Month: August 2026

US FBI Director Kash Patel says he has forged new law enforcement partnerships with China and Russia, two longtime US rivals, over the past year in hopes of gaining allies in combating transnational crime, including fentanyl, cyber fraud, and child sexual exploitation.

The partnerships have involved personnel exchanges in which Chinese law enforcement officials have visited the United States and FBI agents have traveled to China to work on cases together and share intelligence. Separately, FBI and Chinese officers have carried out joint raids and arrests under the arrangement.

Patel returned from a trip to Beijing in late July, and a similar trip to Russia has been tentatively planned for October, according to FBI officials.

In exclusive interviews with Reuters, Patel described the FBI’s initiatives with what he called “non-traditional partners” as selective and limited to specific types of transnational crimes such as global child pornography networks and cyber scam centers that prey on Americans.

The partnerships, known internally as "working groups," represent a major break with the past and have raised concerns within the broader counterintelligence community about the risks posed by sharing sensitive domestic security information with authoritarian regimes working to undermine the United States economically and militarily around the world.

In May, the FBI, China's Ministry of Public Security, and Dubai police worked together in "Operation Sand Dollar," a major raid on a cyber scam center in Dubai that led to 300 arrests, $300 million seized, and thousands of trafficked workers freed, the FBI said. In at least one case, a suspect inside China who was accused of "serious violent crimes" was repatriated to the United States, according to Chinese state media.

US officials have long portrayed Russia and China as exporters of crime instead of potential allies in combating it, not to mention sources of espionage aimed at American interests worldwide.

Patel, appointed by US President Donald Trump, said such risks can be managed.

"They are both new and dynamic relationships, and we are extremely mindful of their adversarial approach on many matters," Patel said. "They are not going to stop, but if we can go and have wins for America, then we must engage."

The current relationship began with Trump's visit to China in May 2025 and was followed by two trips by Patel to China. Patel said the cooperation has expanded across four working groups: cyber fraud, violent crimes against children, counternarcotics, and a fugitive task force.

As part of the partnership, Patel has brought officials from China's Ministry of Public Security, or MPS, to multiple FBI facilities in the United States to share intelligence and investigative information.

"Every month, they send their working-level MPS officers here, and the following month we go there," Patel said. "They are speaking with us daily, which has also never happened before."

Asked about joint law enforcement operations, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said, "We have always believed that dialogue and negotiation are the right way forward, and that military means offer no solution."

Patel said information exchanges are narrow in scope and limited to the four types of transnational crime where intelligence sharing is reciprocal. Patel said these new FBI partners would not replace longtime US allies such as the "Five Eyes" intelligence partnership with Canada, Australia, Britain, and New Zealand.

"Five Eyes will always be our most important intelligence relationship. No one is trying to replace that," Patel said. "Unlike military and traditional intelligence agencies, we have a unique lane to drive this dynamic change with law enforcement, which is an apolitical mission."

During his trip to Asia last month, Patel met with Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong and Vice Minister Xu Datong to deepen what Chinese state media described as "practical cooperation" on a range of criminal activities.

The cooperation between US law enforcement and leading global adversaries is a major break from the past, and reflects Trump's personal approach to diplomacy with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“China and Russia are our enemies, period,” said Jeff Crocker, a former FBI supervisory agent who retired in 2024. “They are actively trying to harm our country physically, economically and militarily.”

Crocker said there are enormous risks related to giving Chinese officials access to the American intelligence community, diplomatic personnel and US government facilities and contractors. Chinese and Russian agents would use any access to US facilities as an opportunity to infiltrate them, Crocker said.

"So this is great cover for them," Crocker said.

Patel said counterintelligence operations and countermeasures are deployed for any foreign visitor to FBI facilities. Three former FBI employees told Reuters this usually involves electronic and physical surveillance, particularly for people from countries considered the most dangerous US adversaries.

"We know exactly who is coming here, and we vet them," Patel said.

The Kremlin and the Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Patel said there have been months of behind-the-scenes law enforcement collaboration with Russia targeting violent criminal networks.

"This stuff doesn't happen overnight," Patel said. "We've been at this for 15 months."

An internal memo viewed by Reuters credited the FBI’s cooperation with China’s Ministry of Public Security in multiple operations against Chinese pharmaceutical companies this year.

