Tunisia
Algeria's foreign ministry announced Thursday it was cutting diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates after "the exhaustion of all means to preserve bilateral relations," accusing Abu Dhabi of "provocative and hostile acts" without giving details. Algiers has long accused the UAE of backing Morocco's claim over Western Sahara and meddling in Libya, Mali and Sudan; Algeria closed its airspace to UAE-registered aircraft from Friday, though commercial flights to Algiers continue under an existing contract through the end of 2026.
Wael Naouar, one of four organisers of the pro-Palestinian Sumud flotilla held in pretrial detention since March on suspected money-laundering and fraud charges linked to the flotilla's financing, was hospitalised on September 8 after collapsing during a hunger strike that had reached 26 days by Thursday. The Sumud Flotilla Committee says he now has heart-rhythm problems and cannot walk, and is refusing intravenous fluids while accepting oxygen. Naouar, Ghassen Boughdiri, Ghassen Henchiri and Nabil Chennoufi are due before Tunisia's financial and economic judicial division on Friday; the flotilla's coordination committee calls the case an attempt to criminalise pro-Palestinian activism, a characterisation prosecutors have not addressed publicly.
Source:
Kapitalis · Thursday, 10 September 2026
Tunisia's National Agricultural Observatory said farm exports posted a 971.8-million-dinar surplus in the first half of 2026, up 17.9% on the same period last year, cutting the country's overall trade deficit by 7.7%. Olive oil exports rose 44.2%, fishing and aquaculture exports reached 329 million dinars on 14,000 tonnes, and Europe absorbed about half of Tunisia's farm exports.
Source:
Réalités · Thursday, 10 September 2026
Tunisians searching Tunisair this week were reacting to an MTA Conseil analysis, published Wednesday, that found Tunisair operated 83 of 120 France-Tunisia flights identified as delayed or cancelled in circumstances that can qualify for EU compensation over July and August, roughly 69% of the total and far more than all its competitors combined. The France route makes up over a third of Tunisair's European operations, and the analyst noted that a delay or cancellation does not automatically entitle a passenger to compensation under EU rule 261/2004.
Source:
webdo · Wednesday, 9 September 2026
A judge at Tunisia's Economic and Financial Judicial Pole extended by four months the pretrial detention of Wael Naouar, Nabil Chennoufi, Ghassen Henchiri and Ghassen Boughdiri, held since March on accusations of financial irregularities in the flotilla's fundraising. Naouar, hospitalised after 26 days on hunger strike, remains detained; the other three began hunger strikes of their own this week demanding release.
Source:
Réalités · Friday, 11 September 2026
President Kais Saied granted a presidential pardon to several students and pupils detained over drug consumption or possession, to mark the start of the school and university year. The pardon excludes anyone implicated in trafficking, and the exact number of beneficiaries has not yet been made public.
Source:
Réalités · Friday, 11 September 2026
Geopolitics
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said this week it struck US Navy vessels, oil tankers and other ships in the Strait of Hormuz, including an uncrewed American 'Saildrone' vessel on Thursday, in what Reuters called the largest declared wave of tit-for-tat shipping attacks since the war began. US Central Command denied any American vessel was hit in this week's exchanges and said the attempts failed, while Britain's maritime monitor UKMTO reported several commercial ships struck by gunfire in the Gulf of Oman and northern Gulf.
Houthi forces captured the strategic Red Sea port of Mocha on Thursday, advancing on the Bab al-Mandeb strait after Yemen's government ordered a "tactical withdrawal," said Tariq Saleh, a member of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council. The council's head, Rashad al-Alimi, warned the strait "cannot become another Strait of Hormuz" and urged international intervention, as UN envoy Hans Grundberg said Yemen faces its gravest risk of full-scale war since the 2022 truce.
Washington and Beijing are discussing reciprocal cuts on tariffs covering $30 billion of goods each before Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet in Washington on September 24, their third meeting in a year, though the two sides have not agreed on the scope. China's commerce ministry said it hopes for a deal "at an early date," with the current tariff truce due to expire on November 10.
Europe
The European Central Bank raised its deposit rate a quarter point to 2.5% on Thursday, its second hike since June, after euro area inflation hit 3.3% in August on energy costs pushed up by the Middle East war, with Brent crude above $100 a barrel. Core inflation, excluding energy, held at 2.4%, and the ECB said the conflict "continues to generate inflation pressures" that are likely to persist.
Source:
Euronews · Thursday, 10 September 2026
Britain, Norway and the United States tracked and turned back Russian submarines that had been rehearsing how to disable undersea cables in Arctic waters near Norway's Svalbard archipelago earlier this year, the three countries said this week. Norwegian defence minister Tore Sandvik said Russia had been told plainly that "any attempt to target our critical infrastructure will be detected and met with consequences," after the Russian GUGI-directorate submarines were forced to abandon the exercise.
Source:
Euronews · Thursday, 10 September 2026
Morocco's foreign ministry on Thursday rejected accusations from Spanish opposition parties that Rabat orchestrated or enabled July's crisis, when more than 72,000 people crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and dozens died by drowning. The ministry asked why Morocco kept facing accusations "when no evidence, facts, or reports" establish its involvement, after Spain declassified intelligence this week describing Moroccan authorities as "negligent and passive" rather than complicit.