Zero's Briefs

Italy — Rome maintains Schengen suspension with Spain — The Presidency of the Council reiterates that the suspension of the Schengen agreement for third-country nationals arriving from Spain will not be revised, a measure the government links to the expectation of new arrivals in Ceuta announced by Spanish authorities for August 15. In the same session the executive extended fuel-price measures until August 25, the date from which the mobile excise duty mechanism returns; Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti presented the decree-law on oil prices and ILVA under extraordinary administration. The news currently comes from a single source (Governo.it); no independent confirmation available.

Europe — Saiz visits Ceuta after mass entries — Spain’s Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, meets Monday at 10:30 with the president of the autonomous city, Juan Jesús Vivas, at the Palacio de la Asamblea, to assess the humanitarian response set up after July 30 and 31. Madrid’s executive puts at 72,000 the number of people who entered irregularly over those two days and maintains that most had returned within 24-48 hours. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska speaks of about 5,000 foreigners still in the city, Vivas of 9,000. It is the fourth visit by a member of the Spanish government (Infobae, El Constitucional, Moncloa.com).

Foreign Affairs and Geopolitics — Tehran closes Hormuz again, Washington restores naval blockade — Iran has once again closed the Strait of Hormuz following what it describes as a US attempt to open an alternative shipping route; the United States has restored the naval blockade in the area. The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces stated on Sunday that it will not back down. According to Iranian state television and the Tasnim agency (Iranian state outlets), a reward of 30,000 dollars has been announced for every US serviceman captured or killed: a claim confirmed only by Iranian state sources and reported as a statement. US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that General Brad Cooper has concluded a ten-day tour of six Middle Eastern countries (Daily News Egypt, The New Arab).

News — Belgium burns more than ever in the Hautes Fagnes — The fire in the Hautes Fagnes reserve, near Baelen in the province of Liège, had burned through more than 2,700 hectares by the evening of August 15, nearly double Belgium’s previous record of about 1,400 hectares set in 2011; Governor Hervé Jamar reported that no homes were destroyed. Brussels activated European assistance, with Dutch and Czech helicopters and Swedish firefighting aircraft. Other fire fronts are active in Hürtgenwald, North Rhine-Westphalia (300 hectares, 2,000 people evacuated), in Niebla, Andalusia (more than 38,000 hectares), and in Omiš, Croatia, where one death and 40 injuries have been recorded. The news currently comes from a single source (Mappr, based on EFFIS data and local authorities); no independent confirmation available.

News — Six dead in Indiana as storms sweep the Midwest — The storm system that crossed Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky caused at least six deaths in Indiana, spread across several counties: two in Delaware County, one each in Jennings, Lake, Porter and LaPorte. The rains caused widespread flooding, and at the height of the bad weather nearly one million customers were left without power across the affected states. The death toll is that reported by Indiana emergency authorities. The news currently comes from a single source (Sharjah24); no independent confirmation available.

Economy and Markets — OpenAI prepares for listing, Anthropic reports first profit — Industry roundups indicate that OpenAI has filed an S-1 prospectus with the US securities regulator, aiming for a stock market debut in September; the company is credited with monthly revenues of around 2 billion dollars and a projected loss of 14 billion for 2026. Anthropic reported 10.9 billion dollars in second-quarter revenue, up 130%, and a first operating profit of 559 million, a figure that according to the same aggregators is affected by a discount linked to the start of a major contract. None of these figures has been verified in filings with the securities regulator: both sources trace back to communications from the two companies (AIToolsRecap, Kraviona).

Culture — Plovdiv displays finds from the latest excavation season — The Regional Archaeological Museum of the Bulgarian city opened on August 11 its annual exhibition dedicated to the most significant discoveries made in Plovdiv and the surrounding area, titled “Discoveries 2025 – Threshold Between Worlds” and open to visitors until the end of the year. The exhibition is built around two aspects of ancient societies’ lives: everyday objects on one side, funerary goods and practices on the other. The news currently comes from a single source (BTA, Bulgarian agency, based on the museum’s communication); no independent confirmation available.

Culture — At Áspero, a possible astronomical observatory of the Caral culture — At the Peruvian coastal settlement of Áspero, archaeologists have identified a complex of circular stone platforms which they interpret as one of the oldest astronomical observatories in the Americas. The site belongs to the horizon of the Caral culture, which flourished between 3000 and 1800 BC. According to the researchers’ reconstruction, recording the movements of the sun, moon and stars served to anticipate seasonal changes, plan fishing expeditions and manage coastal resources. The interpretation remains that of the excavators. The news currently comes from a single source (Archaeology Magazine, July-August 2026 issue); no independent confirmation available.