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Trump says Iran talks set for Monday as Tehran and Oman discuss strait of Hormuz deal

Donald Trump said talks with Iran will happen on Monday but declined to set a deadline for an agreement after earlier saying he had called ⁠off an imminent attack in the hope ⁠of quickly reaching a deal to reopen the strait of Hormuz and resolve the impasse over Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. For its part, Iran said it was nearing a deal with Oman over a new route through the strait of Hormuz, where a tanker reported an explosion nearby on Sunday, underscoring the continued volatility of the strategic waterway. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre reported that the vessel and crew were all safe. Shipping data showed on Monday that traffic in the strait had slowed after reports of vessel attacks. However, further south, two tankers laden with Saudi oil crossed the Bab el-Mandeb strait over ⁠the weekend despite Houthi threats against its oil exports in the Red Sea. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told state television on Sunday that a deal was close with Oman, which sits on the other side of the strait, over a new route through the waterway. “We are now going to reach an understanding on a route acceptable to both sides – neither the northern route nor the southern route – but one that respects the sovereign rights of both sides and safeguards our national interests and security,” he said in an interview. However, he insisted that such an agreement did not mean the reopening of the strait and that it “will in no way return to the status it was before February 28th”, the day the war started. Earlier, the IRNA state news agency quoted foreign minister Abbas Araghchi as saying that negotiations with Oman “were on track for finalisation and were going through their final stages”, without providing further details. Oman did not immediately comment on the matter. On Saturday night, the US president claimed on social media that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked for time to complete a deal ⁠that would lead to “the immediate, complete and total” reopening of the strait and “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat”. Trump added that Tehran must “rapidly make a deal”. On Sunday, aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters he decided to hold off on ordering American forces to carry out new strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, including a phone call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “I said to the crown prince, ‘What would you rather do? Would you rather us do this or not?’” Trump said. “They said we would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack, because you don’t know where these attacks lead.” As he returned to Washington from a weekend in New Jersey, Trump said that a negotiation would begin ⁠on Monday afternoon but did not provide details of where it would take place or who would be involved. Asked if there was a deadline for Iran to come to an agreement, Trump declined to answer. Trump has repeatedly issued threats that he would escalate the war on Iran, only to allow more time for talks, which have so far not led to a comprehensive deal. Trump’s apparent de-escalation after days of threats of new attacks from each side was the latest twist in the war. Attacks have spread across the Gulf to the Red Sea and even a Mediterranean facility in Egypt. Iran has largely closed the strait of Hormuz, a conduit for 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the start of the war, causing energy prices to rise and stoking broader inflation. Oil prices fell on Monday at the opening of Asian trade after Trump’s announcement, with Brent crude dropping more than 4% to about $83 per barrel. Trump has argued that his stated goal of keeping Iran from gaining nuclear weapons ‌justifies higher fuel costs in the near term, but the economic pain has put political pressure on him to find a way to end the conflict. Araghchi held phone calls with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, to discuss diplomatic efforts, Iran’s state media reported on Sunday. Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister, said there was close security and intelligence coordination between Israel and the US on everything happening in the region. But ‌he added: “With or without an agreement, and regardless of any external commitments, if Iran attempts to renew its nuclear programme or advance its ballistic missile industries, we will be there. We will take action, and we will strike.” Trump and Netanyahu met on Tuesday in Washington, with an Israeli official saying they had explored all possible paths to curb Iran’s nuclear program, including diplomacy, economic pressure and force. Tehran denies it is seeking a nuclear weapon. Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

Malaysia cracks down on social media hiking trend after jump in numbers needing rescue

