youth

Craig Bellamy laughs when asked about Rubin Colwill, the 23-year-old forward currently impressing for Cardiff City.

“He’s big for you, isn’t he?,” Bellamy asks the reporter who brings up his name.

Not that Bellamy is not a fan of the nine-cap midfielder, to the contrary.

However, Colwill has not always featured in Bellamy’s Wales squads despite playing a starring role in Cardiff’s League One promotion bid and their quarter-final EFL Cup run.

“Rubin is able, there’s still one or two bits that we need more from, but he’s capable,” insists Bellamy who has plenty of other reasons to be a regular at Cardiff City Stadium.

“For the first time in a long, long time, I’ve really enjoyed coming away from Cardiff games with a smile,” he added.

“Last year was difficult, the atmosphere was down, but now I get to see a number of Welsh young players playing in a way I like.

“I only see them improving and selfishly I just see that this is going to benefit the country, so I’m over the moon with that.”

Barbara Boxer decided she was done. Entering her 70s, fresh off reelection to the U.S. Senate, she determined her fourth term would be her last.

“I just felt it was time,” Boxer said. “I wanted to do other things.”

Besides, she knew the Democratic bench was amply stocked with many bright prospects, including California’s then-attorney general, Kamala Harris, who succeeded Boxer in Washington en route to her selection as Joe Biden’s vice president.

When Boxer retired in 2017, after serving 24 years in the Senate, she walked away from one of the most powerful and privileged positions in American politics, a job many have clung to until their last, rattling breath.

(Boxer tried to gently nudge her fellow Democrat and former Senate colleague, Dianne Feinstein, whose mental and physical decline were widely chronicled during her final, difficult years in office. Ignoring calls to step aside, Feinstein died at age 90, hours after voting on a procedural matter on the Senate floor.)

Now an effort is underway among Democrats, from Hawaii to Massachusetts, to force other senior lawmakers to yield, as Boxer did, to a new and younger generation of leaders. The movement is driven by the usual roiling ambition, along with revulsion at Donald Trump and the existential angst that visits a political party every time it loses a dispiriting election like the one Democrats faced in 2024.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has become the highest profile target.

Last week, she drew a second significant challenger to her reelection, state Sen. Scott Wiener, who jumped into the contest alongside tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti, who’s been campaigning against the incumbent for the better part of a year.

Pelosi — who is 85 and hasn’t faced a serious election fight in San Francisco since Ronald Reagan was in the White House — is expected to announce sometime after California’s Nov. 4 special election whether she’ll run again in 2026.

Boxer, who turns 85 next month, offered no counsel to Pelosi, though she pushed back against the notion that age necessarily equates with infirmity, or political obsolescence. She pointed to Ted Kennedy and John McCain, two of the senators she served with, who remained vital and influential in Congress well into their 70s.

On the other hand, Boxer said, “Some people don’t deserve to be there for five minutes, let alone five years … They’re 50. Does that make it good? No. There are people who are old and out of ideas at 60.”

There is, Boxer said, “no one-size-fits-all” measure of when a lawmaker has passed his or her expiration date. Better, she suggested, for voters to look at what’s motivating someone to stay in office. Are they driven by purpose — and still capable of doing the job — “or is it a personal ego thing or psychological thing?”

“My last six years were my most prolific,” said Boxer, who opposes both term limits and a mandatory retirement age for members of Congress. “And if they’d said 65 and out, I wouldn’t have been there.”

Art Agnos didn’t choose to leave office.

He was 53 — in the blush of youth, compared to some of today’s Democratic elders — when he lost his reelection bid after a single term as San Francisco mayor.

“I was in the middle of my prime, which is why I ran for reelection,” he said. “And, frankly,” he added with a laugh, “I still feel like I’m in my prime at 87.”

A friend and longtime Pelosi ally, Agnos bristled at the ageism he sees aimed at lawmakers of a certain vintage. Why, he asked, is that acceptable in politics when it’s deplored in just about every other field of endeavor?

“What profession do we say we want bright young people who have never done this before to take over because they’re bright, young and say the right things?” Agnos asked rhetorically. “Would you go and say, ‘Let me find a brain surgeon who’s never done this before, but he’s bright and young and has great promise.’ We don’t do that. Do we?

“Give me somebody who’s got experience, “ Agnos said, “who’s been through this and knows how to handle a crisis, or a particular issue.”

Pete Wilson also left office sooner than he would have like, but that’s because term limits pushed him out after eight years as California governor. (Before that, he served eight years in the Senate and 11 as San Diego mayor.)

“I thought that I had done a good job … and a number of people said, ‘Gee, it’s a pity that you can’t run for a third term,’ ” Wilson said as he headed to New Haven, Conn., for his college reunion, Yale class of ’55. “As a matter of fact, I agreed with them.”

Still, unlike Boxer, Wilson supports term limits, as a way to infuse fresh blood into the political system and prevent too many over-the-hill incumbents from heedlessly overstaying their time in office.

Not that he’s blind to the impetus to hang on. The power. The perks. And, perhaps above all, the desire to get things done.

At age 92, Wilson maintains an active law practice in Century City and didn’t hesitate — “Yes!” he exclaimed — when asked if he considered himself capable of serving today as governor, even as he wends his way through a tenth decade on Earth.

His wife, Gayle, could be heard chuckling in the background.

“She’s laughing,” Wilson said dryly, “because she knows she’s not in any danger of my doing so.”

A QUARTER of Gen X and Boomers want to go interrailing across Europe – after missing out on travelling during their teens and 20s.

