José Manuel Albares visited Ceuta earlier as he insisted that Madrid had it all under control

Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares visited Ceuta earlier today, as he insisted that Madrid had it all under control despite “the most unique and complex” border arrangements there.

He said Spain was in direct dialogue with the Moroccan authorities on how to prevent another border crisis.

Met Office says this warning will likely cause ‘adverse’ health effects with travel and power generation also possibly affected

The Guardian’s environment editor, Fiona Harvey, has written a useful explainer about the UK public services that are struggling in the extreme weather. You can read it in full here:

There’s only one solution in the end to the drought now declared across most of England and that’s rain, says Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading.

An important consequence of drought is that very dry soils can become less able to absorb rainfall when it does arrive. This can increase surface runoff and can even contribute to localised flash flooding, particularly if rain falls intensely over a short period.

The current situation highlights the need to improve long-term resilience to both drought and flood risk as climate variability increases, and shows one more damaging impact of the burning of fossil fuels.

Search teams and civilians sift though debris after at least 1,500 buildings damaged and dozens collapse in country’s most powerful quake this century

• Scores dead in Colombia after powerful earthquake strikes west of country – full report

People remain trapped in Cali, one of Colombia’s largest cities, ​after more than two dozen structures ‌collapsed, mayor Alejandro Eder said. ‌

He added that the city had asked authorities in Bogota and Medellin to send disaster teams ‌to support rescue efforts.

Israeli prime minister says he will not support 15-point plan hailed by Donald Trump

• Israel rejects US-led 15-point Gaza peace plan, says Netanyahu

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a Gaza plan hailed by US president Donald Trump, vowing no military pullout of Gaza until Hamas is “genuinely” disarmed. The Israeli military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting.

Here are the other key updates from today:

The US must pressure Israel to accept the next phase of the Gaza plan, a Hamas official said, after Netanyahu rejected the US-backed agreement. “We expect the mediators and the American guarantor to pressure Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons,” Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim said.

A Houthi drone salvo targeted a Saudi oil refinery on the Red Sea coast. The Iran-backed group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the Houthis had “succeeded in targeting the Aramco refinery in Jazan on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast with a drone”.

Attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen killed at least four troops from the internationally-recognised government forces and injured 20 more personnel, two military sources said. The initial toll came from strikes on the Yemeni city of Mokha and surrounding areas, as well as Khokha, south of the port city of Hodeida, the sources said on condition of anonymity, after the Houthis announced they had targeted military forces and equipment on the Red Sea coast.

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian met the country’s supreme ⁠leader Mojtaba Khamenei around the start of the president’s third year in office in late July, state ⁠media said, ⁠and ​a paramilitary leader promised footage of Khamenei in the future. Khamenei was reportedly seriously injured in the ​February strike that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran. The promise to release footage of the leader by paramilitary Basij ⁠Organisation deputy Qasem Qoraishi appeared to be aimed ​at quashing speculation about his health.

Suspect appeared to have planned deadly attack, Thailand’s PM says as he vows to introduce new gun laws

Natasha May is reporting from Nonthaburi on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok

From its outskirts, it appears to be a normal day in Nonthaburi but the closer you get to the school, the greater the police presence becomes with large silver vans and officers in uniform everywhere.

This live blog is now closed.

The ⁠geographic coordinates for a shipping ⁠route ⁠through the ​strait of Hormuz ⁠have been agreed by Iran and ⁠Oman, and ​a ‌joint announcement ‌is being ‌finalised, provided no third parties interfere, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei ‌said on Wednesday.

Baghaei added ​that any such agreement between Iran and ⁠Oman would not, ​by itself, ​guarantee security ​in the ​strategic waterway.

The former public health official has slight lead over congresswoman Haley Stevens, but vote count could continue well into the day

• El-Sayed holds narrow lead in Michigan Senate primary but race too close to call

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Donald Trump is in Las Vegas today, where he’s set to giver a speech about the economy, and his administration’s message on affordability.

