After numerous undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea, tech giant Microsoft, which has been criticized for its connections to Israel as its ongoing conflict with Gaza, reported Internet disruptions in the Middle East and South Asia, according to a statement released.
What caused the cuts, according to the statement from Sunday, was not provided in more detail.
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Microsoft stated in a status update that “network traffic passing through the Middle East may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea.” The global software tycoon claimed that the cuts did not affect its second-largest cloud computing service, Azure, which is the second-largest in the world after Amazon. However, it added that network traffic was unaffected.
“Network traffic that travels through the Middle East is not affected.” If circumstances change, we’ll continue to provide updates daily or sooner.
Microsoft stated that the disruptions started on September 6 at 05:45 GMT.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and India all reported “degraded” internet connectivity, which the internet connectivity watchdog NetBlocks said “degraded” the access to slow speeds and sporadic interruptions.
According to NetBlocks, the connectivity issues were brought on by IMEWE and SMW4 cable failures close to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
One of the nation’s largest telecoms providers, Pakistan Telecommunications, warned customers on X that the nation “may experience some degradation during peak hours,” adding that its international partners were working to address the issue.
The internet’s backbone is made up of underground cables that transmit global data traffic. A crucial hub connecting Asia and Europe is the Middle East. They are susceptible to anchor damage from ships, but they can also be targeted in attacks that can disrupt them for a long period of time.
Yemen’s internationally renowned government-in-exile claimed in early 2024 that the Houthis planned to attack Red Sea cables. The Houthis denied being responsible for the cuts to several of them.
The Houthis’ Al Masirah TV channel, Al Masirah TV, cited NetBlocks as evidence on Sunday morning.
According to an investigation conducted by The Guardian, + 972 Magazine, and Local Call, Microsoft’s Azure has been storing information for the Israeli military, including intercepted Palestinian phone calls in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Microsoft has opened an investigation in August after discovering that Unit 8200, Israel’s cyber-intelligence division, was using its cloud services to access information obtained through widespread surveillance.
Watch the moment Hind Rajab’s film “The Voice of Hind Rajab” won the Venice Film Festival’s Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize. It is one of the highest distinctions. At its Wednesday premiere, the docudrama received a standing ovation for its 23-minute film about a five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed during Israel’s ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Watch as Israeli forces bomb Gaza City’s al-Soussi Tower, a tall residential building, one day after razing the city’s highest tower block. In order to seize the city and forcefully dispense around one million Palestinians, Israel is launching more strikes.
Following ten months of sustained protests against right-wing populist President Aleksandar Vucic, a Pride march in central Belgrade drew condemnation for police brutality against antigovernment demonstrators in Serbia.
The event, which took place on Saturday without incident, also provided support for the university students who are spearheading nationwide demands for immediate elections, a stance Vucic continues to refute.
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The Pride march organizers cited police brutality and the arrest of protesters as examples of “we cannot close our eyes” at what is happening in their country.
They continued, noting that this year’s Pride march was itself a protest, that “Pride won’t take part in bringing about a sense of normalcy.”
Participants held banners, including one that read “Gays against police state” at the gathering in the city’s center!
In Novi Sad, the student-led student protest movement started in November when 16 people died as a result of a roof collapse at a train station.
Demonstrators have attributed the tragedy to corrupt practices, with their initial demands for a fair investigation eventually turning into demands for new elections.
National demonstrations started off peacefully for the first nine months, but violent clashes started to break out in mid-August. Difficulty civilians and police officers have been injured in the country since then.
In Novi Sad, thousands of protesters marched toward the city’s university campus late on Friday for speeches before taking to the streets.
Students accused police of starting “brutal attacks on their own citizens” by using tear gas and stun grenades to disrupt the march.
Ivica Dacic, the interior minister, reported to the state-run RTS on Saturday that 42 of the demonstrators had been detained and that 13 police officers had been hurt in a “massive and brutal attack.”
Vucic claimed that protesters were attempting to “threaten the stability and security of Serbia” and “occupy the university premises in Novi Sad” when they spoke about the incident on Friday.
After a vote that gave his party the authority to manage the South American nation’s newly discovered oil riches amid a territorial dispute with Venezuela, President of Guyana Irfaan Ali was re-elected for a second term, according to the electoral body.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the general election on September 1st, according to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), securing 55% of the 65-seat parliament.
