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Rabat: Morocco said on Thursday there were “no facts” establishing its involvement in the massive migrant rush into Spain’s North African exclave of Ceuta in July.

More than 70,000 migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco on July 30 and 31 in an unprecedented, chaotic surge that left scores dead and sparked European Union infighting over the touchy issue of migration.

The Moroccan foreign ministry said there were “no facts or reports proving any involvement by the Moroccan authorities”.

The ministry added that Rabat refused to become the “scapegoat for political score-settling” in Spain.

The statement marked the kingdom’s first official reaction to a Spanish police report accusing Morocco’s security forces of “total permissiveness” when the mass crossing took place.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has consistently avoided blaming Morocco, noting that there was no “solid proof” that the North African country orchestrated the migrant rush.

NEW YORK CITY: A UN Security Council committee tasked with overseeing sanctions on Iran remained blocked for a fourth consecutive quarter on Thursday.

Council members traded accusations over the panel’s inertia, against a backdrop of intensifying US-Iran hostilities and a landmark decision by the UN’s nuclear watchdog to refer Tehran back to the council for the first time in 20 years.

The 1737 Sanctions Committee has not met in the year since it was reestablished with the backing of most council members, and no report on its activities was presented during Thursday’s session after China and Russia once again blocked it.

The impasse has also stalled the appointment of experts to a panel, the mandate for which is due to expire on Sept. 27, that is intended to support the sanctions-monitoring work of the committee.

The dispute dates back to August 2025 when France, Germany and the UK triggered a so-called “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, to reimpose pre-2015 UN sanctions on Tehran.

China and Russia dispute the legality of that move, arguing that all sanctions lapsed on Oct. 19, 2025, with the scheduled expiration of the deal, and so the council’s consideration of the Iranian nuclear file was effectively ended.

Against this backdrop of an unresolved procedural fight, the Security Council session on Thursday was dominated by more recent developments: the International Atomic Energy Agency’s formal referral of Iran to the Security Council and the General Assembly this week; and the continuing military exchanges between Iran and the US.

The agency’s board of governors voted 23-3 on Wednesday to refer Iran over its noncompliance with international nuclear safeguards, the first such referral in two decades. China, Niger and Russia voted no and eight countries abstained.

Ambassador Jennifer Locetta, the US alternate representative for special political affairs, told the council that the IAEA “has not received information from Iran regarding the status of its declared nuclear materials or facilities” and has been denied access to carry out verification procedures.

The agency’s director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has again urged Tehran to engage constructively with the process, she added. Locetta dismissed Iranian claims that inspections were being blocked as a result of security concerns, noting that “Ukraine has been a worse and more constant war zone” and yet IAEA inspectors had still been able to work there throughout the conflict.

Washington, she said, would “look to partners in the coming days to weigh options” for strengthening the sanctions regime.

China’s deputy permanent representative, Sun Lei, voted against the meeting’s agenda and placed the blame for the deteriorating situation squarely on Washington. He said the US strikes and campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran were the “primary causes” of the crisis.

A memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran in June was “undermined shortly after it took effect” by renewed military clashes, he added, and Washington had since “intensified unilateral sanctions” and “launched a new round of military strikes” against Tehran.

Beijing, he said, opposed further use of force and called for a return to efforts to reach a political and diplomatic settlement based on “equality and mutual respect.”

France’s ambassador to the UN, Jerome Bonnafont, said Iran’s stockpile of more than 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent had “no credible civilian justification” and was sufficient for about 10 nuclear devices.

He cited the latest report by Grossi as saying the situation “raises an issue of proliferation and should be addressed with the greatest urgency.”

France backed a US-drafted resolution for the renewal of the expert panel’s mandate, Bonnafont added. He called for the full reopening to international shipping of the Strait of Hormuz, and offered a French naval presence there, alongside the UK, to help secure freedom of navigation.

Pakistan’s permanent representative, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, told the council that the “upsurge of violence in the Middle East in the last few days” was “unsettling for the prospects of peace,” and said Islamabad was engaged in back-channel diplomacy to encourage de-escalation.

He urged “all sides to exercise restraint” and voiced concern over the continuing divisions within the council.

A memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran in June, which paused hostilities and set a 60-day window for a final nuclear agreement, expired on Aug. 17 without any deal.

The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to international shipping, attacks on vessels have continued, and the US has revoked sanctions waivers on Iranian oil exports. A Security Council vote on renewal of the Iran sanctions expert panel’s mandate is scheduled for Sept. 17.

MADRID: Spain’s ‌lower house voted on Thursday to grant citizenship to Sahrawis born when Madrid administered the North African territory of Western Sahara as a colony, a move that could inflame delicate relations with Morocco.

The legislation, which a statement from parliament said was approved with 168 votes in favor, 31 against and 145 abstentions, would also allow descendants of those granted citizenship to acquire it.

Some 70,000 to 110,000 Sahrawis could be eligible for Spanish citizenship, according ‌to local media.

Spain’s ‌ruling Socialist Party and its junior ‌left-wing partner Sumar, which filed the initiative, were among those who supported the bill, while the opposition conservative People’s Party abstained and far-right Vox voted against it.

“With the adoption of this legislation, we are restoring – and I emphasise, restoring – the Spanish national identity card to those Sahrawis who once held it and from whom this state ‌took it away,” said Tesh ‌Sidi of the leftist Sumar coalition, the first woman of Sahrawi ‌origin to serve in parliament.

Tensions with Morocco

Tensions have ‌grown between Spain and Morocco following the mass arrival of at least 70,000 migrants in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta in July.

Spain controlled Western Sahara under various administrative arrangements ‌from 1884 until 1976. Morocco claims sovereignty over Western Sahara and began asserting control over the territory after Spanish rule ended.

The Algerian-backed Polisario Front independence movement seeks recognition of an independent state called the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Many Sahrawis live in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, or elsewhere abroad, while others remain in Western Sahara. Spain had supported a referendum in the territory — in line with United Nations resolutions — until Sanchez’s government reversed course in 2022 and backed Morocco’s position. Tensions eased somewhat after that shift, with Madrid describing Rabat’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara as “serious, credible and realistic”.

The Conservatives’ former director of campaigning and his wife have pleaded guilty to cheating at gambling by placing bets on the date of the 2024 general election.

Anthony Lee stood to win approximately £15,000 after placing more than 60 successful bets totalling £1,549, the Gambling Commission said.

He passed confidential information to his wife about when former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was planning to call the general election.

Laura Lee, who was a parliamentary candidate at the time, placed eight successful bets on the election date totalling £535 and would have profited by around £5,000.

On Thursday at Southwark Crown Court, Anthony Lee pleaded guilty to two offences and Laura Lee pleaded guilty to one offence.

They will be sentenced in October.

The trials of 10 other defendants will take place in September 2027 and January 2028.

Former MP Craig Williams, who was Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide at the time, pleaded guilty in June and will be sentenced at a later date.

In Williams’ case, the prosecution said he bet £250, £100, and £22.50 on the date of the 2024 election, telling the court he “used highly sensitive and confidential information”.

When details of the scandal first emerged in June 2024, Williams admitted making a “huge error of judgment”.

Sunak’s decision to call the poll was a surprise to many, including many Conservative MPs, who were expecting an autumn date.

The Conservative Party has been approached for comment.

MADRID: Charles Leclerc and Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton said they had cleared the air face-to-face after a clash at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix but there were still no written rules of engagement between the pair.

Seven-times Formula One world champion Hamilton had called for written rules after being forced off onto the gravel by Leclerc on the opening lap and dropping from fourth to 10th.

The Briton eventually finished sixth while Leclerc crashed out. Asked at the Spanish Grand Prix on Thursday whether ‌anything had been ‌put in writing, Hamilton replied, “There was not.

“I’m sure ‌at some stage we’ll discuss how we can be better but we’ve not had a lot of time to turn around. You can’t change things in two days.”

Hamilton said there had been no shying away between the two drivers when they came to discuss what had happened.

“We sat face to face, just him and I, and talked about it,” he said. “We were just both open and honest and we squashed it. And ‌we can move on… I think ‌it’s healthy. It’s a relationship we have built over time.”

“Of course there’s going ‌to be frustrations… I’m sure there will be more times (where) we ‌are close (on track) because we are very close on pace. We both want to win just as much as each other and we both want to do well for the team as well.”

Ferrari are second in the championship ‌after 13 rounds, 122 points behind Mercedes. Hamilton is third overall, 76 points behind Mercedes’ leader Kimi Antonelli.

Leclerc told reporters he had reviewed footage after the race and recognised he had gone too far.

