US-North Korea Diplomacy

NATO says it is prepared to address any threat and will do what is necessary to defend all allies, after reports emerged that Iran has weighed strikes against U.S. military assets in southeastern Europe.

Iranian forces have reportedly considered targets in Bulgaria and Cyprus if the United States escalates attacks. Bulgaria's parliament approved the use of Bezmer Air Base as a U.S. refuelling station in July, and Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said all possible security measures had been taken. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned his Bulgarian counterpart that any party joining a military attack on Iran would bear responsibility. A NATO official said the alliance intercepted four Iranian ballistic missiles heading toward Turkiye this year.

The tensions follow a U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding signed in June aimed at ending the war, but the deadline for a permanent agreement expired Monday. Donald Trump said Tuesday there were no ongoing or scheduled talks with Tehran.

Spain's Ministry of Defence has confirmed 24 soldiers contracted scabies at the General Command of Ceuta, the North African enclave, dismissing any link to a recent surge in migrant arrivals. Two of the infections predated the migrant influx, the ministry said.

Affected personnel from the 54th Regulars Group were housed on 15 August in the disused K-8 Coastal Battery, a facility lacking mandatory hygiene maintenance and with a history of similar infestations, according to the Armed Forces Troop Union (UMT). The union alleged troops lacked officially issued protective equipment and has submitted formal questions to the defence ministry and armed forces personnel council.

The Army General Headquarters stated all affected soldiers are receiving treatment recommended by health authorities, and the Ceuta command's health directorate has established a prevention protocol. The Spanish Troop and Navy Association had previously sought information on contagious disease risks among deployed personnel.

Iranian military planners have evaluated options to strike American assets and military sites in Europe if President Donald Trump expands the confrontation or threatens Iranian infrastructure. Targets under review include U.S. interests in southeast European nations such as Bulgaria, which recently approved American use of the Bezmer air base for refueling operations, and Cyprus, where a British air base was hit by a drone in March. Iranian forces have also studied attacking underwater fiber-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz in an escalation scenario.

The assessments reflect a hardening mood in Tehran following the collapse last month of a June memorandum of understanding and stalled diplomacy. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei elevated hardliner Mohsen Rezaei to head the Supreme National Security Council, a move analysts see as marginalizing pragmatist negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Defense analysts note that while Iran can deploy medium-range Shahab-type missiles toward southern Europe, their effectiveness diminishes significantly over distance.

Spain's General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has requested two additional magistrates and experienced court staff for Ceuta's courts, warning that the North African enclave's justice system is strained following a mass migrant crossing in late July.

The surge of arrivals from Morocco on July 30 and 31 triggered a sharp rise in casework. Between July 30 and August 5, courts opened 96 preliminary inquiries into deaths, 23 involving detainees, and 15 urgent proceedings. The following week brought 72 additional police reports involving detained or summoned individuals.

The CGPJ has asked the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts for two interpreters and an urgent expert appraisal service, along with reinforcement of duty rosters at investigative and violence-against-women courts to handle alleged sexual offence cases. The proposed staffing plan includes a case manager, two procedural officers, and a judicial aide.

Qatar is pushing for an immediate ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as the only way to revive diplomacy between Washington and Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said, after a 60-day window for a broader US-Iran agreement expired Monday.

The memorandum of understanding collapsed after Iran targeted ships transiting the strait, a chokepoint for roughly a fifth of global oil and gas. The White House has said it does not seek to extend the arrangement, while President Donald Trump called preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon the primary US objective. Iran's parliament speaker set preconditions for reopening the strait, including lifting sanctions and releasing frozen assets.

Al-Ansari also denied Iranian accusations that Qatar is holding three military pilots prisoner, calling the claims baseless, and said Doha condemned the targeting of the Iraqi Kurdistan prime minister's office.

Police in Ceuta are investigating at least 15 suspected rapes of migrant minors, as unaccompanied girls housed on a school football pitch since July 31 endure conditions health officials called the enclave's worst-ever crisis. Emergency doctors have treated multiple rape victims, including a 12-year-old girl, while neighbourhood groups report some girls were assaulted after initially sleeping on the streets.

Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas says the city is 5,000 percent over capacity, with local officials estimating some 9,000 migrants remain after the late-July mass crossing. Save the Children demanded on Tuesday that minors be granted access to asylum procedures, calling for specialised legal aid and a mechanism to identify vulnerable children among those who fled conflicts in Sudan and Chad.

Madrid plans to redistribute minors across Spain but has set no timeline, while neighbourhood leaders doubt any bilateral deal with Morocco will secure returns.

More than 100 migrants camped on a beach in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta have launched a hunger strike to demand the right to apply for asylum, two weeks after a mass border crossing that overwhelmed the territory.

The demonstrators, waving Spanish flags at the El Trampolín beach camp, are demanding international protection and better living conditions. Between 5,000 and 8,000 people remain in Ceuta following the July 30 influx, when more than 80,000 people crossed the border from Morocco in under 24 hours. Most have since returned voluntarily to Morocco.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has vowed to return all irregular entrants to their countries of origin. In response to the humanitarian situation, Inclusion Minister Elma Saiz announced temporary shelter units across four Ceuta sites to provide immediate housing for 1,500 migrants.

Russia has constructed at least 10 secret military bases equipped with newly built launch platforms for advanced long-range attack drones near its borders with Ukraine and Belarus, placing multiple NATO capitals within striking distance.

An investigation identified at least 59 launch rails across the sites, with roughly 20 extended to accommodate the latest Russian jet-powered drones. Some facilities were converted from existing military or civilian airfields, while others were built directly in rural areas. Certain bases are already being used to launch intensive strikes against Ukraine, and one site alone has capacity to store more than 1,000 drones simultaneously.

The most capable variants could reach Warsaw, the Baltic states, Romania, and Turkey. European and U.S. intelligence officials believe Moscow is contemplating an armed provocation on Polish soil, with analysts warning of potential false-flag operations.

Iran and Oman have agreed on a transit route map for the Strait of Hormuz that would reopen the waterway with ships entering near Iran and exiting close to Oman, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday, though a final agreement with a joint statement has yet to be concluded.

Baghaei said the complex negotiations continue in earnest but are hindered by the issue's intricacy, the number of parties involved, and efforts by certain countries to disrupt the process. Both sides have expressed determination to craft a mechanism that serves their mutual interests while safeguarding international navigation, he said.

The talks follow a sharp escalation since July 8, when President Donald Trump declared a June 18 ceasefire with Iran void. The U.S. military has since struck Iran in response to Tehran's actions against commercial vessels transiting the strait, according to U.S. Central Command. Iran retaliated by attacking American bases across the Middle East.

Ceuta's regional president, Juan Jesús Vivas, has given the central government 30 days to resolve the city's migration crisis, threatening legal action and accusing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of