Tunisia
A World Bank evaluation of a new $430 million support programme for Tunisia's power sector shows the state owes utility STEG the equivalent of 22 months of unpaid invoices, even as STEG's own accounts have shown negative equity for several years. STEG's tariff covers only 60 percent of its real production cost, the report found, and the government says no tariff increase is planned for now. The new programme aims to raise cost recovery to 80 percent by 2028 through cheaper gas, more renewables and efficiency gains, without a plan to clear the state's own arrears.
Attijari bank Tunisia's classified loans rose to 493.9 million dinars at the end of 2025, up nearly 23 percent from 402.9 million a year earlier, while their coverage ratio fell from 60.1 percent to 44.6 percent, according to the bank's own financial statements. The bank's management says its ratios remain above regulatory requirements and classified loans stay below the sector average. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development separately more than tripled its risk-sharing facility with Attijari, from 20 million to 70 million euros, to support financing for Tunisian businesses.
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Webdo · Saturday, 29 August 2026
Sea arrivals in Italy fell 55 percent in the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, both Italy's interior ministry and the UN refugee agency report, as tighter controls on departures from Tunisia and Libya took hold. Tunisians still made up about 820 of those Italian arrivals through mid-August, eighth among nationalities, while deaths on the central Mediterranean route rose more than 150 percent this year, the International Organization for Migration says. Deaths are rising in Ben Guerdane too, where the final toll from a late-August shipwreck stood at fifteen dead and one survivor, yet residents describe hundreds still hoping to make the crossing.
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Nawaat · Friday, 28 August 2026
Sixty-one members of parliament formally deposited their petition at the assembly's general registry on Monday, five more than the 56 who signed it on Saturday. The number clears the constitutional one-third threshold needed to force an extraordinary session during the summer recess. They want ministers to appear in person in the Bardo chamber and answer for the water and power cuts, inflation and shortages the country is facing, deputy Mohamed Ali said on Jawhara FM.
Germany's foreign minister Johann Wadephul held an official visit to Tunisia on Monday at the invitation of his Tunisian counterpart Mohamed Ali Nafti, marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, established in 1956. The visit follows up on Nafti's official trip to Berlin in March, and Wadephul's programme includes talks with President Kais Saied and meetings with Tunisian businesses and startups.
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Réalités · Monday, 31 August 2026
Geopolitics
US forces fired on Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the first publicly reported direct US attack on Iranian military positions in over a month, after the Revolutionary Guards were seen preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the strait. Iran's Guards vowed retaliation and said they had fired on two bases housing US forces in Jordan; the claim could not immediately be verified. Traffic through one of the world's most important oil chokepoints has already fallen sharply during the conflict.
Gunfire and explosions rocked Niamey overnight from Friday to Saturday around Base 101, the presidential palace and state television, in what Niger's junta first called indiscipline and later called a coup attempt. Russia's ambassador confirmed that the besieged base's own commanders had asked Russia's Africa Corps for help, and a security source said Russian personnel helped the presidential guard retake the base after being outnumbered by the mutineers. Niger's government said the mutiny was put down by Saturday evening. Algeria separately sent fighter jets and logistical support to the government in solidarity, unconnected to the fight over the base.
Guinea-Bissau's military-led government held a constitutional referendum on Sunday on an amendment that would let the president appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet, dissolve parliament in a grave crisis, and shrink parliament from 102 to 65 seats. Turnout exceeded 55 percent and the vote passed off without incidents that would call its credibility into question, the electoral commission said, despite an opposition boycott call. Results are expected Tuesday, nine months after the military seized power following a disputed election.
Europe
Icelanders voted 52.8 percent to 47.2 percent against restarting negotiations to join the European Union in Saturday's referendum. The country applied for membership in 2009 and withdrew the application in 2013 after a change of government, more than a decade before this fresh no. The vote asked only whether the government should resume talks, not whether Iceland should join outright, but concerns over national control of fishing rights outweighed the security case for closer EU ties. Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir's centre-left coalition had put the question to voters after years of debate.
Spain's government will approve a €165 million package for Ceuta this week, one month after a mass arrival of migrants strained the North African enclave. €80 million goes to the local economy over the next four months and €70 million is earmarked for 2027, on top of an existing €180 million recovery plan. About 5,000 of the roughly 72,000 people who entered irregularly since the influx began remain in the city while Spain works to open reception facilities and speed up returns.
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Euronews · Sunday, 30 August 2026
Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin said he will confirm a presidential bid once the campaign officially opens, adding he has gathered several hundred of the 500 sponsor signatures from elected officials he needs but not yet enough. He ruled out competing in a primary, calling the format the last gadget of the desperate. Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure is set to announce he will enter the party's primary, where he will compete for the same voters as Place Publique's Raphaël Glucksmann.
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Euronews · Sunday, 30 August 2026
US defence company Covenant plans to start producing medium-range missiles near Leipzig from 2027, with capacity for up to 1,000 missiles a year and a range beyond 1,500 kilometres, according to people familiar with the plan. Germany's defence ministry has already sent Covenant a request for proposals as part of a push to build up the country's own deep-strike capability. Most components are expected to come from Germany and other European countries.
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Euronews · Sunday, 30 August 2026