A poll of 2,000 adults who have holidayed revealed scenic rail journeys are a huge draw for 46 per cent of these generations – despite the trip more commonly linked with backpacking students.

Over a third (37 per cent) want the chance to tick off multiple countries in one go, while the sense of adventure appeals to 22 per cent.

Another 31 per cent like the idea of not having the hassle of dealing with flights or airports, and 30 per cent want flexibility to travel at their own place.

In fact, many want to venture further off the beaten track to hidden gems such as Lucca in Italy, Zermatt in Switzerland, and San Sebastián, Spain’s culinary capital.

Adrija Biswas, head of HSBC UK’s Global Money account, which allows customers to convert, spend and send multiple currencies worldwide and commissioned the research, said: “It’s never too late to chase new experiences – and rail travel is proving the perfect way for older generations to finally live out the adventures they may have missed in their youth.

RAIL GOOD

My trip on the very famous & posh UK train that’s launching new route to 3 cities

ISLE-DEAL

I visited the Italian island that’s prettier and cheaper than its neighbour

“Europe has an endless number of incredible sights to see, and doing so from a rail carriage berth is such an exciting way of doing it.

“From coastal pathways to wooded wonderlands, through some of the most famous cities in the world, a rail trip around Europe is a surefire way to make lifetime memories.

“The global money account has been designed to support just that – borderless travel with a card that is as flexible as your travel itinerary.”

Across all respondents, nearly a third (32 per cent) would consider going on a multi-destination trip this year, ranging from multiple stops across Europe to far-flung, long-haul destinations.

With 55 per cent citing a variety of scenery – from beaches to mountains – as a top reason, and 47 per cent excited by different cultures and cuisines.

But 34 per cent said having to pack and unpack multiple times might put them off, and 32 per cent would fret over the potential for travel delays or missed connections.

Just under four in 10 (39 per cent) respondents believe travel habits have changed across generations, and 20 per cent think European travel is a ‘rite of passage’ for younger people.

When asked what those polled, via OnePoll, want from a holiday, 47 per cent always aim to see famous landmarks, and 46 per cent want to experience other cultures.

In addition, 38 per cent use the time to bond with their partner, while 37 per cent always hope to meet new people on their travels.

Adrija Biswas, from HSBC UK, added: “Far from being the preserve of the young, it’s great to see older adults also exploring what Europe has to offer.

“It’s incredible to think how much there is, relatively, on the UK’s doorstep that so many people haven’t taken the time to experience.

“Modern technology can also make the trip much easier, from being able to move and access money more simply across different currencies using the global money account, to language translation.

“If it’s something you’ve been thinking about, whether you’re in your 20s or your 60s, you’re sure to make memories to treasure forever.”

United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has sent a powerful message to trans youth.

Over the last year, the Trump administration has been relentless in its efforts to roll back protections for trans people.

This includes attempts to limit access to gender-affirming healthcare, restrict participation in sports and define gender narrowly in legal terms.

While the 47th president and his Republican allies are showing no signs of slowing down their tirade, various Democratic lawmakers have come out swinging in support of the trans community, including AOC.

On 3 October, the representative for New York’s 14th congressional district held a Q&A session on her Instagram, during which she discussed several topics.

When a user asked if she had anything to say to trans youth amid the rise of anti-trans rhetoric, AOC delivered a powerful message assuring them that she stands by the community.

“I want to say that I know this time is completely terrifying for so many people. And it feels hard to know where your place is, especially in politics, where it feels like people of both parties are blaming you for everything that’s happening,” she said.

“I just want you to know that they couldn’t be more wrong and you are fine just the way you are, and in a time when it’s hard to know who stands with you, I want you to know that I stand with you, and everyone who wants to be mean shouldn’t be mean around me.”

AOC’s message was immediately embraced by many of her LGBTQIA+ followers, with one person commenting: “Thank you! As a peer support/peer ambassador in the mental health field, I truly appreciate your words #achildislistening”

@aocMy message for trans youth in what feels like a terrifying moment: I stand with you. I’ve got your back.♬ original sound – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Another user echoed similar sentiments, writing: “As a trans girl, thank you for standing up for us.”

A third follower added: “Thank you for taking the time to address our trans babies!! They deserve so much more love & respect than they’re receiving rn.”

Since entering the political sphere, AOC has been a staunch advocate for the trans community, often using her platform and public appearances to push back against hateful rhetoric.

In 2021, she effortlessly shut down transphobic critics mocking her for using the inclusive terminology, “menstruating person,” while discussing Texas’ anti-abortion law.

The politician took to Twitter to clarify her comments when news outlets generalised her wording to mean just “women”.

“Not just women,” AOC wrote. “Trans men & non-binary people can also menstruate.”

Not just women! Trans men & non-binary people can also menstruate.

Some women also *don’t* menstruate for many reasons, including surviving cancer that required a hysterectomy.

GOP mad at this are protecting the patriarchal idea that women are most valuable as uterus holders. pic.twitter.com/BJovcw1qPa

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 8, 2021

“Some women also *don’t* menstruate for many reasons, including surviving cancer that required a hysterectomy. GOP mad at this are protecting the patriarchal idea that women are most valuable as uterus holders.”

In November 2024, she came out in support of her colleague Sarah McBride –the first openly trans person to be elected to the House of Representatives – after Republican lawmakers attempted to pass a bill banning trans people from using the bathrooms on Capitol Hill that match their gender identity.

