00:00U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz,
00:05a claim Iran has disputed as traffic on the strategic waterway, thanks to a three-month move.
00:10Japan slammed Russia over what it deemed a provocative move
00:13after President Vladimir Putin made his first visit to the disputed Kyrill Islands on Thursday.
00:20Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to seize ships belonging to European countries
00:25in retaliation for plans to intercept and seize sanctioned Russian vessels.
00:30Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to seize ships belonging to European countries
00:35in retaliation for plans to intercept and seize sanctioned Russian vessels.
00:40A total solar eclipse plunged parts of Europe into darkness,
00:44from the remote Arctic region of northern Russia to parts of Greenland, Iceland and Spain.
00:50U.S. President Donald Trump has said Washington is in control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz
00:56and will keep it, even as transit through the arterial waterway fell to a one-week low.
01:03Writing on his social media platform on Wednesday, Trump hailed the U.S. naval blockade,
01:09describing it as, quote, wall of steel.
01:12His claim follows an earlier one made on Tuesday as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict
01:19and fully reopened the Strait have continued to stall.
01:23However, Iran has again rejected Trump's latest claims.
01:26According to a post on X by Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority,
01:30the Strait of Hormuz, quote,
01:32remains blocked and will not be opened until Iran's conditions are accepted.
01:37Amid their contradictory claims, data from a trade intelligence firm
01:41revealed that maritime traffic via the Strait of Hormuz
01:44was close to a three-month low.
01:46Only 13 ships passed across the Strait on Tuesday,
01:50around 90 percent fewer than the daily average of 130
01:54prior to the U.S. and Israel attacking Iran on February 28,
01:59after which Tehran effectively closed the Strait.
02:05Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited the far eastern Kouril Islands
02:10for the first time on Thursday,
02:11prompting strong protests from Japan,
02:14which also claims the territory.
02:16Japan's top diplomat Toshimitsu Motegi slammed the visit,
02:20stressing that the islands,
02:21which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories,
02:24are inherently theirs,
02:26both historically and under international law.
02:29Russian state media posted videos of Putin on Iturub,
02:32the largest of the disputed islands,
02:35visiting a school, a hospital,
02:36and a fish processing complex,
02:38where he sampled caviar.
02:40The Russian leader's top came after a brief visit to Sakhalin,
02:44a nearby Russian island where the Navy was conducting drills.
02:48In Sakhalin, Putin held a meeting on, quote,
02:51ensuring the security of Russia's eastern borders.
02:55The Kouril archipelago was seized by Russia in August 1945,
02:59just days after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan
03:02in the dying stretch of World War II.
03:05The mineral-rich islands have grown in strategic importance to the Kremlin,
03:09providing them with military bases and fishing grounds.
03:12The islands were previously home to some 17,000 Japanese,
03:17whom Russia deported shortly after annexation,
03:20and are today home to around 20,000 Russian citizens.
03:24Relations between Moscow and Tokyo have remained sour since,
03:28especially after Russia sought closer ties with China and North Korea,
03:31whom Tokyo has had turbulent relations with.
03:34The last visit by a Kremlin head of state to the islands was back in 2010,
03:39by then-President Dmitry Medvedev,
03:42who later revisited several times as prime minister.
03:49Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to seize ships belonging to European countries
03:55in retaliation for plans to intercept and seize Russian vessels
03:59suspected of being part of Moscow's so-called shadow fleet.
04:03New sanctions passed last month now permit EU members to sell the oil
04:08or any other cargo seized from these vessels.
04:11Putin slammed the move, calling it piracy.
04:15We see that the authorities and the left of some certain parts
04:17in the violation of the international rights of the international rights
04:21trying to stop the movement of our economic operators in order to reduce our economic operators.
04:27We have to call them.
04:29They have to ask them about the opportunity to take our top of our court
04:34and sell our net, which is the number of our own businesses.
04:39It is not that it is, but that it is a piracy and the land.
04:43and if this will begin to be done in practice, we will have to answer the question.
04:50Several European countries have intercepted ships that were carrying Russian oil or other cargo.
04:56These vessels are often old and in poor condition and are used to circumvent Western sanctions on Russia.
05:03One of such vessels seized was a Russian ship suspected of transporting grain from occupied Ukraine.
05:09Swedish court documents showed Stockholm will transfer the ship to Kyiv.
05:18Colombian rescuers are racing against time to find more survivors
05:21after the devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 216 people.
05:27A 32-year-old woman was recently pulled alive from a collapsed building,
05:31sparking cheers as exhausted crews continue searching for survivors.
05:36Across Western Colombia, soldiers, firefighters and volunteers used cranes, sniffer dogs
05:41and heavy machinery to search collapsed buildings.
05:45In Cali, residents also dug through rubble with pigs, shovels and their bare hands.