“I said it to Lewis and I think it’s very clear what we should do or should avoid going forward but I won’t go into much more details of what we’ve said,” added the Monegasque.

“The only thing I can say is it definitely did not affect the good relationship that we have and it will not affect anything going forward and that is the most important for me really.”

Leclerc said his crash at Monza at the end of the second lap had felt like a big one and he had suffered a tight neck for a couple of days after but was now fine.

Prices spiked as attacks on oil tankers escalated in the Middle East.

Oil prices have increased by four percent, with benchmark Brent crude hitting $105 a barrel after the biggest rise in attacks on shipping since the Iran war began spurred trader concerns about further supply disruptions.

Brent crude futures were up $4.05, or four percent, at $105.26 a barrel by 1215 GMT on Thursday. United States oil topped $100 a barrel for the first time since May, as West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 rose $3.99, or 4.15 percent, to $100.04.

Brent prices have surged by more than 30 percent from lows touched in early August, as a permanent agreement between the US and Iran to cease attacks never materialised and fighting resumed.

Iran-aligned Houthis seized control of Yemen’s port of Mocha on Thursday, further threatening Red Sea traffic, while Gulf traffic remains restricted through the Strait of Hormuz as tanker attacks in the region have intensified in recent days.

“The recent run-up in prices lays bare the market’s approach: this conflict will last longer than anticipated even a month ago, let alone at the beginning of the summer. If oil supply and exports are diminished, the oil balance remains tight and prices remain elevated,” PVM analyst John Evans said.

Iran said it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, after the US hit five Iranian oil tankers. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it would escalate its response to any further attacks.

While fears of prolonged and more severe supply disruptions in the Gulf have lifted Brent above $100, analysts say the durability of the rally will hinge on China.

Chinese demand

China, the world’s largest crude importer, has stepped up purchases in recent weeks after months of subdued demand, boosting physical crude markets, ING analysts said in a note.

If Chinese buying continues to recover, it could amplify the impact of any supply disruptions and drive prices higher, while a pullback in imports could temper market gains, ING said.

“For months, the bearish case rested on soft Chinese demand,” said David Jorbenaze, global oil market lead at commodities information provider, ICIS.

Rising oil prices have worsened worries about inflation and cranked up pressure within the bond market, helping to lower stocks again on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent and is on track for a fourth straight loss.

The increase in oil prices has pushed the price for a gallon of regular petrol to an average of nearly $4.28 across the US, according to the American Automobile Association. That is not only costing more at the pump but also through higher prices for all kinds of products that move by truck to store shelves.

Following Thursday’s reports, traders are betting on a close to 70 percent chance the Fed will raise the federal funds rate at its meeting next week. That’s up from the 61 percent probability seen the day before, according to data from CME Group. That’s also despite President Donald Trump’s consistent lobbying for interest rates to go lower rather than higher.

Rome, Italy – “Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism”, read the black-and-yellow signs distributed by Amnesty International outside the Italian parliament on Wednesday afternoon.

Hundreds gathered in front of Montecitorio Square in Rome to oppose Italy’s so-called anti-Semitism bill.

The demonstration was organised to coincide with a meeting of the Chamber of Deputies’ Constitutional Affairs Committee, which is examining legislation approved by the Senate on March 4 by a large majority. Under Italy’s constitutional system, a bill must be approved by both chambers in the same text before it can become law.

“We are tired of seeing anti-Semitism instrumentalised to promote censorship of any kind of criticism of the State of Israel and its criminal policies,” said Daniel Calo, of Tikkun, a group of Italian Jewish antiracism activists.

“In the face of this shameful bill, we reiterate once again, forcefully, that opposing Zionism is not anti-Semitism.”

At the centre of the controversy is the possible adoption into national law of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, which critics argue conflates anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel.

According to the IHRA, “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, eg, by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor”, is anti-Semitic, as is “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis”.

Anneliese Baldaccini of Amnesty International Italy said the bill, if adopted, would apply across schools, universities, social platforms and cultural associations.

The proposed law is “based on a definition that censors political criticism”, she said.

Activists argue that existing legislation already provides the tools to combat hate crimes.

They are instead calling for the adoption of the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, a non-binding set of guidelines that seeks to combat anti-Semitism while protecting freedom of expression that was developed in response to the IHRA definition.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Francesca Albanese, the Italian legal scholar and UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, said legislation equating criticism of a state with anti-Semitism risked restricting freedom of expression.

“Any piece of legislation that directly or indirectly equates criticism of a state with anti-Semitism is problematic and risks creating more problems than it seeks to solve,” Albanese said.

She argued that the bill could limit the ability to analyse, document and criticise the “apartheid state of Israel”, and accused Italy of prioritising the protection of Israel over accountability.

“The need to protect the State of Israel from criticism is stronger than the need to do justice,” she said. “It is extremely dangerous because every Jewish person in the world risks being seen as a kind of emissary of Israel.”

She described Italy, under the current government, as one of Europe’s strongest defenders of Israel.

Tony La Piccirella, a Palestine solidarity activist who was part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, said he worried that the bill “provides a legal instrument to attack newsrooms, online information platforms and social media, in order to silence anyone who denounces the genocide and the entire economic system that sustains it”.

But the legislation has received strong backing from Italy’s Jewish institutional leadership.

Noemi Di Segni, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI), was heard by the Senate’s Constitutional Affairs Committee in January and described legislative action against anti-Semitism as “urgent and unavoidable”.

Di Segni, who was born in Jerusalem and has served in the Israeli military, has repeatedly rejected describing Israel’s war in Gaza as genocide.

In January 2025, she called such accusations “unacceptable”, arguing that terms including “genocide”, “concentration camp”, “starve”, “Nazi” and “apartheid” should not be used to describe Israel’s conduct.

The bill has exposed divisions that cut across the government-opposition divide.

It was approved by the Senate by a large majority that included much of the opposition. Six Democratic Party senators voted in favour, while the party as a whole abstained, and those divisions have continued in the Chamber.

Among the bill’s most outspoken opponents is Stefania Ascari, of the Five Star Movement, who addressed protesters before entering parliament.

“The greatest danger to Jews and to the entire world is the terrorist state of Israel,” Ascari said. She accused the bill of targeting “freedom of expression, the autonomy of universities, [and] the work of associations and NGOs”.

The committee’s sitting ended without a vote or substantive examination.

Its work is expected to resume next week, although the timetable remains uncertain. The Chamber has scheduled a final plenary vote for October 2, leaving parliament a narrow window to complete the committee stage.

In the meantime, activists say they will continue to gather outside parliament and on the streets, to vent their concerns.

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army and other security agencies reinforced their presence in the southern city of Nabatiyeh Thursday amid continued Israeli military escalation. An official Lebanese source told Arab News that Beirut had received no guarantees that the city would be spared an Israeli incursion following Israel’s takeover of the Ali Al-Taher ridge.

The Lebanese source said the enhanced army deployment was intended to “remove Israeli pretexts” for advancing into and occupying the city. “No foreign party, including the Americans, has provided Lebanon with guarantees that Israel will be restrained from pursuing its ambitions,” the source said.

Concerns are mounting over the city’s fate since Israel announced taking control of Ali Al-Taher, amid silence from Hezbollah, raising fears that Nabatiyeh could become vulnerable militarily. Nabatiyeh is approximately 12-15 km from the Israeli border.

Any slide toward widespread destruction would mark a major escalation in the conflict. Recent Israeli attacks have struck government and public facilities in Nabatiyeh, prompting President Joseph Aoun to condemn the targeting of a Finance Ministry building and the destruction of Ghandour Hospital.

In a statement, Lebanese Army Command stressed that the reinforcements did not constitute a new deployment, as army units were already present in Nabatiyeh and other areas not occupied by Israeli forces. It said the military had instead intensified its duties to reassure residents.

Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar said reinforcing the military and security presence was “an essential step to reassure residents,” adding that the state would continue strengthening its presence in the south to create conditions for people to return safely.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told Nabatiyeh Mayor Abbas Fakhruddin that supporting the resilience of residents was a priority. He said he was following up with security chiefs on increasing the presence of official state agencies alongside the army in Nabatiyeh. Lebanon is seeking to consolidate its authority inside the city and turn it into a broader model of state administration in areas exposed to Israeli military pressure.

The developments at Ali Al-Taher have made those efforts more urgent, with concerns that any area not quickly brought under effective state authority could, under the current balance of power, become the target of further Israeli military pressure.

The push coincided with a statement from the US Embassy on Thursday, as public calls grew in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah’s weapons. Residents of Tyre and Nabatiyeh have urged the Lebanese army to deploy and for weapons to be restricted exclusively to state institutions, while backing the government’s efforts to secure an Israeli withdrawal.