That will get going at 4:30pm ET, and we’ll bring you the latest.

Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council to meet with Tory party but decline meeting with Joshua Bonehill-Paine

• Badenoch defends decision to allow man jailed for antisemitism to stand as councillor

Ministers will scrap the requirement for companies to prove their green and progressive values before they are awarded government contracts, and instead ask firms to prove they will help young people back into work.

As part of a government push to reduce the number of people not in education, employment or training (Neets) in the UK and boost regional growth, public sector buyers will double the consideration they give to whether companies will get more people into jobs, rather than if they can show they are improving social and environmental wellbeing. Government procurement contracts account for about £90bn of taxpayers’ money spent each year.

Michigan awaiting results for Democratic contest between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens; in Washington state, Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez survives progressive challenge in US House race

• Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez survives Washington’s crowded primary

• Incumbent Wesley Bell wins Missouri primary as Cori Bush comeback bid fails

• Missouri rejects citizens’ bid for vote on Trump-backed redistricting plan

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Almost all of the polls have closed in Michigan. We’ll bring you the results as they come in, particularly in the most closely watched race of the night – the Democratic primary for US Senate.

There are four counties in Michigan that keep central time, which means that they will close their polls an hour later than the rest of the state.

Max Miller says he has ‘nothing to hide’ amid domestic abuse allegations made against him by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, daughter of Republican Ohio senator Bernie Moreno

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The White House has called an emergency summit of artificial intelligence business leaders on Tuesday to finalize details of a voluntary compliance system for safety breaches, following reports that two major AI tools had breached their digital containment and hacked external computer systems.

Anthropic reported last week that models of its Claude tool successfully hacked into the infrastructure of three separate companies during red-teaming tests by exploiting weak passwords and unauthenticated endpoints. Anthropic said an external evaluation partner mistakenly granted the testing agent unfiltered internet access.

US secretary of state comments come after treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said Washington could reach a deal ‘by tomorrow’

• US and Qatar report progress on Iran ceasefire and reopening Hormuz strait

Iran and Oman have made progress toward a deal to reopen the strait of Hormuz, a potential breakthrough that could help end the war in the Middle East, regional officials have said.

Under the emerging agreement, ships would enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman, with service fees charged for providing security and preserving the maritime environment, two regional officials told the Associated Press.

Brian Logan offered advice for young comedians, discussed being spotted at a show, demystified star ratings, and considered whether the fringe is really ‘Edinburgh’

Achhca asks: Hi Brian! Reviews at the fringe seem to have extra weight to them, especially the exact star rating - four stars can go on the poster, three stars may as well be zero. What are your criteria for stars, and is it informed by the knowledge that a 4+ will end up stapled on posters across the city?

And brion asks: Why have you offered so few five star reviews? What is your rubric for a five star score?

Brian: I try to think about star ratings as little as possible. My job, as I see it, is to write something insightful, respectful and hopefully entertaining about a show; and to express all I have to say about that show in words. At a stretch, I recognise the usefulness, to some, of then appending a star rating to that review. But I wish we didn’t have to. It’s reductive and dumb. My own kids ask me after I’ve seen a show ‘what did you give it?’ rather than ‘what did you think of it?’ That makes me sad.

But: let’s not take ourselves too seriously! There was once, reputedly, a critic who never gave three-star reviews because he knew no one would read them. But most shows are three-star shows – i.e. good, enjoyable, competent if unexceptional. I’ll try to err on the side of enthusiasm whenever I can. God knows my own work has received enough two- (and lower) star reviews over the years. I know how depressing that is.

Matter to whom? They matter to me. My experience of art (books, movies, TV, whatever) is so massively enriched and improved by cross-referring it with the experience of reviewers. As soon as I close the last page of a book, I jump online and read what other people have said about it. I love to read what cleverer or better informed or just different minds to my own think about the shows and paintings and songs that I’ve experienced too. I find it weird that anyone might think otherwise.