Malaysia’s government is tightening hiking rules nationwide after a social media trend left increasing numbers of adventurers needing to be rescued when they became lost or stranded in remote locations. In the first five months of 2026, Malaysia saw 52 cases of lost hikers, an increase of nearly 30% compared with the same period the previous year, the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department told local media. Norimah Abd Karim, who is part of an association of certified forestry mountain guides, said earlier this year that many hikers carry minimal gear to appear like professional trail runners on social media. “There are hikers who focus more on getting interesting content that they are willing to take risks and neglect their own safety.” Some in the larger outdoor influencer community also known as “hike-tok” have popularised “compressed hikes”, or shortened versions of demanding hikes, often within a single day or combining an ascent and descent that would usually be spread over a longer period. Some have also been accused of creating an achievement-based relationship with nature through trends like “bagging peaks”, seeking to tick off as many mountain summits as possible. The new measures include making guides mandatory in 189 high-risk locations, strengthening pre-climb screening measures and banning some compressed hikes. Compressed hikes have been banned at many high-risk mountainous areas across the country, Syed Ibrahim Syed Noy, the deputy minister of natural resources and environmental sustainability, told the upper house of Malaysia’s parliament on Wednesday. Hikers underestimating the importance of preparation and being driven by social media trends have increased the risk of emergencies, said Syed Ibrahim, whose comments were published by Malaysian national news agency Bernama. While it is not clear how the ban will be enforced in all areas, in at least one state applications for compressed hiking activities will not be approved, while another has implemented minimum climbing periods of several days for certain routes. Malaysia requires permits to hike in its state parks and forests. Syed Ibrahim said the government was also strengthening pre-climb screening measures by requiring health declarations, medical history checks and insurance coverage. “The government’s priority is to reduce the risk of hikers getting lost and prevent accidents, thereby minimising the need for SAR [Search and Rescue] operations, which require substantial financial resources and manpower,” he said.

Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv’s forces hit Wildberries again amid deadly trade of strikes with Russia

Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least nine people in Russia on Sunday, with targets again including retail giant Wildberries, while Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least five, according to officials in both countries. Drones attacked a Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region, about 800km (500 miles) from Ukraine’s most advanced military positions, governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev ‌said. There were ‌no casualties and a fire triggered by the attack was being put out, he said. Ukrainian forces have attacked about a dozen Wildberries sites since 18 July in an attempt to disrupt the operations of the company, which is Russia’s largest online retailer and a linchpin of the consumer economy often described as the country’s version of Amazon. Three people were killed and two injured in a drone attack on the Udmurtia region of Russia, acting governor Olga Abramova said. In the border region of ⁠Belgorod, three people were killed and five injured in Ukrainian strikes, the local taskforce reported. A Ukrainian drone struck an area next to ⁠a playground, killing one child and injuring two, acting regional governorAlexander Shuvayev said. Russian strikes in Ukraine killed two people in the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, and at least one person each in the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, according to regional authorities. A separate Russian strike destroyed a postal terminal in the northern Kharkiv region, killing a worker, the mail operator Nova Poshta said. A strike on a Russian residential building in Samara’s neighbouring region of Saratov killed two people in the city of Engels, governor Roman Busargin ‌said. Civil infrastructure was damaged in Engels and the city of Saratov, he said. Ukraine’s military said on Sunday that their forces attacked the Saratov oil refinery and the Engels military airbase, sparking fires at both facilities. It said its forces also struck an oil depot in the western Kaluga region. Russia’s defence ministry said its forces struck infrastructure and two vessels with military cargo in the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv, as well as a vessel carrying military supplies in the Black Sea. An EU naval mission led by Italy boarded a tanker from Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” on Sunday, the ⁠second such operation in ⁠less than two weeks as Europe intensifies scrutiny of vessels suspected of helping Moscow circumvent oil sanctions. Italy’s defence ministry said the Toa Payoh, a ⁠tanker subject to EU sanctions, was intercepted west of the Sicilian island of Pantelleria while sailing from Benin to Istanbul. The vessel had switched to ⁠a Cameroon registry only last week, a source familiar with the operation said.

At least five Mohamed Al Fayed abuse survivors confirmed as human-trafficking victims

