Sahbi Atig, 67, a leader of the Ennahdha party with 20 years left on his sentence, began a hunger strike on September 30 to demand direct, barrier-free visits with his family, his wife Zeineb Mraihi said. Mraihi said his health, already weakened by a 54-day hunger strike in 2023, is fragile, and that Atig has said he will refuse hospitalisation if it worsens.
The criminal chamber of the Tunis Court of Appeal on October 2 confirmed a ten-year sentence for a former member of the dissolved parliament and a five-year sentence for a former environment minister, both convicted of corruption and money laundering, with the lawmaker's wife given a two-year suspended sentence. La Presse, which reported the ruling, named none of the three.
The Islamic Development Bank's board approved €335.49 million in Jeddah on October 2 to extend the highway network linking the northwestern governorates of Le Kef and Jendouba to the rest of Tunisia. The bank said the project aims to improve connectivity, road safety and economic integration for the two governorates, which border Algeria.
The emergency chamber of the Tunis court of first instance ordered Friday evening that the Free Destourian Party (PDL) halt its “Loyalty Congress,” scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Earlier that day the same chamber had opened a hearing on the case without ruling, leaving the congress in legal limbo hours before it was due to start. The case was brought by PDL political bureau member Samira Saihi, who argued the party had not followed its own rules for calling the congress. The congress was meant to confirm jailed party president Abir Moussi, whose convictions became final on 29 September, as its sole candidate for a new term.
North Korea fired a ballistic missile on October 2 from the port city of Wonsan that flew more than 700 kilometres into the sea, prompting Japan to issue an emergency alert and South Korea to raise its military alert status. The launch follows Kim Yo Jong's rejection of Seoul's apology demands over landmine blasts that injured South Korean soldiers, with Kim declaring the North intends “permanent separation” from the South. The US Pacific Command called the launch no immediate threat to American forces, but Kim's language closes off reconciliation rhetoric the North had at least nominally kept open in recent years.
The Sudanese army said on October 2 it had captured al-Mazroub, describing it as the Rapid Support Forces' largest stronghold in North Kordofan and a town linking the state to RSF-held West Kordofan. An army spokesman said the advance aims to cut the paramilitary group's supply lines between its central and western strongholds. Kordofan has become the war's main battleground since late 2025, so control of that link matters more than the town itself, in a conflict now in its fourth year with no negotiated end in sight.
The United States suspended consular services in Brasília on October 2, and Australia closed its embassy the same day; both cited security concerns without elaborating, three days before Brazil's presidential election. Lula da Silva, 80 and seeking a fourth term, and Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, are in a dead heat according to polls, with a runoff expected on October 25 if neither wins outright. Lula's party called the US move politically motivated, a charge that will be hard to settle either way but that lands in a race already shaped by claims of outside interference.
G7 countries agreed on October 2 to release 100 million barrels of strategic oil reserves over four months, coordinated through the International Energy Agency, with a large diesel share required within the first 20 days. The move follows an overnight call between Macron and Trump, after Washington threatened a diesel export ban amid a supply squeeze that has pushed pump prices to records. Officials caution that releasing crude does not instantly produce diesel, so the relief European drivers see this winter depends on refinery capacity nobody can simply order into existence.
Eurostat's flash estimate put September inflation at 3.8%, above forecasts of 3.6 to 3.7% and up from 3.2% in August, the highest reading since 2023. Energy prices drove the rise, up to 18.8% from 14.3%, as the US war against Iran disrupts Middle East fuel supplies, including shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, while core inflation also ticked up to 2.5%. Economists expect the European Central Bank to hold off on raising rates until December rather than react in October, a forecast that will not survive if the energy shock does not fade.
Two underage migrants were treated for knife wounds after a fight on October 1 in Ceuta's La Marina district, and Spanish health authorities the next day declared the beach where many migrants camp unsafe after tests found bacteria levels exceeding safety standards. The incidents add to a crisis that has left migrants housed in garages, vehicles and overcrowded flats since tens of thousands arrived in the Spanish enclave. French President Macron, who backs Spain's position, called for EU action on September 30, which has yet to produce a concrete measure, and each new incident sharpens the question of who pays for shelter Ceuta says it does not have.