Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Ukraine’s foreign ministry reported at least a dozen injured in 42 Russian drone attacks overnight, hours after the two countries agreed to meet for further peace talks in Istanbul on Wednesday (10:16).
Former Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov will lead the Ukrainian teams in these talks, with the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying that “Ukraine never wanted this war and it is Russia that must end the war that it started” (11:15).
Meanwhile, Russia said it wasn’t expecting any “miraculous breakthroughs” at the talks (12:02), and separately said it has “significantly expanded” the list of sanctioned EU officials who will be banned from entering Russia, without declaring the names of those affected (10:31).
Separately, German defence minister Boris Pistorius confirmed that allies were in discussions as to where to relocate five Patriot missile defence systems for Ukraine from, with Germany volunteering two of them – but seeking guarantees they would be quickly replaced (15:47).
Elsewhere,
Senior EU leaders, including the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, urged Israel to deliver on its promises and dramatically improve the situation in Gaza amid “unbearable” reports from the area (14:31).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Man rescued trying to reach Spain from Morocco in rubber ring and flippers
A man who was apparently trying to reach Spain from Morocco using a rubber ring and flippers has been rescued after he was spotted by a family sailing to the Balearic islands.
The family were on their yacht 13 nautical miles south of the Andalucían town of Benalmádena on the Costa del Sol, on 16 July when they manoeuvred around the stern of an oil tanker and saw something moving on the waves.
According to the Diario Sur newspaper, they assumed it was a bird until they looked through a pair of binoculars and realised it was a person.
Video of the rescue, shared on social media by the Spanish Royal Assembly of Yacht Captains (RAECY), shows the exhausted young man swimming towards the yacht as a rope is thrown for him to grab.
After bringing him on to the boat, the family gave him water, clothes and a cup of soup.
“We’ve called in a shipwrecked man and we’re going to pick him up,” says a man in the footage as he pans the camera around the empty waters. “It’s incredible where he is because just look, all the passing boats are really far away from him.”
Sources at the RAECY said the man was wearing a wetsuit and was equipped with only the ring and a pair of flippers. “He almost didn’t speak,” they said.
The family headed for the port of Estepona but were met by a maritime rescue service vessel at sea that took the man to port in Málaga and handed him over to police and the Red Cross.
Such dangerous crossings are not uncommon.
