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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
