Global Pulse

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  • Pro-Israel supporters attack protesters at controversial London real estate event

    Pro-Israel supporters attack protesters at controversial London real estate event

    On a Sunday in West London, tensions over Israeli settlement expansion boiled over into violent clashes outside a real estate event marketing occupied Palestinian land, leaving multiple people arrested and drawing widespread condemnation of the gathering from political and human rights figures across the United Kingdom.

    The controversial gathering, dubbed the ‘Great Israeli Real Estate Event’, was held inside Edgware United Synagogue and organized by Israeli real estate firm My Home in Israel. It was designed to promote the sale of residential and commercial properties located in illegal Israeli settlements built on the occupied West Bank, territory that Palestinians claim as the core of their future sovereign state. Under international law, all Israeli settlements established in the West Bank after the 1967 Six-Day War are classified as illegal, a position reaffirmed repeatedly by United Nations resolutions and global human rights bodies.

    Hundreds of demonstrators from both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel factions gathered outside the venue to stake out opposing positions on the event. Reporters on the ground from Middle East Eye, the independent outlet that first broke detailed coverage of the clashes, documented at least one physical assault: a pro-Israel supporter was filmed throwing multiple punches at a pro-Palestine activist who stood behind a metal safety railing, before uniformed officers intervened and escorted the attacker away.

    Heated rhetoric permeated the standoff. Pro-Israel counter-protesters were repeatedly recorded chanting the aggressive slogan ‘There is no Palestine, we flattened it’, and even young children in the pro-Israel crowd were heard hurling misogynistic slurs at pro-Palestine campaigners. Many pro-Palestine demonstrators, including Jewish anti-Zionist activists, framed the event as nothing less than state-sanctioned theft of Palestinian land.

    Oscar Leyens, a long-time Jewish pro-Palestine activist and member of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, called the gathering an affront to Jewish values of anti-oppression. ‘I’m a true practising and very proud Jew who sees what’s going on between Israel and the Palestinians as an abomination of Judaism,’ Leyens told Middle East Eye. ‘This event is land theft. They are trading land to explicitly only a Jewish population in order to organise settlers to move to their apartheid state. This is a disgrace to Jewish history of resistance against fascism and racism. They are the fascists, they are the racists, and we will not stand for a moment while they trade in Palestinian land.’

    Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, a journalist who has spent years documenting Israeli settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank, said the violent clashes outside the London synagogue mirrored the aggression he had witnessed firsthand in occupied Palestinian territory. ‘We are surrounded by a bunch of Zionists who are counter-protesting and attacking people. A bunch of Palestinian activists were attacked by the Zionists and then got arrested,’ he said. ‘This is very reminiscent of everything that I’ve seen in the West Bank… I feel like I’ve been here before.’

    By the end of the day of demonstrations, London’s Metropolitan Police Service announced that 15 people had been taken into custody in connection with the unrest. Of those arrested, seven identified as pro-Israel supporters, six as pro-Palestine demonstrators, and the affiliation of two remaining detainees remained unclear as of initial police statements.

    The event itself drew fierce political and legal pushback in the UK days before it even began. Just two days prior to the gathering, more than 100 British Members of Parliament signed an open letter to UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urging authorities to cancel the event entirely. The letter argued that allowing the promotion and sale of settlement property directly contradicted existing UK government guidance that warns businesses against engaging in any settlement-related economic activity, and would violate the UK’s own obligations under international law.

    London Mayor Sadiq Khan also publicly came out against the gathering, confirming he had raised his concerns directly with Metropolitan Police leadership. ‘I share concerns about the Great Israeli Real Estate Event taking place in our city, which I oppose, and that’s why I’ve discussed this directly with the Met Police,’ Khan said. ‘I’m informed that any allegations of criminality relating to the potentially unlawful sale of property at the event would be assessed by the Met with a view to investigation.’

    The list of participating organizations, released publicly on Facebook by Emanuel Vatari, CEO of event sponsor Emanuel Group, confirms that multiple Israeli firms with deep ties to settlement construction took part in the event. Among them were Harey Zahav, a development firm that openly lists properties for sale in Negohot, an illegal settlement in the southern Hebron Hills, and the Meshulam Levinstein Group, a diversified construction and real estate conglomerate that has built both residential and commercial projects in illegal settlements across the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, including a large housing and retail development in the East Jerusalem settlement neighborhood of Homat Shmuel. Additional participants included Tivuch Shelly, an agency that advertises homes in the large West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adunim, and Africa Israel Residences, a subsidiary of the Africa Israel Group that has developed multiple settlement projects across occupied Palestinian territory.

    The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), a UK-based legal advocacy organization, delivered a formal legal notice to Edgware United Synagogue on the day before the event, putting venue leadership on notice of significant legal and reputational risks for hosting the gathering. The ICJP letter, reviewed by Middle East Eye, noted that the event was explicitly marketed as a platform for the sale of property in the occupied Palestinian territories, and that UK government guidelines clearly warn businesses away from such activity due to its legal and ethical risks under international law.

