MOSCOW (Dispatches) – Russia says it has recorded cyberattacks targeting the federal platform for remote online voting, warning that efforts to interfere in the elections are still alive. The parliamentary and local elections, which began on Friday, are to culminate on Sunday. President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party is expected to win. The elections commission said Saturday that it had recorded “three cyberattacks” on its resources for remote online voting “from foreign countries.” The attacks “resulted in temporary delays of access to relevant websites,” it said. “Yesterday, we recorded three targeted attacks from abroad,” said Alexander Sokolchuk, the head of the commission’s center for informatization. According to Sokolchuk, two of the attacks were aimed at the commission’s website, while a third was a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. “The attack was quite powerful,” he said.

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TUNIS (Al Jazeera) – Thousands of people rallied in the centre of Tunis on Saturday chanting, “shut down the coup” and “we want a return to legitimacy”. Saied supporters held a counter-demonstration chanting, “the people want to dissolve parliament”. The protest, which was met by a heavy police presence on Habib Bourguiba avenue, was the first major demonstration since Saied declared on July 25 he was sacking the prime minister, suspending parliament and assuming executive authority – moves his opponents branded a coup. The former constitutional law professor justified his move by citing emergency measures in the constitution that his critics and many legal scholars said did not support his intervention. Last week, one of Saied’s advisers told the Reuters news agency the president was planning to suspend the constitution and offer an amended version via a referendum, prompting opposition from political parties and the powerful UGTT labor union. Political leaders have complained about the constitution since it was agreed in 2014, calling for it to be changed to either a more directly presidential, or a more directly parliamentary, system.

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ATHENS (AFP) – Greece on Saturday inaugurates the first of five new “closed” migrant camps, opposed by rights groups who say the strict access measures are too restrictive. Barbed wire fencing surrounds the new camp on the island of Samos which is also installed with surveillance cameras, x-ray scanners and magnetic doors. The EU has committed 276 million euros ($326 million) for the new camps on Greece’s five Aegean islands -- Leros, Lesbos, Kos, Chios as well as Samos -- that receive most of the migrant arrivals by sea from neighboring Turkey. The Samos camp, which will serve as a pilot for the other so-called closed and controlled-access facilities, has a detention center and will only be accessible via electronic chip. Gates will remain closed at night. “The model of the controlled structures will be gradually transferred to all the islands and Greece’s mainland,” Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said a few months ago.

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MEXICO CITY (Dispatches) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is in Mexico to participate in a gathering of leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean, a rare trip abroad and his first since the United States made accusations against him which the government in Caracas termed as baseless. Maduro was received by Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on arrival in Mexico City for the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said on Twitter. In March 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice accused him of crimes including “narco-terrorism”, drug trafficking, and possession of weapons, offering $15 million for information leading to his arrest. The designation came as the Trump administration worked to help opposition leader Juan Guaido take power. The Venezuelan president, who usually travels to Cuba, a close ally, or to Caribbean countries, has avoided leaving his country after the reward was issued and his trip to Mexico is the first of an official nature since then. His participation at the summit was confirmed at the last minute, a few hours before the heads of state and government, foreign ministers and envoys of the 33 countries that make up the body are set to meet.

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The UN Security Council urged Somalia’s feuding government leaders on Saturday to resolve their disagreements through dialogue and give top priority to holding long-delayed national elections this year. The UN’s most powerful body also urged the federal government and regional states “to ensure that any political differences do not divert from united action against al-Shabab and other militant groups.” The press statement approved by all 15 council members followed emergency consultations Friday on Somalia’s worsening political crisis, which has raised regional and international concerns that elections could be threatened and the east Africa region could face further destabilization. The council meeting followed President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s statement Thursday saying he suspended Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble’s power to hire and fire officials, the latest action in their increasingly divisive relationship.