At least five victims of the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed have been confirmed by the Home Office as victims of human trafficking. A group of survivors of abuse by the deceased businessman had called for the Metropolitan police to make trafficking the main focus of its investigation, arguing that Fayed could not have committed his offences without a steady stream of women sent to him by associates. The women were victims of international and domestic trafficking, and one survivor told the Press Association (PA) they were recruited to a false role within Harrods. Two further victims were hired for a legitimate role and then selected from the shop floor for abuse. These cases stretch from the 1990s to the most recent, which took place after the 2010 sale of Harrods. Officers are looking into who may have facilitated Fayed’s crimes, in an investigation known as Operation Cornpoppy. Four people have been questioned to date, 21 months after the investigation opened. One survivor, known as Justine, told PA she felt “shellshocked” when she received the conclusive grounds decision in June that she had been a victim of modern slavery. She added: “But it’s a really significant thing, getting that decision, seeing it in writing that you were a victim of modern slavery and trafficking is very … it’s really shocking to read.” Another survivor, Isabella, who worked in the chair’s office at Harrods in 2001, told PA: “He couldn’t have done what he did without Harrods processing women to him and silencing them afterwards. It wasn’t just Harrods, obviously. It was any entity that Fayed owned or had control of. It was his yachts, his aviation business, the Ritz Paris, his properties all over France and Monaco. It went as far as the States and the UAE – anywhere that man touched.” More than 400 allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Fayed for the period between 1977 and 2014 – including claims of rape, sexual assault, human trafficking, false imprisonment, drugging, physical violence and forced abortions. The Egyptian businessman died in 2023 aged 94, without facing any charges. A woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Fayed previously came forward to say she had been trafficked in Paris on his orders in 2008 before being sent to London to be sexually assaulted by him. Pelham Spong, 40, from South Carolina in the US, said Fayed, who owned the Ritz hotel in Paris, had forcibly kissed her and offered her a salary of €65,000 a year if she slept with him. Victims have previously complained of how the Metropolitan police have handled the investigations into Fayed’s abuse. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is examining complaints about the force’s handling of allegations between 2018 and 2024. A Harrods spokesperson said: “Harrods supports all survivors in their pursuit of justice and continues to work closely with the Met police on its investigation”.

Trump backs down on Iran strikes in expectation of ‘rapidly’ reaching a deal

Donald Trump has said he cancelled planned military strikes against Iran on the basis of “rapidly” reaching a deal on its nuclear programme and the full reopening of the strait of Hormuz. The US president paused the strikes in expectation of a breakthrough and in response to requests from Iran and other countries in the region, he claimed on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. “Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said new talks would begin on Monday. The deal would include the immediate and complete reopening of the strait and “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat”, he posted. It marked the latest climbdown from extravagant threats to pound the Islamic Republic in the months-long conflict. However, hopes of a breakthrough faded on Sunday when Iran’s Mehr news agency said Trump’s claim that Tehran had requested a pause “was nothing but a new lie” and that the Iranian armed forces were “on high alert and ready for any eventuality”. Another Iranian news agency, Fars, citing a source close to Iranian negotiators, said that as long as the US “maintains its hostile actions” the strait would remain closed. Iran’s acting defence minister, Majid Ebn-e-Reza, said Trump had backed down “within the context of psychological operations and a war of calculations”. Iran’s forces would remain on alert, the minister said on X. “We will neither be taken by surprise nor will we be passive.” Mediation