The US Embassy in Lebanon said Thursday that “the Lebanese people are making clearer every day their preference for Lebanese state institutions over Hezbollah’s weapons.” It added that “southern Lebanon does not belong to regional actors or militias.”

The embassy reaffirmed US support for the government’s declared objective of asserting sovereignty, with the Lebanese army responsible for enforcing it and decisions of war and peace remaining exclusively in the hands of the Lebanese state. The Lebanese army, meanwhile, issued a detailed statement outlining its activities since the signing of the US-sponsored framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

The statement came in response to what the army described as continued Israeli efforts to undermine existing arrangements, obstruct the army’s field operations and continue attacks on civilians that killed and wounded dozens of people a week ago. Lebanese Army Command said the escalation in Israeli strikes, alongside demolition and explosive operations in the south, “leaves no room for doubt regarding the aggressive intentions of the Israeli occupation.”

It said the Israeli escalation threatened implementation of the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel, while continued attacks endangered existing understandings and arrangements and obstructed the army’s efforts to establish stability in the south. The army also warned that Israeli attacks and violations demonstrated an effort to undermine its credibility both inside Lebanon and before the international community.

The continuation and escalation of these attacks, alongside brutal demolition and explosive operations in the south, left no doubt about Israel’s aggressive intentions and contradicts international law, the statement added. Lebanese Army Command said specialist units had seized about 1,818 weapons and ammunition items during their operations.

The seized material included 10 rocket-launching platforms, seven rockets, seven drones, 51 projectiles, 10 aerial bombs and 1,560 pieces of light ammunition, in addition to large numbers of mines and explosive devices.

The army said units had also searched some homes in accordance with Lebanese law and with owner consent. It said residents had cooperated with the measures, particularly those related to removing unexploded ordnance and other dangers left behind by the war. Military units also opened roads totaling about 12 km in length as part of efforts to rehabilitate damaged areas, facilitate the movement of residents and troops and consolidate the army’s presence.

The measures included controlling movement in and out of operational areas, giving deployed units greater ability to monitor the area and prevent unauthorized armed activity. Lebanese Army Command said there had been no corresponding Israeli compliance.

According to army monitoring, Israel has committed about 7,700 violations since the framework agreement was signed on June 26. These include multiple attacks, as well as incidents in which Israeli forces opened fire near Lebanese army personnel and patrols.

KABUL: The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council aid group, Jan Egeland, criticised on Thursday what he called the “hypocrisy” of countries demanding rights for Afghan women while cutting humanitarian assistance.

In an interview with AFP in Kabul, Egeland said that “I think it’s right of them to demand, like we do, education for Afghan girls, work rights for Afghan women… but it is hypocrisy when one does that from abroad in a seminar in some capital in Europe and cut aid for food to Afghan girls and even for primary education for Afghan girls.”

The number of migrants arriving on British shores in small boats so far this year has fallen by more than 40 percent compared to the same period last year, with the people smugglers being forced into a change of tactics due to the French and British police’s closures of many gaps. However, the last week has seen alarming incidents of “intimidating and thuggish behavior” — as described by a government spokesperson — by far-right activists.

On Sunday, roads in Portsmouth were blocked after a boat carrying 140 migrants was brought ashore there. This came the day after similar scenes of direct action had blocked roads and disrupted travel in and out of the Port of Dover. In both incidents, organized men in black, with some wearing balaclavas, blocked traffic and even smashed the windscreens of police cars.

Though largely peaceful, the protests reflect a change in tactics, raising questions about policing, intelligence gathering and the lack of robust measures taken against them. The threat posed by these groups should not be belittled. There is the potential not just for a climate of fear among immigrants but also a threat to law and order and the standing and reputation of the UK as a tolerant country.

The police, the government and officials from all parties condemned the protests. Many rightly questioned the scale of Kent police’s failure after it emerged a tipoff was received the day before the far-right agitators blocked Dover’s roads. Details were apparently passed to police after residents of a nearby village heard individuals boasting in a pub about going to Dover to “attack Muslims.” That information fell on deaf ears and Kent police even later described the protest as “spontaneous.”

Far-right groups are of the opinion that no action taken or policy adopted by the government is good enough

Mohamed Chebaro

Nick Lowles, the chief executive of Hope Not Hate, an organization that charts far-right activity, told the BBC: “To have 300, 400 people with balaclavas marching down the streets, stopping traffic. You know, it’s not just good enough. We need to call these people out for their politics and for the type of Britain that they want to see.” He added: “We’ve got different ways to register our protest. We do not go on the street. We do not burn people out of their houses. We do not cause trouble and threaten to fight the police.”

We should be careful about the repercussions of these images and videos being widely shared and the normalization of those scenes and the messages they convey. They are not viewed only by people in the UK but are also disseminated around the world.

Hope Not Hate was quicker than the police to inform the public that the Dover disturbances were organized by a far-right group called Patriot Platform. This new network was launched in June, uniting smaller, localized antimigrant groups. It claims to represent a Christian “army of patriots,” rallying around a vision of reclaiming the country’s borders and a message that Britain belongs to the British. It seems its adherents are ready to adopt vigilante methods to combat immigration in an effort to revive the country’s Christian values, as the group claims.

After winning power in July 2024, the Labour governments of first Keir Starmer and now Prime Minister Andy Burnham have fought to curb the arrival of small boats across the Channel, using a variety of laws and tactics to deter people from making the dangerous journey. But the past two years have also shown that far-right groups are of the opinion that no action taken or policy adopted by the government is good enough, as if antimigrant agitation could be a conduit to replacing Labour with Reform UK, the party led by colorful euroskeptic politician Nigel Farage.

Surely those that marched in Dover and Portsmouth are not like the Blackshirts just yet. But the resemblance is there

Mohamed Chebaro

After two nights of vigilante, militant-style action against migrants, people have begun to question whether the UK is witnessing the rise of fascism. What we saw at the weekend was a reminder of Italy’s Blackshirts, the violent private army and paramilitary wing of Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party, which was founded in 1919. Not long after them came the Hitler Youth of the 1930s, which transitioned from a fringe, violent paramilitary wing into a powerful, mandatory state apparatus.

Surely those that marched in Dover and Portsmouth are not like the Blackshirts of Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists just yet. But the resemblance is there to be seen. This time, the “enemy” is not the Jews of the 1930s but migrants, who are seemingly considered to all be of the Muslim faith.

How the government can act against this clear and present danger is not obvious, as it could end up with more ugly scenes. Already, citizens have taken it upon themselves to “defend the realm” through encircling hotels and government facilities housing migrants or wearing black uniforms and balaclavas and blocking roads and ports. Surely the obvious thing to ask is who is behind them? Who is financing and organizing these acts, which we are told are only the beginning?

It is going to be very difficult for the British government to undo the damage caused by the men in black at Dover and Portsmouth. Launching an investigation to find any lapses of intelligence or policing should be the first step.

Governments across Europe seem to be increasingly at the mercy of far-right forces that are riding high in a changing world. This emerging threat rests on three aspects: the far-right nativist ideology; a warped digital realm that magnifies and spreads toxic, hate-filled content; and an unexplained financial lifeline.

The task ahead is daunting. The so-called patriotic drive of the far right is not aimed at migrants alone — its real enemies are democracy, liberties and the rule of law. Its methods are not peaceful protests but organized activism bordering on vigilantism and militancy.

• Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs, and diplomacy.

Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy. He is also a media consultant and trainer.

More from Mohamed Chebaro

RIYADH: After more than 20 years in the legal and investment sectors, Khadija Grabinski transitioned into executive coaching, where she helps leaders navigate change through meaningful conversations.

Having lived in Saudi Arabia for the past year, she also shares her experience of the Kingdom on social media, offering an authentic perspective on its culture, people, and transformation.

Grabinski and her husband moved to the Kingdom from the US and she felt this new period of her life was an opportunity to make some changes.

 The daily routine she and her husband experienced during their time in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic inspired them to explore opportunities and make changes.

 “I spent 20 years in my field (as a litigator), so I guess it was enough … it was the right moment for me to change and to be more connected to people. This is why I chose to transition,” she said.

 Grabinski added that her new work life allows her to have meaningful conversations with people, providing them the space to talk about how they want to grow in professionally.

“I mean, for me, meaningful conversation gives more clarity. You think better. I mean, when you talk to people, even friends, and when you are in the deep conversation, it becomes like something more clear. You know where you are going. So this is why.”

 When Saudi Arabia launched Vision 2030 in 2016, much of the world’s attention focused on its bold plans for economic diversification and landmark development projects.

 Yet, nearly a decade later, the social transformation unfolding across Saudi Arabia has proven every bit as significant. Anchored in Vision 2030’s vibrant society pillar, this transformation is reshaping daily life in the Kingdom.

