Politics

Ethiopian Forces Retake Mekelle Airport as Tigray Rebels Pull Back: October 3, 2026

MEKELLE — Ethiopia’s federal army and pro-government fighters have recaptured Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle, capital of the northern Tigray region, with rebels seen leaving the city, Al Jazeera reported Saturday, citing Reuters and AFP sources.

A source with knowledge of events in Mekelle and a humanitarian source told Reuters that the Ethiopian National Defence Forces regained control of the airport, about 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the city centre. The airfield was one of three seized by rebel forces when fighting resumed on September 23. A local journalist and residents told AFP that fighters and leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) were retreating, and that federal forces had not yet been seen inside the city centre.

Residents voiced fear of looting and lawlessness while security was absent. Al Jazeera said it could not independently confirm the accounts amid heavy media restrictions and communications blackouts. Last month rebels announced a seven-party coalition led by the TPLF — the group that fought federal forces in the 2020–2022 civil war — before seizing regional airports and expanding fighting.

The battlefield shift comes days after Ethiopia and Eritrea severed diplomatic ties amid intensifying northern conflict, a separate development covered earlier this week.

Sources: Al Jazeera (with Reuters and AFP)

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Libya Unity Talks Upended as Haftar’s Son Linked to Western Fuel Drone Attacks: October 3, 2026

TRIPOLI — Allegations that Saddam Haftar, son of eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar and deputy head of the Libyan National Army, oversaw a cell that launched drone attacks on fuel and power sites in western Libya have upended U.S.-backed unity talks, The Guardian reported Saturday.

Over more than five days in August, drones struck the Zawiya oil complex west of Tripoli, hitting a gasoline-storage tank that held about 4.5 million litres of fuel and causing a large fire and collapse, according to Libya’s National Oil Corporation. Blackouts in the west intensified political pressure on Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s Government of National Unity (GNU).

On September 5, three Libyans and one Spanish citizen were arrested in southern Tripoli over an alleged plot said to have included an attack on Tripoli airport. GNU sources told The Guardian the arrested Libyans were linked to the Tareq ben Ziyad brigade and were working for Saddam Haftar. “No formal decision has been made, but in light of what has been discovered it is impossible to work with Saddam,” the sources said.

Donald Trump’s Africa adviser, Massad Boulos, has promoted a merger plan casting Haftar as president and a Dbeibah-family figure as prime minister. The Guardian said the drone campaign was linked to anger over alleged stalling on that plan and southern tribal clashes. Libya has remained split between east and west since 2011.

Sources: The Guardian

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Russia Hits Kyiv’s Northern Bridge in Escalating Strike on Capital Spans: October 3, 2026

KYIV — A Russian strike hit Kyiv’s Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge on Saturday morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, injuring two people and damaging the roadway and trolleybus wires as Moscow intensifies attacks on the capital’s river crossings, the BBC reported.

The Northern Bridge strike followed repeated drone hits this week on the Pivdennyi (Southern) Bridge. Klitschko had warned Friday that “the enemy is tearing Kyiv apart” after a defence-council crisis meeting. Traffic from the left to the right bank on the Northern Bridge was blocked Saturday, he wrote on Telegram. The two spans over the Dnipro link western and eastern Kyiv and had not been struck before Thursday.

Russia said its drones hit bridges used to move Ukrainian troops and military cargo and again urged foreign citizens, including diplomats, to leave Kyiv. Experts quoted by the BBC said drones are unlikely to bring the bridges down but repeated hits can force closures and weaken structures already strained by heavy traffic. Ukrainian lawmakers have discussed ferry and temporary pontoon contingency plans.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a Financial Times interview excerpt cited by the BBC, said Russia wants to destroy bridges, data centres and civilian networks so people flee, casting Putin as deciding there are “no rules now.” Putin has framed the campaign as a response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy sites.

Sources: BBC News

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Spain Housing Protests Surge After Parliament Rejects Emergency Rent Decrees: October 3, 2026

MADRID — Thousands of protesters marched across Spain on Saturday demanding stronger tenant protections after parliament rejected emergency housing decrees on Friday, the BBC and Deutsche Welle reported.