efforts were continuing amid the standoff. Hassan Ghashghavi, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, said in a video interview that mediators were trying to revive an agreement brokered by Pakistan in June, Agence France-Presse reported. The decision to halt fresh strikes came after the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, called Trump on Saturday to express concerns, it was reported. Trump’s reversal also followed Iranian threats to retaliate decisively against its neighbours in the event of US strikes, while Kuwait reported being hit by Iranian drones on Saturday and two ships were attacked off Oman in the strait of Hormuz. One source described as having knowledge of the Trump-Prince Mohammed call told Axios that the Saudi crown prince had “urged Trump to de-escalate and refrain from launching the strikes”. The Associated Press (AP) also reported the conversation, citing its own source. It said the Saudis were concerned that if the US targeted Iran’s energy infrastructure or carried out massive strikes on other key infrastructure, Tehran could respond by carrying out similar attacks on the kingdom and other Gulf countries. The crown prince during Saturday’s call sought clarity from Trump on what potential new action he was weighing to take against Iran, AP reported. A White House official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and requested anonymity, confirmed to AP that Trump and Prince Mohammed spoke on Saturday, but did not offer any detail about the substance of their conversation. Saudi Arabia earlier this week joined the US in striking logistics and weapons sites used by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, but has been urging the US and Iran to return to the negotiating table. CBS News reported that the US and Israel were planning joint strikes, possibly throughout the weekend, with oil refineries and power plants among possible targets. Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister and a member of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said there was close security and intelligence coordination between Israel and the US on everything happening in the region, while adding: “With or without an agreement, and regardless of any external commitments, if Iran attempts to renew its nuclear programme or advance its ballistic missile industries, we will be there. We will take action, and we will strike.” The Israeli military, meanwhile, launched airstrikes on Sunday that hit Gaza for a second straight day, killing at least 18 Palestinians, medics said, despite Trump’s announcement of a breakthrough in efforts to implement last year’s ceasefire. Israeli warplanes hit Gaza City in the north, the central ⁠city of Deir al-Balah and the ⁠southern area of Khan Younis, causing the biggest daily death toll in weeks, according to Palestinian health officials. Trump’s assertion that Hamas militants had agreed to disarm had raised hopes of a turning point. But on Sunday Cohen said Israel would give Hamas the opportunity to disarm but he was “very sceptical” that would happen. Tehran warned this weekend against any “adventurous action” by the US and said it ⁠would retaliate decisively. The comments by Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, in separate phone calls on Saturday with senior Turkish, Pakistani and Saudi officials came just hours after Kuwait’s army said it had destroyed hostile ⁠drones launched by Iran against several vital facilities. A government facility in northern Kuwait and civilian property belonging to a company on Bubiyan Island were hit, with falling shrapnel causing material damage but no casualties, the Kuwaiti army said. Araghchi told regional counterparts that any attacks by the US and Israel or participation by regional countries in such actions would be ‌met with a “proportionate response”. Nournews, a ‌media outlet affiliated with Iran’s top security body, said on Saturday that US attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure would prompt Iranian strikes on oilfields in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the gasfields of Qatar and Israel. The developments appeared to have given Trump pause for thought, as he posted on Saturday night in characteristically grandiose language that “the USA is locked and loaded” to strike Iran with “military terror, strength, and power not seen since World War II”. Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report