“If you ask them what is your plan to enforce this is, they won’t come up with an answer. What it inevitably results in are women and girls who are primed for assault because people are going to check their private parts in suspecting who is trans and who is cis and who is doing what,” she told reporters.

“And so the idea that Nancy Mace wants little girls and women to drop trou[sers] in front of who? An investigator? Who would that be? Because she wants to suspect and point fingers at who she thinks is trans? It is disgusting.”

@nbcnews Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls out #Republican Rep. Nancy Mace’s proposal to ban transgender women from female bathrooms in the Capitol. Mace and Speaker Johnson have separately introduced restrictions after #Democrat Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender person elected to #Congress ♬ original sound – nbcnews

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed legislation to study inequalities in youth sports, a move likely to draw ire from Republicans who believe the measure is intended to support transgender athletes.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 749, creates a commission to examine whether a new state board or department is needed to improve access to sports regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, income or geographic location.

In an open letter last month to the governor, Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-Santee) zeroed in on the term “gender identity.”

“The author and supporters of [this legislation] know if they were upfront and put forth a straightforward bill allowing biological males to compete against young women and girls, it would be easily defeated,” Jones wrote on Sept. 26. “So instead they are trying to establish a stacked commission to indirectly rig the issue in their favor.”

Jones urged Newsom to veto the bill and referenced the governor’s previous remarks about transgender athletes. During the first episode of his podcast “This Is Gavin Newsom,” the governor — a longtime ally of the LGBTQ+ community — acknowledged the struggle faced by transgender people but called transgender women’s participation in women’s sports “deeply unfair” and warned it was hurting Democrats at the polls.

Assemblymember Tina S. McKinnor, who introduced the bill, said Jones should keep his focus on Washington.

“Senator Brian Jones’ time would be better spent writing to the Republican controlled Congress to end the Trump Shutdown and reopen the federal government, rather than attacking trans students,” McKinnor (D-Hawthorne) wrote in an email to The Times.

Legislation referencing gender identity tends to be a lightning rod for controversy nationwide, with opinion polls suggesting Americans hold complex views on transgender issues.

A survey conducted this year by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found 66% of U.S. adults favor laws requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams that match their sex assigned at birth. At the same time, 56% of adults supported policies protecting transgender people from discrimination in jobs and public spaces.

During legislative committee hearings on the bill, McKinnor focused on the legislation’s potential racial impact. She said last year’s Play Equity Report found 59% of white youth participated in structured sports programs, compared with 47% of Black youth and 45% of Latino youth.

“Participation in youth sports remains unequal despite the well-documented physical, mental and academic benefits,” McKinnor told the Senate Health Committee in July. “These disparities stem from systemic barriers such as financial limitations, uneven program quality, outdated physical education standards and the lack of a coordinated statewide strategy.”

More than two dozen organizations endorsed the bill, including the Los Angeles Rams, city of San Diego, USC Schwarzenegger Institute, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles and the Boys and Girls Clubs of West San Gabriel Valley and Eastside.

The legislation directs the state public health officer to convene the commission, which will be composed of 10 members appointed by the governor and three appointed by each the speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Committee on Rules. The health officer will also sit on the panel, or appoint their own designee.

Newsom did not issue a statement when his office announced a slate of bills he signed on Monday.

In March, Newsom infuriated the progressive wing of his party when, while hosting conservatives commentator Charlie Kirk on the governor’s podcast, he broke away from many Democrats on the issue of transgender athletes. Newsom, an outspoken champion of LGBTQ+ rights since he was mayor of San Francisco, publicly criticized the “unfairness” of transgender athletes participating in women’s sports.

Beau Greaves emerged victorious from a 6-5 thriller against Luke Littler as she became the first woman to reach the final of the World Youth Championship.

Littler came into the tournament on the back of his 6-1 demolition of world number one Luke Humphries in the World Grand Prix final on Sunday.

The 18-year-old had breezed through his three matches in the round-robin phase of the event, with wins over Dutchman Jeffrey Keen, Iceland’s Alexander Thorvaldsson and Belgium’s Matthias Moors.

However, the world champion put in a below-par last-16 display against fellow Englishman Charlie Manby.

Littler was on the brink of defeat at 5-3 down to the 20-year-old, before winning the next three legs, then rediscovered his touch in the quarter-finals with a 6-1 victory over Jamai van den Herik of the Netherlands.

Warrington teenager Littler found himself 2-1 down in the semi-final against Greaves but responded by winning three consecutive legs to seize the upper hand.

But three-time WDF women’s world champion Greaves – who is set to accept a PDC Tour card for 2026-27 – rallied to level the match at 4-4 and 5-5.

Greaves then blew Littler away in the decider as she threw an 11-dart leg – the 21-year-old from Doncaster sealing victory with a checkout of 80.

She will meet defending champion Gian van Veen in next month’s final after the Dutchman, 23, clinched a 6-4 win over Sebastian Bialecki of Poland in the other semi-final.

The World Youth Championship final will be played on 23 November in Minehead, before the Players Championship final on the same day.

Littler, who averaged 107.4 to Greaves’ 105, posted on Instagram after his defeat: “Fair play to Beau. All the best in Minehead. Some talent.”

Players aged between 16 and 24 are eligible to compete in the World Youth Championship.

Littler won the youth title in 2023 aged 16, a few weeks before he burst into the spotlight by finishing runner-up at the 2024 World Championship.