About 50 demonstrations were planned in cities including Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. In Valencia, some protesters clashed with police near a real-estate summit; Spanish media said officers used rubber bullets after barriers were removed and objects thrown. Demonstrators have camped for days in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. The wave of unrest followed last month’s eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal after a sharp rent increase — a case later reversed by the building’s owners after it became a national flashpoint.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s minority leftist coalition failed to pass two decrees. One, framed as limiting evictions of vulnerable tenants and curbing speculative purchases, lost 178–172; a second on automatic lease renewals fell 184–166. Catalonia’s Junts party joined the opposition. Sánchez urged lawmakers to “do the right thing, or history will judge you,” as speculation grew about an early election.

Madrid’s Tenants’ Union said rejection “exacerbates the housing crisis” and called for a general strike. Opponents argued the packages could shrink rental supply.

Sources: BBC News, Deutsche Welle

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Argentina Launches $350,000 Citizenship-by-Investment “Golden Passport” Scheme: October 3, 2026

PARIS / BUENOS AIRES — Argentina’s government launched a citizenship-by-investment program offering wealthy foreigners a path to Argentine nationality via a non-refundable $350,000 contribution to the National Treasury or an $800,000 government bond created for the scheme, Deutsche Welle and the Buenos Aires Herald reported.

Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Cabinet Chief Diego Santilli announced the program during “Argentina Week” in Paris. Applications are due to open in the fourth quarter of 2026. The Economy Ministry said the move aims to “further strengthen the Argentine Republic’s fiscal and financial position” and attract capital under President Javier Milei’s pro-investment agenda.

Spouses and children aged 18–25 (single, childless) would pay $100,000 each; minors $25,000. A typical family of a principal applicant, spouse and two minors could apply for a total of $500,000, the ministry said. Funds must move through the formal financial system under anti-money-laundering rules. Caputo said the design incorporates OECD and FATF standards and advice from international investment-migration firms.

Applications will be vetted by a Citizenship by Investment Programs Agency with input from intelligence, financial-crime and security bodies; Argentina’s National Directorate of Migration makes the final grant or refusal. Payment alone does not guarantee approval.

Sources: Deutsche Welle, Buenos Aires Herald

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U.S. Coast Guard Intercepts Cargo Ship Carrying Fuel Bound for Cuba: October 3, 2026

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard said it intercepted a large cargo ship carrying fuel bound for Cuba, as the Trump administration’s oil embargo against the island continued, The Guardian and Reuters reported Friday.

The vessel, named Grace and about 91 metres (300 feet) long, was stopped on September 5 in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Mexico. The Coast Guard said Grace was “believed to be employing tactics common amongst the dark fleet.” A boarding team escorted the ship to Mexico, where a Mexican navy inspection team “confirmed the presence of large quantities of fuel in the vessel’s ballast tanks” and containers believed to contain illicit fuel.

Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard commandant, said in a statement: “The high seas are not a sanctuary for lawlessness. Dark fleet actors who employ deceptive tactics to engage in illicit activities will not evade justice.” The agency said the Grace interdiction followed an earlier boarding of the M/V Jaira Provider, another vessel it said was carrying illicit fuel toward Cuba.

A U.S.-imposed oil blockade earlier this year has intensified fuel shortages and blackouts in Cuba after shipments from traditional suppliers were disrupted. The Trump administration has said its goal is to change Cuba’s government. The Coast Guard statement did not say how authorities determined the fuel’s destination or how much fuel Grace carried.

Sources: The Guardian, Reuters

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South Korea Warns Ukraine of Further Action Over North Korean POW Disclosure: October 2, 2026

SEOUL — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned Friday that Seoul will take “additional measures” if Ukraine continues to refuse an official apology over the public disclosure of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war, Yonhap and Channel News Asia reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed at the U.N. General Assembly that Kyiv had transferred two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia in the Kursk region to South Korea. Seoul says the transfer was covered by a confidentiality understanding to protect the prisoners; Ukrainian officials have denied any secrecy agreement. Lee accused Kyiv of making him a “liar,” expressed “serious regret” over Ukrainian remarks about an imminent inter-Korean clash, and said the dispute touched “the dignity of the South Korean people.”