Man arrested after Scottish woman found dead inside suitcase in Athens

Greek authorities have arrested an Afghan national in connection with the death of a Scottish woman whose body was found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in central Athens. Elisabeth-Jane Ross, 38, a charity worker described as an “angel full of innocence and goodness” by friends, had been in Greece for almost three weeks when she is believed to have died. Police sources said the suspect was a 26-year-old Afghan citizen who had allegedly confessed to the crime. He had been brought in for questioning by Greece’s homicide division last Thursday, two days after Ross’s body was publicly identified. A statement released by police on Sunday said: “A criminal file has been opened against a 26-year-old foreign national for intentional homicide, robbery and violation of the law [regarding] weapons.” Explaining the accusation of ownership of illegal weapons, security officials said “various arms – some real, some fake” had been discovered in the suspect’s home, also thought to be in the downtown area of Kypseli where the body was discovered. He is expected to be charged on Monday. Throughout the investigation, Greek authorities had worked closely with the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Police Scotland, according to the statement. Ross, who had strong links with the charity sector in Greece, is the daughter of a prominent lawyer in Edinburgh, where she also lived. She was reported to have friends in Kypseli, where her body was discovered on 18 July by a homeless man in what had once been a car park. Wrapped in cloth, it had been placed in a suitcase left in a decrepit, rubbish-strewn building at the site. Sources told the Guardian that the suspect’s alleged use of credit cards that belonged to Ross had contributed to police identifying him. “He was caught on camera withdrawing money with the cards from various ATMs,” one said. “The credit cards belonged to Ms Ross. That played a big role in leading us to him.” For days, investigators were unable to make headway, citing the lack of fingerprints or DNA on the suitcase. Adding to the mystery was the discovery that her mobile phone had been used until the time when the body was publicly identified last week. Police had described text messages sent to her father and other members of her family as deliberately misleading. The messages had spoken of her “need to be alone”. The Briton’s “dispersed movements” in the days leading up to her death had made the quest to track her killer even harder. After leaving the home of close friends in Keratsini, a suburb close to the port of Piraeus, where she had stayed for two weeks after flying to Greece, she had gone her own way, renting an apartment in the district of Exarchia in downtown Athens. Greek media outlets reported the suspect had been found in possession of the keys to the rental apartment and that he was “the partner” of one of the Briton’s friends. “As confirmed, the victim arrived in the country on June 26 and stayed at the home of friends until July 10, from where she departed to an unknown [address],” the police statement said. The homicide division said it had made the announcement after amassing evidence that proved the Afghan had “placed the body in the case and carried it to the abandoned car park” in Kypseli. Analysis of CCTV footage had played a role. “The subsequent preliminary investigation … using investigative material and digital analysis of video footage, proved the involvement of the 26-year-old foreign national in the incident. [He] was brought in [for questioning] on 30 July and confessed to his actions,” the statement said. It remains unknown how Ross died. Media reports quoted the suspect as telling police that when he visited the flat in Exarchia he had discovered her lifeless body in the bathroom. An initial on-site postmortem showed there were no evident signs of injury or struggle on the Briton’s body but proved inconclusive because of advanced decomposition. Authorities have fast-tracked toxicological tests and analysis of vital organ tissues to determine the cause of death. Grigoris Leon, who heads the Hellenic Society of Forensic Medicine, told the Guardian that examination of the lungs and eyes would help provide answers and determine “whether she had died a natural death”. As tributes have poured in, flowers have been left beside the abandoned lot in Kypseli. One note read: “Here lies an angel.” One friend in Edinburgh agreed with that, saying: “We have lost an angel, an angel full of innocence and goodness who only wanted to help people wherever she went.”The UK Foreign Office previously said: “Our thoughts are with Elisabeth’s family during this difficult time. We are providing consular support and are in contact with the local authorities.” A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We are aware of the death of a Scottish woman in Athens and are liaising with authorities in Greece. Officers are providing support to her family in Scotland.”