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Since ExxonMobil started pumping offshore oil in late 2019, Guyana is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, where the nation of 800, 000 people has a $7.5 billion windfall from oil sales and royalties since Ali’s re-election.
Ali’s administration, which became in office in 2020, has funded the construction of roads, hospitals, and schools, as well as providing free tuition for students at state universities. He now faces diplomatic difficulties as he navigates Venezuela’s territorial dispute.
On Wednesday, Ali already claimed victory in the elections.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wrote on X, said he is looking forward to strengthening India-Guyana ties, was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Ali for his victory.
Ali told X on Saturday that he looked forward to working with Modi and India to “prolong our already strong and cordial relations.”
The British Embassy praised Ali and Guyana “for a successful and peaceful election” in a statement on X.
Ali, a 45-year-old center-left leader, also has the pressure of making sure that the people of Guyana, where the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is soars, receive the benefits of its vast oil wealth. More than half of the population still lives in poverty despite the country’s exploding GDP.
With 24.8% of the vote, Ali’s main rival, multi-millionaire Azruddin Mohamed, whose party’s newly formed We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, came in second place with its main rival.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which accounts for the majority of the country’s Afro-Guyanese population, came in third place with 17.7%.
At a time when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims sovereignty over the oil-rich Essequibo region and appointed authorities for that region in contentious elections held in May, Ali, whose party enjoys a large majority of its support from the Indo-Guyanese community, will serve for a second five-year term.
The United States supports Ali, which is also causing tensions with Venezuela as a result of the Caribbean’s deployment of warships for anti-drug operations.
In the event that his country is attacked by US forces, Maduro has recently stated that the US military construction in the Caribbean is intended to “declare a republic in arms.”
The Essequibo region dispute dates back to at least the Despite being foretold for a long time, it grew even more tenacious in 2015 as a result of the discovery of significant oil resources.
Guyana currently has the largest oil reserves per person in the world, with a projected one million barrels of oil per day production by 2030, up from the current 650,000.
With a 43.6% increase in global economic growth in 2024, the state budget has quadrupled in five years, leading to a $6.7 billion state budget in 2025.
Bernie Sanders, a Vermont senator, has been conducting town hall tours throughout the country to engage progressive voters nationwide.
He and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani shared the message at a joint town hall on Saturday evening with Brooklyn College, his alma mater.
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In a race that has garnered 1,700 signatures, Mamdani, a long-standing progressive politician, was sat next to him in front of the crowd, which is now gaining national attention as progressives see him and candidates like him as a way to energize their movement and contribute to the right’s ire and concerted attacks, including from President Donald Trump.
Mamdani told the crowded auditorium, “Politics can be powered by ordinary people.”
The Sanders’s tour, which has already reached 21 states and more than 300,000 people, highlighted the progressive assembly member’s increasingly hostile rhetoric and the rising national spotlight on New York’s mayoral race.
Trump incorrectly described Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, as “a communist,” on Friday.
More moderate Democrats and Republicans have long criticized Mamdani’s policies, calling them unrealistic and extreme, especially in contrast to Al Jazeera’s analysis, for their approach to economic issues.
However, the growing income gap and the consolidation of wealth in fewer hands were the main points of contention among supporters.
Sanders focused on pressing issues across the country, drawing sharp criticism from billionaire owners of major media companies, including David Ellison, the current CEO of CBS News, who Sanders alleges is not being sufficiently critical of the White House under their new ownership.
A lawsuit alleging that Kamala Harris’ interview with the network, which recently merged with Skydance Media, was revoked paid $ 16 million. In response to complaints from the Trump administration, CBS also announced earlier this week that it would no longer edit interviews for its Sunday political program Face the Nation.
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, was also targeted by Sanders. The richest man in the world received a $1 trillion compensation package from Tesla’s shareholders on Friday.
Sanders claimed that “we are living in a crazy world.”
Millions of people are putting food on the table, and Tesla shareholders are making one man a trillionaire.
Mamdani focused his attention on major corporations, including DoorDash, which attempted to defeat him twice in town hall by calling out $ 1 million in efforts to win him.
According to Mamdani, “New York City is not for sale.”
Mamdani has been speaking out about those concerns despite the negative feedback from the larger business community. Mamdani met with business leaders from across New York in July to discuss his controversial policies, which Business Partnership for New York City described as “productive.”