A judge temporarily blocked California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s attempt to take over Los Angeles County’s beleaguered juvenile halls on Friday, finding that despite evidence of a “systemic failure” to improve poor conditions, Bonta had not met the legal grounds necessary to strip away local control.

After years of scandals — including frequent drug overdoses and incidents of staff violence against youths — Bonta filed a motion in July to place the county’s juvenile halls in “receivership,” meaning a court-appointed monitor would manage the facilities, set their budgets and oversee the hiring and firing of staff. An ongoing staffing crisis previously led a state oversight body to deem two of L.A. County’s halls unfit to house children.

L.A. County entered into a settlement with the California Department of Justice in 2021 to mandate improvements, but oversight bodies and a Times investigation earlier this year found the Probation Department was falling far short of fixing many issues, as required by the agreement.

On Friday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Peter A. Hernandez chastised Bonta for failing to clearly lay out tasks for the Probation Department to abide by in the 2021 settlement. Hernandez said the attorney general’s office’s filings failed to show that a state takeover would lead to “a transformation of the juvenile halls.”

The steps the Probation Department needs to take to meet the terms of the settlement have been articulated in court filings and reports published by the L.A. County Office of the Inspector General for several years. Hernandez was only assigned to oversee the settlement in recent months and spent much of Friday’s hearing complaining about a lack of “clarity” in the case.

Hernandez wrote that Bonta’s motion had set off alarm bells about the Probation Department’s management of the halls.

“Going forward, the court expects all parties to have an ‘all-hands’ mentality,” the judge wrote in a tentative ruling earlier this week, which he adopted Friday morning.

Hernandez said he would not rule out the possibility of a receivership in the future, but wanted more direct testimony from parties, including Probation Department Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa and the court-appointed monitor over the settlement, Michael Dempsey. A hearing was set for Oct. 24.

The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The Department remains fully committed to making the necessary changes to bring our juvenile institutions to where they need to be,” Vicky Waters, the Probation Department’s chief spokesperson, said in a statement. “However, to achieve that goal, we must have both the authority and support to remove barriers that hinder progress rather than perpetuate no-win situations.”

The California attorney general’s office began investigating L.A. County’s juvenile halls in 2018 and found probation officers were using pepper spray excessively, failing to provide proper educational and therapeutic programming and detaining youths in solitary confinement for far too long.

Bonta said in July that the county has failed to improve “75%” of what they were mandated to change in the 2021 settlement.

A 2022 Times investigation revealed a massive staffing shortage was leading to significant injuries for both youths and probation officers. By May of 2023, the California Board of State and Community Corrections ordered Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar shuttered due to unsafe conditions. That same month, an 18-year-old died of an overdose while in custody.

The county soon reopened Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, but the facility quickly became the site of a riot, an escape attempt and more drug overdoses. Last year, the California attorney general’s office won indictments against 30 officers who either orchestrated or allowed youths to engage in “gladiator fights.” That investigation was sparked by video of officers allowing eight youths to pummel another teen inside Los Padrinos, which has also been deemed unfit to house youths by a state commission.

In court Friday, Laura Fair, an attorney from the attorney general’s office, said that while she understood Hernandez’s position, she expressed concern that teens are still in danger while in the Probation Department’s custody.

“The youth in the halls continue to be in grave danger and continue to suffer irreparable harm every day,” she said.

Fair told the court that several youths transferred out of Los Padrinos under a separate court order in recent weeks showed up at Nidorf Juvenile Hall with broken jaws and arms.

She declined to comment further outside the courtroom. Waters, the Probation Department’s spokesperson, said she was unaware of the situation Fair was describing but would look into it.

Despite the litany of fiascoes over the last few years, probation leaders still argued in court filings that Bonta had gone too far.

“The County remains open to exploring any path that will lead to better outcomes. But it strongly opposes the DOJ’s ill-conceived proposal, which will only harm the youth in the County’s care by sowing chaos and inconsistency,” county lawyers wrote in an opposition motion submitted last month. “The DOJ’s request is almost literally without precedent. No state judge in California history has ever placed a correctional institution into receivership.”

Under the leadership of Viera Rosa, who took office in 2023, the Probation Department has made improvements to its efforts to keep drugs out of the hall, rectify staffing issues and hold its own officers accountable for misconduct, the county argued.

The department has placed “airport-grade” body scanners and drug-sniffing dogs at the entrances to both Nidorf and Los Padrinos in order to stymie the influx of narcotics into the halls, according to Robert Dugdale, an attorney representing the county.

Dugdale also touted the department’s hiring of Robert Arcos, a former high-ranking member of the Los Angeles Police Department and L.A. County district attorney’s office, to oversee security in the facilities.

The motion claimed it was the Probation Department that first uncovered the evidence that led to the gladiator fight prosecutions. Bonta said in March that his office launched its investigation after it reviewed leaked footage of one of the incidents.

Insolent schoolkids and educators with the stamina and sensitivity to reach them is a sentimental formula so familiar, it could stand a pantsing in the hallway between classes.

Which makes it a good thing that “Steve,” starring Cillian Murphy as a dedicated, troubled head teacher at a struggling reform school for chaos-inclined teenage boys, brings a raucously corrective attitude to bear.

Teachers are sorely undervalued in this world, and a more thorny, realistic view of the profession’s challenges has made its way into the culture of late, between the Oscar-nominated German film “The Teachers’ Lounge,” Hirokazu Kore-ada’s “Monster” and Netflix’s Emmys-gobbling hit “Adolescence.” And while “Steve,” which takes place over a day, is ultimately too messy itself to measure up to those more tightly coiled efforts, its energy makes a statement, as if the legacy of the late, system-smashing British director Alan Clarke were close at hand.