The memo said this led to the arrests of nine people, the shutdown of two chemical production facilities and three associated websites, and the seizure of fentanyl precursor chemicals "likely otherwise destined for the United States." The memo did not specify where these arrests and seizures occurred.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, said fentanyl overdoses have been declining rapidly in the United States since the winter of 2022, likely due to cooperation with China and other factors such as the wide availability of the life-saving drug Naloxone.

"It could be that the people who were already vulnerable had already died," Felbab-Brown said.

"I think that the cooperation is useful, should be fostered, and that it contributed to some extent," Felbab-Brown said, referring to the decline in US overdoses. "But how much is really hard to know, and there are a lot of complexities to it."

Chinese law enforcement worked with the FBI's field office in Omaha, Nebraska, to take down a multinational child sexual abuse materials network in June, an operation that included the arrests of 16 suspects, according to the FBI memo.

The expanding cooperation comes after years of deep suspicion between the United States, which has accused China of turning a blind eye to its production of the precursor chemicals required to manufacture fentanyl, and Chinese authorities, who ended cooperation due to political disagreements such as former US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 2022 visit to Taiwan.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a cautious assessment of Chinese cooperation. During a visit to the Philippines last month, Rubio called cooperation with China on fentanyl precursors “a work in progress.”

"I think we've made some progress on that front, but not entirely where we need to be," Rubio told reporters.

Patel said the playbook that is used to work with China and Russia could be applied to other non-traditional intelligence-sharing partnerships tailored to each country.

"The fact that we did it with China," Patel said, "when everyone said, 'Don't do it,' and, 'You can't do it,' shows what we can do with almost anyone."

A group of Republican and Democratic US senators on Tuesday called for elections in Venezuela, seven months after President Donald Trump’s administration removed then-President Nicolas Maduro and installed his vice president as acting president.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire introduced a resolution reaffirming US support for elections in Venezuela, calling for the release of political prisoners and saying that anyone – including senior government figures – should be punished if they are responsible for harming anyone seeking public office.

The bipartisan resolution comes amid increased frustration over what critics see as the Trump administration’s failure to effect real change in Venezuela by pushing Venezuela’s government, now led by acting President Delcy Rodriguez, toward free and fair elections.

Talks between Venezuela’s interim government and a faction of the opposition are set to begin in the coming days, but without Maria Corina Machado, the country’s most popular opposition leader.

"The people of Venezuela deserve free, fair, and transparent elections, and it is vital to the national security interests of the United States that those elections occur expeditiously," Cruz, a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.

Shaheen, the committee's top Democrat, said authorities in Caracas must release all political prisoners and allow all political actors, including Machado, to safely return and participate in political activity.

The resolution has five other co-sponsors, four Democrats and one Republican.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado left Venezuela late last year to receive her Nobel after living mostly in hiding since a contested 2024 presidential election. She has vowed to return to help with the response to June's devastating twin earthquakes, frustrating US officials who believe it is not the right time.

Trump has denied media reports that his administration told Machado not to return. Machado has repeatedly been publicly sidelined by Washington since Maduro's removal, with US officials saying she does not have enough support to lead the country.

Brazil has told Argentina its relations will be handled at the chargé d’affaires level after Argentine President Javier Milei again insulted Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a Brazilian government source said on Tuesday.

Brazil’s ambassador to Argentina, Julio Bitelli, will not return to Buenos Aires, the source said, after Milei referred to Lula in an interview with Argentine TV channel LN+ as an “ex-convict,” a “thief” and “corrupt.”

The move formalizes a sharp deterioration in ties between two of Latin America's largest economies, whose presidents have not held an official bilateral meeting since Milei took office.

Bitelli had already been recalled from Buenos Aires late last month after Milei criticized Lula while appearing alongside opposition presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro at the formal launch of his campaign to unseat the incumbent, who has been leading polls ahead of October’s election.

Argentina’s ambassador in Brasilia, Daniel Raimondi, was informed of the decision to downgrade diplomatic ties, the source said. Argentina’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On the rolling hills outside Dodoma, Tanzania’s wine capital, an agricultural partnership is taking root. Israeli non-profit CultivAid is working with local growers, researchers, and young agricultural professionals to modernize grape cultivation and winemaking through hands-on training, using Israeli cultivation techniques to improve yields, grape quality, and long-term sustainability.

For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org

For local experts, the collaboration is providing something they say has been missing, practical experience, mentorship, and a roadmap for training the next generation of viticulturists.

