Italy condemns Spain’s ‘unacceptable’ border controls as Ceuta fallout intensifies

• The Atlas Geopolitical Brief for August 3–9, 2026, analyzes five critical dossiers: the Black Sea, Riyadh, China's technology controls, the Mecca Pact, and US posture in Europe. • A primary focus is the Riyadh maritime initiative, which demonstrates that security cooperation among states does not necessitate a unified geopolitical stance toward Iran.

• A conflict known as the Strait of Hormuz War erupted in February 2026, centering on one of the world's most critical oil transit chokepoints. • The war has fundamentally reshaped global geopolitics, with expert analysis identifying 10 countries most severely impacted by the fighting.

Rukhsar Ahmed was recently elected an MP in Pakistan while on bail over alleged child rape in 1990s ManchesterA grooming gang suspect released on bail in the UK and then re-elected as an MP in Pakistan has reportedly declined to say when he would return to face rape charges.The Guardian disclosed that Rukhsar Ahmed, a former Pakistan state minister, was arrested at Manchester airport in July 2024 on suspicion of raping and trafficking at least two underage girls from care homes in the city’s Rusholme area during the 1990s. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Serious questions raised about whether Chinese citizen was properly monitored at centre run by US prison giantGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe US private prison company running Australia’s immigration system was warned that a newly detained Chinese citizen expressed suicidal ideation and had a history of self-harm less than 24 hours before she died by suicide in a Melbourne detention centre, internal documents show.The death has raised serious questions about whether the detainee was properly monitored and whether she was placed in an appropriate room, given her state of mind. Continue reading...

Manuel Hernandez charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment after boat overturned in New York harborThe captain of a boat that capsized in the New York harbor on Saturday evening has been charged following the deaths of a 27-year-old woman and five-month-old girl.Manuel Hernandez, 46, was arrested and charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment in the early hours of Sunday morning, a New York police department spokesperson told the Guardian. Continue reading...

State-subsidised imports from China reach 172,000 in year to May, taking 14% of the marketChinese electric car sales have risen across Europe to a record high driven by strong demand and low tariffs in the UK and a surge in buyers in Italy.Against a backdrop of claims that Chinese carmakers are “dumping” state-subsidised vehicles in the EU and UK to gain market share, the figures will give impetus to calls for quotas and higher tariffs to protect European manufacturers. Continue reading...

Rage-baiting efforts of Trump accounts silenced after posts such as a video linking her Red album to RepublicansSome of Taylor Swift’s songs have been removed from videos posted on social media by Donald Trump’s campaign and the White House, silencing efforts to mock the pop star.A video posted 3 August featuring the US president and the first lady, Melania Trump, watching fireworks was posted this month on TikTok with Swift’s song August. Continue reading...

Shadow justice secretary says artist should foot bill, while others say his murals make art accessibleThree Banksy artworks have cost taxpayers almost £150,000 in cleaning, security and other costs, with the bill expected to rise.The largest bill relates to a mural painted on the Royal Courts of Justice in London in September 2025, where efforts to remove it and provide security have so far cost more than £85,000, according to the BBC. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Analysis shows 55% of accounts were located overseas – and seven of 12 most-read posts came from USMore than half the accounts that posted on Elon Musk’s X about the rioting in Belfast and the civil disorder in Southampton in June were based outside the UK, an analysis by the Guardian can reveal.Of the 8,672 accounts whose combined posts about the events exceeded 1,000 views, just 45.3% were shown as from the UK, according to the social media platform’s own location function. Continue reading...

Katie and John Meehan say responses to campaign they launched after death of daughter Genevieve must be ‘wake-up call’The parents of a nine-month-old girl who died after being placed in an unsafe sleeping position at nursery said they feared poor practice may be “rife” across England.Genevieve Meehan suffocated when she was strapped face down to a beanbag for an hour and 37 minutes at a nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, in May 2022. Continue reading...

Drone strike comes after Riyadh signs defence pact and Iran issues tough demands to reopen of strait of HormuzMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesYemen’s Tehran-aligned Houthis have claimed responsibility for an attack on a refinery in Saudi Arabia, two days after the kingdom signed ⁠a defence pact with Turkey ⁠and Pakistan in response to ​growing regional instability caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.The attack early on Sunday came after Iran issued tough new demands to reopen the strait of Hormuz, and the United Arab Emirates said one of its ships was targeted by an Iranian missile, as a deal to open the strategic waterway remained out of reach. Continue reading...