Saturday, 1 August 2026 ··

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Tunisia

Brussels says Tunisia's red shrimp exports breach Mediterranean fishing quotas

Brussels says Tunisia's red shrimp exports breach Mediterranean fishing quotas

The European Commission told the Italian agency Agenzia Nova that the block on Tunisian red shrimp entering the Italian market follows Tunisia's overshoot of the catch limits set by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean: the 36,000-kilogram 2026 quota was exhausted by May 15, while catch certificates validated by Tunisian authorities for the EU market reached 50,960 kilograms, an overrun of some 41.5 percent. The Commission says catches beyond an allocated quota count as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and insists this is regulation rather than a measure aimed at Tunisia; Tunis argues the quota was fixed on incomplete historical data and has asked for a revision using figures it filed in April 2026. A decision is expected at the commission's October session, and until then a high-value export line for southern fishing ports stays shut.

Five years into one-man rule, Tunisian anger stays below the surface

Five years into one-man rule, Tunisian anger stays below the surface

Al Jazeera reported on August 1 that frustration over 12-hour blackouts, a deteriorating economy and jailed critics is widespread but largely unorganised, five years after President Kais Saied suspended parliament and began ruling by decree. Human Rights Watch's Tunisia director Salsabil Chellali, Carnegie's Hamza Meddeb and Crisis Group's Riccardo Fabiani describe an opposition fragmented by prosecutions and a press narrowed by censorship, leaving discontent without a political vehicle. For anyone reading Tunisian risk the point is that the absence of visible mobilisation is not the same as consent. It removes the early warning that organised protest usually provides.

Tunisia's three green hydrogen projects for Europe take shape, on paper

Tunisia's three green hydrogen projects for Europe take shape, on paper

La Presse set out on July 31 the state of the three export-scale hydrogen ventures: Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power, targeting 200,000 tonnes a year by 2030 with long-term ambitions above 600,000; H2 Notos, a TE H2 venture of TotalEnergies, Eren and Austria's Verbund, also starting at 200,000 tonnes with an eventual million-tonne ceiling in the south; and a pilot green ammonia unit at Gabes sized at 220 tonnes of hydrogen and 630 tonnes of ammonia a year. Output would travel the SoutH2 Corridor to Italy, Austria and Germany, and the national strategy points to 8.3 million tonnes of hydrogen and derivatives by 2050. All three remain at study stage, and each would need gigawatts of new renewable capacity and desalinated water in a country already rationing both electricity and water.

Geopolitics

US embassies across the Middle East urge Americans to consider leaving

US embassies across the Middle East urge Americans to consider leaving

Missions in Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates issued a joint regional security alert on Saturday: Americans in the region should consider departing or be prepared to depart, and should expect flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures and other disruption, AFP reports. The alert came shortly after Donald Trump again threatened severe action against Iran; the war began on February 28 and the temporary ceasefire has given way to renewed strikes. The embassy in Beirut remains on ordered departure status, and Iranian military commanders accused Washington of escalation and warned states hosting American forces.

Nine killed in missile strikes on Kyiv as Ukrainian drones sink a Russian-owned container ship

Nine killed in missile strikes on Kyiv as Ukrainian drones sink a Russian-owned container ship

Volodymyr Zelensky says at least nine people were killed and dozens injured in Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv on Saturday; mayor Vitali Klitschko reported more than ten explosions, fires and power cuts, with residential buildings partly collapsing in the Darnytskyi and Solomyanskyi districts. One missile landed near the Lithuanian embassy. Ukrainian drones separately sank a Russian-owned container ship in the Black Sea, where Moscow says all 17 crew were rescued; the strikes came two days after a suspected Russian cruise missile landed in Poland during a wide attack on Ukraine.

Israeli strike destroys the medicine stores at al-Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah

Israeli strike destroys the medicine stores at al-Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah

An overnight strike levelled two of the four storage buildings beside al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and badly damaged the other two, according to hospital officials, who say intravenous fluids and supplies for dialysis and intensive care were lost. Gaza's health ministry calls the strike a heinous crime and is asking for international protection of medical facilities, and says at least seven Palestinians were killed at various locations in Gaza on Saturday. The attacks come days after Hamas and other Palestinian factions signed a disarmament agreement that Washington presented as a breakthrough; the ministry says 1,222 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025.

Europe

Spain lays a floating barrier at Ceuta after the mass crossing that killed at least 67

Spain lays a floating barrier at Ceuta after the mass crossing that killed at least 67

The Civil Guard began laying a 500-metre barrier along the sea border at the Tarajal breakwater early on Saturday. Spain's interior ministry says about 50,000 people entered from Thursday and that 48,300 had returned to Morocco by 6pm on Friday, while Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares says virtually all are now back; the death toll was raised on Saturday to at least 67, drowned or crushed against the breakwater, and the head of Ceuta's local government, Juan Jesús Vivas, says the situation has not yet returned to normal. Ursula von der Leyen called the images unacceptable, 22 EU governments demanded an urgent coordinated response in an open letter and the Irish presidency convened a Justice and Home Affairs Council for Tuesday; Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the mass crossing as a violation of Spain's territorial sovereignty and attributed it to networks spreading rumours about a recent Supreme Court ruling.

Italy suspends Schengen with Spain; France tightens its Pyrenean border

Italy suspends Schengen with Spain; France tightens its Pyrenean border

Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Ministers Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini announced the measure on Thursday evening, and it was formally approved on Friday morning at a meeting chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi: targeted and selective checks on non-EU travellers arriving from Spain, with EU citizens unaffected. Tajani called it a necessary choice to safeguard Italian citizens and defend Europe's borders. Spain's foreign minister José Manuel Albares summoned Italy's ambassador in Madrid, and Pedro Sánchez replied that solidarity is optional but respect for the European treaties and for the facts is not; Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Czechia and Sweden meanwhile moved closer to the Italian position, and Emmanuel Macron announced tighter controls on France's land border with Spain.

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