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US says it is attacking IRGC targets following ‘attempted attacks’ on ships in Strait of Hormuz.

The United States military says it is conducting new strikes against Iran as fighting renews between the two countries.

The Middle East-based Central Command (CENTCOM) of the US military said on Tuesday that it was hitting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets.

“The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region,” CENTCOM said.

Iran has previously responded to similar US attacks, so the strikes risk sparking a new cycle of fighting.

Iranian semiofficial news agency Tasnim reported explosions in the south of the country, including in Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island.

Tuesday’s strikes follow an exchange of attacks on Sunday when the US military struck Larak Island in southern Iran and Tehran retaliated with missile launches against a base housing American troops in Jordan.

The fighting on Sunday saw the first attacks by both countries since July. The administration of US President Donald Trump had said that it was shifting its strategy from military strikes to intense economic pressure on Iran.

The US has imposed a naval siege on Iranian ports while threatening Tehran’s trade partners with secondary sanctions.

But Iran continues to assert its control over Hormuz – a major artery for the global energy trade. However, in recent weeks, Trump and his aides have said that the US is managing to get millions of barrels of oil through the strait daily despite the Iranian blockade.

Still, attacks on ships around the strait have been reported almost daily.

On Monday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said an oil tanker was hit by three “unknown projectiles” while transiting through Hormuz.

More to come…

Departed Labour Party leader now plans to focus on international affairs.

Former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced he is to stand down as a member of parliament.

Starmer said on Tuesday that it was the “right time” to resign as the MP for the Holborn and St Pancras seat in London after 11 years, triggering a by-election. The announcement comes six weeks after his resignation as the United Kingdom’s premier, having lost the support of ruling Labour Party MPs.

“It is now time to step aside and focus on other issues: international affairs including defence, security, trade and technology in a fast-changing world,” Starmer wrote on social media.

As party leader, Starmer led Labour to a historic 2024 landslide after 14 years of Conservative rule. However, within two years, U-turns, cuts, a diplomatic scandal, pressure from the radical right-wing Reform UK, and the challenge of Andy Burnham – who became Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade – eroded Starmer’s authority, and he was forced out.

Starmer had previously said he would remain ‌as a lawmaker until the next general election. But he told the Camden New Journal, a local newspaper in his North London constituency, that he had changed his mind and intended to leave UK Parliament after 11 years, six of those as leader of the party.

The newspaper did not give a timeframe for when an election would be held for ⁠Starmer’s seat in the constituency of Holborn and St ⁠Pancras.

Despite his dwindling popularity at home, foreign affairs were seen by some as Starmer’s strength, particularly for the strong relationships he formed with EU leaders in the wake of Brexit, especially French President Emmanuel ⁠Macron, with whom he established the so-called Coalition of the Willing in support of Ukraine.

Starmer comfortably kept his seat in the 2024 election with a majority of over 11,500 votes, though Andrew Feinstein, an independent candidate who campaigned primarily around his opposition to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and Labour’s support for it, took nearly 19 percent of ballots.

Burnham’s accession has led to ‌a ‌bounce in the polls for Labour, though he faces tougher challenges ahead, with Parliament resuming on Tuesday.

Celebrity MasterChef star Sue Cleaver has previously opened up about a terrifying health battle that left her ‘seriously ill’

Sue Cleaver previously suffered a “scary” health scare

The actress, best known for playing Eileen Grimshaw in Coronation Street, opened up about a terrifying health battle which left her seriously ill and needing treatment in intensive care. The star is currently appearing on Celebrity MasterChef as she takes on a new challenge away from the cobbles.

But while viewers watch Sue battle it out in the kitchen, the star has previously spoken candidly about a difficult period in her life after undergoing surgery and later becoming seriously unwell. In 2023, Sue revealed she had endured a particularly difficult year after undergoing a hysterectomy before later being rushed to A&E.

Speaking about her health at the time, Sue explained that she had been seriously ill and had required intensive care treatment. “I had a really bad year. I had a hysterectomy in March then a few weeks ago, I ended up in A&E,” Sue said during an appearance on ITV hit chat show Loose Women.

Sue chose not to go into detail about exactly what had happened but admitted it had been an extremely frightening experience.

She explained: “I don’t need to go into details, but I have not been on a diet this year. I have been seriously ill. It was a scary, scary time. I had surgery and ended up in intensive care.”

The star had been subjected to speculation about her changing appearance, with images of her being used in adverts promoting weight-loss products. But Sue made clear that her weight loss had not been the result of following a particular diet. Instead, she had been dealing with serious health problems behind the scenes.

Despite the difficult experience, Sue was able to joke about the attention she had received over her appearance. “I’ve been seriously, seriously ill, but I look amazing!” she quipped.

The health scare came several years after Sue experienced another frightening medical emergency. In 2019, the actress developed sepsis after suffering from a kidney infection.

Sue later recalled becoming extremely unwell while she was working, initially believing that her symptoms could have been caused by flu or another illness.

Her condition deteriorated rapidly and she was eventually taken to hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with sepsis. The actress has since spoken about how serious the situation became and how important it was that she received medical treatment.

Sue has continued working throughout her health battles and has remained a familiar face on British television.

Now, the actress is taking on another challenge as she joins the line-up for Celebrity MasterChef. The cooking competition sees famous faces put their culinary skills to the test as they compete to impress the judges.

For Sue, it marks another chapter in her television career and gives viewers the chance to see a different side of the much-loved soap star.

Celebrity MasterChef is available to stream on BBC One and BBC iPlayer

Buenos Aires, Argentina – In the La Boca neighbourhood, home to the Boca Juniors stadium and a place which lives and breathes football, people are taking turns to be photographed in front of huge murals depicting football legend Lionel Messi holding the 2022 World Cup.

Across the city, monuments have been illuminated in Argentina’s blue and white in honour of the national hero, who has announced his retirement from international football after two decades during which he was transformed from young prodigy to national icon.

On Monday, football clubs around the country were singing songs for Messi and mounting banners showing him holding the World Cup he helped to win for his country. The Argentine Football Association is planning a farewell match to thank him for his extraordinary service.

Messi announced his departure from the national team this week on social media with a handwritten letter that he says he wrote two days after losing the World Cup final against Spain this year. He said he had “nothing else to give”.

“It was a decision that hurt – and still hurts deep down – but I understand that the time has come,” he wrote on Instagram on Monday.

While the news has not come as a total surprise – Messi is 39 years old and has recently lost his father, Jorge Messi, who played a crucial role in his career – fans are nevertheless devastated.

“We are going to continue loving Messi, not just for football but for his humility, for who he is; that’s the most important thing about Messi,” fan Sebastian Luna tells Al Jazeera. “It’s football; it’s over, but Messi will always be in our hearts”.

Some are calling for his number 10 jersey to be retired along with him. Alas, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) rules won’t allow it – the team has already tried.

‘Like a bucket of cold water’

Messi played six World Cups for Argentina, and for years, he struggled with constant criticism for failing to win one.