  • Why I sold my business to my staff

    Why I sold my business to my staff

    As a wave of baby boomer small business owners approaches retirement across the United States, a quiet but transformative shift is gaining traction: instead of selling their life’s work to outside corporate or private equity buyers, a growing number of owners are transferring full ownership to their employees. This growing trend not only addresses the coming “silver tsunami” of generational business transitions but also delivers tangible benefits for workers, companies and local economies, proponents argue.

    One early adopter of this model is Softstar Shoes, an Oregon-based artisan shoemaker with 30 employees. The business completed its employee ownership transition in January 2026, when former sole owner and CEO Tricia Salcido, 56, sold the firm to her workforce to prepare for retirement. Salcido, who will stay on for the next few years as chief financial officer, says the transition has already unlocked a new level of team engagement that was absent under her sole ownership. “I’m getting personal emails from employees saying, ‘well, have you thought about this idea?’” she explained. “These are business insights that weren’t forthcoming before!” For Salcido, the decision was also personal: she wanted to protect local jobs and keep her company’s craft shoemaking operations in the U.S., a outcome she was convinced would not happen under a cost-cutting outside buyer.

    Salcido is far from alone. Data from a 2025 industry study shows as many as 600 U.S. firms are now sold to their workforces each year, and available financing for these deals jumped 78% from $500 million in 2024 to $865 million in 2025 — a clear signal that the transition to employee ownership is accelerating. The scale of demand for this model is easy to understand: a 2026 report from global business consulting firm McKinsey estimates that roughly 6 million small and medium-sized U.S. companies, owned by baby boomers, will change hands between now and 2035 as this generation exits the workforce. Harvard Business School associate professor Ethan Rouen notes that demand for exit strategies is already pervasive, and most founders cannot pass their businesses to family: “I don’t think a week goes by where I don’t talk to an owner who is looking to sell their business. Their grown-up children often aren’t interested in taking on the family venture.”

    Multiple case studies and research papers confirm that employee-owned firms outperform traditional ownership structures on key metrics. When employees share both the risks and rewards of business ownership, they become far more motivated, leading to higher overall productivity. Employee-owned firms also are less likely to conduct mass layoffs during economic downturns and consistently pay higher average wages than externally owned competitors.

    Another business owner who chose employee ownership to protect his company’s legacy is William Stockwell, whose family has owned Philadelphia-based industrial component manufacturer Stockwell Elastomerics since it was founded by his great-grandfather in 1919. After observing the disruption that followed outside buyouts of similar firms, Stockwell decided to sell to his employees. “The new [outside] ownership might move the business, they might shut it down, or drastically change it in other ways, and the people remaining are stuck,” he said. Today, Stockwell works part-time at the firm he sold to staff.

    Three main employee ownership models are currently used in the U.S. The most popular structure is the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which held $2 trillion in combined assets across 6,609 U.S. firms employing 10.9 million Americans as of 2023, the most recent year for full data. Under an ESOP, the company is held in a trust for employees, who earn shares that they can cash out only when they leave the company. The second model, which Softstar Shoes used, is the Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). Under an EOT, a trust holds ownership on behalf of staff, eliminating the need for employees to purchase shares out of their own pockets. The trust pays the former owner in installments drawn from future annual profits, meaning the former owner carries risk and must wait for full payment, but employees receive a share of profits each year. The third model is the worker cooperative, where employees buy individual shares of the business directly.

    The trend extends beyond legacy family firms. Proponents note that employee ownership also appeals to younger workers disillusioned by the inequality and rigid hierarchy of traditional corporate structures. “The only way to truly create wealth in this country is through ownership of capital. And this is a way to democratise that,” Rouen explained.

    Despite the benefits, the model still faces significant barriers. Setting up EOT and ESOP structures is far more administratively complex than a straightforward sale to an outside buyer. Many owners are also discouraged by the requirement to wait years for full payment and accept financial risk tied to the company’s future performance. Most importantly, widespread lack of awareness about employee ownership schemes slows adoption: “No one’s heard of them,” Salcido says.

    Still, the outlook for growth is positive, insiders say. 71-year-old Paul Silvis, who is currently in the process of selling his central Pennsylvania manufacturing firm SilkoTek Corporation to his employees, says he has full confidence in the decision. “I’m getting ready to ride off into the sunset at some point,” he says. Stockwell, who has already completed his transition, advises owners considering the move to plan years in advance, saying “It’s not something you want to begin the year you want to retire.”

    In recent years, the U.S. federal government has moved to support employee ownership, with bipartisan backing in Congress and a new Employee Ownership Initiative launched by the Department of Labor to promote the model and provide guidance for interested owners. As policy support grows and the wave of generational business transitions accelerates, Rouen predicts more businesses will make the switch: “my hunch is that we will see more successful employee ownership conversions in the next few years.”