“Steve” marks the second feature collaboration between Murphy and Belgian director Tim Mielants, following their excellent 2024 adaptation of Claire Keegan’s story “Small Things Like These.” This one, too, derives from a book — “Shy” by Max Porter. In adapting his own work, Porter shifts focus from his novella’s title adolescent, a disturbed soul in mid-tumble, who in the film is still a central figure (vividly rendered by Jay Lycurgo), to the teacher character for whom the movie is named, which the Oscar-winning Murphy turns into another immersive portrayal of dark-hued, guilt-flecked intensity.

Steve’s compassion is the beating heart of Stanton Wood, a privately bankrolled school in an old manor in the English countryside, whose core staff — including Steve’s plain-talking deputy, Amanda (Tracey Ullman), and unflappable therapist Jenny (Emily Watson) — are committed to its last-chance ethos of pulling unhappy delinquents from the brink. But this is Britain in 1996 and these hot-headed young men (played by a lively mix of first-timers and experienced actors) prefer the numbing tempo of drum and bass or a well-timed punch or thrown object.

Stopping fights is a full-time a job, and Steve’s chummy de-escalation style attests to how much he cares. But on top of the day’s regular behavior management, there’s also a prying documentary crew, a visit from a local MP (a perfectly pompous Roger Allam) that goes south and what turns out to be a bad-news report from the school’s wealthy backers. When Steve explodes on them, one senses his volatile students have been teaching him something too.

And yet “Steve,” sincere in its hardcore concern, believably acted, is too scattered and schematically plotted to fully pull us into the emotional toll and scruffy joys of this work. Its social realist roots are kept from growing the more it relies on visual/sonic turbulence (hallucinatory images, a flashy drone shot) and narrative shorthands (the overdone documentary framing).

But when “Steve” zeroes in on its characters — Shy on a disturbing call with his fed-up mum, Steve fighting his own demons or in the zone — the movie captures the electric hum of unpredictability and vulnerability. At its best, we understand why these people want to keep the lights on in a dark, unforgiving world.

At least 13 people have been killed and dozens are injured in Nepal after demonstrations against a government social media ban led to clashes between protesters and security forces.

Thousands heeded a call by demonstrators describing themselves as Generation Z to gather near the parliament building in Kathmandu over the decision to ban platforms including Facebook, X and YouTube.

Nepal’s Minister for Communication Prithvi Subba told the BBC police had had to use force – which included water cannons, batons and firing rubber bullets.

The government has said social media platforms need to be regulated to tackle fake news, hate speech and online fraud.

But popular platforms such as Instagram have millions of users in Nepal, who rely on them for entertainment, news and business.

Demonstrators carried placards with slogans including “enough is enough” and “end to corruption”.

Some said they were protesting against what they called the authoritarian attitude of the government.

As the rally moved into a restricted area close to parliament, some protesters climbed over the wall.

“Tear gas and water cannons were used after the protesters breached into the restricted area,” police spokesman Shekhar Khanal told the AFP news agency.

A Kathmandu district office spokesperson said a curfew was imposed around areas including the parliament building after protesters attempted to enter.

Last week authorities ordered the blocking of 26 social media platforms for not complying with a deadline to register with Nepal’s ministry of communication and information technology.

Since Friday, users have experienced difficulty in accessing the platforms, though some are using VPNs to get around the ban. So far, two platforms have been reactivated after registering with the ministry following the ban.

Nepal’s government has argued it is not banning social media but trying to bring them in line with Nepali law.

MANCHESTER UNITED’S ‘Kid-Messi’ wonderkid JJ Gabriel is set to train with Ruben Amorim’s first team at times this season.

At 14 years old, Gabriel is too young to feature in the FA Youth Cup despite becoming the youngest ever player to feature for the Under-18s.

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The forward will not be 15 years old until October, but is already the talk of Old Trafford and beyond with his fast-tracked displays.

This season’s Youth Cup players have to be born before the cut-off date of 31 August 2010, with Kai Rooney eligible to feature.

Gabriel committed his future to United for at the least the next two years and has been tipped by insiders to become their youngest EVER Premier League player.

He is so highly rated that technical director Jason Wilcox and director of football Matt Hargreaves played active roles in keeping him at the club.

Gabriel, who isn’t even in his GCSE year at school, was handed his first U18 start in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Everton, outperforming players who were mostly older and bigger.

United invited Gabriel to watch Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the directors’ box, following the teenager’s decision to stay amid interest from Europe‘s biggest clubs.

He was then pictured with Amorim at Carrington on Thursday, with his family also introduced to the United boss.

The Portuguese gaffer, 40, will start working with Gabriel as he will be drafted into the first team group at times throughout the season.

While it’s not unusual for academy players to train with the big boys, it is rare for the youngest players to get the nod.

Gabriel made his debut for the U18s at the beginning of April and scored twice from the bench in a 13-1 hammering of Leeds.

That match saw him become the youngest ever player to feature for the U18s, with club legend Darren Fletcher in charge of his development.

He made a further two appearances for the U18s before the end of the season and scored again, while also featuring for England‘s Under-15s.

Shooting to stardom under the name ‘Kid Messi’ on YouTube five years ago, the schoolboy signed a lucrative deal with Nike in February.

Gabriel, whose full name is Joseph Junior Andreou Gabriel, was born in London and is the son of former Republic of Ireland defender Joe O’Cearuill, who spent most of his career playing non-League after starting out at Watford and Arsenal.

