Tunisia
The Tunis Court of First Instance's criminal chamber on Monday convicted and then freed three more activists tried over the September 19 march held in support of detained Soumoud Flotilla members, the defense committee said: Kais Bouzouzia received a 12-month suspended sentence, and Khalil Laabidi and Thouraya Chtiba eight months each, suspended. They are the latest in a wider case: four other defendants were already freed with suspended sentences on October 8, after roughly fifteen people were arrested in the hours following the march. The flotilla's own detained leaders, held since March, face a separate, ongoing case.
Haithem Bouagila, head of the Tunisian Textile and Apparel Federation, told African Manager that power cuts between 15 July and 31 August cost the sector an estimated eight to ten full working days, delaying order deliveries across an industry that employs about 155,000 people. He warned that repeated electricity crises risk marking Tunisia as unreliable for trade and industrial partners, without giving a monetary estimate of the losses.
Tunisia's finance and budget committee at the National Council of Regions and Districts, chaired by Ali Hassoumi Bayouli, called Monday for rationalizing public spending and speeding up public projects 'while preserving the state's social role,' as it reviewed the broad orientations of the draft 2027 budget law. It urged reforming the subsidy system to better target support toward purchasing power, health, social affairs and investment, flagging pressure from fuel, food and cereal subsidies and a rising public debt burden; no specific spending or deficit figures were given.
The presidency announced on Tuesday, marking the 63rd anniversary of Evacuation Day, a pardon for 2,288 detainees and conditional release for 424 more. The pardon is freeing 1,573 detainees immediately. Evacuation Day, marked on 15 October, commemorates the departure of the last French troops from Bizerte in 1963.
Source:
Webdo · Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Geopolitics
Houthi forces struck the Saudi capital for a third consecutive day on Monday, after a strike on Saturday killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300, with one more killed in a follow-up strike on Sunday; a drone was also fired at Khamis Mushait near the Yemeni border. King Khalid International Airport remains closed until Saturday, and Etihad, Gulf Air and other carriers have suspended flights. "The Houthis are misbehaving very badly. No good," Trump said, giving no sign of US intervention, while Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the kingdom's response "must be equally serious."
The UK said Monday that Iran was 'almost certainly' behind a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, a base used by the US, and sanctioned two Iranian nationals, including Ruhollah Bazghandi, described as head of IRGC counterespionage, over 'hostile activity.' Prime Minister Andy Burnham told parliament 'we will not tolerate these threats on our soil' and promised further sanctions, while Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband summoned Iran's ambassador, who 'categorically rejected' any Iranian role. The case follows the arrest, and later bail release without charge, of five British men near the base on 27 September.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an initiative including UNICEF, the World Bank and the World Food Programme, warned Monday that an El Niño-induced drought affecting roughly half of Sudan is compounding a civil war that has displaced about 13 million people and killed at least 150,000, per the ACLED monitor. North and South Darfur, including two displacement camps where acute malnutrition already exceeds famine thresholds, and West and South Kordofan are most at risk; severe child malnutrition in Nyala roughly doubled between January and August, from about 5 to 11 percent.
Europe
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, presented a new defence strategy at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, built on three principles: block, blunt and break. All 32 member states have endorsed the plan, which combines conventional forces with drones, counter-drone systems and artificial intelligence. "If attacked, we are ready to fight tonight," Grynkewich said, adding that any attack on an ally should prove 'utterly futile.'
Source:
Euronews · Monday, 12 October 2026
EU foreign ministers agreed in Luxembourg on Monday to establish a new civilian-military mission to strengthen Lebanon's security forces, foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. At least eight countries, including France, Italy and Germany, have expressed interest in joining what is expected to be roughly 150 personnel focused on border security and countering drones; Kallas stressed the mission is not meant to replace the UN's Unifil force, whose mandate expires at the end of December, when it will begin withdrawing.
Source:
Euronews · Monday, 12 October 2026
German police detained two Turkish nationals on Monday under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Poland, which suspects them of setting fire to a Starlink ground station in the village of Wola Krobowska in September. Polish officials say the two men acted on behalf of Russian intelligence services to disrupt Starlink connectivity in Poland and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe; Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it another act in the hybrid war being waged against the country.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham told MPs that Britain's post-Brexit relationship with the EU "is not good enough" for the country, and announced with European Council President António Costa that the next summit will be held in Brussels on November 20. The summit, originally planned for the summer, is meant to make progress on growth and controlling illegal immigration, Burnham said; talks on a youth mobility scheme, a food and drink deal and an emissions-trading agreement are running alongside it.