  • Canadian prime minister heads west to ancestral homeland

    Canadian prime minister heads west to ancestral homeland

    On the second day of his landmark bilateral visit to the Republic of Ireland, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney traded formal diplomatic meetings for a deeply personal journey to County Mayo on Sunday, tracing the roots of his family’s Irish ancestry ahead of high-stakes talks at next week’s G7 Summit.

    Fresh off Saturday’s working session with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin in Dublin, Carney traveled west to Aughagower, the quiet rural village where his maternal grandparents Robert and Nora Moran built their lives before emigrating to Canada in 1925. There, he met more than 20 of his extended Irish cousins, including his father’s first cousins Maureen O’Malley and Pat Carney — the oldest living members of his Irish family branch.

    Sunday opened with an official meeting between Carney and Irish President Catherine Connolly at Westport House, where the pair discussed bilateral ties and global affairs. Speaking to Irish public broadcaster RTÉ ahead of the June G7 gathering in France, Carney confirmed that reinforcing a potential long-term ceasefire between the United States and Iran would top the summit’s agenda. He added that he has been encouraged by recent progress toward the truce, signaling strong diplomatic momentum ahead of the meeting.

    Beyond diplomatic discussions, Carney’s day was filled with intimate ancestral traditions. Accompanied by his wife Diana Fox Carney, the prime minister attended Mass at Aughagower’s parish church, visited the local cemetery where generations of his relatives are buried, and planted an Irish oak tree on the cemetery grounds to mark his visit. Lightening the ceremonial moment, Carney joked about his past experience working as a gardener, while his wife quoted iconic Irish folk singer Christy Moore’s *Don’t Forget Your Shovel* as he worked. After the service, he thanked local residents for their warm welcome and encouraged visitors to explore the village’s historic spots, including the former “Carney’s sweetshop” and local pub.

    For the Carney clan in Aughagower, the meeting marked the end of a decades-long wait to connect with their famous relative. Rosaleen Heraty, O’Malley’s daughter, told RTÉ the family has been abuzz with excitement about the visit for weeks. “It’s all we can talk about, generations of the Carney clan, and we are so excited to finally meet him,” she said, noting the uncanny physical resemblance between Carney and his grandfather Robert — a similarity she first noticed when Carney served as Governor of the Bank of England. Her mother, she added, immediately recognized the family connection the moment she saw his face on television.

    Local historical records paint a vivid picture of the hardship Carney’s ancestors faced in early 20th century Ireland. Both the Carney and Moran families worked as tenant farmers on the estate of Lord Sligo, surviving in modest rural dwellings typical of the era. Carney’s great-grandfather’s homestead in the townland of Ayle was a two-room thatched cottage that housed nine family members, with a third room added only later. The Moran family home in nearby Mace North was just a short distance away, both falling within the Aughagower parish — a site long tied to Irish legend, which holds that St. Patrick stopped there on his journey to Croagh Patrick.

    Carney’s grandparents were part of the massive wave of emigration that followed the long-term upheaval of the Irish Great Famine, when more than one million people left Ireland for new lives abroad. After arriving in Canada in 1925, the pair married the following year and raised three sons, building a new life across the Atlantic that would eventually lead to their grandson becoming Canada’s prime minister.

    Carney has long spoken openly about his connection to his Irish roots, describing his ancestry as “a big part of who I am” and saying he feels deep pride in his family heritage. Speaking to reporters in Aughagower, he called the visit a profound personal thrill, noting that he had visited the village twice before but traveled incognito on those trips, with no public attention. “It’s fantastic to be back,” he said.

    To close out his day in Mayo, Carney attended a civic reception in Westport, where Mayo County Council presented him with a formal civic scroll to honor his visit. He also received a custom-commissioned commemorative history of the Carney family in Mayo, compiled by local Westport historian Harry Hughes alongside co-researchers James Kelly and Micheál Casey.

    This visit marks the first bilateral trip to Ireland by a sitting Canadian prime minister since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit in 2017, underscoring the enduring cultural and diplomatic ties between the two North American and European nations.

  • Somaliland president meets Israeli counterpart in first Jerusalem visit

    Somaliland president meets Israeli counterpart in first Jerusalem visit

    In a moment that marks a pivotal shift in regional geopolitics, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi — popularly known by his nickname Cirro and serving as the president of the self-declared independent state of Somaliland — arrived in Israel on Sunday, making history as the first Somaliland head of state to conduct an official state visit to the Jewish nation. The trip comes roughly six months after Israel made a groundbreaking move to recognize Somaliland as an independent sovereign state, a step no other United Nations member state had previously taken.

