Zero's Briefs

World — Tehran prepares a list of conditions for Hormuz — The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said Iran is compiling, at the request of mediators, a list of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and that a maritime corridor has been agreed with Oman contingent on those conditions being met. A Revolutionary Guards spokesman cited as conditions the end of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, compensation and the removal of sanctions. President Donald Trump said the United States is not talking to Iran and is focused on economic pressure; White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the campaign will continue until Tehran negotiates in substance (Just Security, via Reuters; Havana Times). This follows Centcom’s announcement on the clearing of shipping lanes, which we reported this morning.

Europe — Montenegro and Serbia split over Mladić’s death — The office of Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović recalled that the genocide conviction was established by a final ruling and cannot be politically relativized. Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujić told broadcaster ATV that the protocols due to a general will be honored and that the family will decide on the burial site: “General Mladić is a general and the protocols are known” (transl. from Serbian). The two positions are reported by Danas and N1.

Europe — In France, the first debate of the race to 2027 — Seven candidates invited by the Medef presented their economic programs on Thursday, August 27, before business owners and executives: the first major public debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Among the topics raised, an increase in the minimum wage and, for Édouard Philippe, a review of unemployment benefits (Twog). The story currently comes from a single source; no independent confirmation is available.

World — Kremlin: no need to escalate the conflict — At the August 27 press briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that a response to Ukrainian attacks carried out with British weapons could strike any British military target or asset in Ukraine and beyond its borders, linking the warning to Kyiv’s August 24 announcement about technologies for assembling Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, said Russia has no need to escalate the conflict and dismissed Western accounts of alleged plans against NATO (Vedomosti, Armenpress).

Italy — Polls: Futuro Nazionale rises, Meloni and Schlein slip — Surveys published on August 28 indicate growth for Roberto Vannacci’s Futuro Nazionale party and a decline for Giorgia Meloni and Elly Schlein; the source does not report percentages or the polling institutes behind them, and without that data we are not publishing figures. On the political front, Fratelli d’Italia downplayed Edmondo Cirielli’s opening toward a government with Vannacci with a statement saying he “speaks in a personal capacity” (VirgilioNotizie). Single source available.

Health — AIFA publishes the 2025 OsMed Report — Italy’s Medicines Agency (AIFA) announced the publication of the 2025 OsMed Report on drug use in Italy, the tool that monitors prescriptions, spending and appropriateness of use within the National Health Service and analyzes trends by therapeutic area and region. On the same day, the Ministry of Health updated its guidelines on physical activity for people with diabetes, transplant recipients and those with musculoskeletal conditions (Torrinomedica). Single source; the contents of the two documents are not detailed in the source.

Culture — U.S. Department of Justice floats demolition of the Kennedy Center — The U.S. Department of Justice has floated the demolition of Washington’s Kennedy Center, as President Donald Trump again calls for his name to be associated with the building (Democracy Now!). The story currently comes from a single source; neither the document nor independent confirmation is available.

News — Lunar eclipse visible in Italy at dawn — The lunar eclipse of August 28, 2026 was visible from Italy in the early morning hours, about fifteen days after the total solar eclipse of August 12 (VirgilioNotizie). The timing of the phases, reported by the source as ephemerides, cannot be verified against a primary astronomical source in the available material.