For Tanzanian viticulturist Jacob Timothy Mwavika, Israeli agriculture is a source of inspiration. “I have followed Israeli agriculture for many years because of its innovation and technology, especially irrigation techniques, desert agriculture and greenhouse technology,” Mwavika told The Media Line. “Israel also stands out because of the amount of agricultural research and development it invests in.” 

While familiar with Israel’s agricultural achievements, he admitted he knew little about the country’s wine industry before working with CultivAid. “To be honest, I had heard very little about Israeli wine compared to what I knew about table grape production,” Mwavika said. 

Tanzania's commercial wine industry is relatively young by global standards, dating back to the early 1960s when Catholic missionaries introduced modern viticulture around Dodoma in the country's semi-arid central region.

Today, Dodoma remains the heart of Tanzania's wine production, accounting for the vast majority of the country's vineyards. Unlike many African nations, Tanzania has developed a commercial wine sector built largely around locally grown grapes rather than imported bulk wine.

Despite decades of production, much of the industry continues to rely on traditional farming and winemaking practices. Industry experts say improvements in vineyard management, irrigation, modern equipment and technical training could significantly raise both grape yields and wine quality, while helping the sector capitalize on growing domestic demand, tourism and export opportunities across East Africa.

Israel is internationally recognized for developing agricultural technologies that enable farming in some of the world's most challenging environments. Faced with scarce water resources and arid conditions, Israeli researchers and farmers pioneered innovations including drip irrigation, advanced greenhouse cultivation, precision agriculture and water recycling.

The country invests heavily in agricultural research, with close cooperation among universities, government research institutes, and farmers, enabling new technologies to move quickly from the laboratory to the field.

This is where CultivAid has stepped in.

“We saw that there was a lot to do,” Dr. Tomer Malchi, co-founder and CEO of CultivAid, told The Media Line. “There are many difficulties. They have low crop outputs, low quality, and pesticide issues. We have a lot of know-how and agronomy that can jump-start the crops.” 

According to Malchi, the vineyards in the Dodoma region are not yet close to their maximum capacity and could potentially double their crop output.

Israel's expertise is rooted not only in agricultural innovation but also in the rapid development of its own modern wine industry.

In the past four decades, Israel's wine industry has also undergone a dramatic transformation. Although winemaking in the region dates back thousands of years, the contemporary industry emerged in the 1980s and 1990s as wineries adopted modern vineyard management, international grape varieties, and advanced production techniques.

Today, Israel is home to more than 300 commercial wineries, producing internationally recognized wines from regions including the Golan Heights, Galilee, the Judean Hills, and the Negev Desert, demonstrating how high-quality viticulture can flourish even in challenging climates.

According to the Israel Wine Grapes Board, Israeli wine exports totaled roughly $66 million in 2024, with the US as the main market.

Through CultivAid training programs, Mwavika has been able to put into practice many of the techniques he had previously encountered only in books or research papers.

"CultivAid introduced me to many experts and gave me the opportunity to physically see and practice methods that I had only learned about through reading," Mwavika said.

The organization has established a six-acre farm in Dodoma where research and experiments are conducted. “We are training local residents to be the best agronomists in Tanzania,” said Malchi.

Recently, CultivAid launched a vineyard management course for 60 local participants and established a vineyard nursery as part of its long-term training program.

As a professional viticulturist, Mwavika said that much of his knowledge came from years of field experience with limited guidance. "It has always been my dream to raise a new generation of grape specialists," Mwavika said. "The challenge was that there was no platform to train them. CultivAid has provided that solution, and now they are helping develop young professionals with specialized skills in viticulture."

The initiative comes as Tanzania's wine sector remains relatively small but shows considerable potential for growth. The country is East Africa's only commercial wine producer and has favorable conditions for expanding grape cultivation.

"The Tanzanian wine industry has significant opportunities for growth because there is still land suitable for grape production," said Mwavika. "We also have a strong tourism market, where wine consumption is high, and with improvements in quality, Tanzania can become much more competitive."

Malchi also believes that there is significant potential. “When we began our activity, the local wine industry was producing between 4 to 5 million liters a year, and now we are at 20 million liters,” he said. The goal is to expand the supply of high-quality grapevines to meet demand from growers and wineries.

Mwavika noted that Tanzania has an advantage in supplying the wider East African market. "Only Tanzania is able to commercially grow grapes and produce wine in the region," he said. "The wine industry has the potential to generate significant national income and create many jobs."