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Water polo players briefly left the pool after shots were fired near an Under-20 World Cup game in Brazil.

Brazilian police have said there were no injuries after shots were fired near an Under-20 World Cup water polo women’s game between China and Canada in the city of Salvador.

China won 12-8 on Sunday – the opening day of the tournament – but footage showed the game being briefly interrupted as players got out of the pool, lay down and took cover by a small barrier after hearing gunshots outside the water polo venue in the Pituba neighbourhood. China led Canada 3-2 at the time.

“The match stopped for about a minute. Our team saw that the police were taking care of it,” Marco Antonio Lemos, head of the Bahia state water sports federation, said in a statement on Monday.

Police said the cause of the shots was a confrontation with an alleged local thief who was outside the venue and tried to escape. No more details were given.

Spectators were told about the incident after the game had resumed.

Brazil is hosting the 16-team tournament for the first time.

Late in Italian writer-director Giovanni Tortorici’s pop-up book of a coming-of-age movie “Diciannove (Nineteen),” there’s a great scene in which his arrogant, neurotic protagonist, Leonardo (Manfredi Marini), a student of classical Italian literature in Siena, is visiting a cousin (Zackari Delmas) attending university in Milan. As the two commiserate over crazy adventures, the chatter turns to disagreements and griping (culture, language, kids today, drugs aren’t fun anymore) and suddenly they sound like middle-aged men bemoaning why anything ever had to change.

The cusp of 20 is a laughably unformed time to be convinced of anything, but what Tortorici’s higgledy-piggledy debut feature makes breathlessly clear is that when you’re in the middle of it, youth is a candy-colored tornado of temptations and responsibilities. You’re the star of your own solipsistic, hallucinatory epic, even if what you imagine for yourself might be a straightforward affair with a clear-cut message about the meaning of life.

“Diciannove” hums with the dissonance of repression plus expression in Leonardo’s consequential 19th year. If you notice a similarity to the playful moods and textures of Tortorici’s countryman Luca Guadagnino, there’s a reason: The “Call Me by Your Name” filmmaker produced his protégé Tortorici’s autobiographical debut feature and a lineage of tenderness and vivacity in evoking the emotional waves of adolescence is more than evident.

We meet Leonardo as a nosebleed-suffering, dreamy-eyed Palermo teen with a haranguing mom. He’s headed to business school in London, where his older sister Arianna (Vittoria Planeta) also lives. But once there, after a round of hard-partying with her friends and the sense that he’s replaced one hypercritical family member for another, he makes a last-minute decision to change the course of his educational life and enroll as a literature student back in Italy.

Cut to picturesque Siena and cue the baroque score. In this ancient Tuscan city, Leonardo is awakened by his writerly ambitions, a swoony love for medieval Italian authors like Dante and an intellectual disdain for the 20th century. But it also turns him into a lonely, rigidly neoclassicist oddball who scorns his professors, prefers books to his flighty peers and still can’t seem to take care of himself. Sealing himself off in a stuffy, antiquated notion of personal morality only makes the trappings of real life (desire, depression, cleanliness, online enticements) harder to deal with, leading his journey of self-discovery to some internally and externally messy places.

And some messy filmmaking too, even if that’s the point of this elegantly shapeless headspace travelogue. With unapologetic brio, Tortorici, cinematographer Massimiliano Kuveiller and editor Marco Costa empty out their tool kit of angles, splits, tracks, smudges, zooms, smashes, jumps, needle drops, montages and text cards. Though never disorienting or obnoxious (à la “Euphoria”), it can get tiring: a restlessness of spirit and technique that occasionally separates us from this lost antihero when we crave a closer connection to him. Especially since first-time actor Marini is stellar casting. There’s an easygoing inscrutability to his demeanor and his sad, mischievous eyes compel our curiosity — he’ll never let you think you’ve watched a thousand coming-of-age movies.

Tortorici doesn’t give his searcher a tidy ending. There’s a hilarious psychoanalysis by a wealthy aesthete (Sergio Benvenuto) who sees right through his posturing. But the night air beckons. As Leonardo walks away from us at the end after serving up a rascally smile (in a very “400 Blows”-ish freeze frame), Tortorici has him stumble briefly on the cobblestones, and somehow it feels like the wit of “Diciannove” in a split second of screen time: Youth means missteps, so why dwell on them?

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said Wednesday he will ask a judge to allow the state to take control of L.A. County’s juvenile halls.

The move comes after years of failure to comply with court-ordered reforms that have been marked by riots, drug overdoses, allegations of child abuse and the death of a teenager.

In a statement, Bonta said he will ask a judge to place the county’s halls in “receivership,” meaning a court-appointed official would take over “management and operations of the juvenile halls” from the L.A. County Probation Department, including setting budgets and hiring and firing staff.

Bonta is expected to discuss the move at a news conference in downtown L.A. around 9:45 a.m. A probation department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The scandal-plagued halls have failed to see significant improvement under the probation department’s management. Two facilities were shut down in 2023 after repeatedly failing to meet basic standards to house youth under California law. That same year, 18-year-old Bryan Diaz died of a drug overdose at the Secure Youth Treatment Facility and reports of Xanax and opiate overdoses among youths in the halls have become a regular occurrence in recent months.

Nearly three dozen probation officers have been charged with crimes related to on-duty conduct in the past few years, including 30 indicted earlier this year by Bonta for staging or allowing so-called “gladiator fights” between juveniles in custody. Officers also routinely refuse to come to work, leaving each hall critically short-staffed.

