Europe braces for Super El Niño as scientists warn extreme weather could intensify
Europe is enduring its most intense early summer heatwave on record, with temperatures exceeding 40°C in several countries and breaking local June records across southern and western Europe. Next up is a super El Nino that is appearning now.
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Milei's Mercosur snub exposes the bloc's deepening fault lines
Argentina's Milei ghosted the 68th Mercosur summit in Luque to avoid facing Lula after hosting Flávio Bolsonaro in Buenos Aires, as Paraguay fought to stop Buenos Aires from hoarding EU export quotas. The bloc's unity is eroding in real time.
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Xi looks beyond Putin as Beijing quietly prepares for post-Putin Russia
Russia's president Putin will not live forever and Chinese President Xi is already looking beyond, to a post-Putin world. But that is part of a longer-term plan to make a lasting multipolar order.
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COMMENT: Ukraine may take the war to Russian LNG
An attack on Yamal LNG would be a market-shaking scenario, particularly for Europe.
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China challenges dollar dominance with Africa-wide yuan clearing hub
China appoints Standard Bank and ICBC to operate Africa's first continent-wide yuan clearing hub, deepening renminbi trade settlement and challenging the greenback's dominance in China-Africa commerce.
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New aftershocks rattle Venezuela's quake zone as death toll nears 1,500
A new earthquake shook Venezuela's devastated coast on June 29, five days after twin quakes flattened entire neighbourhoods, as the death toll climbed to at least 1,450 and the window for finding survivors alive in the rubble effectively closed.
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North Korea's unlikely economic revival reshapes life in Pyongyang as Russia and China deepen support
Pariah no longer, since the war in Ukraine started, Russian and Chinese money has poured into Pyongyang, fuelling a rapid economic development and unexpected real estate boom in a country better known for repression and poverty.
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COMMENT: Steadily but surely, Erdogan has broken with Putin
In a quiet realignment, Turkey is newly enthusiastic about Nato.
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