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disputedHormuz tanker fires continue as IMO says attack count is understatedEbola deaths pass 5,300 as Congo's fatality rate tops 50%Oil hits two-week low on Iran talks as Gulf growth and Europe's gas buffers strainHouthis reported near Aden as fighting spreads to al-Jawf and Saudi airportsSpain train crash toll holds at 69 as investigators cite chain of faults and polls turn against SánchezMarvell agrees $115bn all-stock takeover of LumentumNewborn among 15 killed as Myanmar military strikes maternity clinic and schoolAnthropic discloses revenue surge and $895bn commitments ahead of IPOSupermarket freezers overheated across Europe weeks after French attackBank of England and RBA expected to hike as ECB and BOJ signal tighteningAt least 19 dead in Venezuelan army attack on Colombian rebel campIndia evacuates thousands ahead of second cyclone in a weekFrench school protests resume on smaller scale as German unions launch strikesEisenkot gains backing as Netanyahu questions Israeli election resultIsrael ends 10-day Hebron siege as UN logs record settler attacksOracle and Alphabet tap bond markets as AI selloff easesTrump administration asks Supreme Court to block 20,000 California mail ballotsTigray fighting pushes Ethiopia's health system toward collapse as Sudan complains to UN about dronesNine dead after Learjet crash in Palm Beach, FloridaChina steps up Gulf diplomacy as Xi hosts Oman's sultan and Wang Yi meets Iranian officialPoland's Constitutional Tribunal clash deepens as EU Commission backs parliament's right to appoint judgesBinance customers withdraw billions after record hack linked to North KoreaUS pushes Russian gas deliveries to Europe, Kremlin says transit not possible nowUN envoy expects Sudan transition talks with RSF within weeksBelgian PM De Wever offers resignation after budget talks failChina launches $15bn swap facility to support stocks after sell-offJapan weighs near-doubling of defence spending over five yearsIotova wins Bulgarian presidential runoffHackers send false nuclear warnings through Russian and Ukrainian alert appsSouth Korean sergeant dies at frontline unit as North Korea vows faster nuclear buildupOpenAI signs deals with ADNOC, G42 and Abu Dhabi as Altman travels to UAEIsraeli strikes kill at least three in Gaza despite ceasefireWestern Sahara refugees face uncertain future as UN mission MINURSO endsBolivia declares drought emergency as super El Niño hits Peru's fisheriesBangladesh garment workers block highway as wage protests enter third dayTrump removes South Africa from AGOA trade programme
Bota
Symbolic image: EU ministers back Spain's Ceuta response as death toll risesSymbolic image

EU ministers back Spain's Ceuta response as death toll rises

7 sources

EU interior ministers held emergency talks on Tuesday over last week's mass crossing into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta. A Spanish forensic commission has put the death toll at 77.

What happened

  • Some 72,000 people crossed from Morocco into Ceuta on Thursday, 30 July and the following day, Spain's interior ministry says.
  • Posts on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook presented a Spanish Supreme Court ruling on sea arrivals as an opening of the border.
  • About 70,000 have gone back to Morocco; the EU Council says nobody moved on to mainland Spain or other member states.
  • Forensic experts recovered 79 bodies off Ceuta, two of them before the surge; Morocco's interior ministry reported 11 deaths on its side.
  • Shops in Ceuta, population about 84,000, closed for days; Spanish authorities took charge of 862 unaccompanied minors.

The view from outside

Al Jazeera sets the crossing against Morocco's sovereignty claim over Ceuta and Melilla and the 2021 surge that followed Spain's decision to treat the Polisario Front's leader. The Jerusalem Post reports social media claims blaming Israel and the US for the crisis, which the US ambassador to Israel dismissed as nonsense.

What could happen next

  • Death counts diverge: Ceuta authorities said 88 on Monday, the Moroccan group AMDH cites close to 130 victims plus dozens missing.
  • Spain says it is still resolving the status of those remaining; people without a right to stay face return to Morocco.
  • Italy has reintroduced air and sea checks with Spain for one month; the EU migration commissioner criticised Madrid's regularisation plan.
  • FAZ reports that calls circulating online name 15 August as the date for a further mass crossing.
How the camps see it

  • Spain: Madrid calls its response immediate and efficient, insists Schengen was in no way compromised and says critics act out of prejudice, fake news and political interest.

  • Morocco: Rabat counts 40,000 migrants and 11 deaths, accuses Madrid of not warning it about the predictable effects of the court ruling, and asks the EU not to handicap its development.

Also involved

Italy and DenmarkEuropean Commission

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