“This drastic step to divest Los Angeles County of control over its juvenile halls is a last resort — and the only option left to ensure the safety and well-being of the youth currently in its care,” Bonta’s statement Wednesday said. “For four-and-a-half years, we’ve moved aggressively to bring the County into compliance with our judgment — and we’ve been met with glacial progress that has too often looked like one step forward and two steps back. Enough is enough. These young people deserve better, and my office will not stop until they get it.”

Bonta first suggested he might seek receivership in May, in response to questions for a Times investigation on the probation department’s years of defiance of state oversight.

The California attorney general’s office began investigating L.A. County’s juvenile halls in 2018 and found probation officers were using pepper spray excessively, failing to provide proper programming, and detaining youths in solitary confinement in their rooms for far too long. A 2021 court settlement between L.A. County and the state attorney general’s office was aimed at improving conditions for youth and tamping down on use of force.

But the situation has seemingly only gotten worse in the last four years. Incidents in which staff use force against youths have increased over the life of the settlement, records show. The L.A. County inspector general’s office has published six reports showing the department has failed to meet the terms of the state oversight agreement. Oversight officials have caught several probation officers lying about violent incidents in the halls after reviewing video footage that contradicted written reports.

After the state shut down the county’s other two major detention centers, Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey was reopened but quickly became a haven for chaos. In its first month of operation, there was a riot and an escape attempt and someone brought a gun inside the youth hall.

Late last year, California’s Board of State and Community Corrections ordered Los Padrinos closed too after it failed repeated inspections, but Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa ignored the order, leading some to call on Bonta to intervene. Eventually, an L.A. County judge ordered the probation department to begin emptying Los Padrinos until it came back into compliance with state standards.

July 10 (UPI) — A far greater percentage of voters over 60 have turned out to vote than younger voters, often by margins of 10 to 25 percentage points, in recent elections across Latin America, including Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Brazil, an analysis shows.

This persistent gap is a clear sign of a crisis of representation that especially affects younger generations and fuels abstention as a form of political disengagement across the region.

Voter abstention has been a growing trend since 2010 in national and regional elections. The reasons behind this disengagement vary, but a crisis of representation and rising distrust in political elites — especially among young people — stand out.

“The representative system is in crisis. Society is increasingly distrustful of elites, especially politics as a profession,” Argentine political scientist Adrián Rocha said. He warned that voters between the ages of 18 and 30 are showing growing indifference toward traditional democratic values.

Even in countries where voting is mandatory — such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay — low turnout remains common in regional and internal party elections.

In Argentina, for example, only 53.2% of voters participated in Buenos Aires City’s legislative elections in May 2024. In the 2023 primaries, just 43% of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 cast ballots, compared to 71% of those over 60.

In Chile, only 9.16% of registered voters took part in the left-wing presidential primaries this past June. Just 35% of voters aged 18 to 24 turned out for the 2020 constitutional plebiscite, when voting was voluntary.

Similar patterns have emerged in other countries. In the Dominican Republic, abstention in the 2024 presidential election topped 46% — a steady rise compared to previous cycles.

Dominican attorney Allen Peña said the high abstention rate in his country is due “in large part to the lack of quality proposals from candidates — a perception that’s especially widespread among young voters.”

In Guatemala, turnout dropped from to 54% in 2023 from 61% in 2019, with the lowest participation among voters aged 18 to 29.

In Mexico, the judicial election held in June 2025 — the first of its kind in the country — set a record for low turnout: only 10% of eligible voters cast a ballot. While there are no official age breakdowns, analysts and international observers estimate that abstention among young voters exceeded 85%.

In Brazil, despite compulsory voting, more than 30% of voters aged 18 to 24 did not go to the polls in the 2022 presidential election.

Jorge Cruz, vice president of the Esquipulas Foundation, said “electoral abstention in Latin America is a growing phenomenon closely tied to the crisis of democracy. New generations show deep apathy toward politics, which they see as distant, bureaucratic and ineffective at solving their everyday problems.”

He added that many voters no longer see their ballot as a path to tangible change.

The 2024 Latinobarómetro confirms the trend. Although support for democracy rose from 48% to 52% across the region, one in four Latin Americans say they are indifferent to the type of political system.

The generational gap is also striking — only 45% of those under 25 support democracy, compared to 56% of those over 60. Preference for authoritarianism nearly doubles among younger respondents, rising from 13% among those over 60 to 21% among those under 25.

Former world youth champion Bradley Brooks won his maiden PDC ProTour title at the Players Championship 21 in Leicester.

The 25-year-old won the £15,000 top prize after beating Chris Dobey and James Wade on his way to a final against former world champion Gerwyn Price.

Brooks secured an early break of throw with a 13-dart leg and went on to win 8-5 to seal a spot in December’s World Darts Championship.

“I’m lost for words,” he said. “This week I felt so comfortable in my own game and everything clicked, so I’m over the moon.

“I treated the final like I had nothing to lose. I can’t put into words how much it means to me.

“I struggled a couple of times this year and I still have that bad game in me, but I think when I do get it right, I can mix it with the best in the room.”

Michael Smith, the 2023 world champion, was beaten in the first round which means he will miss the World Matchplay in Blackpool for the first time since 2013.

The 34-year-old needed to make at least the semi-finals to qualify, but lost 6-4 to Frenchman Thibault Tricole.

