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Tunisia News

Tunisia · Europe · Geopolitics: the daily brief

Tunisia

Seven remanded in Monastir market-concession corruption and money-laundering case

A Monastir investigating judge ordered seven suspects remanded in custody over a network of market concession-holders and public officials accused of rigging tenders and winning market concessions through abuse of influence. Investigators from Ben Arous's anti-financial-crime unit say the group laundered proceeds through several members' bank accounts over nearly a year of surveillance; a foreign national managing a fish-processing plant in the governorate is also among the suspects.

After Hormuz, Houthi seizure of Bab el-Mandeb adds a second supply-chain risk for Tunisia

Tunisian imports from Asia already face higher costs from the Strait of Hormuz disruption, and the Houthi capture of Perim island in the Bab el-Mandeb strait now threatens a second, separate route: the corridor linking Asia to the Mediterranean via the Red Sea and Suez. If more shipowners reroute around Africa's Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea, goods imported from Asia would face longer delays and higher freight, fuel and insurance costs; tanker freight rates between the Gulf of Oman and China have already hit record levels.

Geopolitics

Houthis seize Perim Island, completing control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait

Yemen's Houthi movement captured Perim Island, at the narrowest point of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, after government forces withdrew, capping a week-long offensive that also took the Red Sea port of Mocha and the Hanish and Zuqar islands. The strait links Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal, and the takeover gives an Iran-backed force the ability to threaten shipping there just as the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted by the wider Iran war.

Bahrain refuses to join Iran-proposed talks on Hormuz shipping

Bahrain said it will not attend a meeting Iran has proposed for Monday in Muscat on safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively blockaded since the war with the US and Israel began in February. Manama said regional security “cannot be preserved through a policy of appeasement” and demanded the strait be open without fees or permits, adding it will not sit with Iran until diplomatic relations resume.

Anthropic's CEO urges AI companies to slow down, warns of loss of control

Dario Amodei, chief executive of the AI company Anthropic, called on the industry to slow the pace of development, warning that increasingly capable autonomous agents could become “able to take control of the internet” if safety work does not keep up. The comments add a prominent industry voice to the growing debate over how, and how fast, to regulate frontier AI systems.

Europe

Germany blames Russian military intelligence for Leipzig airport drone attack

German investigators have identified a Russian national, said to have worked as a logistics coordinator at Leipzig/Halle airport, as a suspect in an August drone attack there that used an explosive-laden drone, according to a report in Welt am Sonntag. Officials believe Russia's GRU military intelligence service helped plan the attack, and Berlin has already closed Russia's consulate in Bonn and a Russian cultural centre in response. Moscow denies any involvement.

EU delays tobacco and nicotine tax vote until after Sweden votes

The European Commission has pushed back a vote to raise EU-wide taxes on cigarettes, vapes and nicotine pouches from this month to November, giving Sweden time to form a government after Sunday's election. Stockholm has been the main holdout against the proposal because of opposition to taxing nicotine pouches (snus), a product widely used and made in Sweden.

Trump says he would 'love' to see Ireland reunified, on golf trip to Dublin

US President Donald Trump said during a visit to Dublin that he would love to see Northern Ireland join the Republic of Ireland, calling it “a great feather in everybody's cap” and predicting “it's going to happen eventually.” He made the remark sitting beside Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who has spent years trying to build relations with Northern Ireland's unionists, who strongly oppose unification.

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