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Here are the five things you need to know today:
INDIA. Protests in Ladakh augur a new level of risk.
IRAN. Days ahead of a snapback, diplomacy is failing.
ISRAEL. PALESTINE. Disillusionment builds as Netanyahu heads to New York.
TURKEY. With new US deals, Erdogan may avoid censure on Russia.
UNITED STATES. Tariffs on medical equipment could worsen consumer costs.
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INDIA. Young and restless
Protests in Ladakh augur a new level of risk.
Four were killed and dozens injured in the territory of Ladakh Wednesday after youth-led protests called for statehood and job quotas. The wife of a former prime minister, injured in Nepal’s ‘Gen Z’ protests, flew to India for burns treatment.
INTELLIGENCE. Since 2022, youth-led protests have toppled governments in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Last year, they came close to toppling that of Pakistan. India, more developed, diverse and democratic than its neighbours, has escaped a similar fate, but farmer protests and low-level insurgencies throughout its border and tribal regions have shown how unrest can easily flair up. Ladakh’s protesters seem to have taken cues from Nepal and Kashmir.
FOR BUSINESS. Despite the region’s small population, the protests in Ladakh are a particular headache for Narendra Modi due to their potential to extend the narrative of an “Asian spring” to India. Youth-led protests have also taken place in Indonesia, Timor-Leste and the Philippines. High youth unemployment, and uncertainty around migration opportunities in the US and Europe, could redirect resentment to Delhi. The average age of Modi’s cabinet is 63.
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IRAN. AMAD rush
Days ahead of a snapback, diplomacy is failing.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran “has never sought and will never seek” a nuclear bomb. Europe said ‘snapback’ sanctions would begin Saturday without inspections. Sales to China would continue either way, Iran’s oil minister said.
INTELLIGENCE. Tehran may yet agree to IAEA inspections, but it’s acting as if it has
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