“As a coach, what I see is the other side of the transformation. It’s like people are excited for the future, but at the same time, they feel the pressure. So, they are wondering if their job will be the same in five or 10 years.”

 Grabinski added that leaders in today’s environment leaders have to acquire more skills, reinvent themselves, or simply adapt because there is both excitement and uncertainty.

 “For a country that grew that fast, which is totally normal to be honest, there is what I call growing pains. You know, like (when a) teenager (grows) too fast, it’s the same for a company. For people and for countries. So, there were some growing pains,” she said.

She added that today’s successful leaders need to possess interpersonal communication skills, which machines and artificial intelligence cannot easily replicate.

 “Leaders will need to communicate better. Listen more. And help their teams to navigate uncertainty and lead by example. Always and where do you see emotional intelligence being basically a huge factor of that, like, how is that going to turn into a valuable skill set for a leader?

 “I mean, by learning, the need to learn, it’s like a muscle, leadership,” she said.

 Grabinski shares her experiences and opinions about living in Saudi Arabia through her accounts titled Simone Executive Coach|Common Ground on TikTok and Instagram.

CASABLANCA, Morocco: Morocco and Spain are arguing over the right to host the 2030 World Cup final — with besieged FIFA boss Gianni Infantino hovering backstage.

FIFA has yet to officially announce which country will host the biggest match of the biggest event in soccer. And even though the 2026 edition just finished with Spain winning the title this summer, Moroccan and Spanish officials are staking their claim on the next final.

The tussle over the soccer match also comes with Spain still reeling from a massive border crossing by tens of thousands of migrants who pushed through the frontier from Morocco into the north African Spanish enclave in late July.

One big game for two proud countries

The head of Moroccan soccer boasted that his country had it locked up on Thursday.

“The city of Benslimane will host the World Cup final. Hate it or love it, and if anyone wants to talk on top of that, let them talk,” Moroccan federation president Fouzi Lakjaa told a political rally.

“The city is Benslimane, the Hassan II stadium is the stadium, and I hope that Morocco will be playing it,” he added.

This week, the head of the Spanish soccer federation, Rafael Louzán, insisted it was Spain that deserved the game, while acknowledging that it has not been guaranteed that honor.

“We all signed to accept the candidacy … it’s too bad that, regarding the final, it wasn’t made clear, totally clear, where it is to be played,” Louzán said. “Spain, as world champion both in men’s and women’s soccer, must host the final.”

European soccer officials believe that the sprawling, multi-nation 2030 event, which includes Portugal and even a handful of games in South America, should be considered a European event with the final on the continent.

In a request for comment by the Associated Press on Thursday, FIFA said its decision will be made “in due course.”

Infantino has found support in Morocco

The dispute over the final comes with Infantino under intense pressure after UEFA, the umbrella organization of European soccer federations, led a successful revolt to scuttle his plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.

By contrast, six Arab nation federations, including Morocco’s, have backed him since that fiasco.

The King Hassan II Stadium near Casablanca is being built in Benslimane, on the outskirts of Casablanca. It is planned to seat 115,000 spectators. Spain can offer the home stadiums of Real Madrid or Barcelona as potential sites for the final.

Infantino has recently made two trips to Morocco, meeting with King Mohammed VI during annual celebrations of his ascent to the throne in July and then holding a FIFA crisis meeting there in August.

World Cup final spat among other tensions

When confirmed three years ago, the joint candidacy between Spain, Portugal and Morocco looked like a perfect event to bridge Europe and Africa and strengthen bonds between the western Mediterranean neighbors.

But the dispute over the final comes with diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Rabat already frayed over who was responsible when tens of thousands of mostly Moroccans driven by posts on social media pushed into the small Spanish enclave of Ceuta that borders Morocco. Spain’s prime minister said 140 people died in the crossing.

Spain’s government has been under political pressure at home to get tough on Morocco, which it has said acted in good faith in the border crisis. Spanish police assessments couldn’t rule out complicity by Moroccan security forces but said that it was unlikely the Moroccan government had intentionally orchestrated it.

*Some interviewees asked that their surnames be withheld because of the political nature of the interviews.

Malmo, Sweden – A very Swedish political tradition is playing out in Malmo, the country’s third-largest city. Rows of twee campaign booths, known as “election cottages”, are packed into a corner of the central square.

National polls have Sunday’s election on a knife-edge, with the centre-left opposition bloc led by the Social Democrats just a few percentage points ahead of the right-wing group – a gap that has tightened over the past month.

In the middle of the row, representatives of the Left Party and the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD), bitter rivals from opposite ends of the political spectrum, campaign a metre apart.

Migration is a key election issue. Multicultural Malmo, with more than a third of the city’s 368,000 residents born outside Sweden, has become the centre of the debate.

For the right, the city represents failures of integration, a cautionary tale it says of what happens when immigration goes unchecked. Beyond Sweden, Malmo draws disproportionate interest.

In 2017, the populist English politician Nigel Farage branded it the “rape capital of Europe”, a claim a leading Swedish criminologist dismissed as nonsense, while Germany’s far-right AfD has used it in its narratives about the dangers of immigration.

Strength in diversity

In the city’s town hall, a grand building with a Dutch Renaissance-style facade, Anfal Mahdi, an opposition councillor in Malmo for the Left Party, sits amid the splendour of green velvet chairs, historical oil paintings and royal portraits.

Right-wing politicians ignore the socioeconomic challenges of living in the areas built under Sweden’s “Million Programme”, she said, referring to an ambitious scheme to build one million new homes between 1965 and 1974.

It began as a social housing initiative for working-class Swedish families. In later decades, as many of those families moved out, the apartments were allocated to migrant and refugee newcomers.

Observers say what began as a utopian welfare project gradually became the physical framework of today’s segregated suburbs.

Mahdi, whose family fled Iraq after the Gulf War, grew up in one of these areas during cuts to the welfare state that had defined modern Sweden, as public spending tightened after its early-1990s economic crisis.

But what they lacked in welfare, they made up for in diversity, she said.

“I had friends from Bosnia, Palestine, Somalia and when we grew up we did not have much, but we leant on each other,” she said.

The city’s most famous son, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, grew up in Rosengard, a Million Programme estate on Malmo’s eastern side that police still classify as a “particularly vulnerable area”. The famous footballer regularly credits the area for shaping the skill and confidence that defined his career.

“It’s often in these neighbourhoods that people can shine; there is a sense of community that doesn’t exist elsewhere,” said Adam*, a 20-year-old florist who also grew up in one of the areas Sweden officially labels “vulnerable”.

He rejects the stereotypes associated with Malmo, saying young people here are far more concerned with the cost of living, finding work and the everyday pressures of getting by.

Mahdi shared this sentiment, saying “wallet politics”, relating to healthcare and unemployment, are central issues for all sections of society.

Healthcare tops voters’ concerns nationally, while unemployment in Malmo, at around 11 percent, is among the highest of any Swedish municipality.

But not everyone sees it that way.

Lena, a 78-year-old campaigner for the Moderate Party, which leads the right-wing bloc, believes integration along with schooling are taking centre stage. At the last election cycle, it was care for the elderly, she said.

Jacob, a 19-year-old resident who was speaking to representatives of various parties, said a taboo has been broken with more young people turning right, including towards the SD, now polling as Sweden’s second-largest party.

The far-right party with neo-Nazi roots could enter government for the first time if the right-wing bloc wins: Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has promised cabinet posts, including the migration portfolio.

‘Divisive politics’

Sara, a woman in her twenties of Palestinian heritage, said “divisive politics” are normal now. The rhetoric around immigration and Islam in particular has left her feeling some “don’t want integration or even assimilation, they just want you to leave”.

Under the current right-wing government, many teenagers who grew up in Sweden with their families were ordered to leave on turning 18 while their parents were allowed to stay. The government paused the separation in March after a public outcry and moved to reform in June.

In February, the Swedish Migration Agency ordered an eight-month-old boy born in the country, Emanuel, to be deported alone to Iran while the rest of his family kept their permits.

The system concerns Binto Drammeh, whose father is of Gambian heritage.

“Our uncle was made to leave as he didn’t meet the income threshold,” she told Al Jazeera.

The government has repeatedly raised the salary threshold for work permits, most recently in June, when it increased from 80 to 90 percent of the Swedish median wage.

Failing to meet it could ultimately lead to a deportation order.

Criminal networks

Crime is another main election issue.

With a population of 10.6 million, Sweden has one of Europe’s highest rates of deadly gun violence, even though lethal violence fell last year to its lowest level since 2012.