Despite this, Mamdani and Sanders’ campaign’s main point was a sentiment outside the business community, issues that were of interest to working- and middle-class supporters.
In the upcoming US mayoral elections on September 6, 2025, Mamdani and Sanders claim their movement is a part of a national shift for progressives.
Locals at the town hall brought up child care, which can cost up to 25% of household income, according to the New York City Council.
A working mother in the audience claimed to spend $36, 000 on child care annually.
In response to a teacher who inquired about his childcare plan, Mamdani said, “We have to feel the depth of the statistics we have become numb to.”
Mamdani has suggested providing free childcare for children between the ages of six weeks and five years.
Trump’s preferred weight on the scale
According to all major polls, with the exception of one from the left-leaning Manhattan Institute, his efforts come amid concerns that the Trump administration may be attempting to meddle in the election for mayor of New York after allegedly offering support to incumbent incumbent Eric Adams, who is currently in fourth place, in a race that he leads by double digits over Mamdani. Following Adams is republican Curtis Sliwa.
Adams is reportedly being considered for a position in the Trump administration. According to four people with knowledge of the situation, Trump may consider appointing him as Saudi Arabia’s ambassador, according to The New York Times. Trump refuted reports that he was considering hiring Adams for the role on Friday.
Adams has denied having discussions with the Trump administration in order to be considered for a position in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which comes days after that statement.
In response to a separate report from the New York Times that suggested the controversy embroiling the mayor might have to be considered for suspending his re-election bid, Adams assured reporters on Friday that he would not withdraw from the race.
Adams’ campaign campaign representatives did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Cuomo also criticized the president’s alleged involvement in the election.
Cuomo told reporters on Friday, “I don’t want him to be involved in anything that has to do with my race.”
Cuomo, who is in second place, still thinks that voters would be drawn to his campaign if Adams or another Republican, Curtis Sliwa, who is also in the lead, dropped out.
Mamdani still leads the polls by a large margin, but he hasn’t managed to surpass 50 percent.
Al Jazeera’s request for comment was not received by Cuomo’s campaign.
Mamdani also criticized Trump’s participation in the election.
According to Mamdani, “we will elect our own mayor in this city.”
Mamdani also criticised Pershing Square’s CEO, Bill Ackman, for posting on X that Mayor Adams should step down from the race. Ackman also promised to support a more “centrist” candidate when Mamdani won the Democratic nomination.
a national push
As the nation’s largest city and a global hub for finance and media, New York’s mayoral race has attracted a lot of attention, but it is not the only place progressives are gaining ground. Left-leaning candidates are facing increasingly difficult problems in US cities, both large and small, frequently resulting from rising housing costs, income inequality, and worker protections.
Sanders argued that the progressive wave has momentum, which is why Mamdani’s surge and the White House’s backlash are.
Sanders told the supporters, “What they are afraid of is Mamdani becoming an example of what could happen anywhere in the US.”
Progressive Democrat Omar Fateh, a state senator from Minneapolis, is vying for mayor against Jacob Frey. His campaign emphasizes affordable housing and better worker protections, which is a theme that Mamdani in New York raised.
Alex Uballaz is running for president in Albuquerque, New Mexico, promising more transitional housing for those who struggle with addiction.
With a platform that emphasizes the rising costs of housing, homelessness, and support for small businesses, Seattle, Washington Mayor Bruce Harrell is running for mayor.
However, there are obstacles to the movement, including at the federal level. Mayor Brandon Johnson and Trump have clashed in Chicago, and both have demanded federal assistance to stop violent crime. Despite declining crime rates, Trump has described the city as a “killing field.” In comparison to the same time period in the year before, Chicago’s murder rate for the first half of 2025 was 33 percent lower.
Mamdani remarked that if Trump does the same thing in New York, the city must be prepared.
“We need to get ready for that deployment,” he said. We can’t persuade ourselves that Donald Trump won’t do something because it’s against the law,” Mamdani said.
He emphasized the need for coordination with state officials, citing California as an example: there, Governor Gavin Newsom, the state attorney general, and the mayor of Los Angeles successfully challenged a national guard deployment in court, which was declared unlawful.
However, he would not be the first one if Trump decided to institute a guard under the pretext of combating crime. Even though crime in New York’s subway system has already been steadily declining, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul deployed the national guard to patrol the city’s system just last year.
