EUROPE - Since mid-July wildfires have torn through France, Spain, and Portugal forcing more than 300,000 people to evacuate their homes. Officials in the Spanish capital Madrid have said the fires are the worst the region has ever experienced. French President Emmanuel Macron, visiting the fire-ravaged area in the Gironde region, called the "completely unprecedented" wildfire the "toughest since World War Two". The fires have broken out amid a sweltering summer of heatwaves across Europe. Both France and Spain are now seeing another sharp rise in temperatures, with peaks of 41-42C expected in France. Wildfires in the regions outside Madrid have burned about 606 sq miles (1570 sq km) since 1 July, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). That is an area more than twice as large as the city itself.

USA - Donald Trump says he has pulled back from a major assault on Iran because a peace deal may be close. The US president announced on Truth Social late on Saturday night that he had paused the attack, which he had claimed would include the heaviest strikes of the war, at Tehran’s request, “subject to being able to rapidly make a deal”. Mr Trump said: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to. This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.” He added that he had agreed to Tehran’s proposal “for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran”. However, Mr Trump warned the Iranian regime that the US remained “locked and loaded and ready to go”.

SAUDI ARABIA - While Riyadh has adopted a new muscular approach, the UAE has moved towards dialogue and Oman is trying to position itself as neutral. Early on Wednesday in the skies above Iraq, the geopolitics of the Gulf were shifting. Fighter jets from the Saudi air force were flying alongside their US counterparts, in a joint operation against Iranian proxy militias. For the first time in the conflict, Saudi Arabia had explicitly moved from defensive to offensive.

MIDDLE EAST - Hamas disarming? Believe it when you see it. Those were the words on the lips of all sensible observers as the latest Donald Trump stunt was announced. Hamas disarming? It’s about as convincing as a crocodile going vegan. If you don’t believe me, believe Hamas, which has never publicly committed to demilitarisation. In an interview with Al Jazeera earlier this year, the senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said that the concession “never happened”. He added: “Not for a single moment did we talk about the surrender of weapons, or any formula about destroying, surrendering, or disarmament.” If Hamas was not disarmed in two years of war, Abu Marzouk continued, “how can they obtain it through negotiations?” It could hardly be clearer, could it?

UK - Most shoppers are filling their trolleys with barbecue food during one of the hottest summers on record – but Morrisons has been ridiculed this week for selling Christmas treats in July. The supermarket was understood to be selling Cadbury Dairy Milk advent calendars in one of its stores on July 31. Retail experts believe it is the earliest time the festive chocolates have ever appeared on shelves.

USA - Americans have been told to be 'ready' to flee ten Middle Eastern countries as the Iran war spirals, with President Trump warning: 'We'll be hitting them very hard.' The US Embassy has urgently advised US citizens across the Middle East to 'consider departing or be ready to depart if there is an escalation,' just hours after Trump signaled fresh strikes on Iran could come as soon as this weekend. The warning now covers 10 countries: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and, most recently, Egypt. It comes after sources told CBS News on Friday that the US and Israel are preparing what was described as 'one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date' against Iran's energy infrastructure.

SPAIN - About 60,000 Moroccans have in the last 24 hours illegally breached the borders of the Spanish city of Ceuta. For comparison, the population of Ceuta is 83,000, meaning that if the flow of crossings remains constant then the city will soon have a majority population of illegal immigrants. This small piece of Europe on the continent of Africa is technically part of Schengen, which has prompted calls from politicians such as Giorgia Meloni to suspend freedom of movement with Spain. A European Union with no internal borders can only survive if its members have strong external borders. The crisis in Ceuta therefore threatens the EU itself.

ITALY - The Italian government on Friday announced the suspension of free travel with Spain amid the storming of the country's African exclaves by migrants from Morocco. Tens of thousands of people have overrun the borders between Spain and Morocco and Melilla and Ceuta this week, with footage of violent riots going viral. Italy, which has sought to curb illegal immigration to Europe, previously warned that it could suspend freedom of movement if Madrid failed to deal with the situation. Spain and Italy are both part of the Schengen Area, a freedom-of-movement zone of primarily European Union members. Rome formally made the move on Friday, the Telegraph reported.

