Lebanon has a legal playbook for dealing with failed banks, four years after the IMF first asked for one. It sets out who absorbs losses and in what order, but it can't be used until a second, harder law passes.

• Parliament approved major amendments to the law after months of changes demanded by the IMF. It lets regulators restructure troubled lenders, force debt-to-equity conversions and run orderly liquidations.
• Losses hit shareholders first, then capital holders, then unsecured creditors. Uninsured deposits absorb losses before insured ones. Lira deposits and fresh dollars deposited after Oct⁠ober 17, 2019 are exempt.
• Executives suspected of misconduct face six-month travel bans and asset freezes. Liquidators can claw back deals made within 36 months of a bank's failure.
• Implementation is suspended until Parliament passes the "Gap Law," which will allocate the system's losses.

Why it matters: The framework tackles a financial gap above $70 billion, but until the Gap Law passes, the new tools stay locked in the drawer.

The next Lebanon-Israel round, in Tampa, Florida, opens with a gap over what "reciprocity" means. Beirut wants Israeli withdrawals matched step by step by army deployments. Washington and Israel want proof of actual disarmament first.

• Following the Rubio-Salam meeting, a column by Tony Issa in Al Joumhouria argues Washington leans toward the Israeli idea of "experimental areas." Lebanon would have to move on disarmament before any new withdrawal.
• Israel says it won't hand the areas it seized to the Lebanese Army, including the Ali Al-Taher heights, because it cleared those tunnels and arsenals itself.
• Washington wants disarmament north of the Litani and Zahrani, in Iqlim al-Tuffah and Jabal Al Rihane.
• If that doesn't happen, the column describes possible Israeli advances along western, central and eastern axes.

What to watch: Whether Beirut brings anything concrete on disarmament to Tampa, since the column says that is now the condition for further Israeli withdrawals.

A new analysis says Hezbollah's firepower has shrunk while its refusal to disarm has not. It adds detail on who still talks to the group, and on an Egyptian offer it turned down.

• Turkey reportedly supplies drone technology and spare parts, smuggled through Syria. Egypt offered a political initiative last⁠ year: store heavy weapons in army barracks under joint supervision. Hezbollah rejected it.
• The strategic and surface-to-air missiles it showed after Mar⁠ch 2 have disappeared from view. Smuggling of light arms, ammunition and drone parts continues.
• A Jun⁠e 17 US-Iranian memorandum calls for a ceasefire on all fronts. Israel's raids and demolitions continue, with little response from Hezbollah.

The bigger picture: The analysis argues the group's leverage now rests on political defiance and sectarian backing, a stance it says erodes as facts on the ground accumulate.

The fight over ports and separatist movements, from Yemen's coast to Somaliland, Ethiopia and Sudan, has fused into a single regional contest. The Houthis now hold ground on the Bab al-Mandab strait itself, not just missiles aimed at it.

• On Sep⁠tember 11, the Houthis announced control of six districts across Taiz and Hodeidah, about 5,400 km², including Mocha, Mayun Island and the Hanish Archipelago.
• The battles killed at least 500 people and displaced about 40,000.
• Israel recognized Somaliland on Dec⁠ember 26, 2025, the first UN member state to do so. Reports point to an Israeli intelligence presence around Berbera port.
• In Ethiopia, Tigrayan forces seized three airports on Sep⁠tember 22-23, and Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights.

Zooming out: The analysis sees outcomes hinging on decisions in Washington and Tehran, with US-Iranian talks deciding whether Bab al-Mandab stays open.

AI company Anthropic says state-linked actors misused its Claude assistant for propaganda and surveillance in several African countries. It says it shut those operations down between Dec⁠ember 2025 and Aug⁠ust 2026. Russia calls the claims baseless.

• In the Central African Republic, Claude was reportedly used to produce pro-Russian content for Radio Lengo Songo and to monitor opposition politicians. Anthropic says it refused a request to portray opposition figures as armed militants.
• In the DRC, 318 articles ran on about 70 fake news sites, amplified by more than 250 fictitious X accounts.
• In Mali, an adviser allegedly built a platform to monitor 25 million SIM cards.
• Russia's mission in Bangui called the report "vague allegations, without precision and without evidence."

What to watch: The report names no opposition figures and doesn't say who received the surveillance data, so the open questions are who gets identified and whether other AI firms publish similar findings.

Australia's politics are splitting over how far to cut migration, and Canada has already run the experiment. It slashed temporary arrivals, and population growth fell from 3.1% to 0.5%. The results are being read both ways.

• One Nation wants 750,000 fewer temporary migrants over three years. Labor's long-term target is 225,000, against the latest estimate of 292,000.
• Canadian economists say the economy has adjusted rather than broken: employment may dip, but per-capita output looks better.
• Westpac's Luci Ellis warns Canada was recovering from a recession, and Challenger's Jonathan Kearns notes Canada's surge was far bigger than Australia's.
• If low growth became permanent, Canada's economy would be about 11.5% smaller by 2060.

The bigger picture: Canada's experience shows what a cut looks like short-term, but its bigger starting surge and weaker job market make it an imperfect template for Australia.