Tunisia
Agil chief executive Khaled Bettine said fuel deliveries would return to normal on Saturday after a rush of drivers, fearing a transporters' strike, emptied stocks at several stations this week. The shortage was driven by demand rather than supply, Bettine said; tanker drivers already staged a brief strike on August 20, and the transport federation has since filed formal strike notice for September 23 and 24 over unresolved 2019 labour demands.
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Webdo · Friday, 28 August 2026
The National Chamber of Real Estate Developers (CNPI) says transaction volumes have collapsed 80 percent from previous levels, squeezed by land prices of up to 5,500 dinars a square metre and construction costs that have pushed a mid-range apartment beyond 700,000 dinars. CNPI president Hechmi Miliani is pushing for 380 million dinars from the state housing fund to be redirected into subsidised loans; the figure comes from the developers' own association and has not been independently corroborated.
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Réalités · Friday, 28 August 2026
Fifty-six members of parliament invoked the constitutional right of one third of deputies to force an extraordinary plenary session. They said chronic water and power cuts, unchecked inflation and a collapsing purchasing power have become structural, not temporary. They want the government to answer for the economic indicators and for the state of public services before the new school year starts. Only one outlet has reported the request so far.
UGTT secretary-general Salaheddine Salmi said on Saturday the union was fully aware of how grave the country's situation is. Speaking at the union's headquarters as a public-sector colloquium opened, he said every legitimate form of struggle remains open to the different sectors and that the union backs the strikes under way. He said UGTT will start consultations with civil society toward a national mobilization to defend the country's gains. Only one outlet has reported the remarks so far.
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Réalités · Saturday, 29 August 2026
Geopolitics
Iran's crude exports have fallen more than 80 percent this month compared with a year ago, to roughly 260,000 barrels a day, as the US naval blockade first imposed in July chokes off shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. China, by far Iran's largest buyer, has also sharply cut its purchases this month, and no Iranian supertanker has been sighted crossing the strait since July.
President Trump announced a deal granting the United States majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, brokered with interim President Delcy Rodríguez nine months after the US operation that removed Nicolás Maduro. Trump said the agreement, covering 17 oil fields, would more than double US reserves and come “at no cost” to taxpayers.
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CNN · Friday, 28 August 2026
The US Justice Department corrected a press release naming the Senate, the Federal Reserve, NASA and other agencies as “victims” of a years-long Chinese state-linked hacking campaign, saying they were among the group's “targets” but only some were actually compromised. The distinction narrows the confirmed scope of one of the broadest cyber-espionage operations attributed to Beijing, days after the FBI seized the hacking network's infrastructure.
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Reuters · Friday, 28 August 2026
Europe
Spain has formally asked the European Commission to reinforce Ceuta, a city of 80,000 residents, with extra Frontex officers and Europol support to process migrants who entered the enclave irregularly, after officials said tensions there reached breaking point. The request follows a July surge that saw some 72,000 border crossings recorded over several days, triggering a broader EU migration alert.
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Euronews · Friday, 28 August 2026
Belgium's foreign ministry summoned US Ambassador Bill White for the second time this year after he posted an AI-altered image mocking Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke over a proposed law tightening alcohol-advertising warnings. Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot called the post “unacceptable”, reviving questions about the ambassador's conduct after a February summons over separate antisemitism accusations.
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UPI · Friday, 28 August 2026
Fitch affirmed France's sovereign credit rating at A+ with a stable outlook, unchanged since the downgrade from AA in September 2025 amid political instability. A stable outlook signals the agency does not expect a change in the near term, even as it forecasts France's budget deficit at 4.9 percent of GDP, close to the government's own 5 percent target.
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Reuters · Friday, 28 August 2026
King Harald V of Norway, Europe's oldest reigning monarch and head of state since 1991, died on Friday at Oslo University Hospital after treatment for a blood disorder. Crown Prince Haakon automatically succeeds him as King Haakon VIII, and his daughter Ingrid Alexandra becomes crown princess.