The ⁠former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward, who now plays ⁠for Inter Miami, has been repeatedly compared unfavourably with the football legend Diego Maradona – who also helped Argentina win one World Cup in 1986. But that all changed when Argentina won in Qatar, propelling Messi to the status of national symbol for all Argentinians across political and social divides. Now, they have two heroes to celebrate.

“I saw Maradona; I saw many players – Kempes – but Messi is superlative,” says fan Carlos Sciata in Buenos Aires. His retirement is “like a bucket of cold water, but well, it was something that could happen, especially after his father’s death. But we are going to miss him a lot. There is no one else like him,” he adds.

The record eight-time Ballon d’Or winner became his country’s record appearance maker and scorer, with 125 goals in 207 games, ⁠having transformed a complicated relationship with the national team into a story of redemption and triumph.

Tributes have poured in since his announcement on Monday.

Angel Di Maria, who played alongside Messi in their FIFA 2022 World Cup triumph in Qatar, said it was “so hard” to know fans will not be able to see the talismanic forward in the sky blue and white colours of Argentina any more.

“I only know that I was born in the right century to be able to see you, enjoy you, and on top of that, to share all these years with you on the national team,” Di Maria declared.

Rodrigo De Paul, Messi’s Argentinian teammate at his Major League Soccer club Inter Miami, applauded the record eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s “unconditional love” for the country.

“Just thank you, the greatest of all time, thank you for making us so, so happy, you can’t imagine how many smiles you brought!!” he added.

“You are eternal.”

Enormous void

Despite hoping for a final triumph at the World Cup this year, Argentina lost 1-0 to Spain in the final.

Now, Argentina is preparing for what comes next.

Messi’s departure leaves an enormous void for football fans, and questions are being raised about the future of coach Lionel Scaloni and the team he built around the star player.

Off the pitch, Argentinian football is facing problems of its own, with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) under investigation amid serious allegations of corruption and financial irregularities.

But for today, it is all about saying goodbye at the end of an era. Messi represents a collective source of happiness in a country that has endured economic and political upheaval.

The one man who makes all Argentinians proud summed it up in his farewell message on Monday: “I leave with the ‌peace ‌of mind and pride of having given you – alongside my teammates – moments we once only dreamed of,” he wrote.

A new three-part documentary series on Netflix will explore the life and struggles of Matthew Perry and feature an interview with his sister Mia Perry Bowick, along with unreleased photos and videos from the private archive of the Perry family.

“The One About Matthew Perry” will premiere on the streaming platform Oct. 27, according to an announcement by Netflix on Tuesday. The docuseries, directed and executive produced by award-winning director Mary Robertson (“Quiet on Set”), will tell the story of Perry and his journey from rising comedic star to the man behind the Emmy-nominated role of Chandler Bing on “Friends.”

“Through his many films, TV and stage performances, and his unforgettable portrayal of Chandler Bing, he made millions of us laugh, connect, and feel a little less alone,” Robertson said in a statement. “He also gave us so much more by bravely speaking about addiction. Yet the public only knew part of his story. That’s why we set out to make this series: to let the people who knew and loved Matthew reveal the person behind the public figure.”

The documentary will explore new details about Perry’s private struggles with prescription painkillers and alcohol through firsthand memories from his family and collaborators. The actor died in 2023 from acute effects of ketamine, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner. Five people were sentenced to prison for supplying Perry with the drug, including his assistant, two doctors, a former drug counselor and a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine queen.”

Perry Bowick hopes the series gives everyone who loved him an appreciation of who he truly was and the legacy he leaves behind.

“It’s taken time for me to feel ready to share these memories and what it was like to love Matthew through all the complexity of his life — to see him as a whole person, not just as Chandler, and not just as someone who struggled with addiction,” she said in a statement.

“The One About Matthew Perry” is the latest documentary about the late actor; “Matthew Perry: An American Tragedy” was released on Peacock last year. The Netflix docuseries is produced by Maxine Productions, a part of Sony Pictures Television. Lisa Kalikow, Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are executive producers along with Robertson, Lora Moftah is co-executive producer and Jessica Call is producer.

Sept. 1 (UPI) — Two oil tankers were struck by unknown projectiles on the Strait of Hormuz while the renewed fighting between Iran and the United States sends oil prices on the rise again.

One Saudi Arabian and one South Korean oil tanker were hit by projectiles within minutes of each other on Monday night, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported. The organization said no casualties or environmental impact have been reported.

The strikes followed President Donald Trump warning of further escalation in the war with Iran.

The United States launched strikes on Iranian troops in Larak Island on Sunday, causing Iran to retaliate with strikes on U.S. bases in Jordan. Trump said in a TV interview on Monday that he planned to respond by hitting Iran “hard.”

Dr. Majid Al-Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday that the nation will re-up its efforts to bring the United States and Iran back to the table to discuss a peace agreement.

“This escalation will not benefit anyone,” Al-Ansari said. “We are all affected by this escalation. Therefore we urge the parties, first, to exercise wisdom and return to the negotiating track, and we continue and intensify our efforts with our mediation partners to ensure a return to this track.”

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would be open to returning to peace talks if the United States moves in that direction.

Oil prices increased by 2% early Tuesday on the back of escalating conflict between the United States and Iran. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, was up 2% to $92 per barrel while West Texas intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was trading for $88 per barrel.

At the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the Israeli government made no secret of its intention to forcibly transfer Palestinians from the enclave and urged the international community to support its plans for what it called ‘resettlement’.

“Europe has a long history of assisting refugees fleeing conflicts,” Danny Danon and Ram Ben Barak wrote in 2023 in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. Describing participation in forced transfer as “a moral imperative”, Danon and Ben Barak suggested that countries accept as much as 10,000 people each to “alleviate the crisis”.

Had the suggestion been accepted by enough countries, Israel would have been granted its current greatest wish – to ethnically cleanse Gaza in full complicity with the international community. As things stand, the international community refused the Israel suggestion on grounds of breaking international law, while getting on board with Israel committing genocide. The real reason behind the stance, however, was that governments would rather witness large-scale massacres of Palestinians from a distance than accept refugees.

US President Donald Trump is now promoting Israel’s strategy. “You’re talking about probably a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing. You know, over the centuries it’s had many, many conflicts, that site. And I don’t know, something has to happen,” Trump said during a 20-minute meeting with reporters on Air Force One.

OPINION: Israel’s use of domicide to further its colonial endeavours

“It’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything is demolished and people are dying there,” Trump added, in his usual vague rhetoric. “So I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”

Trump raised the idea with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi. Gaza was deemed “interesting” – for real investment purposes, of course. One must not forget Jared Kushner’s plans for Gaza – beachfront properties. And, while the Biden administration dragged its feet on forced displacement, the genocide happened under its watch and with full collaboration. Which means that the previous administration paved the way for Trump to echo what Israel insisted upon since the start of the genocide – Palestinians are slated for displacement, one way or another.

Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, stated he will be working “to prepare an operational plan and ensure the realisation of President Trump’s vision.” But it’s best to call it the Israel vision, even if Trump is the President promoting forced transfer as a humanitarian necessity. The Israeli vision is colonial, fits in with genocide and the concept of Zionism’s Greater Israel. Real estate investments facilitate the Zionist concept. And what better way to promote rebuilding Gaza, even if for Palestinians, rebuilding Gaza means the total opposite?

