Evening Brief, Monday 10 August

Colombia shifted from shock to rescue after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck near San José del Palmar in Chocó, about 400km west of Bogotá, on Monday morning. Local officials confirmed at least 20 deaths, with 18 reported in Pereira and two in Manizales, while authorities in Cali said buildings had collapsed with people trapped inside. The quake shook Colombia, Ecuador and Panama, and Colombia's Civil Aviation Authority suspended flights at six airports while inspectors checked terminals and runways for damage.

President Abelardo de la Espriella took charge of the emergency response and ordered a Unified Command Post to coordinate agencies. Governors and mayors warned residents to expect aftershocks as crews assessed damage in Pereira, Quibdó, Manizales and other cities. The depth of the quake may have spared some areas worse shaking, but the early reports already showed collapsed homes, damaged public buildings and disrupted transport. Colombia knows this drill, painfully: a 1999 earthquake of lower magnitude killed more than 1,100 people. The next few hours will decide whether this remains a severe regional disaster or becomes a national test of building standards, rescue capacity and political competence.

Ukraine's general staff said its forces struck the TANECO refinery in Nizhnekamsk overnight, framing the raid as part of a campaign to reduce Russia's military potential. Officials in Tatarstan said 13 people died, including seven Uzbek citizens, after drones hit industrial and civilian sites and one drone struck a hostel. If confirmed, the toll would make the attack one of the deadliest Ukrainian strikes inside Russia since the full-scale invasion began. Russia's Defence Ministry said it neutralised 456 Ukrainian drones overnight across European Russia and Crimea, while Ukraine said Russia launched 126 drones at Ukraine during the same period.

Russia's Investigative Committee opened a terrorism case and said the sites housed civilians with no connection to military operations.

Kyiv has targeted Russian refineries more often in recent months, seeking to damage fuel supplies and war revenue. TANECO processed 17m tonnes of crude in 2024 and had already been hit earlier this summer, making it both an economic target and a symbol of how far Ukrainian drones can now reach. Russia meanwhile attacked Ukrainian areas, with artillery fire killing five civilians in Bugaivka in Kharkiv region and earlier strikes leaving tens of thousands without electricity in Odesa. The war is no longer just measuring territory on the front line; it is measuring how much pain each side can impose far from it.

Iran moved closer to a technical shipping-lanes deal with Oman but kept the Strait of Hormuz closed pending sweeping concessions from Washington. Tehran wants sanctions lifted, frozen assets released, war reparations paid, US forces withdrawn from the region and attacks on its allies ended. The strait normally carries roughly one-fifth of traded oil, and crude prices rose on Monday as the reopening stayed uncertain. Brent reached $84.79 and West Texas Intermediate hit $79.29, giving Donald Trump an economic problem as well as a strategic one.

Donald Trump has chosen pressure over fresh strikes for now, saying the United States is only partly negotiating with Iran while banking on inflation and economic distress to force movement.

The Gaza track also frayed. Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected Donald Trump's 15-point plan at a cabinet meeting, saying Israel would not withdraw until Hamas surrendered all weapons.

Privately, Axios reported that Benjamin Netanyahu told Jared Kushner he would give the plan a chance, a gap that looked tailored to Israeli election politics and far-right coalition pressure. Washington can tolerate theatre if the actors still hit their marks, but Hormuz and Gaza now show the same awkward fact: America's allies and adversaries both think Donald Trump wants an exit more than they do.

Typhoon Dolphin hit Zhejiang with winds near 150km/h, then weakened, but not before authorities moved more than one million people across eastern China. Wenzhou evacuated more than 900,000 residents, Shanghai moved more than 200,000 and Fujian relocated more than 150,000. Shanghai's Xujiahui station recorded 313mm of rain in 24 hours, the highest value in roughly 150 years of records, while more than 3,000 flights were cancelled across the city's two airports over two days.

Europe suffered the opposite problem. Copernicus reported western Europe's warmest June-July period on record, with a two-month average of 21.62C, while July soil moisture fell below levels seen during the major drought of 2022. Four heatwaves since May dried soils, lowered river flows and fuelled large fires in France and Spain.

The economic strain has moved from farms and forests to infrastructure. The Rhine gauge at Kaub fell to 24cm, with shipping groups warning that the river could split into navigable and unnavigable sections. Hungary began reconnecting a turbine at Paks after the Danube rose 19cm from a record low, while Romania prepared for more trouble at Cernavodă as cooling-water levels fell again. Weather used to be the background condition for transport and power; now it increasingly writes the timetable itself(3f873-4997-b9d4-83ec2e781663).

Spain's Ceuta crisis kept spreading through politics and security. Spanish authorities have confirmed 83 deaths after the July 30 mass crossing, while a Moroccan rights group reported 59 more bodies recovered on the Moroccan side, lifting the overall toll cited by campaigners to 142. The military command in Ceuta cancelled leave from August 13 amid online calls for another mass entry attempt on August 15, and soldiers were ordered back as more than 1,300 unaccompanied minors remained in the enclave.

The border dispute also hit the Schengen system. Italy suspended free movement arrangements with Spain first, citing migration risks, and Spain retaliated with checks on arrivals from Italy through September 7. On the first day Spain checked 199 people on 12 flights and denied entry to ten. Antonio Tajani called Madrid's response unacceptable and argued that Italy faced the bigger risk.

Britain and France faced a different version of the same pressure. French rescuers counted 230 people, including more than 20 children, on a single boat crossing the Channel, breaking the previous record of 165 set in July.

Giorgia Meloni and Mette Frederiksen meanwhile urged tougher EU action, including more deportations and repatriation centres outside Europe. Europe is not short of border controls; it is short of trust that shared rules will survive the next crowd at the fence or the next boat at sea.