At the same time, he pointed out that much of the sector still relies on traditional production methods.

"There is still limited innovation and technology in the industry," he said. "Modern equipment and improved techniques can transform both production and wine quality."

Beyond agriculture, the partnership has also shaped Mwavika’s perception of Israel. "I have learned that Israelis have a genuine willingness to help transform agriculture through practical training, working directly with farmers and openly sharing the results of their research," he said. "I have not yet visited Israel, but it is something I very much hope to do."

For Ayelet Levin-Karp, CEO of SID Israel, an umbrella organization for Israel’s humanitarian aid and international development community, the significance of these projects lies in their practical, long-term impact. "Projects like CultivAid reflect a different side of Israel's engagement with the world, one built on partnership, knowledge-sharing and long-term economic development," she said.

"At a time when Israel faces significant international challenges, the work of Israeli development organizations across Africa demonstrates that Israeli expertise continues to be valued because it delivers measurable results and creates lasting opportunities for local communities,” she noted.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has approved pay rises of up to 80% for members of the armed forces, the presidency said on Tuesday, in a move aimed at boosting troop welfare as the country battles insurgency, banditry and kidnappings.

The salary increase comes as Nigeria grapples with multiple security challenges across different regions.

Islamist insurgents, including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), continue to stage attacks in the northeast, while heavily armed criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, operate across parts of the northwest. 

Kidnappings for ransom have become widespread in parts of north-central Nigeria, while security forces also face periodic separatist-linked violence in the southeast.

Under the new pay structure, effective Sept. 1, officers above the rank of colonel, including generals, will receive a 30% salary increase. Personnel from colonel to warrant officer will receive a 50% raise, while soldiers from private to staff sergeant rank will see salaries rise by 80%, according to a statement by presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga.

The new package will increase the annual wage bill for the armed forces to 924 billion naira ($678.68 million) from 660 billion naira.

Successive governments have struggled to contain insecurity despite increased military deployments and spending, with attacks by armed groups continuing to strain security forces and communities.

Tinubu said his administration would continue to prioritize troop welfare and modernize the armed forces with the weapons and technology needed to tackle security threats.

At least 12 people on board an Air India flight from Phuket, Thailand, to New Delhi, India, were wounded on Tuesday following a turbulence-related event that caused a momentary change in altitude, Air India confirmed.

The 12 people included 10 passengers and two members of the crew.

In addition, there was some damage to the aircraft, according to local media reports.

Initial reports indicate that the plane dropped approximately 300 feet (91 meters) in altitude due to turbulence.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

The flight in question was AI2379, which was operated by an Airbus A320 and carried 134 passengers.

The flight continued on its journey and landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, shortly after 11 a.m. local time.

Medical support was arranged for the wounded, who were reportedly taken to the airport's medical center for further evaluation and treatment.

An Air India spokesperson said no one was seriously injured. “There have been no serious injuries as of now. A small number of passengers and crew members with minor injuries requiring medical assessment have been taken to a medical facility at the airport for precautionary examination and care by Air India’s airport team and medical personnel,” the airline stated.

"The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain Air India's highest priority. We are extending every possible support to those affected and are fully cooperating with the relevant authorities in the investigation," an Air India spokesperson said.

The US Army has used up much of its stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles during its five-month war with Iran, according to three people familiar with the data, raising concerns about the military’s readiness for future conflicts.

The missiles are principally the Army's surface-to-surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM). The US has used "virtually all" of these weapons, according to two of the sources.

The degree to which the military is running out of ATACMS and Precision Strike Missiles has not been previously reported.

The long-range munitions – which cost more than $1 million each – are an important part of the military's arsenal, allowing accurate strikes from a safe distance. US-supplied ATACMS have played a key role in the war in Ukraine, allowing Ukrainian forces to attack targets inside Russia. The PrSM is a newer, more advanced generation that will replace the ATACMS, which have a shorter range.

The dramatic rundown in precision, long-range missiles means US President Donald Trump may have to rely more on riskier, piloted bombing missions if he relaunches large-scale attacks on Iran.

The sources declined to say how many of each munition the US had left.

Trump launched the Iran war jointly with Israel in February, predicting that the conflict would last a short time.

But as the war drags on, the three people familiar with the matter expressed worry that the falling missile supplies could limit the US ability to deter adversaries, including Russia and China.