As Palestinians return to their homes, Trump’s suggestion of forced transfer should be considered incitement to ethnic cleansing. The world is obliged to heed what is happening right after the ceasefire and the gradual return of Palestinian refugees to Gaza. Palestinians want to remain – it is their right – and that is all that matters.

OPINION: Could the head of the world’s highest court be a judge with Zionist tendencies?

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

CAROLINE Quentin has revealed she may never buy another home after selling her sprawling six-bedroom farmhouse, art collection and jewellery.

The Men Behaving Badly actress, 66, has deliberately stripped back her lifestyle after admitting her huge Devon property and its grounds had become “a bit too much”.

She and husband Sam Farmer now rent a smaller home in Somerset, with Caroline saying they are perfectly happy to remain tenants.

Speaking to Saga, she said: “We’ve been in Somerset for just over a year, with a more manageable garden. We’re really happy. I don’t think we’ll buy again.”

Opening up about her former property, she added: “It had a two-acre vegetable garden, a two-acre orchard and a pool. The veg alone was exhausting.”

Caroline also revealed she auctioned off her art collection and jewellery after deciding possessions were no longer important to her.

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She said: “Possessions aren’t important to me any more. I got rid of a lot of things two years ago. I took them to auction and sold them.

“I had quite a big art collection and a lot of jewellery, and I sold it all.

“Now we live in a rented house and I don’t have much stuff. That was very deliberate.”

It marks a change of heart for the actress, who previously said she and Sam hoped to buy a smaller cottage and create a new garden.

Speaking to Gardens Illustrated in February 2024, she said: “My big beautiful garden in Devon came with a big house and it was all getting a bit too much for me.

“My husband Sam and I are renting a lovely cottage in Somerset and are looking for a cottage nearby where I can start a new garden and a new gardening adventure.”

Caroline is best known for playing Dorothy in Nineties sitcom Men Behaving Badly, as well as starring in Jonathan Creek and Blue Murder.

She married Sam in 2006 and the couple share two grown-up children, Emily Rose and William.

For about a month, the United States had refrained from attacking Iranian targets as the Trump administration turned toward economic warfare against the Islamic Republic. However, that changed last night when U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) struck what it said were Iranian rocket launchers preparing to fire naval mines into the Strait of Hormuz. The problem is that mine-deploying rockets are not a common capability, so much so that the statement seemed bizarre at first glance. But it just turns out that Iran does claim to have such a system and that system would have a glaring application in the current state of play of the conflict. In fact, it would be absolutely critical to do exactly what CENTCOM did, blowing them up prior to launching, because if they didn’t, the final and very fragile energy lifeline between the Persian Gulf and the world could be severed at the worst possible time.

“I can confirm that earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, CENTCOM’s spokesman, told us Sunday evening. “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.”

The U.S. strikes against the launchers on Sunday spurred Iran to respond with ballistic missile attacks on a Jordanian air base housing U.S. troops. Jordanian officials said all eight missiles were intercepted, and no casualties or damage was inflicted.

Hawkins did not specify what exact type of rocket launcher was struck or whether this was the first time CENTCOM had seen Iran use this type of system to launch sea mines.

Though CENTCOM won’t comment on what kind of system was attacked, Iran did tout just this kind of a system last year with exactly the kind of range needed to be a huge problem for the U.S. and its allies. This system uses a variant of the Fajr-5 rocket that is converted with a sea mine warhead.

You can see a video of that system below.

The clip shows the rockets being fired from a truck-mounted multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). The video later cuts to nose cone-shaped mines that appear to float on the surface above the spent missile body, however, little is known about the Fajr-5 sea mine warhead conversion process that allows them to be delivered by rocket.

We also don’t know the full extent to which Iran has developed and/or fielded this particular capability, or whether it has other options for similarly deploying naval mines by rocket. Neither Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank, nor the Ambrey maritime security firm has seen any indication that Tehran has used an MLRS to launch sea mines in the past.

At the same time, “the Fajr-5 is an Iranian calling card, a 333mm caliber rocket that can reportedly travel 75 km carrying between an estimated 90 to 170 kg warhead, depending on the payload,” Taleblu, an expert on Iranian weapons systems, told TWZ.

The Fajr-5 is an established design that traces its roots back to the 1990s and has been evolving since then. “The Fajr class was initially designed as unguided artillery rockets, though Iran claims to have developed a guided version,” Taleblu added.

In general terms, being able to seed naval mines via artillery rockets would offer several advantages for Iran, most immediately by offering an alternative to traditional maritime mine-laying platforms. The destruction of Iran’s naval forces was a top stated objective for the U.S. military during the opening phases of the conflict earlier this year. Iranian vessels, including ones capable of laying mines, were heavily targeted. Still, Iran has retained a large number of its smaller boats that can be used for seeding minefields.

Regardless of what boats they have left, mining the area that actually matters most would be impossible to do as any vessel approaching the southern coast of the Strait of Hormuz would be destroyed. It’s through these tight and complex littorals that a reduced flow of commercial vessels are still traveling, under the kinetic umbrella of the U.S. and its Gulf state allies. The Fajr-5, fired from Iranian controlled islands in the strait, has the range to land in these waterways, seeding mines without risking any boat crews or other platforms. If the rocket-delivered mines splash down, the de-mining process would have to begin, which can be arduous and last weeks, potentially shutting down all shipping.

With that in mind, Iran’s weapon is remarkably relevant to the situation, assuming it works. But even if it doesn’t, it could still pose a risk to mariners even if its efficacy is questionable.

Furthermore, being able to turn any launcher for Fajr-5s (and/or potentially ones for other types of artillery rockets) into a naval mine layer rather than having to rely on specialized systems would be a boon unto itself. Artillery rockets and launchers are something Iran had deep stockpiles of before the war with the United States and Israel started earlier this year. How many naval mine rockets Iran might have, and whether it might be possible to convert existing types to that configuration, are open questions.

Using a road-mobile launcher would also give Iranians a ‘shoot-and-scoot’ option for deploying naval mines where the launch could be exposed only for a short period of time. This, in turn, would create additional targeting challenges for U.S. forces. It is possible that, as it does elsewhere, Iran has constructed tunnels under Larak Island to hide these systems, as well. 

Overall, the “deployment of naval mines by missile significantly speeds up the deployment process, improves the ability to penetrate airspace, and increases the standoff distance between the minelayer and the field, making it the least risky minelaying method,” a piece published by the Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) think tank last year, which also highlighted Iran’s apparent demonstration of the Fajr-5-based capability, noted.

While the Fajr-5’s estimated payload capacity is “light compared to U.S. or Chinese naval mines,” the mines the rockets could deliver “are still heavier than diver-delivered limpet mines and could conceivably disable a ship if struck by enough mines from the field,” the piece added. “Most importantly, this field could be delivered rapidly and with little warning. Even though the explosive capacity of this mine individually is small, the psychological impact from inflicting minor damage on a small number of merchants could still be enough to force shipping companies to avoid the area.”

