cup. The expected economic impact is 1.4 billion pesos, or approximately $80 million.

New law grants president power to use military to clear roadblocks set up amid weeks of anti-government demonstrations.

Bolivia’s legislature has passed a law granting President Rodrigo Paz the authority to use the military to clear roadblocks set up by antigovernment protesters.

The legislation passed in Bolivia’s Chamber of Deputies on Sunday following an overnight debate. It had previously been approved by the Senate and was expected to be signed into law by Paz.

“This law is hereby passed,” announced Roberto Castro, President of the Chamber of Deputies.

The military has so far only been used in support roles for anti-riot police during weeks of demonstrations calling for Paz, the centre-right leader backed by the US, to step down.

About 100 roadblocks have been set up across the country in recent weeks. Authorities have said the road blockades have led to food and medicine shortages.

On Saturday, dozens of riot police backed by military vehicles fired tear gas as they attempted to clear a road in the town of San Julian.

Protesters threw stones and burned tyres to try to halt the police advance, said an AFP reporter at the scene.

The new law would allow soldiers to use force against protesters, and also grants them a “presumption of legality” in conflict situations. That means their actions will be deemed lawful unless proven otherwise.

It comes after Bolivia’s legislature voted last month to repeal a 2020 law that restricts the use of the military to crack down on protests.

Farmers, miners and transportation unions have been among those leading the protests. The demonstrations come amid widespread unrest over rising inflation, low wages and Paz’s move to abolish fuel subsidies.

Paz, who was elected last year, has charted a course as a pro-business leader, vowing to guide the country through an ongoing economic crisis.

He has received the backing of the US, with the administration of the US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Shield of the Americas” regional coalition vowing support during protests..

“We stand with Paz’s democratic government as it fights back against attempts to drag Bolivia backwards through cynical efforts to prevent the delivery of food, medicine and other vital supplies to the Bolivian people through fake road blockades,” said the alliance members, who have vowed to take a militaristic response to crime in Latin America

For the sixth-straight day, thousands of protesters have rallied in the Albanian capital against a proposed luxury beach development linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Environmental groups accuse authorities of lacking transparency and allowing for the destruction of protected biodiversity on the country’s Adriatic Coast.

Hundreds marched in Tunisia’s capital demanding press freedom and the release of political prisoners detained during President Kais Saied’s crackdown on dissent, which has jailed opposition figures including Ennahda party leader Rached Ghannouchi.

Pro-Palestine activists interrupted an army recruitment event during German Armed Forces Day. They climbed onto a tank and unfurled a banner reading ‘Genocide with German weapons’ and named Rheinmetall, a key arms supplier to Israel’s military.

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Hundreds of Bolivian residents are braving near-freezing temperatures to queue for affordable chicken in La Paz, due to more than a month of food shortages.

Spiked prices and protester blockades have affected access to food and medical supplies in the capital.

At New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, India’s most famous protest strip, hundreds of mostly young people in cockroach masks and with dog-eared exam guides in hand tried to turn an online joke into a real-world force.

They call themselves the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) – a satirical “people’s party” born barely three weeks ago after India’s chief justice reportedly likened government critics and unemployed youth to “cockroaches” and “parasites”.

What began as a parody account and meme factory has since exploded into a channel for anger over exams, jobs and a fraying sense of economic promise.

On Saturday, that digital discontent stepped off the screen. Waving India’s national flag and clutching schoolbooks, the protesters demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after a string of exam paper leaks, technical glitches and cancelled tests.

For many, the fiasco over the NEET medical entrance exam – and reports of student suicides – symbolises a system young Indians say has no credibility left.

The CJP’s founder, 30-year-old political strategist and Boston University graduate Abhijeet Dipke, flew in from the United States to lead the rally, telling supporters that “cockroaches don’t ever fear.”

Police in riot gear and steel barricades underscored the risks of dissent in an era when large protests have often been met with crackdowns and criminal cases.

With more than 20 million followers on Instagram, CJP has already outgrown many mainstream parties online.

Its first street protest now tests whether self-deprecating memes and satire can be converted into a lasting organisation – and whether India’s anxious, hyper-connected youth can find a new political language for their frustration.

CJP organisers rally supporters to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Hundreds of supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (Cockroach People’s Party, or CJP), a satirical social media movement in India, have gathered in New Delhi after weeks of grabbing news headlines.

The party, a play on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has attracted millions of online followers and widespread support among young Indians.

On Saturday, hundreds gathered in New Delhi’s protest zone near parliament, with some participants wearing cockroach masks.

Last month, India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant likened young people who criticised the government to “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a court hearing.

Kant later said his comments were taken out of context. But Abhijeet Dipke, a political communications strategist and Boston University student, used the insult as inspiration for a parody political party.

Within a week of launching a website and social media accounts, CJP’s Instagram page soared and by Saturday had amassed more than 22.2 million followers, with the slogan: “A political front for the youth, by the youth, for the youth.”

For Saturday’s march, CJP organisers rallied supporters to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, after an exam irregularity controversy in May that quickly transformed into frustration over India’s education system and limited job opportunities.

CJP supporters chanted slogans including: “Cockroaches are coming, Dharmendra Pradhan is going!”

Organisers of the march encouraged participants to bring India’s national flag and a book, which they said symbolised the right to education and equal opportunity for all. They also urged demonstrators to remain peaceful and avoid any confrontations with police.

Ahead of the protest, Indian police tightened security at the airport and the Jantar Mantar protest site, setting up steel barricades at key points.

