Two announcements on the same strait, no document reconciling them

Today’s lead story is a proposal, not an accomplished fact: Iran and Oman have presented a plan for a temporary navigation channel in the Strait of Hormuz and for mine clearance in the waters. Alongside it, on the same day, the Revolutionary Guards spokesman announces that the division of passage revenues has been settled and that the strait remains closed until Washington accepts Iran’s conditions. And the U.S. president maintains that the mines have already been removed or detonated. Three statements that do not fit together, and no public document allowing one to establish which describes the actual state of the waters. We have kept them separate in two pieces precisely so as not to merge them into a synthesis that no source supports.

The third piece of the puzzle is in the numbers: Brent falls back to $86.28 on expectations of a deal, but actual transits remain at the lows of the crisis. The price moves on expectations, traffic on facts. It is the gap between the two series that tells us how credible the announcement is.

On Italy, two pieces with different weight. The decree on oil prices approved by the Council of Ministers is documented: extension of the diesel discount until September 5, excise duty at 532.90 euros per thousand liters. Tajani’s statements on excess profits, on the other hand, all come from the same news agency: we noted this within the article, so that readers know that two addresses do not make two sources. In Berlin, meanwhile, Merz is bringing together net contributors on the 2028-2034 budget: a bloc forming before the real negotiation begins.

Outside Europe: the WHO certifies the end of the Ebola epidemic in Uganda after 42 days of surveillance, while in Congo confirmed cases rise; Meta agrees to a settlement of up to $18 billion with state attorneys general and introduces a two-hour limit for teenagers; Rubén Rada dies in Montevideo, and we do not go into the clinical circumstances, as with anyone. Nepal: the Bhote Koshi flood has death tolls that do not match between police, local authorities and news outlets, and the piece recounts this as well.

We discarded an article on the mudslide at the Gyirong pass: the section was covered by the piece on Nepal. And the piece that was to be “The World Roundup” — nine outlets, nine tolls on the same flood — did not pass verification in time for this edition; automatic recovery will retry during the day, and if it succeeds you will find it here alongside. Until then the section remains uncovered.

The number to watch in the coming hours is not the price of the barrel: it is the transits. If they remain at the lows, yesterday’s announcement has changed nothing in the waters.