“Though it’s a bit unconventional, using a rocket launcher again signals that the regime is sensitive to cost and risk, and is trying to deploy mines in a way that doesn’t put as much personnel at risk as by dropping them overboard,” Taleblu posited. “It was reported in the military exercise over a year ago that the regime had used an MLRS system like the Fajr to deploy these, but I haven’t seen significant video confirmation of this most recent round.”

With all this in mind, the point about “psychological impact” mentioned in the CIMSEC piece could be particularly relevant in this case. By launching the attacks on Larak Island, CENTCOM has in a way given credence to Iran having a real capability to launch mines via rocket into the Strait of Hormuz. That threat by itself could be enough to cause commercial ship crews, their corporate operators, and insurance companies to think twice about attempted transits.

This is exactly the issue that President Trump, among others, has repeatedly sought to downplay, including multiple times just within the past week.

“We’re taking them in,” Trump told Glenn Beck last week. “The mines are gone. You probably saw that, we put it out yesterday, all the mines. We got rid of the mines. But the strait, it’s functioning, it’s a functioning strait. Uh, yes, every once in a while, there’ll be a drone or a rocket or something shot, but it is a very functioning strait.”

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“Last week, CENTCOM completed clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes,” Hawkins, the CENTCOM spokesman, told us yesterday. “U.S. forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway.”

“The U.S. military has achieved a major milestone in the Strait of Hormuz,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM’s commander, stated last week. “We have successfully cleared sea mines in the strait’s international shipping lanes that were laid months ago by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Internationally recognized transit routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines, thanks to the incredible work of the U.S. military.”

State lawmakers have approved a series of modest changes intended to bolster California’s film and TV tax credit program.

Among the key revisions, independent filmmakers would be exempted from the $5 million state corporate tax credit cap that was approved earlier this year as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s state budget.

Film industry advocates lobbied hard for a carve-out, saying the cap would undercut gains made under the current film and TV tax credit program at a time when Hollywood has been reeling from job losses.

The exemption is a compromise. Film industry advocates were hoping all types of producers would be exempt from the corporate tax cap.

The bill includes other changes intended to help Hollywood, such as allowing companies to carry forward older tax credits for up to 15 years (the old limit was nine) and reducing the discount they are charged when they opt to seek a cash refund on unused credits.

Producers will also be able to collect their refund money more quickly — within two years instead of five.

California offers tax credits of up to 35% on qualified expenses, which can be applied to any tax liabilities the production companies have in the state. The program allocates $750 million annually in film and TV tax breaks.

The budget trailer bill was introduced to the Senate on Friday by Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles), chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica).

The new cap, issued by Gov. Newsom, would have undermined the “competitiveness” of the current California Film and Television Jobs Program, said the Entertainment Union Coalition, an advocacy group that supports the bill. But with these new modifications, the group — which represents the Directors Guild, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and more — said the program will be able to continue to “support the fragile recovery of our industry here in California.”

“Most importantly, we want to recognize the major role our members played in today’s success as advocates for their industry in California,” Rebecca Rhine, the coalition’s president, said in a statement. “They sent an unprecedented 450,000 letters to the California legislature, making clear the negative impact that SB 122 [the new cap] would have on their livelihoods, their families, and their communities.”

Over the program’s first full year in its expanded $750-million form, the California Film Commission says it delivered $6.6 billion in direct production spending and $4.3 billion in qualified expenditures, supporting nearly 35,000 cast and crew jobs across 6,630 filming days statewide.

The bill cleared the Assembly floor by a vote of 68-2, with the Senate approving its companion measure by a vote of 32 in favor, 8 against the same day. It now awaits Gov. Newsom’s signature.

“It’s a good day that we took steps to strengthen the program and while we have to do more next year, this was a crucial first step,” Zbur said in an interview.

Zbur said he believes everyone in the state’s film and TV tax credit program should have been exempted from the corporate tax credit cap and he plans to look at that within the context of next year’s budget.

“There were budget implications to doing that, so we really did all the things that are viable to do in this legislative session,” Zbur said.

Sept. 1 (UPI) — A North Carolina grand jury has indicted a 17-year-old girl as an adult on charges of murder stemming from allegations that she aided and abetted two other teens who killed three people in a hate-filled attack on a San Diego mosque before taking their own lives.

Caleb Vazquez, 18, and Cain Clark, 17, are alleged to have shot and killed three people, including a security guard, at the Islamic Center of San Diego in California on May 18. Their bodies were found dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshots in a car parked near the scene.

On Monday, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neil told reporters during a press conference that a 17-year-old girl was arrested last week in North Carolina and that a grand jury indicted her on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, on allegations that she livestreamed the attack, disseminated the recording afterward and released the manifesto the attackers authored to justify their crime.

Court documents identified the suspect as 17-year-old Sarah Lindsey Santiago.

“Today’s indictment sends a clear message: physical distance from an attack does not place someone beyond accountability for the role they allegedly played in making it happen,” Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office said in a statement.

“In today’s threat environment, individuals may believe they can encourage or facilitate acts of violence from hundreds of miles away without facing consequences. This case demonstrates that law enforcement will aggressively investigate those connections and pursue accountability wherever the evidence leads, including when juveniles are involved.”

According to the indictment, she is also alleged to have purchased a “Sonnenrad” patch for Vazquez, which he wore during the attack. According to the advocacy organization Anti-Defamation League, the Sonnenrad, which translates to “Black Sun,” is a symbol associated with White supremacy and was adopted by the Nazis in the 1930s.

The court document states that the conspiracy charge stems from allegations that she, Clark and Vazquez planned to murder worshipers at the Islamic Center of San Diego but also worshipers at Kehilat Ariel Messianic Synagogue, which is also in San Diego, and Black students at an unnamed public high school.

O’Neil, in the press conference, said that aiding-and-abetting charges in North Carolina come with the same penalties as if the accused had perpetrated the crime.

“So, she didn’t have to be in California. She’s in our jurisdiction. And today, a grand jury indicted her and held her responsible for her actions,” he said.

According to police, the shooting occurred at about 11:42 a.m. on May 18.

Shortly before, at about 9:40 a.m. that morning, San Diego police received a call from Clark’s mother reporting her son was suicidal and that several of her weapons and her vehicle were missing. Her son was with a companion, both dressed in camouflage, she said.

San Diego police were working to locate the teens when the first calls of the shooting at the mosque came in.

The suspects parked in the Islamic Center’s parking lot, ran past security and opened fire, hitting 51-year-old Amin Abdullah, who exchanged gunfire, wounding Clark. Abdullah has been heralded as a hero who saved lives by initiating lockdown protocols before dying from his injuries. O’Neil said there were 140 children on the premises at the time of the shooting.

The two suspects entered the building, but then exited through the back door and into the parking lot, where they encountered Mansour Kazhia, 78, and Nadir Awad, 57, whom they shot and killed.

The suspects fled the scene in their vehicle, from which they shot at a gardener who was uninjured, before dying by suicide.

Searches of residences associated with the suspects uncovered more than 30 guns and a crossbow, including rifles, along with ammunition, tactical gear and electronics.