Tuesday’s Players Championship 20 was won by Australian Damon Heta, who beat crowd favourite Stephen Bunting 8-7, and both men will be in Blackpool., external

Every year, nonprofit organization Chicxs Rockerxs (pronounced cheek-ex roh-kerr-ex) hosts a week-long summer camp in Southeast Los Angeles for girls and gender nonconforming youth to unleash their inner rock stars.

At the camp, which took place from June 30 to July 4 this year, students learn new instruments, attend creative workshops, and perform original songs in bands with their fellow campers. Students ages 8 to 17 qualify for enrollment.

Yet two weeks before camp this summer, amid the citywide uptick in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, organizers heard some students were staying home in fear.

“As we were planning and getting ready for camp in person, that’s sort of when the raids started happening in Southeast L.A., and we saw how intensified they were in the area and how violent [they were] and just really damaging to the community,” said organizer Audrey Silvestre.

To safeguard campers and their families from ICE raids in the region, Chicxs Rockerxs canceled the in-person camp — but not entirely.

Organizers quickly moved the program online. Staffers offered to drop off musical instruments, gift cards for food, and camp supplies to families who were not comfortable going out during the raids. They also made a formal announcement on Instagram, informing supporters about the crucial format change.

“We want to reaffirm that CRSELA stands in solidarity with our Black and Brown immigrant communities. As an organization, we formed in response to the firsthand challenges faced by girls and LGBTQ+ youth in Southeast LA, a predominantly Latinx/e immigrant region,” the post read in part.

“Thank you for thinking of the babies!!!” one person commented on the camp’s post.

“Your SELA community supports you!” another person wrote.

“It didn’t feel safe to be asking our communities to take the risk to leave their homes if they didn’t feel safe to do so,” Silvestre said.

Chicxs Rockerxs previously went virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitated their music camp by having students connect through Zoom to create bands, learn songwriting skills, and come up with an end product they could record together in the video sessions. According to Star, an organizer who asked that their full name not be disclosed for privacy reasons, the virtual model they developed for the pandemic was restructured for this year’s camp, and many changes were made to enhance the experience.

“We wanted them just to have an opportunity to have a safe space to create and to express themselves, and it didn’t necessarily have to result in a song at the end of the week,” Star said. “It was just opportunities to be creative.”

Students still learned new instruments this year, as staffers were able to drop off keyboards, guitars, bass guitars, drum pads and karaoke microphones to campers for daily lessons. Besides music courses, students also participated in smaller breakout rooms called “jam rooms,” which included different themes and creative activities. For example, some jam rooms consisted of karaoke, while others focused on making TikToks and interviewing one another.

“The idea behind these rooms was to keep it fun, because it’s Zoom and it’s not the most exciting for many kiddos who went to school on Zoom,” said Silvestre. “It’s not the most enjoyable way to experience camp, but it’s for them to have fun, bond with their bandmates and just be in community with each other.”

While campers all participated online from home, some staffers operated in person at their campus to stream lunchtime performances and daily assemblies. The organizers created a “DIY television studio,” which they described as similar to public access cable, allowing them to toggle between different cameras from their set to make sessions dynamic and improve the virtual experience for students.

Students like 17-year-old Naima Ramirez, who attended camp for the past four years, said she appreciated what Chicxs Rockerxs did for her and fellow campers.

“I think it was very thoughtful and kind of them to forget all of the scheduling that they had originally done for in-person camp and scramble into doing everything on Zoom,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said she was initially disappointed to hear that camp was moving online but believed Chicxs Rockerxs did the right thing because of the current environment in Southeast L.A.

“I was bummed because it’s my last year and I was really looking forward to being in person,” Ramirez said. “But I also understood why we had to go online.”

For organizers at Chicxs Rockerxs, the safety and well-being of campers and their families is their top concern. Even though camp took a different approach this year, they said they’re always willing to help campers beyond the creative services they provide.

“One of the things CRSELA prides itself in is that this is meant to be a safe space,” Star said. “I’m really proud that we [were] able to create a safe space in a different way for [camp this year]. It’s a safety precaution for our community, and I think that’s more important at this time.”

The Clippers have traded guard Norman Powell to the Miami Heat and have acquired forward John Collins from the Utah Jazz in a three-team, multi-player deal that also includes a draft pick, according to people with knowledge of the stituation not authorized to speak on the matter.

The Clippers will send a 2027 second-round pick to the Jazz and the Heat will send Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love to the Jazz as part of the deal.

In Collins, the Clippers get some much-needed size for the frontcourt and youth.

Though Collins played just 40 games last season for the Jazz, including 31 starts, he averaged 19.0 points and 8.2 rebounds.

A 6-9, 226-pound power forward, Collins improved his outside shooting, making a career-best 39.9 percent of his three-pointers last season despite dealing with back and ankle injuries.

Over the course of his eight-year career, Collins has averaged 16.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and shot 54.6 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from three-point range and 79.2 percent from the free-throw line, including a career-best 84.8 percent last season.

Collins opted into his player option that pays him $26.5 million next season, his last year of that deal.

Powell was one of the Clippers top performers last season, averaging a career-high 21.8 points per game, second-best on the team. He was in the final year of a contract that was to pay him $20.4 million next season and was seeking an extension.

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

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

The protests were swiftly and violently suppressed.

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

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

Rejecting a political dynasty

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

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

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

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

But neither move stemmed the unrest.

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

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

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

Civil society fills the vacuum

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The government holds its line

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Moment of reckoning

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

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

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

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

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