USA - Two people have been killed after flash flooding hit New Jersey and New York, as parts of the northeastern US braced for more harsh weather. Torrential rain lashed the area on Monday night, with a flash flood warning issued for all five boroughs of New York City and a state of emergency declared in New Jersey. Two people died in the state when their vehicle was swept into a river, with emergency responders at the scene unable to save them, local officials said. Phil Murphy, the state’s governor, urged residents to “stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel”. Airports across the East Coast also faced widespread disruption. A total of 1,966 flights were cancelled and more than 10,000 were delayed.

UK - Is the secret of artificial intelligence that we have to kid ourselves, like an audience at a magic show? Some fascinating new research suggests that self-deception plays a key role in whether AI is perceived to be a success or a dud. In a randomised controlled trial – the first of its kind – experienced computer programmers could use AI tools to help them write code. What the trial revealed was a vast amount of self-deception. “The results surprised us,” research lab METR reported. “Developers thought they were 20 percent faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19 percent slower when they had access to AI than when they didn’t.”

USA - After stepping off the plane in Nashville, having paid far more than expected for your flight, the rental car desk awaits. Four days with a Toyota Camry costs $670. A Starbucks coffee on the way to the hotel is another $7. Your budget hotel somehow costs $500 for the weekend, breakfast not included. Eating out for dinner means the day’s spending is comfortably into four figures. Welcome to America in the summer of 2025, where years of surging prices have left consumers struggling with widespread sticker shock. Inflation, which began to rise sharply in 2021, has significantly increased the cost of just about everything. Overall, prices are about 26 per cent higher than they were before the Covid pandemic, according to the personal finance company NerdWallet. There is a strong sense among American families and tourists that costs are becoming uncontrollable, hitting households of all income levels. The rising price of holidays, groceries and fuel are among the most visceral everyday examples of the soaring cost of living.

UK - Where is the next Greece, a country that will spark a global financial crisis? Over the last 15 years there have been plenty of different potential candidates. Turkey, perhaps, with its out-of-control inflation. Or France, with its huge budget deficits and rioters who block any reforms. Or even the United States, with an erratic president at war with the central bank. You could make a plausible case for worrying about any of them. And yet, over the last week it has become painfully clear that the next Greece is Britain – and the warning signs are already in place.

NETHERLANDS - It was the first country to develop a stock market. And it was among the first to create joint stock companies, global banking, and trading houses that could span continents. The Netherlands has always been one of the pioneers of business and capitalism, a place where new ideas are perfected. The trouble is, it is now pioneering something entirely different in electricity rationing, a policy that will make it very hard for companies to operate in and impossible to expand. And let’s not kid ourselves. Now that rationing has been imposed by the Dutch, it will almost inevitably be imposed in Britain as well, with catastrophic consequences for the economy.

IRAN - Iran said it will hold talks with its main Asian partners, Russia and China, on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on Tuesday, as Tehran looks for support following a 12-day air war with Israel last month. “We will have bilateral meetings with the Chinese foreign minister, which naturally has its own importance in the current situation, as well as with the Russian foreign minister,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said on Telegram. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. Tianjin, in northern China, is hosting the 25th SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting. Since the re-imposition of American sanctions on Iran during US President Donald Trump’s first term, Tehran has deepened ties with both Moscow through a 20-year strategic pact and Beijing, which buys as much as 90% of Iranian oil exports.

UK - This is what happened to the Scottish nurse Sandie Peggie. When she objected to his presence, she was suspended from work. Peggie brought a claim for sex discrimination and harassment against her employer, NHS Fife, and the trans-identifying male doctor who insisted on using women’s facilities. The tribunal ran out of time in February, and her hearing resumes this week. In the meantime, there has been a seismic change in the legal landscape. In April the Supreme Court ruled that in the Equality Act, “woman” means a biological female, so a “women’s changing room” is only for females - and always was. This sounds like a slam dunk for Nurse Peggie. But NHS Fife has given no sign that it understands employers aren’t legally allowed to let men use women’s spaces, even if those men “identify” as women. It seems set to continue defending the case, at huge public expense.

USA - This is not normal! We just had four “1-In-1,000-year storms” in a single week! What is it going to take for people to finally wake up? I am old enough to remember when “1-in-1,000-year storms” were actually rare. These days, we are constantly being hit by them. In fact, here in the United States we just witnessed four in a single week. This is not normal. In fact, this is not even close to normal. We just keep getting pummeled by major disaster after major disaster, and yet most people act as if all of this is just temporary and weather patterns will eventually become stable again. I had never heard of four “1-in-1,000-year storms” occurring during a single week.