Foreign ministers Cho Hyun and Andrii Sybiha have been discussing the tone and content of a possible Ukrainian response, a senior Seoul official said. Sybiha called the episode a “diplomatic misunderstanding” and said South Korea remains important to Ukraine, RBC-Ukraine reported. The prisoners were captured in January 2025 and arrived in South Korea in mid-September, according to officials.

Sources: BBC News, Yonhap News Agency, Channel News Asia

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India Detains Hundreds in ‘Cockroach’ Protests Over Election Commission Chief: October 2, 2026

NEW DELHI — Indian security forces detained hundreds of demonstrators Friday as the Gen Z–led Cockroach Janta Party and allied student and opposition groups protested in New Delhi and Mumbai demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid a voter-roll controversy, Al Jazeera reported with Reuters.

Police and paramilitary units surrounded a barricaded site near the Jantar Mantar observatory, closed at least 11 metro stations, and invoked Section 163 restrictions on gatherings of more than five people. By mid-afternoon, reports put New Delhi arrests above 500, including former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena and Aam Aadmi Party members. “The right to protest is our fundamental right, and we want answers from the government on vote theft,” demonstrator Rishabh Singh said as police pushed him onto a bus, Reuters reported. Mumbai saw a growing crowd at Shivaji Park under heavy police patrol.

The CJP called the action after The Indian Express reported that Kumar’s two Election Commission deputies had raised concerns at least 14 times in 10 months over voter-list revisions, registration procedures and digital systems. Opposition parties brand the dispute “vote theft”; the commission denies systemic bias.

Sources: Al Jazeera with Reuters, The New York Times

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Algeria Approves Death Penalty for Forest Arson After Deadly Wildfires: October 2, 2026

ALGIERS — Algeria’s National Assembly on Thursday voted through a bill imposing the death penalty for deliberate arson of forests, woods or fields after deadly wildfires in the country’s northeast, the BBC and Al Jazeera reported.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered the justice ministry to toughen the criminal code after more than 100 fires during an intense northern African heatwave. Officials put the death toll at 12; independent journalist Nozha Khelalef’s tally on the Twala site, drawn from family notices and local authorities, reached about 200. Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa told parliament the measure was needed because arson had reached “the level of organised crime,” with investigations suggesting links to “foreign parties,” AFP reported. The bill also expands capital punishment to child abductions involving torture, sexual assault or mutilation.

Capital punishment remains in Algeria’s penal code, but no execution has been carried out since 1993. The Council of the Nation (upper house) must still review the law before presidential ratification. Amnesty International urged the upper house to reject the expansion.

Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera

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Ethiopia and Eritrea Sever Diplomatic Ties as Northern Fighting Intensifies: October 2, 2026

ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia and Eritrea severed diplomatic relations Thursday as renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia raised fears of a wider Horn of Africa conflict, the BBC and Al Jazeera reported.

Ethiopia announced it was closing its embassy in Asmara and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats — including the charge d’affaires and African Union–accredited staff — persona non grata, ordering them to leave within 48 hours over alleged activities threatening national security. Eritrea’s foreign ministry said it had “no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties,” warning of “negative corollaries.” Addis Ababa also expelled an Egyptian diplomat; Cairo answered in kind, according to regional wire reports.

Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of backing an opposition alliance that includes Tigray People’s Liberation Front–linked forces fighting federal troops across parts of Tigray, Afar and Amhara — charges Asmara denies. The neighbours fought side by side against the TPLF in 2020–2022, but Eritrea was not party to the Pretoria peace deal and relations soured, including over Ethiopia’s Red Sea access ambitions. The African Union urged restraint. Doctors Without Borders said more than 700 wounded had been treated at Tigray hospitals as the fighting intensified.

Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera

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