World Echo

Two weeks after youth-led protests forced India's education minister to resign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is grappling with the fallout from one of its toughest political challenges in years. Led by the online Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the demonstrations spread from New Delhi to other cities, broadening from anger over exam irregularities into a wider movement over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what critics describe as Modi's increasingly authoritarian rule. While demonstrations are largely over after achieving key demands, AFP looks at what the protests revealed - and what could come next. Modi under pressure The resignation of the education minister on July 25 marked a rare climbdown for a prime minister who has spent more than a decade cultivating an image of unwavering resolve. The authorities have since attempted to woo the youth, and parliament has hiked penalties for leaking exam papers. Read: Cockroach movement an...

Outlining the rationale behind the Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Turkiye and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), security analysts on Friday described it as the natural evolution and formal codification of decades of historic ties among the three countries. According to the analysts, Pakistan's relationship with Turkiye predates its own independence and is rooted in the Khilafat Movement (1919–1924). Likewise, they said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have long shared close strategic, political, economic and people-to-people contact based on mutual trust and common interests. A changing regional environment Security analysts said the region is undergoing a major strategic transformation and faces multiple threats. Regional conflicts, security challenges and the changing character of warfare, they argued, underscore the need for greater cooperation among countries sharing common aspirations based on stability. According to the sources, a trilateral framework offer...

US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday in a new but narrower attempt to curtail birthright citizenship, once again challenging a provision of the US ​Constitution even though the Supreme Court rejected his previous effort. Limiting birthright citizenship has been one of the top priorities in the Republican president's crackdown on immigration, with the ‌White House taking particular aim at what it calls "birth tourism," in which pregnant foreigners travel to the US to give birth. After his June 30 setback in the Supreme Court, Trump called on Congress to act, but on Thursday he opted for executive orders, which set policy but do not carry the same weight as laws passed by Congress. The Supreme Court had struck down as unconstitutional Trump's earlier executive order, which targeted a wide swath of immigrants in the country ​illegally or temporarily. The administration argues the new directive falls outside the pur...

The Israeli army withdrew from the Qalandia refugee camp north of occupied East Jerusalem late Thursday after a nearly two-day military raid that left 51 Palestinians injured, Palestinian authorities said. The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces pulled out after an operation involving widespread raids, searches and detentions. Several homes and other buildings were seized and turned into detention and field interrogation centres during the operation, it added. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the number of Palestinians injured since the raid began early Wednesday had risen to 51. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said earlier Thursday that Israeli forces had detained or subjected more than 60 Palestinians, including women and children, to field interrogation. Read: Over 60,000 children orphaned in Gaza since October 2023: Palestinian ministry The Israeli army launched the large-scale operation early Wednesday in Qalandia and the nearby town ...

Five months into the US war with Iran, Americans who expect the Middle East to slide toward chaos outnumber those who see the war bringing more stability ​by three to one, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The six-day poll concluded on Monday, as Republican President Donald Trump again backed away from threatened "massive attacks" on ‌Iran, underscoring uncertainty surrounding a conflict he initially predicted would bring a swift victory. Fifty per cent of poll respondents said they thought US military action in Iran would destabilize the Middle East over the next year, about three times the 17% who said the war would lead to more stability in the region. Another 16% said stability would stay about the same and 17% said they were unsure or didn't answer the question. Americans were also pessimistic about gasoline prices, which ​have risen as Iran has choked off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil supplies. Some 58% said they...

Israel said two of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon on Wednesday while Lebanese ​authorities said Israeli retaliatory attacks killed at least one person, a ‌flare-up in violence that coincided with the latest round of talks between the two countries. The Rome talks, which began on Tuesday and are expected to continue through Thursday, come after ​the two countries agreed in June to a US-brokered security arrangement ​intended to ease hostilities along the border. Despite the ceasefire, Israel ⁠declared a buffer zone in southern Lebanon where its troops continue to operate ​to eliminate what it says is the threat of the Iran-backed group, Hezbollah, on ​its border. The two soldiers were killed and four others wounded by an explosion in a building they had entered as part of a security sweep, according to Israel's Army Radio ​on Thursday. Citing a security source, Army Radio said that it was still ​unclear when the explosive device had been planted in the bui...