Among the challenges, criminal networks are recruiting children as young as 12 to transport weapons, sell drugs and carry out contract killings. In 2024, Danish gangs were found to be hiring Swedish teenagers to carry out shootings and bombings.

How to tackle the problem divides the parties.

The right prioritises punishment and deterrence, while the left and centre-left emphasise tackling root socioeconomic causes, rehabilitation and preventive social work. The lines are not always clean, however: the Social Democrats backed lowering the age of criminal responsibility, while the Left, Green and Centre parties voted against it.

TikTok politics

Young voters appear more engaged than at the last election.

Lena of the Moderate Party said: “I haven’t met one person who said they won’t vote,” while Mahdi said the Palestine issue has had a galvanising effect.

“Right now, all the posts on my TikTok page are from party accounts; they got a lot of likes and views and many videos are trending,” said Jacob, the 19-year-old resident.

Yet some are undecided about whom to vote for, partly because of Sweden’s unusual bloc system. Built on the idea of consensus, it means a vote for one party’s policies may be diluted in coalition, or are hard to push through.

“I will be honest, I have not voted yet,” Adam said, as he looked out at the array of campaign booths next to his flower stand. “Young people are interested in politics, but many of us think that no matter who comes, nothing will really change.”

FFF aligns position with of other European federations, such as Belgium, England, Italy, Scotland, and Sweden.

The French Football Federation is withdrawing its support for Gianni Infantino’s re-election bid as FIFA chief ⁠next year, FFF President Philippe Diallo has said, saying trust in the head of world football’s governing body had been broken.

The decision was taken unanimously by the FFF’s executive committee, Diallo ⁠said on Thursday.

“The trust placed in the FIFA president has been broken,” Diallo told reporters. “The way in which we envisage the running of world football no longer corresponds with the way it is being conducted.”

Infantino, who is seeking another term as FIFA president, has faced mounting criticism since his failed proposal to sell a ‌20 percent stake in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors was abandoned in July following widespread opposition from football’s regional confederations.

Diallo said France had initially backed Infantino’s candidacy at the end of June, when he was the only declared candidate, but that subsequent events had fundamentally changed the circumstances.

“The conditions for our support for his candidacy were no longer there,” he said.

Diallo added that the proposed stake sale, which emerged without what he described as proper ⁠consultation or information being provided to federations, had raised serious questions over ⁠FIFA’s governance and decision-making.

Several European federations, including England’s and Italy’s, have withdrawn their backing for Infantino since the collapse of his proposal.

UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and North America’s CONCACAF have called for change at the top of FIFA and ⁠are seeking a credible alternative before the March election.

Diallo said France’s decision formed part of a broader movement within UEFA and beyond and that ⁠discussions would now focus on governance reform and finding a ⁠candidate capable of defeating Infantino.

“It is not enough simply to criticise if you want things to move forward. You also have to make proposals,” Diallo said.

He added that UEFA would need to define a platform for the next FIFA leadership cycle ‌and, when the time came, choose a candidate for the election.

“We will need to be ready by then to put forward a candidacy capable of winning the FIFA presidency,” Diallo said.

Infantino still has ‌the ‌support of South America’s CONMEBOL and Africa’s CAF.

The FIFA presidential election will take place in Rabat on March 18, 2027, with the deadline for candidacies on November 18.

General Atomics has given us the first look at its new Wildfire drone design. The company is developing this armed medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) uncrewed aircraft in response to new U.S. Air Force requirements for a lower-cost successor to the MQ-9A Reaper.

A rendering of Wildfire was included in a video montage, seen below, which General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. division (GA-ASI) released earlier today. GA-ASI first announced work on this new drone last month. The Air Force, in partnership with the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), formally kicked off its new search for a Reaper successor, currently called the Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA), in July. GA-ASI also developed the MQ-9A, which is now out of production.

Wildfire’s pusher-prop design shown is clearly an extension of the existing MQ-9 family, with an overall planform that is extremely similar to that of the Reaper. Like the latest versions of the MQ-9A, the new drone has a sensor turret under the nose and a large blade antenna under the rear fuselage.

Wildfire does notably lack the Reaper’s distinctive hump on top of the forward fuselage. On the MQ-9A, this feature contains the drone’s satellite communications (SATCOM) antenna. What this might mean about how Wildfire is controlled and otherwise communicates is not immediately clear, but it points to the use of a smaller, lower-cost SATCOM terminal. That, in turn, would most likely be tied to a network like Starshield, the government-focused cousin of SpaceX’s Starlink. We could also see greater semi-autonomous control here, or at least a greater reliance on it.

The resulting shape of the forward end of the fuselage is vaguely reminiscent of GA-ASI’s Gnat series of drones from the 1990s, which evolved into the iconic Predator. The MQ-9 family, in turn, is an outgrowth of the Predator.

The rendering of Wildfire also depicts the drone armed with four Joint Strike Missile (JSM) cruise missiles, with two loaded on what appears to be a single pylon under each wing. The stealthy JSM can be employed as an anti-ship or land-attack weapon. GA-ASI has released renderings of MQ-9s in the past with similar loadouts. The Air Force is already acquiring stocks of JSMs, primarily to arm its F-35A Joint Strike Fighters. Stand-off munitions like the JSM have long been seen as an increasingly important, if not critical, addition to the non-stealth Reaper’s arsenal, helping to keep the drones further away from potential threats.

TWZ has reached out to General Atomics for more details.

“General Atomics is looking at it and asking ourselves, ‘What can we really do? No kidding, no BS, actually do,’” GA-ASI spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley did tell us back in August when asked about Wildfire. “Let’s be honest with ourselves first. How do we come out of the box, day one, with a 10,000-nautical-mile ferry range? Can we carry four LRASMs [AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles]? Can we swarm 100 aircraft under semi-autonomous control? Can we fuse all of that data into a highly effective common operating picture? Can we do that at scalable, affordable mass?”

“So that was the assignment, and our engineers sharpened their pencils and got to work,” he added. “What came out the other side was our new Wildfire UAS. That thing is a beast, and no one who actually does this for a living, and is honestly concerned about America’s warfighting edge, can look at it and not want 100 of them as fast as we can make them.”

Wildfire “addresses all of the concerns posed by the MMA solicitation. We can deliver years earlier and maintain the same high quality. You can have everything that makes Reaper special, plus more, at a price that doesn’t break the bank,” Brinkley also told Breaking Defense for a story published last week.

In terms of what the Air Force has said it is looking for with the MMA, as we have previously written:

“[The service] …wants the MMA drone to perform the same general intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike missions as the MQ-9A. To that end, stated program requirements to date include a speed of at least 200 knots true airspeed, a munition and sensor payload capacity of at least 2,800 pounds, an unrefueled combat radius of at least 2,300 nautical miles with payload, the ability to self-deploy one-way at least 8,000 nautical miles, and the ability to operate from runways no longer than 6,000 feet. The MMAs also need to be highly modular and use open architecture mission systems to make it easier to integrate new capabilities and functionality down the line.”

The Air Force also shared last week that it is targeting a roughly $10 million unit cost for the MMA drones, not including sensors and certain other systems. As mentioned, the Reaper is out of production, but the price tag on a fully-equipped Reaper today is widely reported to be between $30 million and $50 million. The Air Force has itself used the $50 million figure as a reference point in discussing its latest plans for what comes after the MQ-9.

It is unclear how Wildfire might achieve this cost goal while retaining so much obvious Reaper DNA, but even a major 30 to 50 percent reduction in the price tag compared to its predecessor would be a huge deal. In the past, General Atomics’ Brinkley has openly questioned just how cheap an MMA drone could realistically be while still offering comparable capabilities to MQ-9.

The original timeline for the MMA program envisioned the Air Force reaching initial operational capability in 2031 after receiving 20 of the drones. The service is now looking to accelerate that schedule by around two years. The Air Force expects to eventually acquire around 180 MMAs.

The Air Force has tried, without success, to develop a successor to the MQ-9 on several occasions in the past. However, a key driving factor now is huge losses of Reapers in the course of the ongoing conflict against Iran. The service’s MQ-9 fleet has already shrunk dramatically in recent years, in part due to additional losses during operations targeting Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen last year.

“Although we have plenty of MQ-9As today, we are going through them at a rate that is concerning to us,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi, the service’s Chief Modernization Officer, told reporters at a roundtable at the Pentagon last week, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. “There’s not a lot of good options to immediately replace those aircraft.”

GA-ASI has long had a monopoly on MALE combat drone sales in the United States, and is clearly looking to extend that now with Wildfire. However, this market space has been expanding, and other companies are already competing for what could be a very lucrative new deal with the Air Force. Winning the MMA contract could open doors to opportunities elsewhere within the U.S. government and with foreign countries. Variants and derivatives of the MQ-9 are also in service today with the U.S. Marine Corps, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and several additional air arms globally.