A fourth person familiar with the matter said that while US Central Command (CENTCOM) – which oversees US forces in the Middle East – has nearly used up the land-based missiles it had before the war began, it has been able to reload from US military supplies elsewhere in the world.

The sources interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Asked for comment on the stockpile data, the White House issued a statement from Trump, saying the US had “far more munitions than anyone in the world” and “far more than we need.”

"Our defense companies are, at this moment, making more munitions than they have ever made before, in addition to expanding their plants and equipment at record levels," Trump said.

Analysts agree that certain munitions, including artillery shells and several types of missiles, are being produced at record levels but caution that supplies might fall short of what is needed for a prolonged war.

Lockheed Martin, which makes the ATACMS and PrSMs, along with the anti-ballistic missile THAAD system, did not immediately respond to questions about Trump’s statements or about supply levels. Raytheon, which makes Tomahawk missiles and Patriot interceptors, two important US weapons, also did not immediately respond.

Responding to a request for comment, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said: “America’s military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing. We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the US military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests.”

The supply figures have circulated inside the federal government over the last week during tense conversations inside the Trump administration about how much longer the US can continue striking Iran without drawing down the stockpile to levels that would limit the military's ability to respond to crises elsewhere.

One of the sources said the drawdown of the ATACMS and PrSM stockpiles reflected a decision by the Trump administration to avoid riskier ways of attacking Iranian targets, such as by using piloted aircraft to drop bombs.

Because these weapons allow the military to attack targets from a distance, analysts say they would be valuable in a war against an adversary with strong air defenses, such as China. They have been used to strike targets inside Iran, according to a March report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

According to the report, PrSM stockpiles were low to start with, since it is a relatively new munition, but the US military has ordered a large number of them for 2027. The Army has said that ATACMS are being phased out and that production is shifting to the newer PrSM missiles.

Military leaders have for weeks warned the president that stockpiles of defensive weapons – including Patriot interceptors, which are effective against ballistic missiles – were dwindling, said two of the sources. Last week, several media outlets reported Trump had decided not to launch another massive offensive inside Iran in part because his military advisers had warned about the US stockpile.

A US official disputed those accounts, saying Trump chose not to move forward with another attack because of pressure from Gulf states.

The Middle East conflict has sparked intense debate about Trump's authority to prosecute hostilities against Iran without congressional authorization. No request for a declaration of war or an authorization to use military force has been submitted to Congress.

Last week, CSIS published a report estimating that between February and July about 65% of Patriot interceptors had been expended and that the number of THAAD ballistic missile interceptors in US stockpiles was at least 38% lower than at the start of the war. Patriots and THAADs are systems that detect and destroy incoming missiles and are among the most effective in the country's arsenal.

While Reuters has not seen the supply figures, those numbers match internal US data, two of the sources said.

The US also burned through a little less than half of its global supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are generally launched from ships, since the start of the war, one of the sources said.

Reuters could not independently verify that number.

The Tomahawk is a Navy weapon, launched from destroyers, cruisers and submarines, and has long served as the sea service's principal means of striking heavily defended targets without risking pilots.

Raytheon, a unit of RTX, has reached a tentative multi-year agreement with the Pentagon aimed at boosting Tomahawk production, alongside increases in other munitions, as Washington races to rebuild stockpiles.

Wildfires raging on the outskirts of Spokane, Washington, for a third day have destroyed at least 700 buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in and around the state’s second-most populous city, officials said on Monday.

The cluster of three blazes ranks as the top firefighting priority in the US as a whole, including the drought-parched Pacific Northwest, where dozens of major wildfires have been burning for weeks, degrading air quality across a wide region.

The Spokane-area fires have scorched more than 8,000 acres since erupting on Saturday in and around suburbs on the northern fringe of the city, home to about 230,000 residents west of the Rocky Mountain foothills near the Idaho border.

As of Monday, some 64,000 people were under immediate evacuation orders, up from 4,000 a day earlier, according to Benjamin Cossel, a spokesperson for the incident command center.

At least 700 structures have gone up in flames, most of them in residential areas, and aerial infrared surveys showed that possibly another 400 buildings, including homes, had been damaged or destroyed, Cossel said.

The cause of the blazes was under investigation.

No injuries or fatalities have been reported so far, he said, adding, "There's a high probability that will change in the coming days" as flames subside and search teams are able to reach devastated communities still inaccessible due to extreme fire activity.