Whether reviews matter in terms of an artwork’s success or failure (and who gets to define that?!) is less clear. Depends on the show. Depends on the circumstances. At any rate, reviewers are part of an ecology that responds to the art and entertainment that gets put out into the world, and one of the many factors that may influence how those artworks are received, understood and savoured. And the world would be more drab and undistinguished without them. (But then, I would say that…)

Conservative leader tells press she stands by decision to select Joshua Bonehill-Paine as a candidate for local election in Somerset

• Former neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council election

Some 86,495 people were in prison in England and Wales as of 3 August, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Justice.

This is 2,026 below the record high of 88,521 reached on 6 September 2024, just before the current early release scheme began.

Rupert Lowe says no talks have taken place after the Reform UK leader said he was ‘open to conversation’ on some sort of electoral deal

Zia Yusuf said under the plan Reform will create an “integrated surveillance command”, which he claims will “unify” military and intelligence surveillance, making “ours the most surveilled maritime border in the world”.

“Any vessel attempting to cross illegally will be intercepted by our armed forces who will return them back to France,” he said, adding that emergency legislation would be given to the armed forces to equip them with the “necessary powers”.

Todd Blanche issues formal order to withdraw ‘anti-weaponization fund’ after weeks of negotiations with Republican senators who were blocking his nomination

• Blanche formally rescinds Trump’s $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization fund’

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Donald Trump will be in Washington today. He’ll spend most of the day in meetings, but we’ll hear from him at 1.30pm ET when he signs an executive order in the Oval Office.

We’ll bring you the latest lines as that gets under way.

US president claims talks are ‘not very complex’ as he speaks at White House as Iran’s foreign ministry says there are no talks taking place with US

• Iran in talks with Oman over shipping route but not US, says Tehran

People walk near a billboard depicting Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a street in Tehran, Iran, earlier today.

Six Saudi-flagged supertankers have changed course in the Gulf of Aden in recent days amid threats from the Iran-aligned Houthis, Reuters reports.

Blaze in south-western region ‘is no longer spreading’, but others have reignited or have been fuelled by strong winds

Back to Ukraine, where nine people were killed in Kyiv this morning from a Russian missile and drone attack.

Damage was reported in seven districts of the capital, according to Ukrainian officials, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying fires broke out across the city and residential buildings, a school and infrastructure sites were hit.

The agreement is a ‘great breakthrough’, the president says in response to media questions

• Trump claims agreement for ‘complete disarmament’ of Hamas in Gaza but support uncertain

• Saudi Arabia prepares sea and possible land offensive against Houthis

Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud has reported the mood in Gaza this morning following news of Hamas’s potential disarmament.

Palestinians have heard repeated statements about their fate in the three years since the current war began between Israel and Hamas, so last night’s announcement by Donald Trump wasn’t met with any particular joy or celebration. “There is scepticism and cautiousness among Palestinians,” Mahoud writes from Gaza City in the north of the Strip.

US president says his Board of Peace reached ‘historic’ deal for disarmament of Hamas while militant group says if Israel does not implement deal, ‘neither will we’

• US launches fresh strikes on Iran after days-long pause, amid fears the war is widening

A liquefied natural gas tanker controlled by QatarEnergy exited the strait of Hormuz overnight – the first such vessel ⁠visible on ship-tracking data to ⁠leave the waterway ​since 11 July, data from analytics firms showed on Thursday.

The Al Areesh tanker, which loaded a cargo at Qatar’s Ras Laffan terminal around 4-6 July, sailed ⁠out of the strait overnight on 29 July, according to Kpler and LSEG data.

Israeli prime minister meets US president after Trump’s closed-door meeting with Ukrainian president

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Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, set for 9:30am ET on Tuesday, will be closed to the media, the New York Times is reporting.

The meeting is expected to be much more cordial than the one last year where Trump openly berated Zelenskyy and said, “you don’t have the cards”. The administration and rightwing influencers have shown a shift on Ukraine as of late, and Trump and Zelenskyy had a friendly meeting at a Nato summit earlier this month.