More information about Wildfire, as well as its competitors, is only likely to continue emerging as the Air Force pushes ahead with new and aggressive plans to finally acquire a follow-on drone to the venerable Reaper.

Update: 2:15 PM ET –

General Atomics spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley has now shared additional details about Wildfire with TWZ.

“You’re not imagining it. These new Wildfire renders do lack the dorsal hump you see on Reaper, MQ-9B, Gray Eagle, Mojave STOL and many copycat aircraft,” Brinkley explained. “General Atomics has pushed proliferated low-earth orbit controls onto many of our existing aircraft and pioneered that integration across unmanned aerospace. That is a relatively new technology that we already have great experience integrating, and it makes sense to bring that into Wildfire.”

“Proliferated low-earth orbit” (abbreviated variously as pLEO and P-LEO) refers to distributed constellations of hundreds or potentially thousands of satellites in that orbital region. SpaceX’s constellations supporting the aforementioned Starlink/Starshield networks fall into this general category.

“Wildfire is going to leverage ongoing advancements in autonomy on Day One. We envision networking dozens of Wildfires for true combat mass,” according to Brinkley. “Again, not a hypothetical. We’ve been pioneering many advancements in autonomy, AI, and machine learning across the FQ-42A program and using our own MQ-20 Avenger as a CCA [Collaborative Combat Aircraft] surrogate connected to F-22 and F-35. That’s proven, not concept.”

The FQ-42A, also known as the Dark Merlin, is one of two designs now in development under the first phase, or Increment 1, of the Air Force’s CCA program, the other being Anduril’s FQ-44A Fury. The service announced in June that its initial CCA force would be a mixed fleet of FQ-42As and FQ-44As.

“Four JSMs tells you something about Wildfire overall. We can’t just look at overall external weight limits. You have to consider individual hardpoint capacity,” Brinkley continued. “We’ve concepted four JSMs on MQ-9B before, as a concept, but we’ve never done that on Reaper. Wildfire can absolutely do that, from a hardpoint capacity and also an overall MGTOW [maximum gross takeoff weight] perspective.”

“We’re showing two LRASMs on Wildfire, which is twice as much as the DIU solicitation asked for. If you’re going to build a flying weapons truck, give it some teeth,” he added. “These longer-range missiles also give you increased standoff compared to other weapons you associate with the MQ-9, so that also gives you some flexibility. Wildfire can carry two LRASMs for meaningful combat distances.”

The AGM-158C LRASM (Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile) is a derivative of the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) family of land-attack cruise missiles, and is also in the Air Force’s inventory today.

Brinkley also said that Wildfire’s ferry range will exceed the MMA’s target of 8,000 nautical miles.

“We can deliver way ahead of the original FY 2031 schedule [for MMA]. We can deliver more than twice as many aircraft as requested in the same amount of time, because our manufacturing is real. Our network of suppliers, subcontractors and partners is real,” he added. “The obvious question is always cost, and I struggle to discuss costs because no one ever wants to compare apples to apples. There are stated price targets out there, and we’ll hit those. We’ll do it with an aircraft you can trust. We have nearly 10 million flight hours and more than 1,600 aircraft delivered. This is what we do.”

Speaking more generally, Brinkley also highlighted General Atomics’ extensive experience in developing and producing armed MALE drones, including the MQ-9.

“It’s important to remember that Reaper made its first flight 25 years ago and was so far ahead of everything else that it still defines the entire category of medium-altitude, long-endurance strike aircraft worldwide. When you build something new to do this kind of work, it rolls out into the Reaper’s shadow,” he said. “I don’t have to defend MQ-9 because the track record speaks for itself. It’s been called the MVP of Epic Fury [the U.S. military’s nickname for the initial phase of operations against Iran this year] for good reason, and I think it has squashed all questions about the relevance of MALE ISR and strike.”

“So that brings us to questions of affordability versus attrition, cost-per-effect, and the true price of combat operations. It also brings up questions of reliability and mission availability, and Reaper excels at both of these, so you can’t replace it with junk and expect to get the same effects,” he continued. “That’s where Wildfire comes in. Our team went to the graph paper and started sketching out what they would do differently and what they would keep the same. Where are the tradeoffs, and what do you change? No one knows this category of aircraft and missions like we do. We’re not guessing and hoping.”

“I can’t get into deep specifics on Wildfire yet, because it’s too early for that and the goalposts seem to move every time I say something publicly. What I can say is that Wildfire takes all of the known quantities of Reaper, blends them with some cutting-edge technologies and manufacturing advancements, and incorporates our more than three decades of lessons learned about large, unmanned combat aircraft to drive cost-per-effect math down.”

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

DUBAI: Renewed fighting along Yemen’s Red Sea coast has put the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait back in focus, raising concerns over a key maritime route linking Europe and Asia.

The strait is a narrow passage between Yemen and the Horn of Africa that connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean.

For ships travelling between Asia and Europe, it forms part of the route linking the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, making it one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.

Why is it so important?

Bab Al-Mandab is the southern gateway to the Red Sea. Ships travelling through the Suez Canal between Europe and Asia generally pass through the Red Sea and then Bab Al-Mandab before entering the Gulf of Aden.

The route has ships carrying oil, fuel and other commercial goods.

Oil flows through the strait fell sharply after Houthi attacks on shipping began disrupting Red Sea traffic.

The US Energy Information Administration said oil trade through Bab Al-Mandab averaged about 4 million barrels per day in the first eight months of 2024, compared with 8.7 million barrels per day in 2023.

Why does the latest fighting matter?

Yemen’s western coastline runs alongside the strait, making control of nearby territory strategically important.

The port city of Mokha lies north of Bab Al-Mandab, while Dhubab is close to its entrance. Any expansion of Houthi control along this stretch of coast could increase the group’s ability to threaten or monitor shipping through the waterway.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Houthi forces were moving toward Mokha and Dhubab as they sought greater control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Yemeni government military sources said this could give the Houthis significant leverage over Bab Al-Mandab.

The reports have not been independently verified, and they do not mean the Houthis control the strait. But any further Houthi advance toward the coast could increase the risk to commercial shipping.

The Houthis have previously targeted commercial vessels in and around the Red Sea, forcing many ships to avoid the route.

What happens if shipping is disrupted?

Ships can avoid Bab Al-Mandab and the Red Sea by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

But that can add thousands of kilometers to some journeys, increasing sailing times, fuel consumption, insurance costs and freight rates.

The consequences can therefore extend well beyond Yemen, affecting the movement and cost of energy, manufactured goods and other products travelling between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

RIYADH: The Saudi Food and Drug Authority has granted marketing authorization for two locally developed, artificial intelligence-enabled medical software products — Dental IQ and SAARIA — designed to support dental and ophthalmic diagnosis.

The authorization was granted following a comprehensive regulatory review, including the assessment of technical documentation and clinical evidence to verify the software’s safety, performance, and effectiveness for its intended uses, the authority said. The SFDA in a statement to Arab News said the aim is to enhance diagnostic accuracy for dental and periodontal diseases. Dental IQ utilizes deep learning algorithms to analyze dental X-ray images and support the identification of potential pathological findings, including dental caries, periodontal disease, and structural changes affecting the teeth and supporting tissues.

“This supports healthcare practitioners in improving diagnostic accuracy and informing appropriate treatment planning,” said the SFDA.

SAARIA will enable early detection of diabetic retinopathy. The software utilizes AI technologies to analyze retinal images to support the screening of diabetic patients and the early detection of diabetic retinopathy in healthcare settings.

This supports the identification of patients who may require further specialized ophthalmic evaluation, thereby facilitating timely referral and interventions and helping to reduce the risk of disease-related complications. These two products, according to the SFDA, represent a significant national milestone as the first Saudi-developed AI-enabled medical software solutions in dentistry and ophthalmology to receive the authority’s marketing authorization.

Designed as clinical support tools, they assist healthcare practitioners in making informed clinical decisions. Notably, both software products have been developed by Saudi startups specializing in AI-driven digital health solutions.

The companies enrolled in the SFDA’s Innovative Medical Devices Pathway, receiving early regulatory guidance and fulfilling the relevant requirements.

This included conducting local clinical studies in the Kingdom to validate the performance of their software in local healthcare settings and committing to post-marketing clinical follow-up plans to monitor real-world performance and ensure continued safe use. The SFDA, however, cautions against relying solely on the outputs of AI-enabled medical software for clinical decision-making.

“Such outputs are intended to support clinical decision-making and do not replace the healthcare professional’s clinical judgment. Healthcare professionals are responsible for reviewing and validating the outputs and making appropriate clinical decisions based on the patient’s condition,” said the authority.

