Tunisia
Ghazi Mrabet, a lawyer known for defending journalist Mourad Zeghidi, was placed in five days' police custody after a September 3 anti-narcotics raid at the home of a wanted fugitive, where police seized over 8 kilograms of cocaine, 4 kilograms of cannabis and 394,000 dinars. A judicial source said Mrabet tried to help the fugitive escape during the raid; several lawyers said on social media that a lawyer's presence at a client's home can be legitimate professional activity under Decree-Law 2011-79. The investigation continues and no charges have been confirmed.
Source:
Webdo · Friday, 4 September 2026
Wael Naouar, spokesman for the International Sumud Flotilla aid mission for Gaza, has been on hunger strike for 18 days and has lost 19 kilograms and now weighs 56 kilograms, his lawyer Rafed Rabbeh said on Facebook after visiting him in prison on September 3, citing unstable blood sugar, kidney pain, fever and insomnia. Naouar has been detained since March on financial charges tied to the flotilla's fundraising, which he calls a "judicial ambush" over his activism; his wife Jawaher Channa, arrested alongside him, was released in April.
Reacting to the Court of Cassation's September 3 rejection of all appeals, Amnesty International said the case "was marred by serious violations of fair trial guarantees from the beginning" and that "the cassation stage should have been an opportunity to remedy this injustice." The organisation called on Tunisian authorities to annul the convictions, release everyone it considers arbitrarily detained, and stop using the courts against peaceful critics.
Starting Monday, September 7, Switzerland can no longer temporarily pause biometric data collection during airport congestion, ending a relief measure rather than adding a new requirement. The EU's Entry-Exit System, recording facial images and fingerprints for short-stay visitors, has applied across 29 European countries since April 10; officials warn the change could add to wait times at busy airports. Tunisians are among the non-EU nationals the system already applies to on every Schengen trip, short or long.
Mohamed Yousfi, editor-in-chief of investigative outlet Al-Katiba, was arrested Friday evening outside the Express FM studios in Tunis. He was due to appear on a program about water policy. A judge at the Tunis financial crimes court ordered him held in police custody on suspicion of illicit enrichment and money laundering, a judicial source told the TAP news agency, and opened a formal investigation. On Saturday the National Union of Tunisian Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists both demanded his immediate release, saying the case is tied to his journalism. A member of parliament also voiced solidarity.
Geopolitics
Far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir presented "Disengagement 710," a plan for roughly 250,000 Palestinians to leave Gaza in its first year and 1.86 million within seven, ahead of Israel's October 27 election. It remains his party's proposal, not government policy; Palestinian representatives and rights groups say no departure under wartime conditions can be called voluntary.
Government forces recaptured Tabbat al-Khazan in the Jabal Habashi district west of Taiz on September 4. Military officials said about 50 Houthi fighters were killed or wounded in clashes the day before, part of what officials call the heaviest fighting in the area since a UN-brokered truce in 2022. The Houthis still control the capital Sanaa, held since 2014.
A UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission said a transnational network, including actors from the UAE, Colombia and Chad, supplied the Rapid Support Forces with weapons, training and foreign personnel. The report, released September 4, links foreign-trained fighters to 2025 massacres at Zamzam camp and El Fasher, and says both sides may have committed war crimes with drone strikes on civilians; the war has killed at least 59,000 people and displaced 13 million since 2023. The UAE denies backing the RSF.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 133.3 points in August, its highest since November 2022, driven by an 11.9 percent jump in sugar and a 2.2 percent rise in cereals. The agency's chief economist said climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and disrupted trade logistics are converging to tighten supply, and the agency cut its 2026 global cereal forecast by 3.4 million tonnes, the sharpest annual cut since 2018.
Europe
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travel to Moscow on Saturday, September 5 to meet Vladimir Putin, then to Kyiv on Sunday, September 6 for their first visit to Kyiv since Trump returned to office. Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine wants "constructive and substantive" talks on realistic ways to end the war.
Trump posted that Washington will seek repayment for the "hundreds of billions" in aid given to Ukraine and NATO, saying Europe "would have paid for" it if asked. The US has provided about $66.9 billion in military aid since 2022 and $69.7 billion since 2014; Trump named no countries and gave no timeline, and there was no immediate European reaction.
Source:
Euronews · Friday, 4 September 2026
Icelanders rejected reopening EU accession talks 52.8 to 47.2 percent on August 31, keeping in place the freeze that has held since 2013. EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said support for membership had grown since a 2010 referendum showed only 19 percent backing it, and called the no vote "a very specific" fisheries-driven case; Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova are still advancing toward membership.
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Euronews · Friday, 4 September 2026
Convicted of genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, war criminal Ratko Mladić died in The Hague on August 27 and his remains reached Serbia by government plane, wrapped in a Serbian flag. EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos called any glorification "incompatible" with EU values and cancelled a planned visit; Belgium's foreign minister said state honours would be a step away from the bloc. President Vučić said the family, not the state, would decide the arrangements.
Source:
Euronews · Friday, 4 September 2026