“There exists in our world an underground subculture. It’s an echo chamber of intense hate against different cultures and religions. Cain and Vasquez, by what is contained in their manifesto, seemed to hate everyone, regardless of skin color, politics, religion or ethnicity,” he said.

“And this underground subculture of hate, they listen to each other, they talk to each other in encoded platforms. It radicalizes one another to the point where they carry out these horrific crimes of violence and murder.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Smoke from forest and peatland fires burning across Indonesia has pushed air quality in parts of Malaysian Borneo to hazardous levels, triggering a surge in respiratory illness and forcing the cancellation of outdoor Independence Day celebrations.

The smoke – drifting from fires in Kalimantan in the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo – has settled over the Malaysian state of Sarawak, on the same island, for much of August. It has also reached peninsular Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore.

It is the region’s worst haze episode since 2015, when fires in Indonesia exposed tens of millions of people to toxic smoke and caused more than 500,000 people to suffer respiratory ailments.

On Tuesday, six areas in Sarawak recorded hazardous air quality, with readings above 300 on Malaysia’s Air Pollutant Index. Anything above 100 is considered unhealthy. In Kuching, the state capital, the index hit 407, while in Serian, a town close to the Kalimantan border, it hit 408.

Mia Emylia Hassan, 33, a mother of two in Kuching, said the smell of smoke was inescapable.

“The air here is very thick,” she said. “It smells like smoke, and it’s just white all over.” Visibility from her house, she said, had dropped to about a kilometre, or roughly half a mile. “We have not seen blue sky for over a month,” she said.

The haze arrived in early August, shortly after her 10-month-old daughter came home from the hospital after a lung infection. “She’s not healing properly because her lungs are still developing,” Hassan said. “She’s been on medication this whole month, and she has been coughing and vomiting.”

Twice, the family has had to rush the infant back to the emergency room because she could not breathe.

“It’s a mini heart attack for us every time,” Hassan said.

Asthma cases surge

Malaysia’s Ministry of Health has reported a sharp rise in illness nationwide. During the week of August 23 to 29, asthma cases climbed to 1,811, up from 219 the previous week, the ministry said on Saturday, while conjunctivitis cases also rose to 720, from 146.

In peninsular Malaysia, Karen-Michaela Tan, an asthma patient who lives near the capital, Kuala Lumpur, said that a week after the haze thickened, she was “wheezing audibly” and “breathless when climbing stairs”. The 52-year-old said she needed two nebuliser treatments back to back to stop the wheezing, along with a heavy dose of steroids.

“Doctors are erring on the side of caution when it comes to asthma patients, choosing to up dosages rather than risk a patient being hospitalised for shortness of breath,” she said.

Her house is sealed, and two purifiers run continuously. Still, “I battle throat scratchiness and nasal dryness even with these measures”, she said.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional bloc, has activated a Level 3 transboundary haze alert – its highest – for the southern part of the region. The alert signals a high risk of severe cross-border haze. ASEAN cited an increase in fire hotspots and prolonged dry weather, fuelled by an intensifying El Nino weather pattern.

The toxic smoke has forced Sarawak to cancel its outdoor Independence Day celebrations on Monday, and officials warned that worse restrictions could follow. Any area where readings cross 500 will be placed under a local emergency, and all public and private offices will be closed, the deputy premier, Douglas Uggah Embas, told reporters. “Only essential services will be allowed to operate,” he added.

In Kuala Lumpur, where skies were grey for most of the month, the haze thinned enough to reveal blue sky for the first time in a week, just as the Independence Day parade got under way early in the morning.

Schools, too, have been hit hard. Under Ministry of Education rules, outdoor activities are suspended when the index reaches 100, and schools must close at 200. On August 20 and 21, nearly 600 schools in and around Kuching shut, affecting some 200,000 primary and secondary students. And on August 28, 30 more schools in Sarawak closed, keeping more than 4,000 children at home.

This week, schools are closed for the Independence Day holiday.

Youth sport has been affected, too. Yap Kai Jinn, 31, a coach at Square One Football, a Kuala Lumpur academy, said the club had cancelled all training sessions and matches since last week.

“Along with our parents, we decided that it is not healthy; it is not safe for our players to play under these conditions,” he said. “For now, we are looking for an enclosed area to do sessions, and for outdoor, we have to wait and hope that the weather gets better.”

Fires surge in West Kalimantan

The toll of the haze has been far heavier in Indonesia.

The country’s deputy health minister, Dante Saksono Harbuwono, told reporters on Monday that some 13,500 people were treated for respiratory infections in July and August, while about 5.5 million people on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra have been directly exposed to smoke.

Borneo is the world’s third-largest island and is divided between Indonesia, which controls the southern two-thirds as Kalimantan; Malaysia, whose states of Sarawak and Sabah run along the north; as well as the sultanate of Brunei.

According to the Indonesian government, fires between January and July burned more than 200,000 hectares (about 494,000 acres), an area three times the size of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, across Borneo and Sumatra. Nearly 95,000 hectares (about 235,000 acres) burned in July alone.

And despite efforts to control the blazes, the fires continue to surge in parts of Indonesian Borneo.

Hotspots in West Kalimantan nearly doubled on Monday, rising by 3,553 to 7,377, while the number of active fires rose by 88 to 104, and visibility fell below a kilometre, said Berton Panjaitan, an official at Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency. In Central Kalimantan, hotspots declined by 147 to 5,244, while fire spots increased by 16 to 72, he said.

Cities in Kalimantan have recorded hazardous air, too.

Readings in Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan reached 780 on Monday on the air quality index used by IQAir, a Swiss company that monitors pollution data. Pontianak in West Kalimantan reached 593.

The fires are largely set on purpose, analysts say, with plantation companies and smallholders alike burning rainforest and carbon-rich peatland to clear ground for palm oil, farming, and pulp and paper production. The practice is illegal, and Indonesian police said last week that they had arrested 72 people suspected of setting recent fires.

Super El Nino

Researchers warned people in Southeast Asia to brace for a long fire season.

El Nino – the naturally occurring pattern that shifts winds, air pressure and rainfall worldwide – appears headed for “super” strength, said Helena Varkkey, a specialist on transboundary haze at Universiti Malaya.

In Southeast Asia, she said, “the intensifying El Nino means hotter and drier conditions”, so “any fires that happen will have a bigger and longer regional impact”.

Jayaprakash Muralitharan, a Malaysian atmospheric scientist, said the worst was still ahead.

Haze conditions are “going to be severe and longer, because the hot weather started much earlier last year”, he said. “El Nino came in and made conditions drier. Now you have the extreme drying of the peatland.”

And peat can make fires stubborn, he said. What looks extinguished on the surface can smoulder underground for weeks and flare up again, and nothing short of sustained rain will soak the soil enough to put it out.

Until the rains arrive, Muralitharan said, there is little to be done.

“Human intervention now is only a temporary solution. It would go on until end of September or October when the rain comes in. I hope that rain comes in by then.”

DOLLY Parton has been laid to rest in a private funeral attended by her family.