The group’s rise echoes a similar trend across South Asia, where youth movements born out of social media have been crucial in antigovernment protests, particularly in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

With the cockroach now a symbol of endurance, CJP supporters have jokingly described themselves as unemployed and perpetually online.

While young people in India make up more than a quarter of the population, they face limited job opportunities, leading to rising unemployment and growing disillusionment with traditional politics.

Some supporters of Modi’s party have dismissed the CJP as nothing more than a social media gimmick. They argue that the parody party’s social media success might not translate into political street mobilisation and that its rapid rise will likely be fleeting.

French activists who took part in a Gaza-bound foreign aid flotilla accuse Israeli forces of abuse and torture.

French anti-terrorism prosecutors say they have opened a preliminary investigation into suspected “torture” and “war crimes” over Israel’s alleged mistreatment of French activists who took part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last month.

The probe was opened on Friday following a referral from the foreign ministry late last month, said the national counterterrorism prosecutor’s office (PNAT), after activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla accused Israeli authorities of severe mistreatment during their detention.

Israel abducted and detained some 430 activists from about 40 countries after intercepting them in international waters on May 18 as they made the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade on Gaza, which the United Nations and human rights organisations say is illegal, describing it as a form of collective punishment.

Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attracted widespread condemnation after he posted a video mocking the flotilla activists while they were bound.

France banned Ben-Gvir from entry and, like several other allies of Israel, summoned the Israeli ambassador over the incident.

Several French activists described what they said was a violent and humiliating ordeal when eight of them returned to France on May 22.

Two of the more than 30 French people who were on board the flotilla were still hospitalised in Turkiye, they told reporters.

One returnee described a soldier groping and slapping her in a dark container, and being terrified that she would be raped.

Another recounted detained activists being put in what she called a “stress position”, on their knees with their foreheads on the ground for several hours, while the Israeli national anthem played on repeat.

‘Most severe case of ill-treatment’ in a decade

Speaking to Al Jazeera late last month, Suhad Bishara, legal director at Adalah, the Israeli legal centre for Palestinian rights, said that without accountability, Israel will continue to use violence against activists.

“Based on accounts received, and drawing on over a decade of representing flotilla participants, this appears to be the most severe case of ill-treatment documented in the past 10 years, potentially amounting to torture,” said Bishara.

Adalah lawyers have been informed of repeated physical violence resulting in serious injuries, prolonged stress positions, and sexual humiliation and harassment.

The Global Sumud Flotilla said it has documented at least 15 cases of sexual abuse.

Lawyers for French flotilla activists have said they plan to file a separate complaint on behalf of their clients over allegations of rape, torture and humiliation.

The activists have refused to meet with the French government to discuss their experiences, accusing it of supporting Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Asked by the AFP news agency to respond to the claims of mistreatment, the Israeli prison service said the accusations were “entirely without factual basis”.

Francesca Albanese, an outspoken UN expert on the Palestinian territory, has said the treatment of the flotilla activists “is a luxury compared to what is inflicted on Palestinians in Israeli prisons”.

Kenyan President William Ruto said allowing the US to build an Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya was the “right thing”. At least two people were killed this week in protests against the facility, which is being built on a US air force base for Americans exposed to the virus.

June 3 (Asia Today) — The People Power Party protested Wednesday after voting was temporarily halted at some polling stations in Seoul’s Songpa Ward because of ballot shortages, calling the incident “a serious violation of voters’ political rights.”

Chung Hee-yong, the party’s secretary-general, held an emergency news conference and criticized the National Election Commission over the incident.

“This is a shocking incident that should not and must not happen at a polling site in South Korea in 2026,” Chung said. “It goes beyond simple lack of election preparation and reflects a deplorable failure to fulfill the duty of election management.”

Chung called for “strong and immediate action” by the election commission.

“First, swift measures must be taken so that citizens who could not vote because of ballot shortages can exercise their voting rights,” he said.

Song Eon-seog, the party’s floor leader, also issued an emergency statement.

“We are receiving absurd reports that citizens in Seoul cannot vote because ballots are unavailable,” Song said. “Seoul citizens, you must not give up voting under any circumstances. Even if it is difficult, please wait calmly and make sure to vote.”

Song said the situation infringed on citizens’ right to participate in elections.

“We strongly urge the National Election Commission to guarantee voting rights so that citizens who waited can vote even after 6 p.m.,” he said. “Transfer the ballots quickly.”

Song also said the party had received reports that voting was taking place at several polling stations nationwide without People Power Party observers present.

“Is this the 19th century? Does this make any sense?” he said. “As soon as the election ends, we will immediately push for a fact-finding investigation into this incident and make sure those responsible are held accountable.”

Bae Hyun-jin, chairwoman of the People Power Party’s Seoul chapter, also held an emergency news conference.

“A shortage of ballots in an election is not a simple mistake. It proves that the basic election management system, the foundation of democracy, has completely collapsed,” Bae said.

She criticized the election commission for saying the shortages resulted from a sudden increase in voter turnout.

“The commission responded as if it were nothing serious,” Bae said. “We will continue to demand measures to prevent a recurrence and disciplinary action against those responsible for the election management failure that violated the sovereign act of Seoul citizens.”

The People Power Party said it had identified eight polling stations affected by ballot shortages: Munjeong 2-dong No. 2, Jamsil 2-dong No. 6, Jamsil 7-dong No. 2, Jamsil 4-dong No. 5, Garak 2-dong Nos. 3 and 7, Cheongdam-dong No. 4 and Guui 3-dong No. 6 in Gwangjin Ward.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260603010001076