Hormuz reopening talks advance as strait stays closed EU ministers back Spain's Ceuta response as death toll rises Ebola deaths in DR Congo pass 1,600 as WHO calls response overstretched Hegseth denies munitions shortage after reports of depleted US missile stocks Mediators rebuke Israel after one of Gaza's deadliest days since the truce Ukrainian drones kill five near Moscow as Wildberries warehouses burn US says yen intervention aimed at containing Asian currency risks White House AI security review to exempt open-weight models UN warns of surging Afghan hunger as food aid funding falls short Houthis strike Saudi airport as Indian ship sinks off Yemen Russian strikes kill four in Sumy and Mykolaiv Italy suspends free movement from Spain as EU ministers back Madrid Record low rivers force more reactors offline across Europe North Korea vows military response after Japan's defence white paper Anthropic model sent phishing emails on its own in safety test US AI figures call Chinese open-weight models safer as price gap widens Jordan questions US security alliance as Iranian attacks increase Netanyahu rules out Gaza withdrawal until Hamas disarms Stocks hit record as US signals Hormuz deal is close Oil majors post windfall profits as Iran war lifts prices US drafts ban on Chinese datacentre components Taiwan opens war games with first blockade scenario China's weather agency forecasts Super El Nino Anthropic signs $10bn computing deal with cloud startup Officials suspect Iran behind attacks on US water utilities Russian envoy rules out evacuation after Cuban blackouts Man arrested over largest Spokane wildfire Russian insurers drop war cover after Black Sea ship attacks Floods and landslides kill at least 21 in India and Sri Lanka SpaceX revenue jumps 92% in first results since listing Gaza families bury 112 recovered from 2023 strike rubble Lebanon and Israel resume direct talks in Rome 25 states sue Trump administration over new tariffs Slowing growth weighs on Beijing's strong-yuan ambitions EU seeks to drop Palantir as NATO confirms its use Finland licenses world's first deep store for spent nuclear fuel Kashmir protests challenge Islamabad's authority US revokes visa of Brazil's ambassador in Washington Commission holds to permanent ban on Russian oil Fed chair Warsh pressed over mixed inflation signals House panel says data centres exposed US carriers to China hack Thousands of sailors stranded as blockade grips Strait of Hormuz Syria's Al Shara meets Kurdish commander Abdi Russia claims capture of Kharkiv region village Ukraine's farm sector faces $3bn hit from port closures Pilots' strike halts Argentina's grain exports 'Terror-free Türkiye' bill circulates in parliament Judge sets March trial for Paramount-Warner deal World Bank sees narrow AI window for poorer economies Russia expands shadow fleet of LNG tankers before supply ban Hormuz reopening talks advance as strait stays closed EU ministers back Spain's Ceuta response as death toll rises Ebola deaths in DR Congo pass 1,600 as WHO calls response overstretched Hegseth denies munitions shortage after reports of depleted US missile stocks Mediators rebuke Israel after one of Gaza's deadliest days since the truce Ukrainian drones kill five near Moscow as Wildberries warehouses burn US says yen intervention aimed at containing Asian currency risks White House AI security review to exempt open-weight models UN warns of surging Afghan hunger as food aid funding falls short Houthis strike Saudi airport as Indian ship sinks off Yemen Russian strikes kill four in Sumy and Mykolaiv Italy suspends free movement from Spain as EU ministers back Madrid Record low rivers force more reactors offline across Europe North Korea vows military response after Japan's defence white paper Anthropic model sent phishing emails on its own in safety test US AI figures call Chinese open-weight models safer as price gap widens Jordan questions US security alliance as Iranian attacks increase Netanyahu rules out Gaza withdrawal until Hamas disarms Stocks hit record as US signals Hormuz deal is close Oil majors post windfall profits as Iran war lifts prices US drafts ban on Chinese datacentre components Taiwan opens war games with first blockade scenario China's weather agency forecasts Super El Nino Anthropic signs $10bn computing deal with cloud startup Officials suspect Iran behind attacks on US water utilities Russian envoy rules out evacuation after Cuban blackouts Man arrested over largest Spokane wildfire Russian insurers drop war cover after Black Sea ship attacks Floods and landslides kill at least 21 in India and Sri Lanka SpaceX revenue jumps 92% in first results since listing Gaza families bury 112 recovered from 2023 strike rubble Lebanon and Israel resume direct talks in Rome 25 states sue Trump administration over new tariffs Slowing growth weighs on Beijing's strong-yuan ambitions EU seeks to drop Palantir as NATO confirms its use Finland licenses world's first deep store for spent nuclear fuel Kashmir protests challenge Islamabad's authority US revokes visa of Brazil's ambassador in Washington Commission holds to permanent ban on Russian oil Fed chair Warsh pressed over mixed inflation signals House panel says data centres exposed US carriers to China hack Thousands of sailors stranded as blockade grips Strait of Hormuz Syria's Al Shara meets Kurdish commander Abdi Russia claims capture of Kharkiv region village Ukraine's farm sector faces $3bn hit from port closures Pilots' strike halts Argentina's grain exports 'Terror-free Türkiye' bill circulates in parliament Judge sets March trial for Paramount-Warner deal World Bank sees narrow AI window for poorer economies Russia expands shadow fleet of LNG tankers before supply ban

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

Symbolic 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