Dozens die in Ceuta border rush

Reuters Weekend Briefing <dailybriefing@thomsonreuters.com>
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2026-08-01 13:01

Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Welcome to the last weekend briefing of July, and let’s hope for a slower August. Wildfires are burning across Greece, and this summer’s fires in France threaten the future of the nearly century-old egalitarian tradition of “le camping.” City Memo takes us to the less fiery climes of São Paulo and I take us around the world in the rest of this newsletter.

Dozens of migrants die in Ceuta border rush

REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Morocco and Spain: Spain installed a floating barrier off its border with Morocco after 50,000 people swam or rushed into the enclave of Ceuta on northern Africa’s Mediterranean cost. At least 67 people drowned or were crushed while climbing the breakwater that holds the border fence. Most of the survivors returned to Morocco after finding no food or shelter. Italy suspended its border-free arrangements with Spain as European leaders worry about an influx of migrants. Learn more about what fueled the surge.
Immigration and deportation: A Guatemalan man deported from the U.S. and his wife who followed him were found murdered in a sugarcane field in their home country. Their baby was found alive beside them. ICE said a U.S. lawyer faked records in dozens of asylum cases. An independent monitor found that ICE did not provide adequate medical care at its largest California facility.

You go first

Gaza: Hamas said Israel must implement President Trump’s deal to bring peace to Gaza before it does so. Trump said the deal would include Hamas’ disarmament, a word that a Hamas official avoided using. The president also said the two sides reached an agreement, but that’s not how they’re characterizing it.
New party: A Jewish-Arab political party is courting young voters before October elections in Israel. Critics say it risks weakening Israel’s already under-represented Arab minority. Support for Israel among U.S. Democratic voters is plummeting.

Seaside holiday with a side order of missile threats

Summertime in Russia: Beachgoers are getting their fill of sunshine and sandcastles, but the Ukraine war ensures that it’s not a normal season along the Black Sea coast. Air-raid sirens and mobile alerts to possible missile strikes are hurting the tourism business and changing how Russians plan their vacations.
The way I see it: Ukraine’s ex-defense minister has a view on why Volodymyr Zelenskiy booted him on short notice. Mykhailo Fedorov told Ukrainska Pravda that he was trying to overhaul the military’s procurement system, and this made him plenty of enemies. Thousands of Ukrainians protested in the streets of Kyiv over his ouster.

OpenAI discovers more rogue agents

Escape: One of OpenAI’s agents escaped a controlled testing environment earlier this month and hacked into a tech firm called Hugging Face. Sources say the company d/iscovered during its investigation that other breakouts have occurred.
China’s best defense: Beijing’s military researchers used outputs from top AI intelligence models developed by OpenAI and Anthropic to train their systems to advance China’s defense capabilities. This is happening despite Washington’s efforts to restrict China’s access to advanced chips and other technologies.

Ebola outbreak is the second-largest on record

Ominous milestone: Transmission is outpacing efforts to contain the epidemic. The Democratic Republic of Congo reported more than 3,500 cases and more than 1,500 deaths. The disease has killed five times as many people as previous outbreaks have at the same stage, Africa’s top public-health agency said.
Explosive, watery diarrhea: People are avoiding some U.S. restaurant chains and buying less lettuce as cyclosporiasis fuels confusion over what to eat. Taylor Farms, identified as the source of lettuce that bore the parasite, removed their products from circulation, but health officials are investigating other sources.

Father of school shooter gets 15 years

Georgia: A man who gave his troubled son the rifle he used to kill four people at his high school received a lengthy prison sentence in the state’s first case of a parent convicted of murder for a mass shooting committed by his child.
Infanticide: A Massachusetts mother went on trial for strangling her three children to death in 2023. Prosecutors are investigating the suspected deaths of five infants whose remains were found in the home of a couple in Orange, France.

Before I forget…

FIFA’S plan to create a subsidiary and sell stakes to outside investors fell apart after a revolt by soccer officials worldwide. Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, used to be untouchable. Not anymore.
Scott Bessent’s to-do list: Buy $5 billion to $10 billion in Japanese yen. The Financial Times says it’s a go.
The captain and two crew members of a passenger ferry in Guyana were charged with murder after the boat capsized, killing 73 people and leaving 30 more missing.
Belgian authorities suspect that a Canadian NATO intern arrested last week on espionage charges was working for China.
Indian federal police charged 13 people in connection with leaking exam question papers days after protests over the scandal forced the education minister to quit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he wants to forgive the protesters.
An Australian court rejected an appeal from a right-wing leader to overturn a ruling that she vilified a Muslim senator. Pauline Hanson told the senator to “piss off back to Pakistan.”
Germany is fighting rising work absenteeism by making it harder for employees to get sick notes from their doctors. Researchers say the move misses the point of what’s really going on.
Our reporters share their experience of interviewing the son of Iran’s last shah on the On Assignment podcast.

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