IRAN - An Iranian movement has reportedly raised more than $40 million for the assassination of President Donald Trump, as the country’s senior religious clerics make clear that "every cell of the resistance in the West is charged with carrying out this sentence." Iranian leaders recently issued two death warrants, or fatwas, against Trump and deemed him an "enemy of Allah" who must be killed. Those calls prompted the creation of a new organization dubbed the "Blood Covenant," which claims to have raised nearly $40.3 million for the president’s assassination, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The Blood Covenant operates "under the aegis of the Iranian regime" and poses a substantial threat to Trump given Tehran’s resources and coordination on the matter, according to MEMRI, which monitors jihadi movements in the region.

EUROPE - Relations with the US may never return to what they used to be, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said, citing tensions with Washington over increased tariffs on European goods. US President Donald Trump introduced 20% tariffs on European imports in February. The EU responded with its own set of trade penalties. Trump later lowered duties to 10%, pending negotiations. That pause has now been extended until early August. ”We believe that tariffs are a loss for everyone. But we are not naive either: we know that the relationship with the US may never go back to what it used to be,” the EU chief stated at an economic-industrial forum in Rome on Thursday. "The EU’s priority is to stabilize the situation with the US," von der Leyen said. “We are working tirelessly to find an initial understanding,” she added. The EU chief called Washington “the most important trading and investment partner” of Brussels. In 2024, the US was the largest exporter of goods to the EU and the second-ranking destination for EU imports after China, according to Eurostat.

EUROPE - Brussels is reportedly considering sending an additional €100 billion to Ukraine. The EU is placing Ukraine’s military needs above the priorities of the bloc’s member states, Hungarian government adviser Balazs Orban has said. He accused EU leaders of always finding money for “war” but not other causes. “Europe has run out of money – except when it comes to war. There is always 100 billion euros for that,” Orban wrote on Wednesday on social media. He warned that such an allocation of funds would likely lead to further proposals to spend EU taxpayers’ money on Ukraine. Hungary has accused the EU leadership of inflicting major economic harm on member states through sanctions on Russia, and of wasting resources on a war effort that it argues cannot deliver a military victory over Moscow.

CHINA - Authorities in central China blasted a dam on Sunday to release surging waters behind it amid widespread flooding across the country that has claimed scores of lives. State broadcaster CCTV reported the dam on the Chuhe River in Anhui province was destroyed with explosives early on Sunday morning, after which the water level was expected to drop by more than two feet (70cm). Water levels on many rivers, including the mighty Yangtze, have been unusually high this year because of torrential rains. Blasting dams and embankments to discharge water was an extreme response employed during China's worst floods in recent years in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and almost three million homes were destroyed. Last week, the gargantuan Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze opened three floodgates as the water level behind the massive dam rose more than 50 feet (15 meters) above flood level. Another flood crest is expected to arrive at the dam on Tuesday.

CHINA - Sichuan & Guizhou Submerged in Chaos. China is once again facing a deadly mix of floods and landslides across Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces. Torrential rain triggered massive landslides, burying roads and villages, while flash floods submerged entire communities. This natural disaster in China has already forced thousands to evacuate and left cities in chaos. From Tianquan to Junlian, nature’s fury and infrastructure failure collided. These dual disasters highlight China’s growing climate crisis and fragile terrain.

CHINA - The dam at a small reservoir in China's Guangxi region gave way last month after days of heavy rain in a collapse that could be a harbinger of sterner tests for many of the country's 94,000 ageing dams as the weather gets more extreme. The collapse, which was not reported by domestic media, suggests big storms might be enough to overwhelm reservoirs, especially if the design is inferior and maintenance has been patchy. That raises the prospect of disaster in river valleys and flood plains that are much more densely populated than they were when the dams were built. Massive flooding could trigger unforeseen "black swan" events, the government says, with extreme consequences.

ISRAEL - In the Negev desert, beneath the black sky of Israel’s southern frontier, there is a fire that should never have been rekindled. Thousands gather under its light, painted, pierced, and possessed. They form tribal circles around massive effigies built for destruction — idols shaped like serpents, beasts, distorted gods, or geometric thrones. Women writhe to the rhythm of drums, their naked bodies smeared with ash and symbolism.