The country music great was buried next to husband Carl Dean on Friday at the Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville, Tennessee.

Their shared memorial bears both names, an image of two interlocking wedding rings, and the inscription “Married May 30, 1966”.

The send-off was “very simple” and what “Dolly would have wanted”, sources said.

The Sun last week revealed that the country music star wanted to have her dad’s favourite song If We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven) played at the service.

Dolly’s great-niece, Lainey Mae Parton, gave an emotional tribute confirming the burial had taken place.

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The superstar’s family have not yet released an official statement.

Lainey, 20, wrote on Saturday: “I wanted to wait until after my granny was laid to rest yesterday before I tried to put any of this into words.”

She said she knew the star as “Aunt Granny”, a name that captured the central role Dolly played within her enormous family.

Lainey explained that although Dolly and Carl never had children, she made the younger members of the family feel like they belonged to her.

She added: “She loved us that way and I’ll forever be grateful for that.”

Lainey also said Dolly — who died last Tuesday aged 80 after a brief battle with cancer — helped pay for her beauty school education and encouraged her musical ambitions.

Full funeral details have not been publicly released.

Dolly’s husband of nearly 59 years, Carl, 82, died last year.

An obituary posted by Woodlawn Memorial Park remembered “her timeless music and prolific songwriting, but also her wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family”.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has made a surprise appearance at United States-hosted G20 finance talks in North Carolina, sparking frustration and dismay among European ministers and officials.

Siluanov’s appearance at the talks in Asheville on Monday marks the first time the minister, who was appointed in 2011, has attended a G20 meeting in person since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

He held a bilateral meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, with Russia’s Ministry of Finance saying the two men discussed financial cooperation within the G20 framework.

A US official said the meeting focused on US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine.

Asked about the invitation to Siluanov, Trump told reporters: “We like getting along with everybody. One of the reasons I’m so successful, I get along with everybody.”

European officials, however, criticised the move.

Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said he was unhappy to see Moscow represented, although he recognised the right of G20 hosts to invite guests.

“We do not trust Russia. They lie constantly, and you need to be really, really cautious while discussing with them,” ⁠he told the Reuters news agency, stressing that Russia was the aggressor in its conflict with Ukraine.

“So for me, it would be very difficult to have any kind of conversation with Russia.”

‘Troubling’ signal

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said the US’s decision to welcome Siluanov sent a “signal I find troubling”.

He said he told Siluanov during a plenary session that Moscow had to end the war and “that we clearly support Ukraine”.

He also said Europe was preparing a further package of sanctions against Russia and hoped for close cooperation with Washington on the measures.

European ministers and central bankers also opposed appearing with Siluanov in the traditional G20 “family photo”, European officials said. The photograph was ultimately taken without the Russian minister.

Klingbeil said European officials, including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, had discussed Russia’s involvement on Sunday and agreed that maintaining an avenue for dialogue could allow them to deliver a frank message to Moscow.

“However, the mere fact that the Russian finance minister is back – after, I believe, four G20 meetings without Russian participation – indicates an attempt at normalisation, and that makes it all the more important for us to push back,” he said.

Siluanov’s appearance marked a sharp contrast with the G20 meeting in Washington, DC, in April 2022, when his virtual participation prompted officials from Canada, the United Kingdom, the US, and the European Central Bank to walk out.

White House defends talks with Russia

Asked about Siluanov’s attendance, White House spokesman Kush Desai told the AFP news agency that the Trump administration had been working with Russia to push for a deal that “would stop the endless bloodshed that the president has really condemned”.

“The president and the administration will never shy away from talking with the folks we need to talk to, to further that,” he said. “That’s what we’re working on here at the G20.”

Separately, Reuters and AFP, citing sources familiar with the Washington-Moscow talks, said Bessent had made clear that the US would not provide Russia with economic relief until war in Ukraine was over.

Trump has pushed Moscow and Kyiv to reach a deal to halt the fighting, but an initial 28-point plan that largely adhered to Russia’s demands was criticised by Ukraine and European governments.

The US, which currently holds the rotating G20 presidency, did not invite South Africa, last year’s G20 host, to the gathering. Poland, which is not a permanent G20 member, was invited.

Certain reporters from major US newsrooms, including The New York Times and Bloomberg News, were not granted credentials to cover the gathering.

The decision was condemned by the National Press Club, which said that “no administration should be allowed to handpick the press corps that scrutinizes it”.

The two-day meeting comes as global debt levels have reached a record of nearly $353 trillion and the global economy faces an energy shock triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. The talks also come amid rising tensions over China’s large trade surplus and uncertainty over the effects of a surge in artificial intelligence investment.

Loose Women star Grace Keeling says she no longer wants to suffer in silence over what happened to her a decade ago – and hopes it helps others to know they are ‘not alone’

GK Barry says her decision to speak out on the sexual assaults she experienced as a teen was partly motivated by anger.

When the TV and social media star, real name Grace Keeling, was raped as a 17-year-old during her college work experience placement, she vowed to never tell a soul.

But a decade on, she has written a book about her many and varied life experiences in which she lays out what happened in the hope it will help other young women. And she told the Mirror that it “took a lot” for her to revisit the devastating ordeal.

“He was so confident about what he did, I’m sure I wasn’t the first and won’t have been the last, and maybe I could have stopped him from doing this to another girl,” she explains in the book. “But although I wish now I’d reported it at the time, I also feel really strongly that it’s not women’s f***ing responsibility to stop men raping us.”

Her attacker was her line manager for the week, who was 10 years her senior and had offered to give her a lift to work on her second day. But instead of taking her to the office, he drove her to a deserted park and demanded a sex act. “I didn’t know what else I could do except go along with what he was telling me – resisting or fighting back felt like it might make things worse,” she said. Horribly aware that she needed to finish the work experience in order to pass her college course and get to university, she felt she had to comply. “There was never a moment in my mind where I thought I could say no to what was happening,” she says. “When you’re 17 and scared as f***, thinking logically isn’t an option.”

There was worse to come. On her last day with the company, he took her into a side room with no cameras and asked her to remove her white jeans. “And then he rapes me,” she writes, admitting it took her a many years to accept that’s what it was. Agonisingly, she confesses that one of the reasons she vowed to never speak about what happened was “in case someone confirms my biggest fear that I was to blame”.

But a year on from the assaults, Grace found the courage to tell a teacher after learning that another girl from college was about to do work experience at the same company.

When she finally spoke to the police, she was told by a female officer that, because there was no evidence, it would be her word against his and she was highly unlikely to get a conviction. “At no point did the police officer say to me that what he’d done was wrong,” she reports, saying she was offered no support or counselling at any point.

With statistics showing that 1 in 4 women over 16 experience some form of sexual assault, and six out of seven rapes against women are carried out by someone they know, Grace wishes she’d known then about support group Rape Crisis. “I think people would be more confident coming forward and reporting assaults if we knew that people were on our side and willing to believe us.”

As she lays out what happened in her new book, the podcaster and Loose Women regular, 27, told the Mirror that the secrecy around these sorts of issues needs to stop. “I think it’s something that people don’t speak about. It’s something always kept very hidden. And I don’t think we should be ashamed about it.