    Taking to the social platform X to share his first impressions after landing, Cirro expressed deep gratitude for the reception he received from Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He called the journey a once-in-a-generation milestone for the relationship between the breakaway East African territory and Tel Aviv. “For thirty-five years, the people of Somaliland have built a peaceful, democratic, and resilient nation. We asked the world: Do you see us? Israel answered first,” Cirro wrote in his public post, which was paired with an on-the-ground photo from his arrival. “Today, history is being written, and Somaliland stands ready to forge a shared future founded on friendship, cooperation, and mutual respect.”

    According to reporting from Israeli daily newspaper Maariv, the two-day visit will see Cirro hold additional high-level meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, beyond his initial talks with Herzog. Israeli President Herzog struck a collaborative tone in his response to the visit, noting that both sides aim to expand joint work across multiple priority sectors. “We both seek security and stability in the region and in the Horn of Africa. We both see the importance of protecting maritime freedom,” Herzog stated.

    To understand the full context of this historic encounter, it is necessary to outline Somaliland’s decades-long path to international recognition. The autonomous region in northern Somalia declared its separation from the rest of Somalia in 1991, following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime. To date, however, the United Nations, the African Union, and nearly every sovereign government across the globe still formally recognize the territory as an integral part of Somalia, leaving Somaliland’s independence bid isolated on the global stage.

    That changed this past December, when Israel became the first UN member state to formally grant recognition to Somaliland as an independent country. Regional analysts have widely framed the move as a calculated step to advance Israeli geopolitical interests in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region. The territory sits just 30 kilometers south of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the critical narrow waterway that links the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea — one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes for global trade.

    A permanent Israeli foothold in Somaliland would place Israeli military and intelligence assets within very close proximity to Yemen’s Houthi movement, which has launched repeated attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea since late 2023. The Houthis have stated their attacks are a retaliation for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza against Hamas. For Israel, establishing a presence in Somaliland also advances a broader goal of countering the expanding influence of Iran and its regional allied network across the Red Sea and Horn of Africa, analysts add.

    Israel’s alignment with Somaliland also deepens its existing close security and political partnership with the United Arab Emirates, which has long backed Somaliland’s bid for international standing. Back in 2017, the Somaliland government approved a UAE bid to construct a military base at the strategic Port of Berbera, a move Hargeisa hoped would bolster its case for global recognition. Since Israel granted recognition to Somaliland earlier this year, senior Somaliland officials have confirmed they have held discussions about hosting an Israeli military base on their territory — a reversal of earlier denials of any such plans from Hargeisa’s foreign ministry.

    For Somaliland, the new partnership with Israel carries tangible potential benefits beyond the long-sought win of international recognition. In comments given to Reuters back in February, Cirro revealed that Somaliland expects to finalize a bilateral trade agreement with Israel in the near future, and has offered Israel exploration and extraction rights to its untapped mineral deposits as part of the broader deal. The breakaway region has also identified growing security cooperation with Israel as a key priority: after the United Nations partially lifted its long-standing arms embargo on Somalia in 2023, Somaliland has cited new growing security threats to its territory and has sought to strengthen its own military capabilities.

  • Spain superstar Lamine Yamal declared fit to make his World Cup debut against Cape Verde

    Spain superstar Lamine Yamal declared fit to make his World Cup debut against Cape Verde

    ATLANTA — As Spain prepares to kick off its 2026 World Cup campaign against Cape Verde on Monday, head coach Luis de la Fuente has confirmed that teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has been given full medical clearance to feature in the match, putting to bed recent concerns over the young star’s hamstring injury.

    The 18-year-old, one of the most hyped young talents in global soccer, was forced to sit out the final weeks of his club season with Barcelona after picking up the soft tissue injury. While he will be available for selection, De la Fuente confirmed that Yamal is not expected to get the start in Monday’s tournament opener in Atlanta, with his game time set to be determined by how the match unfolds.

    “Our medical and fitness teams have worked in lockstep with the medical staff at Barcelona to manage Lamine’s recovery every step of the way,” De la Fuente told reporters at a pre-match press conference. “All the signs point to him being fully ready to play tomorrow. We don’t know exactly how many minutes he will get just yet – that will depend on the flow of the game, the situation we find ourselves in – but what we can confirm is he is in ideal condition to take the pitch.”

    Yamal first announced himself to the world as a core part of Spain’s victorious 2024 European Championship run, turning 17 just hours before the tournament’s final. In the two years since that breakout, he has cemented his status as arguably the most exciting emerging talent in European soccer, with widespread pundit and fan expectation that he will eventually succeed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the face of global soccer.

    Yamal’s massive global appeal has been on clear display since the Spanish squad arrived in Georgia for the World Cup. A towering billboard advertisement featuring the winger overlooks Mercedes-Benz Stadium – rebranded as Atlanta Stadium for the tournament – where Spain will play its first match. On the day before the opener, dozens of fans gathered outside Spain’s training base at Kennesaw State University to catch a glimpse of the star, with multiple young fans even showing up sporting his signature blonde curly hairstyle.

    For supporters hoping to see Yamal take the pitch, De la Fuente offered a promising update: the teen will be on the match day bench, and is cleared to play minutes if called upon. “Lamine Yamal is fit enough to play some minutes tomorrow, and our entire medical team backs this decision,” the coach said. “If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t even be on the bench.”

    Spain enters this World Cup in a familiar position: the side won its last World Cup title in 2010, when it also entered the tournament as the reigning European champion. Currently ranked as co-favorites alongside defending champions France to lift the trophy, De la Fuente says his squad is keeping a grounded mindset ahead of their first match.

    “Being labeled as co-favorites is just recognition of the work we have put in to get to this point,” he said. “But we are humble. We know how hard it is to win even one match at this tournament, let alone the whole thing.”

    Monday’s opponent, Cape Verde, is making its first ever appearance at a men’s World Cup, and is widely considered the heavy underdog heading into the matchup. But De la Fuente warned against any complacency from his side, noting that underdog upsets are common in major international tournaments.

    “There is no chance we are underestimating Cape Verde,” he said. “They have quality, and they could easily be one of the teams that springs a surprise on a bigger opponent at this World Cup.”

  • Ebola cases in eastern Congo climb to 782 and deaths reach 181, authorities say

    Ebola cases in eastern Congo climb to 782 and deaths reach 181, authorities say

    In a Sunday evening update posted to social platform X, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ministry of Health has announced a sharp upward climb in confirmed cases of a rare Ebola outbreak, pushing the total to 782 documented infections and 181 confirmed deaths across the country. While these are the official numbers, public health officials warn the true scale of the epidemic is far larger than recorded. The outbreak was only formally detected on May 15, weeks after the first suspected infections emerged, and critical contact tracing efforts — a core strategy to halt Ebola spread — have dropped to just 56% coverage, a significant decline from rates reported the previous week.

    This latest outbreak differs from most previous Ebola events in Congo in a key way: it is driven by the little-seen Bundibugyo virus, rather than the Zaire strain that caused the nation’s 16 prior outbreaks. Unlike Zaire, Bundibugyo has no globally approved vaccine or targeted treatment available to frontline health teams, limiting intervention options. As of the latest update, 56 infected patients have recovered, putting the current official fatality rate at 23% for the outbreak.

    Nearly all confirmed cases — over 90% — are concentrated in eastern Congo’s volatile Ituri Province, with smaller clusters also detected in the neighboring North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. The virus has already crossed international boundaries, with cases confirmed in neighboring Uganda, raising regional public health alarm.

    A web of long-standing crises has created major barriers to containing the spread, according to United Nations humanitarian officials. Ituri Province already hosts nearly one million people displaced by ongoing armed conflict, and constant population movement as communities flee violence makes tracking transmission chains nearly impossible. The province’s geography adds further obstacles: vast stretches of dense forest, poorly maintained road networks, and remote rural communities that can take multiple days to reach slow response teams.

    Additional challenges come from the region’s large population of artisanal miners, thousands of whom move regularly between remote mineral extraction sites across the area, creating constant unmonitored movement that facilitates virus spread. Compounding these issues, attacks on frontline health workers by angry local residents, widespread misinformation and community skepticism about public health measures, and ongoing active armed conflict in transmission hotspots have all derailed containment efforts.

    The outbreak has already sparked controversy beyond Congo’s borders. Last month, U.S. officials announced plans to construct a dedicated Ebola quarantine facility at Kenya’s Laikipia Air Base, with capacity for 50 beds, to treat Americans exposed to the virus in the region rather than repatriating them to the United States for care. The proposal sparked large public protests across Kenya, and the plan was ultimately halted by a court order.

  • Can Tunisia finally break through at the World Cup?

    Can Tunisia finally break through at the World Cup?

    The old adage holds that consistency paves the way for long-term success, but for Tunisia’s national men’s football team, decades of reliable qualification have turned into a heavy burden of unmet expectation ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

    For nearly 30 years, the Carthage Eagles have outperformed most of their North African and regional rivals in major tournament qualifications. Since 1998, they have booked their spot at twice as many World Cup finals as any neighboring nation, and hold an unmatched continental record: 17 consecutive Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifications dating back to 1994. This streak of steady performance earned them the nickname “the Germans of Africa” among football observers.

    Yet for all their routine qualification success, Tunisia has failed to carve out the iconic, memorable legacy that smaller, less consistent teams from the region have built. Algeria captured global admiration for its deep run at the 2014 World Cup, while Morocco made history by reaching the semi-finals in 2022. Even Saudi Arabia, which has suffered multiple lopsided defeats at World Cup tournaments, boasts one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s history: a 2-1 victory over eventual champion Argentina at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

    Tunisian fans have long craved a similarly unforgettable milestone, but once-steady hope has gradually shifted to cynicism. Simply reaching the World Cup — a feat that eludes dozens of capable football nations every cycle — is no longer celebrated as an achievement on its own. For a side that has delivered consistent results for decades, fans expect more than just early-round exits, and frustration has grown over the team’s pragmatic, often uninspiring style of play.

    “If this team wins a game, it will never be by more than one goal. Given how they play, the maximum we can hope for is two points from three group stage matches,” veteran Tunisian journalist Maher Mezahi noted, echoing the sentiment of many disappointed supporters. One African football journalist added to Middle East Eye earlier this month: “A young football fan watching the World Cup at home will never pick Tunisia as their second favorite team. They have no breakout star players catching the global eye, and they don’t play attractive, exciting football.”

    It is important to contextualize Tunisia’s achievements, however. The core of the nation’s decades-long consistency has been an unshakable team spirit, a trait that has proven critical in the grueling, physically and mentally draining African qualification cycle. Away matches in African qualifying are notoriously hostile, and success often comes down to a squad’s ability to stay united under extreme pressure. That is a challenge that more star-studded sides have failed to overcome this cycle: both Cameroon and Nigeria, packed with globally recognized talent, missed out on the 2026 World Cup largely due to internal disarray and poor cohesion. Tunisia, by contrast, sealed its qualification without conceding a single goal.

    This unyielding determination has a name among fans and analysts: grinta. Borrowed from Italian, the term is widely used across the Mediterranean to describe courage, grit and unrelenting fighting spirit — qualities that have defined Tunisian football for generations.

    What many local supporters overlook is the steep structural disadvantage Tunisia faces compared to its regional rivals. With a total population of just over 12 million, the nation has a far smaller talent pool than neighbors Morocco (37 million) and Algeria (45 million), both of which also have much larger European diasporas to draw elite talent from. Wealthier rivals like Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations have far deeper financial resources to invest in football development, while the World Bank classifies Tunisia as a lower-middle-income country.

    Two decades of persistent economic stagnation have forced Tunisian football to operate with tight budget constraints, forcing smart, frugal investment to stay competitive. Top-flight Tunisian clubs rarely offer large contracts to players, and foreign managers have become increasingly rare: as of 2026, only two of the 16 clubs in Tunisia’s top division employ a foreign manager.

    These financial limitations have also pushed clubs to prioritize youth talent development over buying established stars, a strategy that has turned Tunisian football into a respected talent incubator for overlooked players across the African continent. For example, Baghdad Bounedjah, Algeria’s all-time leading men’s international goalscorer, was ignored by clubs in his home country before signing with Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel in 2013. Just one year later, he earned a call-up to the Algerian national team, and moved to Qatari side Al Sadd for a $3.8 million transfer in 2016. In recent years, Tunisia has expanded its talent export market to Europe, with promising young players moving abroad earlier in their careers — a trend born of economic necessity, as government funding for football has declined and revenue from television rights and merchandising remains limited.

    In the wake of Morocco’s historic 2022 World Cup run, Tunisian fans are more eager than ever to see their side reach the World Cup knockout stage for the first time in the nation’s history. Many local analysts hold out cautious optimism for the 2026 tournament. “I am naturally an optimistic person when it comes to our chances,” said the founder of ActuFootTunisie, a leading local outlet covering Tunisian football. “Tunisia is capable of finishing second in the group, but we have to stay realistic. A third-place finish that earns a spot as one of the best third-placed teams is achievable. It would be a first for our country and a fantastic result for us.”

    This year, however, the traditional grit and cohesion of the squad is facing an unprecedented test, after new manager Sabri Lamouchi launched a complete overhaul of the national squad. Only five players from Tunisia’s 2022 World Cup squad retained their spots for 2026, and several senior stars — including former captains Ferjani Sassi, Ali Maaloul and Yassine Meriah — were left off the roster entirely.

    One of the most controversial new additions is Germany-born midfielder Rani Khedira, who previously rejected overtures from the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF), telling German media in 2015, “There was never any thought of playing for Tunisia.” Khedira’s selection over fan favorites Aissa Laidouni and Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane has angered many supporters. The ActuFootTunisie founder notes that the decision is frustrating, given that other candidates played every minute of the qualifying campaign, and Khedira’s last-minute call-up can come off as opportunistic. “But now that he’s here, he represents our country, he’s Tunisian, so we support him,” he added, noting that the rest of the squad selection is strong. “It’s a good group with lots of young players, unlike previous squads that relied too much on veteran players. This group has real potential.”

    The 2026 squad reflects this youth focus: 12 of the 26 players were born in the 21st century, including teenager Khalil Ayari, who had only been a professional for 18 months before moving from Stade Tunisien to Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the 2025-26 season.

    The squad renewal came after a string of underwhelming results that made clear the old approach was no longer working. Tunisia turned in poor performances at two major tournaments in the lead-up to 2026: at the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar, the side opened with a 1-0 loss to Syria, then blew a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Palestine, crashing out in the group stage. The Carthage Eagles did reach the knockout round of the 2025 AFCON a month later, but turned in unconvincing performances and were outclassed by top African sides. After Tunisia’s Round of 16 elimination at the hands of Mali, star midfielder Hannibal Mejbri did not mince words about the state of the nation’s football program.

    “We are behind in our football development, that’s the plain truth — we lag behind in so many areas,” said the Premier League star. “All of the leaders of Tunisian football need to sit down together and ask the hard questions, honestly.”

    The FTF’s response to that call for change came in January 2026, when the body hired Lamouchi, a former French international of Tunisian descent, to lead the national side. The hire was widely seen as an effort to appease fans who had grown frustrated with six straight local managers holding the job since 2018. When Lamouchi was introduced to the press, he promised sweeping change, and the heavily reshuffled 26-man squad delivers on that promise.

    Even with the promised renewal, the squad selection has not been without controversy. A recent investigative report claimed that some of Lamouchi’s selections were forced by FTF executives, who mandated a quota of players from Tunisia’s biggest clubs to secure more FIFA compensation. FIFA pays participating clubs $10,950 per player per day for releasing their players for the World Cup, with total compensation for the 2022 tournament exceeding $209 million globally.

    The claims are a serious black mark for the new FTF leadership, coming on the heels of a major corruption scandal that brought down the federation’s previous regime. Former FTF president Wadie Jary was arrested in 2023, and is currently serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted of corruption and match-fixing. Many members of the new leadership — including current FTF president Moez Nasri and vice president Hussein Jenayah — were close allies of Jary during his tenure.

    As Tunisia prepares to travel to the 2026 World Cup in North America, questions far outnumber answers regarding the inner workings of the FTF, the long-term financial health of Tunisian football, and whether a heavily reshuffled squad can retain the grinta that carried the team to qualification for decades. This is Lamouchi’s first major tournament as Tunisia’s manager, and only five veterans remain from the 2022 squad that had no shortage of the famous fighting spirit, even with its other flaws.

    Only time will tell whether a new manager and a youth-focused squad overhaul can deliver Tunisia’s first-ever trip to the World Cup knockout stage. But for critics like Mezahi, the outlook is not positive. “If this team wins a game, it won’t be by more than one goal,” he said. “And given their style of play, the ceiling might be just two points from three group games.”

  • Israeli strike on Beirut kills three

    Israeli strike on Beirut kills three

    On a tense Sunday in the Middle East, an Israeli drone strike on an apartment building in Beirut’s southern Ghobeiry neighborhood of the Dahieh district killed at least three civilians and left 15 others injured, sending shockwaves through already fragile regional peace negotiations and drawing sharp condemnation alongside explicit threats of retaliation from top Iranian government and military officials.

    Lebanese media confirmed the targeted structure was a municipally owned apartment building in the densely populated Dahieh area, a district that has long been a stronghold of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The attack marked the latest escalation in a cycle of cross-border violence that has gripped the Israel-Lebanon border for months, coming just hours after three unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Lebanese territory struck northern Israel earlier the same day. In response to that initial incursion, senior Israeli cabinet members immediately called for forceful, aggressive retaliation targeting Beirut directly.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement confirming the Sunday strike was a deliberate targeting of Hezbollah assets in Dahieh, carried out in direct response to the earlier drone fire on Israeli territory. This latest attack fits a consistent pattern of Israeli military activity that has persisted since a temporary ceasefire went into effect across the region on April 16: Israel has conducted daily bombardment operations across southern Lebanon, while its ground forces have progressively expanded their occupation of southern Lebanese villages and carried out widespread demolitions of local residential and civilian infrastructure.

    Early Sunday, the Israeli military had already issued a broad evacuation order urging residents of at least 30 towns and villages across Lebanon’s Nabatieh and Sidon districts, located north of the Litani River, to leave their homes immediately ahead of planned military operations. The timing of the Beirut strike carries particularly high stakes, as it comes at a critical moment when Washington and Tehran appeared to be on the cusp of finalizing a landmark US-Iran agreement designed to de-escalate the broader regional war. As recently as this weekend, both US and Pakistani leaders publicly predicted the deal could be finalized and signed as early as Sunday.

    Just last week, a separate Israeli strike on the Dahieh district already triggered a full exchange of cross-border fire between Israeli and Iranian forces, bringing regional tensions dangerously close to a full-scale conflict that would have collapsed the ongoing negotiation process entirely. Iran has long listed a full cessation of Israeli hostilities in Lebanon and a complete withdrawal of Israeli occupying forces from all southern Lebanese territory as non-negotiable conditions for any final wider agreement with the United States. On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reaffirmed that the imminent deal would explicitly include commitments to end all hostilities in Lebanon and enforce the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the south.

    Sunday’s strike has thrown these plans into complete disarray. Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief nuclear and negotiation negotiator, argued that the attack exposed a critical failure on the part of the United States: either Washington lacks the political will to uphold its own commitments to the emerging deal, or it does not have the capability to rein in its Israeli ally to meet the agreed terms. In a public post on the social platform X, Ghalibaf warned that the current path toward negotiation would become completely unworkable if the US cannot deliver on the obligations it has put forward.

    Senior Iranian military leadership has further raised the threat of direct retaliation. Brigadier General Mohammad Jafar Asadi, deputy commander of Iran’s supreme military command, told Iranian state media that what he labeled Israeli “crimes” in Lebanon would not remain unanswered, signaling that Tehran is prepared to take direct military action in response to the strike.

    Adding another layer of complication to the negotiation process, Israeli Defense Minister Katz has already explicitly rejected the core Iranian condition for the deal: he confirmed earlier this week that Israel has no intention of withdrawing its forces from the areas of southern Lebanon it currently occupies. This stance puts Washington in an impossible position, as it tries to reconcile its unwavering military and political support for Israel with its diplomatic goal of reaching a de-escalation agreement with Iran to prevent a wider regional war.

  • England loses another pacer for 2nd test vs NZ with Robinson injured after Stokes, Atkinson dropped

    England loses another pacer for 2nd test vs NZ with Robinson injured after Stokes, Atkinson dropped

    Just days before England hosts New Zealand for the second Test match of their bilateral series at London’s iconic Oval ground, the home side has suffered another major blow to their fast bowling unit, with seamer Ollie Robinson ruled out of the clash by a lingering knee injury. The announcement of Robinson’s withdrawal came Sunday, marking the third high-profile absence from England’s squad this week.

    Robinson was one of the standout performers in the series opener at Lord’s last week, where England secured a hard-fought 115-run victory over the Black Caps. The right-armer picked up an impressive combined match figures of 7 wickets for just 77 runs, forming a devastating opening bowling partnership with fellow pacer Gus Atkinson. Atkinson, meanwhile, tore through New Zealand’s second innings to claim 5 wickets for 30 runs, closing out the win for the home side.

    But Atkinson will not feature at The Oval, after he and England captain Ben Stokes were dropped from the 2nd Test squad earlier this week amid an ongoing internal investigation into a post-victory nightclub incident. The pair were on an authorized night out following the Lord’s win when the incident occurred, which the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has described as a breach of the team’s internal protocols. Multiple reports indicate the altercation started when a player from English professional rugby union side Saracens struck a member of England cricket’s security detail during the night out.

    For Robinson, the knee injury will not force him to leave the squad entirely. The fast bowler will remain with the group to begin immediate rehabilitation work on his injury, with the aim of being fit for the third and final Test of the series, which kicks off on June 25 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. To cover Robinson’s absence for the Oval Test, the ECB has called up uncapped pace bowler Henry Crocombe to the senior squad for the first time. Crocombe has impressed for Sussex in domestic red-ball cricket over the past two seasons, earning his first international call-up as injury cover.

    This latest wave of off-field and on-field disruption has thrown fresh scrutiny on the culture and professionalism of England’s men’s Test side, coming just months after the team’s humbling defeat in the 2023 Ashes series against Australia. Following that disappointing tour, reports confirmed that the ECB imposed a mandatory midnight curfew on all players and staff during home and away series to enforce greater off-field discipline.

    With Stokes sidelined for the second Test due to the investigation, former England captain Joe Root will step in to lead the side at the Oval. Root, who remains one of the team’s core performers with both bat and ball, has captained England in more than 60 Test matches previously, giving him extensive experience leading the side at the highest level.

  • Protesters clash with police ahead of G7 summit in Geneva

    Protesters clash with police ahead of G7 summit in Geneva

    In the hours leading up to the high-stakes G7 summit in Geneva, tense confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement boiled over into violent street clashes, forcing Swiss police to deploy aggressive crowd control measures to restore order. The unrest unfolded as thousands of anti-globalization and anti-G7 activists gathered in the Swiss city to voice their opposition to the agenda of the world’s most powerful industrialized nations. What began as a planned demonstration quickly escalated into physical conflict between the two sides, prompting authorities to respond with significant force to contain the unrest. In a statement released to the press, Swiss police confirmed that officers used water cannons to push back advancing crowds and fired tear gas to disperse groups of protesters who had engaged in violent acts against law enforcement and public property. The summit, which brings together heads of state and senior government officials from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, was already surrounded by heavy security in anticipation of widespread protests. Local officials had warned demonstrators ahead of the gathering that any unauthorized actions or acts of violence would be met with a firm response from security forces. As of the latest updates, there have been no immediate reports of serious injuries or fatalities, but multiple arrests have been confirmed in connection with the clashes. The unrest has added a layer of volatility to the start of the summit, which is expected to cover a range of pressing global issues including climate change, economic policy, international security, and global public health coordination. City officials have urged residents and visitors to avoid the area around the protest zone as police continue to work to clear the streets and reestablish calm ahead of the official start of summit proceedings.