05:51Beyond the rescue effort, many families spent the night outdoors
05:55as aftershocks rattled damaged neighborhoods.
05:58A park in Perriera became a makeshift shelter for people who had lost their homes.
06:05The earthquake also damaged a hospital in Cali, forcing doctors to treat some patients outside.
06:13President Abelardo de la Esperiella declared a state of emergency and promised rent subsidies.
06:22Following the migration crisis where tens of thousands of people forced their way into the Spanish enclave of Sota
06:27on 30 and 31st of July,
06:30Morocco's National Human Rights Council has presented a report accusing the Spanish police of assaulting those migrants
06:36with allegations of mistreatment that, according to the text, occurred out of camera view.
06:44This is not the first time this council has pinned the responsibility on the Spanish authorities for keeping gates closed,
06:50as it targeted Spain in 2022 after the Melilla border offense was stormed,
06:55which resulted in the death of 23 people.
07:00The latest accusation comes just one day after Sota received Foreign Minister José Amal Albares,
07:05who traveled on Tuesday and emphasized cooperation with Morocco to return migrants who entered illegally.
07:11La integridad del espacio Schengen está totalmente garantizada en Ceuta y en Melilla.
07:18Y también, igualmente, aprovecho para plantear en Europa la necesidad de reforzar el apoyo a Ceuta,
07:24también a Melilla, y de que se tenga en cuenta su especificidad también desde un punto de vista social y
07:31económica.
07:32But these positive words toward Morocco came while the neighboring country claims sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla,
07:39two autonomous cities that have never belonged to Morocco, despite being in Africa.
07:44The Spanish minister, who has avoided confrontation with his southern neighbor,
07:48promised that every single person who crossed irregularly would be returned to Morocco,
07:52a message also directed at the other 26 EU member states that have criticized Spain's migration policies.
08:05On Wednesday, a total solar eclipse plunged parts of Europe into darkness.
08:10The rare event drew crowds outdoors with specialist eclipse glasses selling out
08:15and many people even traveling to Spain, Portugal or Iceland to witness it.
08:21The moon first blotted out the sun in the remote Arctic region of northern Russia.
08:26It then passed down through parts of Greenland and Iceland.
08:30The eclipse plunged western Iceland into complete darkness,
08:34although heavy cloud cover and rain blocked visibility of the sun disappearing behind the moon.
08:40Meanwhile, excitement built in Spain, where day also briefly turned into night.
08:45The country witnessed its first total solar eclipse in more than a century.
08:51But as always, the phenomenon was only short-lived.
08:54In parts of Russia and Greenland, the total eclipse lasted under two and a half minutes.
08:59For observers in Spain, it lasted less than two minutes just before sunset.
09:04The partial eclipse process, however, lasted much longer,
09:08roughly one hour and 45 minutes, as the moon crossed the sun's path.
09:18Standing eight hours per day in an archaeological site with no shade
09:22or leading a city tour by 30 degrees in the midst of the touristic season
09:27and while Europe is facing record-breaking temperatures,
09:30several tourist guides wander on the front line during heat waves
09:33and they face the consequences.
09:36Last summer, a 56-year-old guide died after collapsing
09:39while leading a visit of the Colosseum in Rome in scorching heat.
09:56The French guide says, while self-employed tourist guides may ask their customers
10:00to cancel or postpone the visit because of the heat,
10:03it is often not an option for guides working for intermediaries
10:06since the visits are sometimes booked well in advance.
10:09La plupart du temps, on travaille pour une agence, un tour opérateur, un croisiériste,
10:13enfin, ça peut être très varié, comme je disais avant.
10:16Et là, c'est eux qui choisissent, très clairement,
10:18et la plupart du temps, c'est pas annulé, mais ça arrive.
10:22Instead of cancelling a visit, some of his colleagues have, for instance,
10:25asked their employers to turn a bike tour into a bus tour
10:28or to replace a walking tour of the city by a visit of an air-conditioned museum.
10:33Gabriel says this change is also in the interest of the visitors
10:36as most of his customers are above 60 years old
10:40and some do not support the heat.
10:41Meanwhile, while the UK is set to face its hottest summer on record,
10:45the head of training for the European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations
10:49says sites should extend their opening hours
10:52to allow early and late visits during the coolest part of the day.
10:56In Greece, a lot of museums and open-air sites open very early in the morning
11:02and they remain open until 8, 9 o'clock in the evening
11:07so people can visit at times which are more comfortable
11:13rather than in the midday sun.
11:17Demis also encourages museums and sites to build covers
11:21for groups to wait in the shade while queuing to enter
11:24or when stopping for explanations.
11:26Other solutions include distributing water bottles,
11:29increasing the number of public water fountains
11:31and installing misters to cool visitors down.
11:33While heat waves are set to become more intense
11:36and more frequent due to climate change,
11:38visitors could also favour a trip in May or September
11:41rather than at the height of summer.
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