“I haven’t put it in just for the sake of it, it took a lot for me to even speak about it,” she says quietly. “I wish I knew that you can say no, that rape can happen whether it’s someone you’re friends with, or close to, or a boss, that it comes in many forms.” And for anyone who has suffered anything similar, she says: “I would like them to know that it wasn’t their fault, because I spent a lot of years thinking it was.”

Grace, who grew up in Newmarket, Suffolk, and is a judge this year on The Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards, is hoping her guide to surviving and thriving will also provide plenty of laughs. “The majority of it is just hilarious stuff that has happened to me,” she says. “I think people reading it can maybe learn from everything that I’ve done wrong.”

The book shows her devotion to footballer girlfriend of two years Ella Rutherford, an attacking midfielder for Millwall. Ella, 26, was her first relationship with a woman and it’s clear she thinks they will be together forever. Calling her the “undisputed love of my life”, Grace says she plans to eventually settle with Ella and their dogs on a farm.

Grace’s mother Loretta, and step-dad Andrew, have yet to learn about the many scrapes the TikTok star has had over the years. “My mum’s read the first couple of pages, but she has no idea what’s coming, God bless her,” she says. “I think maybe I won’t be able to look my mum and dad in the eye for a couple of months.”

– GK Barry, It’s Giving Life, EBURY SPOTLIGHT | 3RD SEPTEMBER 2026 | £22.00

Tunis, Tunisia – More than 15 years after Tunisians rose up to topple longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, familiar grievances are again being heard on the streets from north to south.

A slogan from the 2011 revolution is being heard again: “employment, freedom and national dignity”.

This time, those demands are being fuelled by water cuts, electricity outages, rising prices, medicine shortages and a struggle to make ends meet, problems increasingly affecting Tunisians across social and economic divides.

But the anger is unfolding in a very different political environment.

The discontent comes as Tunisia marks five years since President Kais Saied suspended parliament, dismissed the government and began ruling by decree, moves he described as necessary to end years of political paralysis and corruption.

Many Tunisians welcomed the move at the time, frustrated with a political system that had failed to address the country’s economic problems after the 2011 revolution.

Five years later, many of those grievances remain while the political space for challenging those in power has narrowed sharply.

Old demands, new anger

The decade that followed Ben Ali’s ouster brought competitive elections and greater space for political parties and civil society, but it also brought frequent government changes, political disputes and little improvement in the lives of many Tunisians.

Unemployment remained high, particularly among young people and in the country’s interior. Public services remained weak while rising prices continued to put pressure on household incomes. By the end of 2020, unemployment stood at 17.4 percent, according to the World Bank.

Tunisia also faced serious security threats, including attacks and political assassinations, adding to economic pressures and hitting sectors such as tourism.

Those frustrations helped Saied build support as an outsider promising to break with the traditional political establishment and what many Tunisians saw as a dysfunctional system.

On July 25, 2021, Saied suspended the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and lifted parliamentary immunity. He said he was acting to address a national crisis.

His opponents described the move as a coup.

Saied later dissolved parliament and oversaw the adoption of a new constitution in 2022 that significantly strengthened presidential powers.

Since then, opposition figures, journalists, lawyers and activists have been jailed or prosecuted in cases that rights groups describe as politically motivated. Civil society has faced increasing restrictions while critics have said institutional checks on presidential power have been weakened. Human Rights Watch, for example, has described the “conspiracy case” as part of a broader crackdown on dissent.

What is the “conspiracy case”?

The case centres on allegations by Tunisian authorities that opposition politicians, lawyers, activists and other public figures were involved in a conspiracy against state security and sought to destabilise the country and undermine the government. The defendants included figures from different parts of the political spectrum.

In April 2025, a Tunis court sentenced 37 defendants to prison terms ranging from four to 66 years. Human Rights Watch described the case as politically motivated and criticised the trial for failing to provide adequate due-process protections.

On November 27, 2025, a Tunis appeals court upheld convictions against 34 of the 37 defendants, sentencing them to between five and 45 years in prison, and acquitted three.

Human Rights Watch and other rights groups continued to criticise the proceedings and describe the case as part of a wider crackdown on dissent.

The authorities reject those accusations and maintain that the defendants were prosecuted for serious offences against state security.

But the political transformation has yet to produce the economic turnaround Saied promised.

Unfulfilled promises

Many of Tunisia’s economic problems predate Saied. Years of underinvestment, financial pressures and ageing infrastructure have left public utilities and other state services struggling to meet demand.

But those failures have become harder to separate from Saied’s record because he came to power promising that a stronger state could overcome the weaknesses of the old political system.

This summer, temperatures approached 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of Tunisia, pushing electricity demand to record levels. Kairouan reached 49.8C (121.6F) on Thursday, according to the Tunisian Observatory for Weather and Climate. The Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas introduced rotating power cuts in several regions, and the outages affected water-pumping stations in some areas.

Some people reported going days without running water. Bottled water shortages added to the pressure. Long queues formed outside shops and water trucks delivering supplies to some areas.

For Rebh, a 40-year-old cleaner from Tunis, the demands are not about luxuries but about being able to afford and access the basics of everyday life.

“People are tired. They are choosing to cross the sea and die [trying to reach Europe] instead. I hope we can stand together and find a solution now,” she told Al Jazeera. “We are not asking for the impossible. This is about water and electricity. We want to live as humans. We are feeling dead while we’re still alive.”

For many Tunisians, the shortages are part of a broader squeeze on purchasing power that has made it increasingly difficult to afford basic necessities.

The extreme heat has also put pressure on an already strained health system as doctors warned of increased pressure on emergency departments.

The point, however, is not that Saied created Tunisia’s economic problems. He did not.

The question is whether the more centralised system he built has delivered the more effective government he promised.

A shrinking space for dissent

For journalist Manel Derbali, the change has been visible not only in the media but in the wider public space.

After the 2011 revolution, she said, Tunisians gained a new ability to speak openly and access information. Despite the protests and political turmoil of the period, journalists felt they were not alone in challenging those in power.

“After years of censorship and police repression, everything opened up. The journalist felt that the street was with you in one way or another,” Derbali said.

She said journalists also had channels to raise concerns about their working conditions and make proposals to officials, including through parliament and ministries, while access to decision-makers remained possible.

“After July 25, all of these spaces became closed,” she said.

Derbali said journalists now struggle to obtain even basic responses from government institutions with official bodies sometimes leaving requests unanswered for months.

“Unfortunately, history is repeating itself, and we have returned to relying on citizens’ videos to investigate and verify information,” she said.

Her account reflects a broader concern among critics of Saied that the institutions and public spaces that emerged after the revolution have been steadily weakened.

Could economic anger become political?

The current protests are not limited to Tunisia’s traditional opposition.

The Nafas movement, which has organised recent demonstrations in Tunis, seeks to bring together political parties and independent figures beyond the country’s established opposition to Saied. Its protests have also attracted citizens who had not previously taken part in political demonstrations.

Rabii Qassem, a member of the Nafas collective, said comparisons between the past five years and the decade after the revolution should not be reduced to whether Tunisia was simply better or worse before Saied.

