Netanyahu under pressure from ally as members quit
Six members of the ultra Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party resigned overnight from their roles in parliamentary committees and ministries in protest over the Israeli parliament’s failure to secure a continued exemption from military conscription for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.
While the UTJ has not formally quit the ruling coalition, the move significantly increases pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leaving his government with a razor-thin majority amid the ongoing Israeli military campaign.
Israel bombs Syrian forces entering Druze city
Israel has confirmed airstrikes on Syrian government forces near the Druze-majority city of Suweida, following two days of intense sectarian violence between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes that has left at least 200 people dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were aimed at preventing Syrian forces and weapons from being used against the Druze population.
Syria condemned the Israeli action, reporting casualties among both its armed forces and civilians.
Imran Khan’s sons campaign for his release
Two years after former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan was jailed in a corruption case, his sons—Qasim and Suleman Khan—have stepped into the political spotlight. Once politically distant and based in London, the teenage brothers are now vocally campaigning for their father’s release, giving interviews, posting on social media, and drawing attention to the conditions of imprisonment.
Their emergence has ignited a nationwide conversation, with many Pakistanis dubbing it “halal dynastic politics”—a term used both critically and humorously to describe the shift.
Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is preparing for nationwide rallies, while the government has responded by forming a new paramilitary force, preempting potential unrest amid intensifying political tension.
Trump sets 19% tariff on Indonesia after threatening 32%
US President Donald Trump struck a new trade pact with Indonesia after negotiations to avoid steeper tariffs on the southeast Asian country. The 19 percent tariff on the country’s US exports is significantly below the 32 percent the president earlier threatened.
“As part of the Agreement, Indonesia has committed to purchasing $15 Billion Dollars in US Energy, $4.5 Billion Dollars in American Agricultural Products, and 50 Boeing Jets, many of them 777’s,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
US sends deportees convicted of violent crimes to Eswatini
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it had deported a group of men convicted of violent crimes—including murder, homicide, and child rape—to Eswatini, a small African nation.
The deportees originated from Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen. According to Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, these individuals were sent to Eswatini after their home countries refused to accept them due to the severity of their crimes.
The move marks a controversial expansion of U.S. deportation practices to third-party nations.
UN warns of rising child malnutrition in Gaza
Since early 2024, one in 10 children screened at United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees clinics in Gaza has been found to be malnourished, the agency reported on Tuesday.
Juliette Touma, the UNRWA’s Director of Communications, said malnutrition rates have been rising sharply, particularly since Israel intensified its siege of Gaza 2 March. Speaking from Amman, she warned the humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly.
Since January 2024, the UNRWA has screened over 2,40,000 under-five children in Gaza, reporting a sharp rise in acute malnutrition—previously rare in the territory. Essential supplies like medicine, nutrition, fuel, and hygiene products are rapidly depleting.
Thousands of Afghans secretly moved to UK after ’22 data leak
Following a major data breach in February 2022 that exposed the personal details of nearly 19,000 Afghan nationals seeking relocation after the Taliban takeover, the UK government launched a secret resettlement scheme.
The breach only came to the attention of officials in August 2023 when some of the leaked data appeared on Facebook.
In response, a new programme was quietly introduced nine months later to assist those affected. So far, around 4,500 Afghans have been resettled in the UK under this scheme.
Nigeria bids farewell to former president Buhari
Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was buried Tuesday in the backyard of his home in northern Katsina state as crowds of mourners, some climbing trees, gathered to pay their respects.
Buhari, who led Africa’s most populous nation from 2015 to 2023, died Sunday in a London hospital after battling an undisclosed illness. He was 82.
The former president was given a military parade and a 21-gun salute at the airport before his body was transported to Daura, about 80 kilometres away. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared seven-day national mourning and a public holiday Tuesday.
Trump ‘disappointed, but not done’ with Putin
In an exclusive phone interview with the BBC, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is “disappointed but not done” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. When asked directly whether he trusts Putin, Trump replied, “I trust almost nobody,” signalling scepticism while maintaining diplomatic ambiguity.
The comments came just hours after Trump announced plans to supply weapons to Ukraine and issued a stern warning to Russia: face severe tariffs if a ceasefire isn’t reached within 50 days. In a notable shift from past remarks, Trump also endorsed NATO and reaffirmed the alliance’s common defence principle, despite previously calling the organisation “obsolete”.
EU urges Trump to ‘share burden’ of Patriot missile to Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that European nations should cover the costs of providing Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, arguing that Europe must do more to support Kyiv’s defence against Moscow, but the bloc’s top diplomats wish to split the bill.
“We welcome President Trump’s announcement to send more weapons to Ukraine, although we would like to see the U.S. to share the burden,” EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said at a press briefing after Tuesday’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. “America and Europe are working together, and if we work together, we can put pressure on (Russian President Vladimir( Putin to negotiate seriously.”
This comes after Trump proposed a plan whereby NATO allies would finance the purchase of Patriot missile defence systems and other weapons for Ukraine. Trump said the weapons, worth “billions of dollars,” will be built by the U.S. defence industry and paid for by European countries.
Kasturi Walimbe is an intern with ThePrint
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: News of the day: 14 July, 2025