EUROPE - It’s ironic that the Ceuta surge came as illegal crossings into Europe were falling. Schengen members want it to stay that way. The sharp response from Spain’s EU neighbours to the influx of about 60,000 migrants into Ceuta has highlighted long-simmering tensions over migration and the Schengen agreement, which allows passport-free travel between 29 European nations. Europe’s leaders seem worried that pictures and videos of the dramatic scenes in Ceuta, a small Spanish territory in north Africa, will stir memories of the 2015 migrant crisis that upended the continent’s politics, fuelling greater support for right-wing populist parties in multiple countries. Mindful of this legacy, many EU countries have united in their criticism of Spain and left Pedro Sánchez, the country’s Socialist prime minister, increasingly isolated on the left.

SOUTH KOREA - According to a report from 24/7 Wall St, South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index plunged 10.84 percent overnight, delivering a sharp jolt to global semiconductor investors and sending shockwaves through US premarket trading. Memory chip giants led the collapse. Samsung Electronics sank 13.39 percent while SK Hynix tumbled 14.65 percent. The sell-off quickly crossed the Pacific. As of 6:30am Eastern time, Nasdaq futures were down 0.84 percent and semiconductor names were falling even harder, even as Dow futures edged up 0.21 percent.

UK - BP is putting its North Sea business up for sale as it seeks to end six decades of oil and gas production in the basin. Ministers were told the bombshell announcement this morning should serve as a 'deadly serious wake up call' over the future of Britain's huge natural resource. The move has been blamed on the impact of punitive taxes and the Government's Net Zero drive, which has been spearheaded by Labour's Ed Miliband. It comes just a day after Prime Minister Andy Burnham admitted that North Sea oil revenues could ease the cost of living crisis. Experts have predicted that lifting the ban imposed by Mr Miliband when he was energy secretary could generate £25 billion in extra tax revenues for the UK over the next decade and support thousands of jobs.

IRAN - Iran has warned that it stands fully prepared to target key Israeli infrastructure and American energy installations throughout the region should it come under attack, following reports that Washington and Tel Aviv may be coordinating new military operations against the Islamic Republic. A senior Iranian security official told Tasnim News Agency on Friday that Western media reports regarding prospective strikes on Iranian infrastructure represented “a kind of madness”. According to Tasnim, the official stated that Tehran has formulated comprehensive retaliatory strategies encompassing strikes on critical installations in Israel and US energy assets across the Middle East, asserting that Iran maintains complete readiness to execute these measures if provoked.

MIDDLE EAST - To the ears of those who have been brought up with Western values, it may sound natural to separate Islam from Sharia. But the two are inseparable. Islam is a complete system of belief, worship, law, morality, family life and public order. The word “Islam” means submission or surrender to the will of Allah. Sharia is the practical embodiment of that surrender, Mohamad Faridi explains. A Muslim is “one who has surrendered.” The will of Allah is not primarily a matter of inner spirituality or personal interpretation. It is explicitly and comprehensively revealed in the Quran – regarded as the literal, verbatim words of Allah – and in the Sunnah, the example of Muhammad preserved in Hadith literature. Sharia is not limited to prayer, fasting, and charity (the Five Pillars, which are themselves part of Sharia). It is a total system regulating family law, diet, dress code, inheritance, criminal justice (hudud punishments), finance, governance, warfare, and social relations with non-Muslims.

IRAN - President Trump has repeatedly said that China's President Xi Jinping has directly assured him that Beijing will not supply Iran with weaponry or military support. But this week these 'assurances' have been called into question by an Reuters investigation. "Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told ​Reuters, as it rebuilds its defenses amid war with the United States," the fresh report says. As for Reuters' findings, Beijing as expected has blasted them as lies. China's Foreign Ministry said in response: "The relevant reports are completely groundless. China has consistently played a role ⁠in promoting peace and ending the conflict."

YEMEN - The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Iran are reportedly considering a plan to extort “fees” for safe passage of international shipping vessels in the Red Sea, modeled on Iran’s plans to collect ransoms for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters on Wednesday quoted “regional sources with knowledge of the matter” who said the Houthis are contemplating a plan to impose “fees” on ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.