“I’m not saying that Tunisia between 2011 and 2021 was paradise,” he said. “There were very serious crises: unemployment, corruption, economic fragility, political conflicts and a failure to achieve a large part of the revolution’s goals.”

But according to Qassem, that period also brought gains, including greater freedom of expression and protest, a stronger civil society, a more diverse media and elections that allowed for peaceful transfers of power.

“After July 25, the economic and social problems that already existed were not solved,” he said. “They were joined by a decline in political checks and balances, freedoms and the space for civil society.”

For Qassem, many of the demands raised in 2011 remain unresolved.

“Where is employment? Where is the water? Where are the public services? Where is the dignity?” he asked.

He said economic hardship and political repression have been increasingly feeding into each other as people struggling with rising prices and deteriorating services have also found fewer avenues to express their frustration.

That does not mean Tunisia is experiencing another 2011.

Many Tunisians remain wary of the political parties and politicians who dominated the decade after Ben Ali while Saied continues to have supporters who blame that period for years of economic stagnation and political instability.

Nor does every person angry about a water cut, electricity outage or rising price necessarily oppose the president.

But the protests show how economic and political grievances can increasingly overlap.

Before 2021, Tunisians could blame a democratic political system they saw as ineffective for failing to improve their lives.

After 2021, Saied dismantled much of that system and promised that a stronger presidency would deliver better government.

Five years later, many of the same grievances remain.

The difference is that the avenues for challenging them have become narrower.

“Employment, freedom and national dignity” was a demand of the revolution that ended Ben Ali’s rule.

Fifteen years later, Tunisians are again asking for jobs, basic services and greater freedoms – but now from a president who came to power promising to address the failures of the system that followed the revolution.

Arsenal have one of the best squads in Europe.

The Gunners spent £250m last summer bringing in eight players as they won the title and have already spent about £200m this year, turning Piero Hincapie’s loan deal into a permanent one (£34.5m), signing Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United (£75m), Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge (£34m) and bringing in Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa (£55m).

“That is what we need,” Arteta said, speaking to Sky Sports when asked about his squad depth.

“The players that come in make the difference. All of them contributed to create more dominance and more momentum.

“The level of focus and the way they want to contribute to the team, that is going to be decisive in the season.”

Arsenal‘s strength in depth cannot be understated, but one area they may still look to strengthen in is the forward area.

The Gunners have been on the hunt for an elite forward to lift their attack and still could be active on Tuesday’s deadline day.

They had an unsuccessful pursuit of Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr, while they also have a long-standing interest in Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez.

“We are trying to improve the squad and until tomorrow night we will try to do it,” Arteta said.

“I have been disconnected from the world for the last 24 hours because my energy has to be on the match, but I will get back on it now.”

When pushed about a deal for Alvarez, Arteta said: “I don’t know, that’s for the people upstairs.”

Whatever happens in Arsenal‘s search, they are going to be hard to keep off the top of the table with Arteta at the helm.

Emmerdale star Nicola Wheeler has warned there’s more trouble ahead for Nicola King following Jimmy King’s heartbreaking death, as the fallout from the crash continues

Emmerdale star Nicola Wheeler has warned there’s more trouble ahead for her character following Jimmy King’s death.

Nick Miles departed the ITV soap last week in sad scenes when Jimmy got caught up in the marquee incident. Devastatingly, Jimmy died with Nicola by his side in heartbreaking scenes, but the fallout from the death continues.

Next week, Nicola is anxious about affording to give Jimmy the funeral he deserves. She decides to turn to Jimmy’s haulage shares for Elliot and his future, before later discovering that Jimmy has sold them.

As Nicola realises the money from the sale of the shares is missing, she discovers that they are in more financial worries than she knew. The family home has been remortgaged and in arrears and Nicola is continuing to struggle.

Speaking about her own future, she said: “She can’t believe that life is going to exist without him (Jimmy), especially as the day was supposed to start with something very romantic, and it ended in tragedy.

“Why can’t Nicola have lots of different relationships? I’ve tried to pit she should start going on dating apps and just get horrendous dates and really bad experiences. It would bring quite a bit of fun back into it.”

Warning there was quite the surprise ahead, she added: ” think the audience are gonna be mighty surprised at the life Jimmy was leading that nobody knew about. It’s unsettling because it’s totally against his personality. You would never imagine that Jimmy in this world would behave like this.”

Filming Nick’s final scenes was “surreal” for Nicola, who has worked with the actor for years.

She said: “It was really surreal. It sort of ends, and you go, ‘Oh gosh, that’s it’. We’ll never be Nick and Jimmy again together. I was gutted because I think it’s the institution that Jimmy and Nicola were, where I was sort of like, ‘oh God, that’s over’.

“Even whilst we were filming it all, it never felt real because we film out of sync. When it came to doing all the scenes where he dies, it was odd. It’s almost like you didn’t want to do it. They were beautifully written scenes, so you want to do them justice but at the same time, you don’t want them to end because then it means this is final.”

As for what’s next, Nicola has hinted there could be a new romance on the cards – from an unlikely source.

“I can’t imagine the character would ever fully move on. I think there’s always going to be part of her that loves him. Her heart will grow to fit another love in, but she will never let Jimmy go,” she explained.

“Something happens in which I can only say Nicola behaves appallingly, and Kev is a gentleman, and I think from that moment she starts to see him in a different light.”

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Rights groups warn that armed groups are increasingly recruiting children to their ranks through social media.

Three minors were among those killed in a Colombian military air strike on cocaine-trafficking rebels last week, authorities said, as President Abelardo de la Espriella intensifies operations against armed groups.

The August 27 bombing in the southern Guaviare department was the deadliest military operation since de la Espriella took office earlier this month. The National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences said that 10 people in total were killed in the operation. The Ministry of National Defence reported that two of the victims were 15 and another was 16.

The victims allegedly belonged to a dissident faction of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that rejected a 2016 peace agreement with the government.

De la Espriella, a right-wing leader and ally of United States President Donald Trump, said on Monday that another bombing in the same area killed eight members of a FARC dissident group led by commander Ivan Mordisco. It is not known whether any minors were among the dead.

“The bandits, who for decades have recruited minors to turn them into combatants or human shields, must pay for these crimes that violate International Humanitarian Law,” he wrote on X.

The Defence Ministry said on Monday that 24 suspected rebels have been killed in military operations since de la Espriella took office.

The strikes come as child recruitment by armed groups is again rising in Colombia, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published last week.

At least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups since 2021, with 625 cases reported in 2024, according to the report.

The watchdog said that criminal and rebel groups are using social media to recruit children, including to carry out increasingly dangerous tasks, such as operating drones loaded with explosives. They also reported that algorithms on platforms including Meta and TikTok “appear to have actively promoted” content encouraging children to join rebel groups.

“Armed groups in Colombia are recruiting children with impunity,” said Juanita Goebertus, HRW’s Americas director. “Protection systems are failing, and social media platforms have become a more effective recruiting ground.”

Meta and TikTok told HRW that they prohibit content promoting violence and had removed accounts flagged by the organisation.