Japan is still digging people out of a collapsed mall after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake. Spain deployed its military to Ceuta after thousands crossed from Morocco in a single night. And Peru has its first female president in 26 years. Here is what happened since the last Fast Read.
Japan Earthquake: Mall Collapses in Kumamoto. Death Toll Rising.
On Tuesday, July 28, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Japan's Kyushu island, registering shindo 7 -- the highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale -- across parts of Kumamoto Prefecture. A gas explosion followed the shaking at the Aeon Mall in Kashima Town, causing part of the second floor to collapse. Between 20 and 30 mall employees were initially unaccounted for, according to NHK citing local police. Rescue teams worked through the night. As of Wednesday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirmed at least 14 people dead, with CNN reporting the figure had climbed to 18 by Thursday.
The wider damage is extensive. Highway overpasses on the Kyushu Expressway sustained significant structural damage. A section of the wall around Kumamoto Castle -- itself still being rebuilt after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes -- collapsed again. A hospital in Yatsushiro took in around 40 injured. The Kyushu Shinkansen line suspended all operations after the quake. Around 15,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters, with Japan's Self-Defense Forces airlifting air coolers to 400 centres as temperatures in the region reached 35 degrees Celsius. A tsunami advisory was issued and lifted within two hours. Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority confirmed no abnormalities at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in neighbouring Kagoshima Prefecture.
The Aeon Mall collapse is the focal point of the rescue operation. Japan Times reported that all known individuals trapped in the building had been recovered dead or alive as of July 30, but search operations are continuing across Yatsushiro, where 32 homes collapsed. The 2026 Kumamoto earthquake is the strongest to hit the region since 2016, when a similar sequence killed 50 people and left over 100,000 displaced.
Spain Deployed Its Military to Ceuta. At Least Nine Died Crossing From Morocco.
On Thursday, July 30, thousands of migrants breached the border fence and coastal barriers separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Many swam around the coastal barriers; others scaled the fence. The surge boiled over after weeks of pressure on Ceuta's reception centres, which had already been overwhelmed with over 1,500 arrivals in the previous week alone. Spain's Interior Ministry confirmed at least nine deaths during the crossings, according to AP. NPR later reported the figure had risen to at least 18.
Spain's government announced it would deploy the armed forces to help the Civil Guard "maintain security in the city of Ceuta." Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced he and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska would travel to Ceuta on Friday. The head of Ceuta's regional government, Juan Jesus Vivas, asked Madrid to declare a national emergency over migration concerns. Madrid declined, saying an emergency declaration over migration was not legally supported. Moroccan police were reported to be cooperating with efforts to manage the border, and the Spanish Interior Ministry said both governments are working to return those who crossed illegally as quickly as possible.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend the Schengen open-border agreement with Spain in response to the influx, warning she would act "to defend our borders." Italy does not share a land or sea border with Spain, but the comment reflects how rapidly European governments react when large-scale migration events occur at the EU's external frontier. Ceuta has been a Spanish possession since 1580. It sits on Morocco's Mediterranean coast and has long been one of Europe's most active migration entry points. What triggered this week's surge has not been officially confirmed.
Keiko Fujimori Is Peru's President. She Inherited a Country on Its Ninth Leader in a Decade.
On Tuesday, July 28, Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as Peru's president in Lima, becoming the country's first female head of state and the ninth president in ten years. She won June's runoff election against left-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez by fewer than 50,000 votes -- a margin that confirms how evenly divided Peru remains. Hundreds of her opponents protested outside Congress on inauguration day.
Fujimori, 51, is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who governed Peru in the 1990s, defeated the Shining Path insurgency, and stabilised the economy, but was later imprisoned for human rights abuses committed by the military under his rule. He was pardoned in 2023 and died the following year. Keiko Fujimori has run for president four times. Her campaign ran on a promise to fight crime with an "iron fist," including a proposal to build a megaprison modelled on El Salvador's Cecot facility. In her inaugural address, she said she would reopen dialogue with Peru's armed forces on security operations.
Peru's record over the past decade is striking in a way that context alone can explain: only three of its last nine presidents were elected by popular vote. The rest resigned or were removed by congress, most over corruption cases. Whether Fujimori can break that pattern is the defining question of her presidency, and one that Peruvians have been asking about each of her predecessors in turn.
Iran Strikes Remain Paused. Oil Fell Back. Talks Are Still Unconfirmed.
For a second consecutive night as of Thursday, July 31, the US did not conduct strikes on Iran. Brent crude fell to $86.30 a barrel from its $101 peak last week, according to Profile News citing futures data, as markets priced in the possibility that the pause may hold. Iran's army confirmed it has also halted retaliatory operations, saying its posture is "entirely retaliatory" and that it stopped when the US stopped.
An unnamed regional mediator told AP that both sides want to return to the framework of the June 17 memorandum of understanding, with a compromise centring on Iran managing Strait of Hormuz transit with fewer restrictions. No talks have been publicly confirmed or scheduled. Trump said Friday he was "not in a hurry" to resume strikes. Iran's foreign minister said any new framework must address the Strait's status definitively, and that the blockade the US reinstated on July 14 must be lifted before serious negotiations can proceed. The two positions are not reconciled. The pause is real. Whether it becomes something more is not yet clear.
Taken together, the past four days have brought a natural disaster, a border crisis, a presidential inauguration, and a fragile military pause in the Middle East -- all unfolding at the same time, with no obvious connection between them except the reminder that the world does not wait for one story to resolve before starting the next.
If you like our Fast Read series, Read More from the same series:
Fast Read: Five Stories Shaping the World This Week
Fast Read: Iran Deal Signed, G7 Ends Without Breakthrough, Colombia Votes in Four Days
Fast Read: Four Signals Reshaping Global Politics
Santhosh Vishwamitra
Web Developer and Founder of Vishwamitra Chronicles, launched in February 2026.
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