The granting of marketing authorization for the software reflects the SFDA’s strategic commitment to fostering responsible innovation in digital health, supporting the localization of advanced medical technologies, and facilitating timely market access to safe, effective, and high-quality medical devices.

This milestone also contributes to the broader objectives of the Health Sector Transformation Program in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to improve healthcare access and quality by enhancing primary care, hospital services, emergency response, and digital transformation.

RIYADH: Egypt’s annual nationwide inflation rate eased to 12.7 percent in August from 13 percent in the previous month, as lower food prices offset increases in electricity, housing and other household costs.

The nationwide consumer price index was unchanged from July at 289.8 points, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. Annual urban inflation also eased to 14.5 percent from 14.9 percent in July. 

Egypt continued to experience faster price growth than several regional peers, although the latest available comparative readings are for July rather than August. 

Saudi Arabia’s annual inflation was 1.8 percent in July, while Jordan’s was 2.7 percent, according to official data from the respective countries. Morocco recorded a 0.6 percent annual decline in consumer prices.  

The International Monetary Fund expects Egypt’s inflation to rise to 16.7 percent in the second half of 2026, reflecting higher energy prices, exchange-rate depreciation and unfavorable base effects. 

In its latest report, CAPMAS stated: “The food and beverages division recorded a decrease of 1.2 percent due to a 0.1 percent decrease in the prices of cereals and bread, a 1.5 percent decrease in the prices of meat and poultry, a 0.1 percent decrease in the prices of fish and seafood, and a 7 percent decrease in the prices of vegetables.”  

Housing costs climb  

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose 1.9 percent during the month. Electricity, gas and fuel prices increased 4.3 percent, while actual rents rose 0.8 percent and housing maintenance costs increased 0.5 percent.  

Prices for furnishings and household equipment rose 0.7 percent, while clothing increased 0.5 percent, healthcare 0.4 percent, transport 0.2 percent, and restaurants and hotels 0.5 percent. 

On an annual basis, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels recorded the largest increase, at 33 percent, with actual rents up 28 percent and electricity, gas and fuels rising 22.4 percent. 

Transport costs increased 21.7 percent annually, while education rose 20 percent and recreation and culture increased 15.3 percent. Food and beverages prices rose 6.5 percent, with vegetable prices up 27.7 percent.  

Monetary policy  

The inflation data comes after the Central Bank of Egypt kept its key interest rates unchanged last month, with the overnight deposit rate at 19 percent and the lending rate at 20 percent. The main operation and discount rates were maintained at 19.5 percent. 

The CBE expects headline inflation to accelerate through the third quarter because of unfavorable base effects before gradually declining from the first quarter of 2027. It expects inflation to converge toward its 7 percent target, plus or minus 2 percentage points, during the second half of 2027.  

The central bank has warned that the inflation outlook remains exposed to risks from regional hostilities and a stronger-than-expected pass-through from fiscal consolidation measures. 

LONDON: Prominent Israeli figures have welcomed British sanctions against illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, The Guardian reported.

In a joint statement, they described the move as an “inevitable consequence” of their government’s actions.

Sanctions are being imposed “against Jewish terrorists, and not against the legitimacy of the state of Israel,” they said.

“There is no basis to the government’s response that the decision to impose sanctions against Jewish terrorists is an expression of antisemitism.”

Prof. David Harel, British-born president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and a signatory to the statement, said the measures delivered urgently needed support for liberal Israelis who are trying to stop attacks on Palestinians and end the occupation.

“I personally would fight until my last breath against antisemitism and against anti-Israelism,” he told The Guardian. “But what is justified, and I do support, is being anti things that Israel is doing, and these days in particular what it is doing in the West Bank.

“Getting out of there (occupied Palestine), or, at least for the present, stopping these things from happening and starting to really talk about a two-state solution is not only good for the Palestinians. It’s not that we’re doing these poor people a favour. We’re doing a favour to ourselves, no less, maybe even more.”

Signatories to the statement include former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert; former commander of the Israeli military Dan Halutz; former ministers Yuli Tamir and Roni Bar-On; and former Ambassador to Germany Yoram Ben Zeev.

They wrote: “This decision is precisely what the state of Israel should have received in order to remove the disgrace of Jewish terrorism from the face of the country.”

Former diplomat Nadav Tamir also said the sanctions are good for Israel. “Any move to prevent annexation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in the West Bank (and Gaza) is serving the long-term interests of the Zionist vision of Israel as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people,” he added. “It will help us to be more secure and moral.”

Avraham Burg, a former parliament speaker, said “like many Israelis and Palestinians, I am grateful for the courageous moral leadership” of UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband. “It’s a good beginning. Do not stop.”

Fourteen Israeli human rights organizations — including B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Breaking the Silence — welcomed the sanctions.

“This is an important and necessary first step to meet states’ legal obligation,” they said in a statement. “We urge the international community to take further concrete measures to ensure that its relations with Israel no longer enable Israel’s settlement enterprise, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank, or its broader assault on Palestinian human rights across all territories under its control.”

A critical issue we ought to pay more attention to is the rapid urbanization seen across the Middle East and North Africa, which is undoubtedly reshaping the region’s demographic and economic landscapes.

Many people are attempting to find better economic opportunities, services and connectivity and, as a result, cities are expanding at unprecedented rates. Without doubt, this transformation is driving growth across MENA, but it has also intensified pressure on air quality.

The levels of fine particulate matter such as nitrogen oxides and other pollutants from vehicles, industry, construction and energy production now exceed safe thresholds in many major urban areas.

As a result, clean air is going to be one of the defining challenges of the region’s urban future. This issue should no longer be treated solely as an environmental or public health concern due to the fact it is increasingly a determinant of economic competitiveness, tourism appeal, quality of life and long-term urban attractiveness.

Data from recent global assessments point to the scale of the problem. The World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines state that the level of fine particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic meter. But many MENA cities record multiyear averages several times higher.

Addressing the challenge requires a practical, multipronged approach that major cities can initiate immediately

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh

For example, Cairo, Egypt’s megacity of more than 20 million residents, has frequently registered annual concentrations of about 40 micrograms per cubic meter. Baghdad has recorded levels of up to 44 micrograms per cubic meter. Kuwait City has also appeared among the higher-ranking capitals in regional assessments. Abu Dhabi and Doha have reported averages in the low-to-mid 30s, still well above WHO guidelines.

Analyses using the Air Quality Life Index framework indicate that more than 90 percent of the MENA region’s population lives in areas exceeding the WHO guideline, with residents in the most polluted zones potentially losing several years of life expectancy.

These elevated levels of particulates carry well-documented health consequences, such as increased rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease and premature mortality.

But the implications extend far beyond health statistics. Air quality should be regarded as a material factor in the region’s economic competitiveness. Chronic exposure reduces labor productivity, with World Bank estimates placing the economic cost of air pollution in the Greater Cairo region alone at about 1.4 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product.

Cities that fail to reverse pollution also become less attractive to skilled workers and international firms. Tourism and investment flows are similarly sensitive to this issue. The MENA region has invested heavily in positioning itself as a global destination for leisure, business and transit traffic. Poor air quality undermines visitor experiences, particularly for families, older travelers and those who are susceptible to respiratory issues.

Another issue is that the reduced quality of life caused by air pollution influences the domestic retention of educated people.

In short, clean air should be viewed as an input into the region’s broader development, rather than merely an environmental issue.

Addressing the challenge requires a practical, multipronged approach that major cities can initiate immediately. For example, expanding clean public transport ranks among the highest-impact measures. This means investing in metro and bus rapid transit systems, including electric bus fleets, to reduce reliance on private vehicles and cut emissions.

Cairo’s efforts to introduce electric buses and expand mass transit are a step in the right direction. Other actions to reduce vehicle emissions can include stricter fuel quality standards, the more widespread use of electric and hybrid vehicles, and the adoption of low-emission zones in city centers.

One significant move would be increasing green spaces, which offer both direct and indirect benefits. Urban vegetation cleans air, as the strategic expansion of parks, street trees and green corridors can lower pollutant concentrations. Transitioning to cleaner energy sources is also vital, as this lowers both particulate and gaseous emissions.

While public health gains are foundational, the economic, touristic and quality-of-life returns are equally consequential

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh

None of these steps constitute a quick fix. Air quality improvement is cumulative and requires sustained actions, policy, financing and public engagement. The alternative — continued high exposure — will increasingly constrain the outcomes cities seek: a healthier population, more productive workforce, vibrant tourism sector and competitive investment conditions.