Two helicopters collide outside Athens as Greece battles to control wildfires

Two firefighting helicopters have collided west of Athens, killing the two-person crew of one of the aircraft, as efforts to control a massive wildfire barrelling towards the outskirts of the Greek capital intensified. Footage showed one of the helicopters losing control in the face of gale-force winds that have pushed flames towards settlements on Athens’ western fringes. “The pilots … were taken unconscious to hospital, where their death was confirmed,” said the fire department’s director of communications, Vassilis Vathrakogiannis. The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the two dead were a Dane and a Greek. The two crew members of the second helicopter were rescued. The helicopters had been leased from Australia’s McDermott Aviation, part of a fleet of 15. The company has said it has supported operations in Greece for the past seven years. As Europe’s wildfire crisis fractured along different routes, and in further proof of the destructive force of climate-driven wildfires across the continent, the blazes ripped through Greece’s tinder-dry landscape, up mountain slopes and down to the sea, before encroaching on the capital. Warning of “extremely difficult” days ahead, Mitsotakis underlined the threat posed by gusts that in recent days have exceeded 78mph (125km/h). “When the winds blow with such force, even the dozens of aircraft we have at our disposal cannot operate safely,” he wrote on social media. More than 100 homes were destroyed overnight in fires that broke out around the popular coastal village of Porto Germeno, about 45 miles (70km) north-west of Athens. By Sunday, more than 500 firefighters and forest commandos had been dispatched to keep the flames at bay. The eastern Mediterranean, no stranger to wildfires, has had a relatively calm summer to date, leaving Greeks to watch in horror as the blazes have hit farther west. As the advance of wildfires in Spain was finally curbed and officials in France announced that a mega-fire – four times the size of Paris – had begun to be contained, the blazes in Greece have prompted mass evacuations and devastated huge swathes of land from Crete to the southern Peloponnese, the Ionian isle of Cephalonia and islands across the Aegean. Last week three Greek firefighters died from injuries sustained while they fought blazes. Extreme winds have been a blessing – in bringing down summer temperatures – but also a curse, with their-gale force strength obstructing firefighting efforts. Greece’s civil protection minister, Evangelos Tournas, a retired air force general, said at the weekend that the fire department had been “pushed to its limits”. He said high winds had created “extremely difficult conditions resulting in many cases where aircraft either cannot draw water or cannot carry out drops due to extreme turbulence”. France’s largest wildfire remained contained after 224,000 people were forced to flee in what may have been the largest peacetime evacuation in French history. But active pockets still burned across 160 sq miles (420 sq km) of devastated forest. Thousands remained unable to return home, and nearly 3,000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde mega-fire and a second blaze in Provence that had stopped advancing but remained uncontained. “The fire is now fixed, which does not mean that the fire is extinguished,” the Gironde prefecture said on Sunday, using the French firefighting term for a blaze whose advance has been stopped and whose perimeter has been contained. The region remained under France’s highest red forest fire alert. Dry conditions and soaring temperatures around Bordeaux, combined with afternoon winds, created a continued risk of renewed flames. Additional firefighters from Ukraine, Lithuania and French Polynesia were expected on Sunday and Monday to reinforce the operation. Hundreds of miles away, nearly 1,500 firefighters were battling a separate fire in the south-eastern Var department that tore through roughly 7 sq miles in little more than a day. Authorities said the fire in the Gros Bessillon hills was stabilised on Sunday morning, meaning its perimeter had not expanded overnight. But unlike the Gironde fire, it had not yet been declared contained. Firefighting aircraft supported crews working to keep the flames away from villages among the vineyards, olive groves and wooded hills of the region known as Green Provence. About 2,500 people were evacuated as the fire threatened communities. The blaze was the fourth major fire to strike the central Var since 19 July. A separate, smaller fire near Brignoles earlier in the week forced the Hollywood actor George Clooney and his family, along with about 700 other residents, to evacuate before it was brought under control. The prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said France’s wildfires were generally under control but cautioned that conditions remained highly changeable. He announced that a national coordinator attached to the prime minister’s office would oversee reconstruction in fire-ravaged areas. More than 450 sq miles have burned across France since the beginning of the year. Fires in France and Spain alone have driven roughly a third of a million people from homes and holiday sites, emptied communities at the height of the summer and stretched firefighters, aircraft and emergency services across simultaneous disasters. The crisis is unfolding on the world’s fastest-warming continent. Europe has heated at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Higher temperatures and prolonged drought leave forests and scrubland drier and more combustible, allowing fires to spread faster and burn more intensely. Human-caused climate breakdown doubled the likelihood of the extreme fire conditions that fuelled the French blazes, scientists at World Weather Attribution calculated in a rapid analysis on Thursday while the fires were still burning. The Associated Press contributed to this report

India’s gen Z have discovered the power of collective action | Letters

A crucial point that your editorial on India’s gen Z protests (28 July) missed out was that the protests the Cockroach Janta party (CJP) launched in Delhi, hunger strikes and all, were not just supported by young, restless or unemployed people. It was wholeheartedly supported by their parents and grandparents, the old and the middle-aged, even well-off young adults with good jobs and little children. And this was not just in Delhi, but across the country in the huge metropolises of Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru, as well as smaller towns. And it was all peaceful, for which credit goes to the ethos of the protests and the CJP. All of this was suppressed in the mainstream media, print and TV, and even distorted to suggest that it was violent in parts. This reflects not just the overwhelming angst and fear of young graduates facing poor prospects, but the significant grievances of a people who are seeing and experiencing their democracy fading away. Bhaskar Mani Bengaluru, India • Your editorial captures an important truth: movements that begin with a single grievance often evolve into broader demands for justice, accountability and democratic reform. India’s gen Z protests are not simply about leaked exam papers; they reflect a generation’s frustration with institutions that have failed to protect merit and opportunity. I could not help thinking about Pakistan. Here, too, students, jobseekers and marginalised communities have long expressed concerns about governance and access to justice. Yet these struggles rarely transform into sustained, nationwide civic movements. Local protests often remain isolated and receive limited attention or fail to generate the solidarity required for lasting institutional reform. Whether in India or Pakistan, young people deserve institutions they can trust, exams they can believe in and public systems that reward merit rather than connections. The significance of India’s movement lies not only in political consequences but in the emergence of a generation that has discovered the power of peaceful collective action. Its long-term impact will depend on whether that energy strengthens democratic institutions rather than deepening divisions. Nand Lal Rathore Chachro, Sindh province, Pakistan • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.