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officials dissent as inflation debate sharpensUS adds dozens of Chinese firms to forced-labour blacklistUS and China prepare ground for Xi's Washington visitSolar set to pass coal in China as nuclear projects clearHackers hit US water utilities in wave of attacksMethane blast kills at least 34 miners in PakistanSouth Korea asks US for uranium enrichment rightsEU to make AI labels compulsory as Google pulls Earth toolUkraine presses on with drone and robot warfare amid turmoilUS economy grew 1.5 percent in second quarterGerman unemployment climbs above three millionTaiwan's economy grows nearly 13 percent on AI demandPoland protests to Russian ambassador over missile incursionFIFA scraps World Cup investment plan after backlashJapan opens intelligence bureau as Beijing and Pyongyang objectCongress may block Russia sanctions bill as Medvedev dismisses threatsUS and Israel weigh strikes on Iran's power grid and a land blockadeHamas confirms Gaza disarmament deal as sequence stays disputedCongo's Ebola outbreak becomes second-largest on recordIran declares Hormuz closed after striking escorted tankersOil climbs as US-Iran fighting disrupts Hormuz tanker trafficNearly all migrants return to Morocco after mass crossing into CeutaVenezuela state puts number missing after earthquake at 1,338Russian ballistic missiles kill at least nine in KyivOpenAI cuts GPT prices by up to 80% as Chinese labs release new modelsKumamoto quake toll rises to 35 as search of wrecked mall continuesAmazon completes $50bn investment in OpenAIUS Treasury joins Japan in buying yenTrump threatens harder strikes as US envoys keep talking to IranBig Tech earnings split investors over AI spendingItaly moves to suspend Schengen travel with Spain over Ceuta arrivalsUkrainian drones hit Volgograd refinery and Wildberries warehousesSaudi Arabia plans Red Sea naval coalition as Houthis tighten blockadeRussia claims 32 captured settlements as Zelensky warns of difficult frontWildfires ease in France and Spain after mass evacuationsTrump casts doubt on letting Ukraine build Patriot missilesIran says it attacked US forces in Kuwait with dronesNATO said to weigh wider nuclear deterrence in EuropeAI hedge fund collapses in tech stock routAnthropic says Claude models broke into three companies during testsUN warns strengthening El Niño will intensify global heatUkrainian strike on Iranian ship raises fear of converging warsChina's factories and construction slumpPentagon seeks $18.2 billion for interceptors after Iran warChina rejects Philippine baselines at Scarborough Shoal and stages drillsFunding cuts block access to long-acting HIV prevention drugPakistani forces kill dozens in Kashmir crackdownChina acknowledges nuclear missile silo build-outXi orders faster military adoption of drones and AIIsraeli strikes continue in Gaza after Hamas disarmament pledgeFed officials dissent as inflation debate sharpensUS adds dozens of Chinese firms to forced-labour blacklistUS and China prepare ground for Xi's Washington visitSolar set to pass coal in China as nuclear projects clearHackers hit US water utilities in wave of attacksMethane blast kills at least 34 miners in PakistanSouth Korea asks US for uranium enrichment rightsEU to make AI labels compulsory as Google pulls Earth toolUkraine presses on with drone and robot warfare amid turmoilUS economy grew 1.5 percent in second quarterGerman unemployment climbs above three millionTaiwan's economy grows nearly 13 percent on AI demandPoland protests to Russian ambassador over missile incursionFIFA scraps World Cup investment plan after backlashJapan opens intelligence bureau as Beijing and Pyongyang objectCongress may block Russia sanctions bill as Medvedev dismisses threats
Bota
Symbolic image: Nearly all migrants return to Morocco after mass crossing into CeutaSymbolic image

Nearly all migrants return to Morocco after mass crossing into Ceuta

13 sources

Tens of thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain's Ceuta enclave on Thursday, most of them swimming. By Friday evening Spain's interior ministry said more than 48,300 had gone back voluntarily.

What happened

  • Madrid counted about 50,000 arrivals from Thursday morning, 30 July; Ceuta's regional government said 60,000. The figures could not be independently verified.
  • Spain's Supreme Court had barred summary returns of migrants intercepted at sea off Ceuta and Melilla.
  • Spain mobilised the army on Thursday evening; police and soldiers stopped dozens more swimmers landing a day later.
  • Rescuers recovered 57 bodies by Friday evening according to press reports; Sánchez spoke of at least 34 drowned.
  • 89 migrants have died heading for Ceuta this year, against 46 in the whole previous year.

The view from outside

Kosovo's Koha reports that Italy temporarily suspended Schengen rules towards Spain and that 300 to 400 further irregular crossings were counted overnight at Melilla. FAZ's commentary reads the influx as evidence of pull factors, noting the EU classes Morocco as a safe country of origin.

What could happen next

  • The EU's Irish presidency convened a crisis-response meeting for Saturday; EU ambassadors are to meet in Brussels on Monday.
  • Sánchez announced a temporary reception centre for registration and expedited expulsions, plus a line of buoys marking the border at Tarajal beach.
  • Whether Morocco loosened its controls stays open; Handelsblatt raises the question, and no Moroccan statement appears in the reporting.
How the camps see it

  • Spain: Sánchez calls the crossing a violation of Spain's territorial integrity and blames human-trafficking networks that exploited the court ruling.

  • Morocco: No public position from Rabat appears in the available reporting; Moroccan territory took back the returning migrants within a day.

Also involved

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