Therefore, the central argument should be that clean air must be treated as a strategic priority because improvements compound over time and because air quality will shape the relative success of cities in the decades ahead.

While public health gains are foundational, the economic, touristic and quality-of-life returns are equally consequential. Cities that move without delay on issues such as cleaner transport, emissions standards, green infrastructure, planning and technology will position themselves more favorably for the future. Those that delay will face mounting costs in terms of health, productivity and attractiveness.

In a nutshell, clean air is critical to the future of the region and must not be viewed as merely an environmental concern. It is a foundational driver of sustained economic growth, tourism competitiveness, investment attractiveness, public health and overall quality of life. Taking it seriously now is not merely prudent environmental policy, it is an investment in the long-term viability and competitiveness of the region.

Court also acquits Dow Jones on the charge of dismissal over Selina Cheng’s leadership role with the Hong Kong Journalists Association.

A Hong Kong court has convicted Dow Jones for trying to deter a journalist from taking a union role, but also acquitted the publisher on the charge of dismissal over the role, in a case that raised concerns about media freedom in the city.

Selina Cheng, who was fired by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in July 2024, had accused the newspaper’s publisher Dow Jones of unlawfully terminating her employment over her role chairing the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and of trying to prevent her from standing for a union position.

The court found the company guilty on Thursday of trying to prevent Cheng’s right to run for the union chairmanship.

However, the judge sided with Dow Jones’ argument that she was made redundant because of corporate restructuring, and not due to her role as HKJA chair.

The right to take part in a trade union is protected by Hong Kong’s labour laws. An employer found guilty on “prevent or deter” charges could be fined up to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,755).

“If reporters’ employment rights are not sufficiently safeguarded, or when their rights are violated and not enforced in law, then we can no longer work safely as reporters,” Cheng told reporters outside the court after the ruling.

The judge said the company’s requirement that Cheng seek prior permission to take a union role was an “unjustified deterrent” of her rights.

Dow Jones said it disagreed with the ruling and was evaluating next steps.

“The Wall Street Journal has a long and proud history as an employer in Hong Kong. Throughout that time, we have remained deeply respectful of its labour laws and supportive of our employees’ rights, while publishing excellent, impartial journalism about the region,” a spokesperson said.

Sentencing is expected to be handed down at a later date.

Cheng launched a private prosecution last year for illegal termination, after filing a complaint with the Labour Department that did not result in a prosecution.

Founded in 1968, the HKJA is Hong Kong’s longest-established journalists’ organisation and one of the last remaining groups advocating for media rights in the city.

Although Hong Kong was once known for its independent news outlets, media freedom has come under strain and many outlets have disbanded since Beijing imposed a 2020 national security law following sometimes violent pro-democracy protests, according to international rankings and HKJA surveys.

Sanaa, Yemen – The United Nations-recognised Yemeni government and the Houthi group have been using warplanes, missiles, drones and other weapons as they engage in intense fighting on multiple fronts in the country’s north, west and central regions.

At least 194 people have been killed and 880 others wounded in the past two weeks of fighting in parts of Taiz, the western coast, al-Jawf, Marib and Dhalea, according to aid agencies.

Iran-backed Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah (supporters of God), have intensified attacks on the coastal district of al-Makha (Mocha) located on the western coast, among others, to gain a foothold in the Red Sea – a vital shipping lane.

On the other hand, government forces have been battling to expand in Taiz and boost their control of Marib, an oil-producing region in the north.

Fighting has also been raging in the al-Jawf governorate bordering Saudi Arabia and Dhalea, which connects the Houthi-controlled north to the country’s south under the internationally recognised government.

Experts say gains or losses on any of these strategically important fronts could have significant consequences for either side.

Taiz and western coast fronts

“The hills and mountainous areas of Taiz and the western coast are key targets for the Houthis, who have repeatedly attempted to advance there,” Yazeed al-Jeddawy, the research manager at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, said.

“The Houthis are trying to seize commanding terrains, cut supply routes between the coastal Mocha district and Taiz, and prevent government troops on the western coast from linking up with the Taiz Military Axis,” said al-Jeddawy.

In Taiz and along the western coast, al-Jeddawy says, the immediate contest is over the heights and roads connecting Taiz to al-Makha.

Situated roughly 60km (37 miles) from the Bab al-Mandeb strait, al-Makha enjoys a highly strategic position on the Red Sea. For a month now, the Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks on the city, causing massive damage to its port facilities and killing and injuring several civilians.

Recently, the group has also attempted to extend its ground operations towards al-Makha city.

“The Houthis seem intent on tightening their hold around [al-Makha] and moving closer to the Dhubab–Bab al-Mandeb area. A substantial advance would strengthen their position near the southern entrance to the Red Sea and give them greater leverage over international shipping,” he added.

Fuad Mussed, a Yemeni political analyst and author, told Al Jazeera that the strategic importance of the western coast and Taiz fronts stems from their proximity to Bab al-Mandeb, a chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and one of the world’s most important shipping routes.

“The Houthis seek to move closer to this vital waterway to threaten maritime traffic. Such a move aims to keep the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb under the influence of Iran and use them as leverage against regional and international powers. This is a strategy Tehran has been pursuing for years,” Mussed said.

Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a global oil chokepoint, to use it as leverage in the war against the United States. It has also warned that its allies could shut shipping via Bab al-Mandeb. Iran also attacked Saudi Arabia’s pipeline used to export oil from the Red Sea.

In July, the Houthis declared a blockade against Saudi vessels transiting through the Red Sea – an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

Marib and al-Jawf fronts

Over the past few weeks, pro-government forces have attacked Houthi-held territories in Marib and al-Jawf, facing further retaliation from the Houthis.

Saddam al-Huraibi, a Yemeni political commentator, said the Marib front is fateful for both sides.

“Marib is a government stronghold in north Yemen. So, a Houthi expansion in Marib would threaten government presence and weaken its leverage in the north. That is why pro-government troops are ready to fight tooth and nail on this front line,” al-Huraibi told Al Jazeera.

For the Houthis, the takeover of Marib will deepen the group’s authority and step towards controlling the oil and gas infrastructure. The Iran-backed group captured vast swaths of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, but Marib has remained in government hands since.

“Dominating Marib’s oil and gas resources has been a Houthi goal for over a decade. Without facing a crushing defeat in Marib, they would keep fighting to achieve that goal,” al-Huraibi said.

Adjacent to Marib, al-Jawf is also a hub of tense fighting between the Houthis and government forces. A government gain there would lay the groundwork for further advances, while a strong Houthi defence could undermine government forces’ morale and prompt them to retreat.

“Government-aligned forces have lately focused much of their offensive effort on al-Jawf. Government gains in al-Jawf would ease the threat to Marib while requiring the Houthis to defend a much broader area,” al-Huraibi said.

Al-Jeddawy said government gains could open routes towards the north – Saada, Amran or Houthi positions north of Marib.

The Houthis have carried out attacks in Saudi Arabia, including energy facilities in the country’s south. They have also accused Saudi Arabia of launching multiple attacks in al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Marib and Taiz provinces in support of government forces.

The Dhalea front

Fighting on the Dhalea front, a strategic gateway between Houthi-held territory and the southern governorates, has intensified in recent weeks.

Fighting there did not fully stop during the relative calm, which began in April 2022 following the UN-brokered ceasefire.

A Houthi advance there could open a route for their fighters to reach other southern territories. On the other hand, a Houthi setback would encourage government forces to push towards Ibb, controlled by the group.

“[Houthi] advances in Dhalea could expose the southern hinterland, while [government advances] could threaten Houthi positions and supply routes towards Ibb, al-Bayda and, farther north, Sanaa,” al-Jeddawy noted.

With the escalating fighting, the Houthis face pressure on several fronts, but the group has been readying for a range of scenarios, Khaled Ghorab, a pro-Houthi general, said.

“The [Houthi] Yemeni armed forces were never caught off guard by the prospect of escalation; rather, they worked to build and develop their own military capabilities based on tactical combat plans designed to counter a comprehensive, sustained attack launched simultaneously from land, sea and air,” he said.

Ghorab noted that this state of readiness enables the Houthi forces to carry out a direct response to sources of the threat – whether deep within enemy territory or at sea – targeting military bases or aircraft carriers as far as the Horn of Africa.

While the warring parties compete to seize strategic positions on several front lines, the latest escalation is also closely related to the wider regional confrontation.

“Iran has an interest in keeping Yemen and the Red Sea active as sources of leverage, while parts of the government camp believe the Houthis are under growing strain and that this is an opportunity to weaken them,” al-Jeddawy, the Sanaa-based researcher, said.

“The escalation still reflects domestic military and political aims, but its timing and direction cannot be separated from the regional war,” he told Al Jazeera.