Thousands of young protesters were camped on the streets of India's capital New Delhi on Thursday (Jul. 23), defying new restrictions in the latest show of strength for a movement that has become one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. India's "Cockroach" protests began more than a month ago over alleged leaks in some of the country's most competitive entrance exams for medical colleges and government jobs. The movement has since expanded beyond exam grievances, drawing professionals and families while channeling broader frustration.

Thursday's demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in New Delhi, followed overnight clashes in which police used tear gas and batons to disperse crowds, the second such confrontation this week. On Monday, thousands of protesters had defied restrictions and marched toward Parliament before police broke up the demonstration with tear gas and batons. Protesters regrouped by Thursday morning, returning to the protest site despite roadblocks, while authorities suspended Delhi Metro services at 16 stations across central New Delhi.

The landmark nuclear deal between the US and Saudi Arabia is dependent on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords recognising the State of Israel, President Donald Trump has said. "The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!)... which pertains only to non-military use... will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Trump's remarks come after criticism from experts that the deal could run the risk of future nuclear proliferation in an already unstable region.

Saudi Arabia has previously said it would not recognise Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state. In 2020, Trump brokered the Abraham Accords, which secured the historic normalisation of relations between Israel and two Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. Sudan, Morocco and Kazakhstan have since also signed the accords. Saudi Arabia has not so far responded to Trump's remarks.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday (Jul. 23), potentially opening a new front as the US military conducted a 12th night of strikes against Iran. The Houthis have threatened to shut down another key trade route, with the world economy already reeling from Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and the US have meanwhile stepped up their attacks as they vie for control of the strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas passed in peacetime, setting off a scramble for alternative routes.

US President Donald Trump threatened "major military punishment" against the Houthis if their attacks on ships continue. "If they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves," Trump wrote on social media.

More than 1,000 people have died in the Ebola outbreak in Congo, according to Africa's top health body, a grim toll in the fastest Ebola outbreak in history, as conflict, community resistance and an uneven response fuel its spread. Speaking at a health summit in Ghana on Wednesday (July 22), Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said 1,031 deaths have been confirmed. "These are people dying. They are dying because we don't have vaccines, we don't have medicine, we don't have funding," he added.

The latest update from Congo's Ministry of Health showed that as of Monday, 2,473 cases had been recorded in the latest outbreak. At least 737 patients were in isolation or hospitalized, it said. The outbreak, which was declared on May 15, is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments.