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Prominent Tunisian opposition figures including Rached Ghannouchi said Friday they would go on hunger strike in solidarity with a jailed politician whose health they say has severely deteriorated after nine days without food.Jawhar Ben Mbarek, co-founder of the National Salvation Front, Tunisia’s main opposition alliance, launched a hunger strike last week to protest his detention since February 2023.In April, he was sentenced to 18 years behind bars on charges of “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group” in a mass trial criticised by rights groups.Members of Ben Mbarek’s family and leaders from opposition Ennahdha and Al Joumhouri parties said they would join the strike.”Jawhar is in a worrisome condition, and his health is deteriorating,” said Ezzeddine Hazgui, his father and a veteran activist, during a press conference in Tunis.Hazgui said “the family would also launch a hunger strike beginning tomorrow”, without specifying which relatives would take part.”We will not forgive (President) Kais Saied,” he said.Rights groups have warned of a sharp decline in civil liberties in the North African country since a sweeping power grab by Saied in July 2021. Many of his critics are currently behind bars.Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party who is also serving hefty prison sentences, said he joined the protest on Friday, according to a post on his official Facebook page.Ghannouchi said his hunger strike sought to support Ben Mbarek, but also to “defend freedoms in the country”.Centrist Al Joumhouri party leader Issam Chebbi, who is also behind bars, announced he launched a hunger strike on Friday as well.Wissam Sghaier, another leader in Al Joumhouri, said some members of the party would follow suit.Sghaier said the party’s headquarters in the capital would serve as a gathering point for anyone willing to join.Relatives and a delegation from the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) visited Ben Mbarek at the Belli Civil Prison where he is held southeast of Tunis and reported a “serious deterioration of his state”.Many gathered near the prison to demand Ben Mbarek’s release.The LTDH said there have been “numerous attempts” to persuade Ben Mbarek to suspend the hunger strike, but “he refused and said he was committed to maintain it until the injustice inflicted upon him is lifted”.On Wednesday, prison authorities denied in a statement that the health of any prisoners had deteriorated because of a hunger strike, without naming Ben Mbarek.

Crowds packed central Tehran on Friday for the unveiling of a statue celebrating an ancient Persian victory over foreign enemies — a show of defiance toward Iran’s modern-day foes in the wake of its recent 12-day war with Israel.Thousands filled Enghelab Square to see the monument depicting the triumphant Sasanian king Shapur I looming on horseback over the kneeling Roman emperor Valerian, whom the Persian ruler captured in the third century AD.Over Shapur’s shoulder, multiple storeys high, stood a depiction of an ancient Persian warrior and a modern Iranian soldier, both grasping the same spear. Inscribed on their shields, the slogan: “You will kneel before Iran again.””Such stories have repeatedly occurred through history, and the aggressors to Iran will suffer the same fate,” Fatemeh Roshanbakhsh, 40, told AFP at the event. The new statue was modelled on a stone engraving in southern Iran carved around the time of the original victory.Student Moein, 21, said he had “studied about it in history books”, adding that gatherings like Friday’s “positively affect people’s morale”.”Our nation has always been and will always be victorious,” Moein added. Alongside the sculpture of Shapur, organisers hung banners portraying slain Iranian military figures, including revered Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a 2020 US strike in Baghdad, and Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Guards’ Aerospace force, who was killed in the Israeli attacks.In June Israel launched an unprecedented military campaign against Iran, killing more than a thousand people, according to official figures.Tehran reciprocated with missile and drone attacks on Israel, killing dozens.”Iran throughout history had generals that defeated the system of blasphemy and arrogance,” psychologist Roshanbakhsh, clad in a black chador said in reference to Israel and its ally the United States, which also launched strikes on nuclear facilities in June. – ‘Good vibes’ -Massive banners at the square showed mythical heroes from Persian literature — including Rostam, the legendary warrior from the epic “Shahnameh”, Book of Kings — vanquishing foes.Others reproduced moments of contemporary confrontation, including the 2016 seizure of a US Navy vessel by the IRGC over what Tehran said was a territorial infringement.The event follows a similar one in June, when Iran unveiled a 16-metre bronze statue of Arash the Archer, a legendary hero, in Vanak Square in northern Tehran.Davood Goodarzi of the Tehran Municipality, which organised the event, said the project was designed and implemented “following the guidance” of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.He said the statue would be installed temporarily in Enghelab Square, then moved to one of the main entrances of Tehran, visible to foreign diplomats and tourists.To accompany Friday’s unveiling ceremony, five Iranian pop singers also held free public concerts, with attendee Sajad Pezeshkian saying he had come for “the good vibes… and to listen to the songs”. 

The United Nations warned on Friday of “intensified hostilities” ahead in Sudan, despite paramilitary forces endorsing a truce proposal from mediators after more than two years of war with the regular army.”There is no sign of de-escalation,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.”Developments on the ground indicate clear preparations for intensified hostilities, with everything that implies for its long-suffering people.”On Thursday, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said they had accepted a truce plan put forward by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.However, the government, backed by the army, has yet to respond to the US-led mediators’ proposal, and explosions rocked the army-controlled capital Khartoum on Friday.The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 million and triggered a hunger crisis.Less than two weeks ago, the RSF captured the city of El-Fasher, the army’s last major stronghold in Darfur, giving it control of all five state capitals in the vast western region, in addition to parts of the south. The army controls most of Sudan’s north, east and centre. El-Fasher’s fall was accompanied by reports of mass killings, sexual violence and looting, drawing international condemnation. Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab said on Thursday that satellite imagery collected earlier this week showed the RSF had blocked a key civilian escape route from the city.Doctors Without Borders warned Friday that the fate of hundreds of thousands who are still trapped in El-Fasher was unknown after satellite images from Yale’s HRL showed suspected mass graves.According to the United Nations, about 70,000 people have fled El-Fasher to nearby towns, including Tawila, while the city had previously housed some 260,000.”Our main concern is that though we have seen approximately 5,000 people coming out of El-Fasher towards Tawila, we don’t know where the other hundreds of thousands have gone,” newly elected MSF president Javid Abdelmoneim said. There are also fears of further atrocities taking place as the conflict shifts into the oil-rich Kordofan region.- ‘Living in fear’ -In South Kordofan, a medical source told AFP on Friday that the RSF shelled a hospital in besieged Dilling the day before, killing five and injuring five more. The Sudan Doctors’ Union said the attack also destroyed the facility’s radiology department. Dilling, under RSF siege since June 2023, lies about 150 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of army-controlled El-Obeid, a key crossroads linking Darfur to Khartoum. The army broke a two-year siege of El-Obeid in February, but the RSF has regrouped and is mounting a fresh push to seize Sudan’s central corridor. A resident of the city, the capital of North Kordofan state, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that people “are living in fear” and “ready to leave at any moment”. Much of the wider Kordofan region, meanwhile, faces a worsening humanitarian crisis. The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said Dilling is now at risk of famine, while South Kordofan’s capital, Kadugli, is already facing one. – Khartoum blasts -On Friday, explosions were heard in Khartoum and in Atbara, an army-held city around 300 kilometres to the north, witnesses told AFP. Khartoum has experienced relative calm since the army regained control earlier this year, but the RSF have continued launching long-range drone attacks on military positions and infrastructure.A resident in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum, told AFP they were woken “around 2:00 am (0000 GMT) by the sound of … explosions” near a military base, while another reported hearing a drone overheard before a blast struck near a power station, causing an outage.In Atbara, witnesses said anti-aircraft defences shot down several drones before dawn, sparking fires and explosions in the east of the city.There were no immediate reports of casualties and neither the army nor the RSF commented on the blasts.Despite the RSF’s announcement on Thursday that it accepted mediators’ plan for a ceasefire, analysts remain sceptical about the prospects for de-escalation. Cameron Hudson of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies told AFP the RSF’s announcement “aims to distract from the atrocities… in El-Fasher and portray itself as more responsible than the army”. No details of the ceasefire proposal have been made public, but a senior Saudi official told AFP that it calls for a “three-month truce”, during which both sides would be encouraged to hold talks in Jeddah on a permanent peace deal.The UAE, one of the mediators, has been accused by the UN of supplying arms to the RSF, allegations it has repeatedly denied.The Sudanese army, meanwhile, has received support from fellow mediators Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as from Turkey and Iran, according to observers.

French police have arrested four people after a Paris concert by Israel’s national orchestra was disrupted, a prosecutor said Friday, with organisers saying protesters lit smoke flares at the event.The visit drew criticism from several groups ahead of the concert at the Paris Philharmonic hall, over Israel’s conduct during its two-year military offensive in Gaza.Several individuals repeatedly interrupted Thursday’s concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the venue said.Videos posted on social media show a protester holding a red flare inside the concert hall with smoke billowing. Other people present were then seen to rush to strike the individual.The Paris Philharmonic said it had filed a complaint, adding it “deplores and strongly condemns the serious incidents that occurred”.On three occasions, individuals with tickets attempted to disrupt the concert and fellow spectators intervened, the concert venue said.The protesters were removed and the concert resumed peacefully, it added.A French prosecutor said that three men and one woman were in custody over the incident.Before the concert, several activist groups had written an open letter calling for the event to be cancelled.Allowing the orchestra to perform was an attempt to “restore” Israel’s image on the world stage, said the French branch of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, along with several other organisations.Israel’s ambassador to France Joshua Zarka — who was at the concert — told AFP that audience members attacking the protestors was “proof that France has had enough”.- ‘Freedom of programming’ -French Culture Minister Rachida Dati condemned the protest, saying “violence has no place in a concert hall”.”Freedom of programming and creation is a fundamental right of our republic,” she added.The protest was the latest example of a push for a cultural boycott of Israel.In September, a Belgian festival cancelled a performance by a German orchestra to be led by Israeli Lahav Shani, the same 36-year-old conductor who headed Thursday’s concert in Paris.Announcing the cancellation of the Belgian concert, organisers said Shani had not “unequivocally” distanced himself from the Israeli government, whose tactics in the war against Palestinian militant group Hamas since October 2023 have triggered international uproar.The cancellation was also condemned amid accusations of antisemitism, including from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who warned that “antisemitic rhetoric” was becoming normalised.Israel launched its military offensive on Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 68,500 Palestinians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Tommy Fleetwood produced another strong round on Friday to head into the weekend at the Abu Dhabi Championship tied for the lead with fellow Englishman Aaron Rai.Fleetwood started his second round with three birdies in a row and carded seven in total, shooting a six-under 66 to climb to 14-under for the tournament.The two-time former winner and reigning FedEx Cup champion began the day in a five-way share of the lead but soon hit the front after catching up with early starter Nacho Elvira.Fleetwood’s lone bogey came at the 15th but he gained that stroke back on the next hole with a putt from 12 feet.”Really good day. I got off to the perfect start. Birdie, birdie, birdie,” said Fleetwood.”That was good, especially when you’ve had a good round the day before. They always say it’s hard to follow up a good round with another good one, or a low one with another one.”Fleetwood is level with Rai, who delivered the highlight of the day with an albatross at the par-five second hole.”I actually caught it a little bit clean off the face, the line was great. I think it probably pitched around the front edge and chased its way down there,” said Rai, who holed out from around 220 yards.”We couldn’t see it from back on the fairway, so it was a nice surprise.”Rai carried that momentum through his round and added five birdies to sign for an eight-under 64. “It was really good. Struck it really well tee-to-green. Had a lot of chances. Just felt very stress-free overall,” he said.Richard Sterne, Andy Sullivan and Nicolai Hojgaard are two shots behind at the head of the chasing pack.Shane Lowry, who matched Ryder Cup team-mate Fleetwood on Thursday, dropped off the pace with back-to-back bogeys to close out round two as he recorded a three-under 69.Rory McIlroy is six shots off the top as the Northern Irishman carded another four-under 68. Matt Fitzpatrick and Robert McIntyre are a further shot behind.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa will become Syria’s first leader to pay an official visit to the White House on Monday, a crowning achievement for the ex-jihadist who since taking power has ended his country’s isolation.Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, will meet President Donald Trump during the unprecedented visit.US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said earlier this month that Sharaa will “hopefully” sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against the Islamic State (IS).The United States plans to establish a military base near Damascus “to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel”, a diplomatic source in Syria told AFP.Just days before the visit, the United Nations Security Council voted on Thursday to lift sanctions on Sharaa, who until now had needed a UN exemption for every trip abroad.The resolution was drafted by the US, whose ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said Sharaa’s government was “working hard to fulfil its commitments on countering terrorism and narcotics”.In May, the interim leader met Trump for the first time in Riyadh during the US president’s regional tour.Formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was delisted as a terrorist group by Washington as recently as July.Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break from their violent past and present a moderate image more tolerable to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.- ‘Big statement’ -Sharaa’s trip to Washington will be “the first in modern Syrian history for a Syrian president to the White House”, historian Sami Moubayed told AFP. It will also be Sharaa’s second visit to the United States after a landmark trip in September, where he became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly.”Sharaa’s visit to the White House is a declaration of a new chapter in US policy on the Middle East,” said Nick Heras, an analyst at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy.”Trump is bringing Sharaa to the White House to make a big statement that Sharaa is not a terrorist anymore,” he said. “The Trump team sees Sharaa as a pragmatic, and importantly pliable, leader who under American and Saudi guidance will secure Syria as a strategic bulwark in the region for decades to come.”Sharaa for his part is expected to seek funds for Syria. “Sharaa wants Trump’s blessing to unlock billions of dollars… both to kickstart the rehabilitation of Syria and to cement his control over the country indefinitely,” Heras said. Reconstruction is one of the most significant challenges facing Syria’s new Islamist authorities after 13 long years of brutal civil war.In October, the World Bank put a “conservative best estimate” of the cost of rebuilding Syria at $216 billion. – ‘Israeli influence’ -A diplomatic source in Syria told AFP that the United States “intends to establish a military base at the Mazzeh military airport near Damascus to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel”.Another Syrian diplomatic source said “the question of Syria joining the anti-jihadist coalition will be at the top of the agenda” for the White House meeting.The majority of US troops deployed in Syria are based in areas controlled by Kurdish forces in the north-east.The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) played a vital role in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, which ultimately led to the jihadist organisation’s territorial defeat in the country in 2019.The SDF are currently negotiating their integration into Syria’s military. Trump and Sharaa will also discuss the direct negotiations that Syria and Israel, which remain technically at war, opened after Assad’s overthrow. Trump has expressed hope that Syria will join other Arab countries that have normalised ties with Israel under the so-called Abraham Accords.In September, Sharaa said he hoped for a security deal to ease tensions with Israel but played down the prospect of recognition.Since December, Israel has deployed troops in a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates the countries’ forces and has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria. Damascus has not retaliated.For Heras, “Trump’s vision for Syria includes significant Israeli influence over a strategic swath of the country for years to come”.