An unspecified number of people have been reported missing as flames spread out of wooded areas into neighborhoods and commercially developed areas, "turning from a wildfire to an urban conflagration," he said.

Roughly 1,100 firefighters were battling the Spokane blazes as of Monday, Cossel said, a fraction of the more than 29,200 personnel assigned to wildfires nationwide, most heavily concentrated in Oregon, Washington state and Idaho, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise.

The agency reported more than 100 large new wildfires on Sunday across 15 states, the bulk of them in the Northwest, stretching resources thin across the region.

North of the US-Canadian border, flames continued to rage across British Columbia, where record drought conditions have led to what officials over the weekend called "explosive" fire behavior in the southern part of that province.

Aerial firefighting assets in Spokane were so far limited to four fixed-wing tanker aircraft, with no water-dropping helicopters currently available, Cossel said.

Fire managers hoped their crews could make greater headway during a narrow window of cooler, less windy weather expected to prevail on Monday and Tuesday, before extremely high temperatures, low humidity and gusty conditions are forecast to return at midweek, Cossel said.

Even though fire activity in some spots has eased in comparison with Sunday, authorities were reluctant to lift evacuations in most of the fire zone.

"The worst thing in the world is to let people go home only to have to evacuate them again 24 to 48 hours later," Cossel said.

As of Monday, firefighters had yet to contain any of the three Spokane-area blazes, officials said.

The Interagency Fire Center has documented a total of 44,722 wildfires year to date nationwide, the highest number for this time of the year in at least a decade, with nearly 5.2 million acres consumed, the most from January to early August since 2022.

The conditions driving the increase in wildfire activity in North America, Europe, and elsewhere in recent years, especially periods of prolonged drought and extreme heat, are largely a function of human-caused climate change, according to scientists.

Spanish authorities should have anticipated the consequences of a court ruling that weakened a key deterrent against illegal migration and contributed to last week’s mass crossings into the enclave of Ceuta in northern Morocco, a senior Moroccan official said on Monday.

Spain estimates that about 69,500 migrants have returned from Ceuta to Morocco since last week’s crossing, while Moroccan authorities say about 40,000 people entered the enclave.

The death toll stands at 72 on the Spanish side of the border and 11 on the Moroccan side.

Ceuta Regional President Juan Jesus Vivas accused Rabat of having "encouraged and permitted" the influx, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned against any attempt to use irregular migration to pressure an EU member state.

The local authorities in Ceuta should have anticipated the consequences of a ruling that deactivated illegal migration deterrence, the senior government official told reporters in a first briefing since the crisis unfolded.

The Spanish ruling on July 8 limited the immediate return of migrants who reach the Spanish enclaves by sea.

Morocco had not relaxed border controls or reduced security deployments before the mass crossing on Thursday, he said.

Morocco's migration-control approach rests on prevention through the deployment of around 24,000 security personnel along its northern coast and deterrence through rapid readmissions for migrants who enter Spanish territory illegally.

The July ruling was quickly used by trafficking networks, he said.

"The message became just cross and you will be protected," he said. "Europe asks us to stop migrants from crossing, but on the other side they roll the red carpet when they cross!"

Rabat stopped 79,000 attempted crossings in 2024 and 74,000 last year, according to official figures.

He described Moroccan-Spanish cooperation on border control as "exemplary" until the ruling disrupted years of consistency.

"It is up to Spain to find a solution to restore deterrence," he said.

"Morocco will never be complicit in a purely security-based approach to migration," he said.

Cuba’s national electrical grid collapsed again on Monday, state-run media reported, as the government was trying to reestablish the system following a country-wide blackout on Sunday night.

Cuba’s aging power generation system is under severe strain from fuel shortages, deteriorating infrastructure and a US-imposed oil blockade.

Blackouts affecting the entire island, home to about 10 million people, have become increasingly frequent in recent months.

Three outages hit Cuba over the course of nine days in July, followed by the outage on Sunday just before 11 p.m. local time.

"Despite the progress made today, an oscillation triggered the collapse," said Lazaro Manuel Alonso, news director of Cuba's state-run television, in a post shared via social media.

A US-imposed oil blockade, after Trump’s administration deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, has crippled the island’s already aging energy infrastructure.

Venezuela was Cuba's primary fuel supplier, and subsequent US pressure also led Mexico to halt oil shipments to the island.Havana blames a decades-old US trade embargo for its failing infrastructure, while Washington says the blackouts are due to the mismanagement of Cuba's state-run economy.