STEG moved to planned load shedding on 16 July, and on 8 August it reported 18,294 callouts to restore power in the single week of 18 to 24 July. A report by the Observatoire tunisien de l'economie dated 1 August puts the fall in public investment in generation at 87 percent, from 1.947 billion dinars over 2016 to 2020 to 248 million over 2021 to 2025. The utility, the union, the doctors and the columnist below each answer a different question about that summer.
Technical teams at the state electricity and gas utility STEG carried out 18,294 interventions to restore supply across the country between 18 and 24 July. The period coincided with a severe heatwave that pushed air conditioning demand up around the clock, which led the company to resort to planned load shedding to relieve the network. The figure was published on Saturday, a fortnight after the week it covers.
The sector's administrative commission, meeting on 1 August, voted a two-day strike and left the date and the arrangements to the general federation for municipal workers, in coordination with the UGTT's public service department, which published the resolution on Saturday. The commission accused the authorities of closing off dialogue and of failing to carry out earlier agreements. Its demands include a national programme to renew municipal vehicle fleets and equipment, individual and collective protective gear, and a national plan on workplace accidents.
In Arab Barometer's ninth wave, 31 percent of Tunisians describe the economy as good or very good, close to three times the 11 percent who did so in 2023 and the highest the survey has recorded in Tunisia since it began in 2011. Two thirds still call it bad or very bad, and 56 percent expect an improvement in the next few years. In the same survey 62 percent said they had run out of food without the means to buy more and 49 percent had skipped a meal, while 42 percent named inflation as the most important economic problem they face. The fieldwork ran from 30 October to 30 November 2025 with 1,023 respondents, so it predates this summer's power cuts.
The Tunisian Water Observatory says the country entered a critical phase of water emergency during July, logging 608 reports of supply problems, the highest monthly total it has recorded since the start of the year. Of those, 549 concerned unannounced cuts and disruption to drinking water distribution, alongside 13 leaks and 12 reports about the quality of drinking water. The observatory says the map of complaints shifted sharply towards the coastal strips and tourist areas, where demographic and consumption pressure doubles, with Nabeul first on 65 reports, followed by Monastir on 62, Mahdia on 51 and Sousse on 49. Protest actions tied to water rose to 34 in July from 23 in June, which its Thirst Map report calls a serious indicator.
The United Arab Emirates said on 8 August that Iran had struck a tanker belonging to the state-owned ADNOC with a missile as it transited the Strait of Hormuz, causing no casualties. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations later reported a ship hit by a projectile off Oman, causing a fire that was put out, and it was not clear whether the two reports concerned the same vessel. ADNOC said on Friday that 15 of its vessels had been attacked since the start of the war, three of them this week, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks with Oman were approaching the final stages but that this was not a sign of the strait reopening.
The State Department said on Friday it planned to announce a one billion dollar security package for Abelardo de la Espriella's new right-wing administration. De la Espriella was sworn in the same day, at a ceremony attended by a US delegation that included acting attorney general Todd Blanche. Washington also said Colombia had joined the Shield of the Americas, a grouping of governments stretching from the United States across Central and South America that has committed to fighting narcotrafficking organisations.
Ukraine said on Saturday it had not directed any asset at Bulgaria, after a drone of a type used by its army came down there. Bulgaria's prime minister, Rumen Radev, said the drone entered from Romania and exploded 1,000 metres from a compressor station on the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, near the former Kardam border crossing. He said neither Bulgarian nor Romanian authorities picked it up as it crossed their airspace, and that surveillance in the region will now be increased.
EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen said platforms must act decisively to keep the integrity of the digital space, particularly during crisis situations, after the Commission held talks with both companies on Friday. A false rumour that the Ceuta border had opened preceded the rush of tens of thousands into the Spanish enclave on 30 and 31 July, and Spanish authorities said 80 people died. Migration commissioner Magnus Brunner called it too early to say whether smugglers or a foreign power drove the online campaign.
The fire broke out on Friday evening in Alto Garda, in the Tignale mountains on the lake's western shore, and was still not under control on Saturday. Winds of up to 40 kilometres an hour kept turning the flames and two Canadair water bombers were deployed, after weeks of drought left the vegetation dry. Two hundred people were evacuated, among them guests at the La Forca residence, and no injuries have been reported.
The industry body ENTSO-E says photovoltaic output could fall by up to 9.7 gigawatts across Europe between 19:15 and 21:30 CEST on 12 August under clear skies. It describes the change as rapid but predictable, and a task force has been activated to coordinate preparations and share information before and after the eclipse. The largest reductions are expected in Spain, where the eclipse is total, and in Germany.