Morning Brief, Sunday 2 August

Spain moved from emergency response to political containment after roughly 60,000 people crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, a Spanish city of about 85,000, and at least 67 died in the attempt. Authorities said almost all arrivals had returned to Morocco by Saturday, with the Interior Ministry putting returns at about 48,300, while Guardia Civil officers began installing a 500-metre floating barrier at the Tarajal breakwater.

The crisis then travelled to Brussels. Italy suspended Schengen arrangements with Spain for one month, while 22 EU countries backed an urgent interior-ministers' videoconference. Pedro Sánchez accused some partners of selfish and illegal reactions, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Spanish and Moroccan enforcement and said no one had reached mainland Spain or the rest of the EU.

King Felipe VI broke his silence from Palma de Mallorca and urged the state to protect Ceuta and Melilla.

The immediate flow has slowed, but the politics have not. Ceuta has turned a local border breach into a test of whether European solidarity still works when the border in question belongs to someone else.

Russia launched 35 missiles and 185 attack drones at Ukraine overnight, and Ukrainian officials said air defences destroyed or suppressed 156 of 220 incoming targets. Kyiv took the heaviest blow: nine people died, more than 30 were wounded, and the Lithuanian embassy suffered minor damage. Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine intercepted only one of 27 incoming ballistic missiles, then pressed allies for Patriot systems and interceptor missiles.

Russia's defence ministry said it targeted military-industrial and logistics facilities around Kyiv. Ukraine and Russia also reported strikes in the other direction, with Russia saying it intercepted 274 Ukrainian drones across 17 regions, and Ukrainian forces saying they sank the sanctioned Russian container ship Janina in the Black Sea. Rosatom said the vessel carried civilian goods, while Ukraine described it as a Russian target under sanctions.

Moscow then faced a separate shock when an improvised explosive device detonated at the entrance to the Balzi Rossi restaurant, killing three people and injuring at least 21. Russian investigators opened a terrorism case, but no group claimed responsibility and officials disclosed no motive. The lack of a claim makes the blast politically useful to many sides, and clarifying who was targeted may matter as much as finding who carried the device.

In the Gulf, Donald Trump said he cancelled planned strikes on Iran, conditional on a rapid deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the nuclear threat. Kuwait said it intercepted drone threats and reported damage to a government facility, while a tanker near Oman was hit by an unidentified projectile. These are three fronts, not one crisis, but together they show a world where deterrence now often arrives after the explosion.

Hungary prepared to shut the Paks nuclear plant completely for the first time since it began operating in 1982, after the Danube fell to record lows. Paks normally supplies nearly half of Hungary's electricity from four Russian-made reactors, but output had already been cut from a 2,000-megawatt combined capacity to 965 megawatts on Friday and then to 240 megawatts overnight. The Paks gauge stood at minus 124 centimetres, below the 2018 historic minimum of minus 98 centimetres, with forecasts pointing lower.

Peter Magyar's government authorised grid operator MAVIR to order mandatory cuts from large industrial users and to disconnect them temporarily if needed. The government also halted rail cargo during evening peak hours, ordered public-sector remote work for three days, loosened rules for household solar feed-in, and asked cities to dim non-essential lighting.

The cost may bite quickly. Mark Radnai of the Tisza Party estimated extra import costs at 100 billion to 200 billion forints, while Slovakia offered help and Romania's Cernavodă plant had already shut one unit in late July because of similar river stress. Serbia warned that the Danube could break a century-old low-water record.

This is not simply a Hungarian power story. A river built into Europe's energy, transport and industrial systems has become a climate constraint, and governments now must treat water levels as part of grid security.

Italy's fourth heatwave pushed the health ministry toward red alerts in 25 of 27 monitored cities by Monday, up from 11 on July 31. Forecasts put Terni at 41°C and several northern cities near 40°C, while warm seas above 28°C helped keep nights hot and humid. Rome's mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, demanded a national heat strategy and said municipalities were being left to improvise shelters, shade and cooling.

Greece fought 51 forest and agricultural fires in 24 hours as winds near 80 km/h drove flames near Athens. Authorities evacuated part of Chaïdari, moved 16 patients from the Dafni psychiatric hospital, and earlier moved around 8,000 people from the Rethymno area of Crete, where two firefighters died. Firefighters also stopped a blaze from reaching Mycenae, a reminder that the fire line in southern Europe now cuts through suburbs, hospitals and archaeology alike.

France reported progress, but not relief. The Saumos fire in Gironde was brought under control after burning 42,000 hectares, the country's largest wildfire since 1949, and 208,000 evacuees were authorised to return. Yet a fresh flare-up in the Var burned 1,800 hectares on Saturday and kept 1,500 firefighters on the line, supported by aircraft and helicopters (3f4fa7fd4d531cf).

Donald Trump's media company launched Truth API, a paid feed that gives subscribers early access to Truth Social posts, including the president's. The top price is $100,000 a month, or $60,000 a month for firms committing for three years, and the company said at least five firms had signed up at the higher rate. The target market is obvious: traders and financial-media users who value milliseconds when a presidential post can move currencies, tariffs or war risk.

Critics see more than sharp marketing. Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff asked the SEC to investigate possible insider trading and abuse of office, while Republican senators including Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski also objected.

Trump also escalated a separate fight over Todd Blanche, his former criminal lawyer and acting attorney general. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn are withholding support unless Blanche promises not to revive a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization compensation fund, which critics say could become a taxpayer payout for Trump allies. Trump threatened to keep Blanche in place and push the fund back through Congress if the senators refuse.

Markets run on equal access and justice departments run on independence. Trump has now put both principles into transaction form, which is neat in the way a loaded mousetrap is neat.

A sightseeing flight bound for the Nazca Lines crashed near Nazca city after taking off from Pisco, killing all 13 people on board. Peru's transport ministry said the dead included seven Italians, two Germans, two Spaniards and two Peruvian crew members. The Cessna 208 Caravan reported an emergency to the Nazca control tower before contact was lost, then caught fire on impact, leaving rescuers no chance to save anyone.

The crash will sharpen scrutiny of a profitable but fragile tourism trade. The Nazca Lines draw roughly 100,000 visitors a year, many of them in small aircraft, and the route has a history of fatal accidents in 2010 and 2022. President Keiko Fujimori said her government was considering whether to close Pisco airport, while aviation investigators began examining the cause.

Italy faced a different kind of hazard after a magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the Phlegraean Fields west of Naples, injuring at least 26 people and displacing about 300. Pozzuoli declared three streets unsafe and nine buildings uninhabitable, while residents slept outdoors or in cars as aftershocks continued through the night. The area sits above Europe's largest active supervolcano, and civil-protection officials kept the alert at yellow.

Neither disaster was unprecedented, which is exactly the point. Familiar risks become political tests when people discover that normal life was sitting on a thin inspection sheet.