USA - Another dry year has left the watershed that supplies 40 million people in the Southwest parched. A prolonged 21-year warming and drying trend is pushing the nation's two largest reservoirs to record lows. For the first time, a shortage is expected to be declared by the federal government, this summer. The 1,450-mile-long waterway acts as a drinking water supply, a hydroelectric power generator and an irrigator of desert crop fields across seven Western US states and two in Mexico. Scientists are increasingly certain that the only way forward is to rein in demands on the river's water. Water managers, farmers and city leaders clearly see the coming challenges but haven't yet been forced to drastically change their uses. Extremely dry conditions like the region is experiencing in 2021 make clear that the Colorado River is unable to meet all the demands communities in the Western US have placed on it, and it's up to its biggest users to decide who has to rely on it less.

EUROPE - At least 80 people have died and hundreds more are unaccounted for in Germany after some of the worst flooding in decades. Record rainfall in western Europe caused rivers to burst their banks, devastating the region. Belgium has also reported at least 12 dead after the extreme weather, which political leaders have blamed on climate change. The Netherlands is also badly affected, with further flooding in Luxembourg and Switzerland.

RUSSIA - After weeks of sweltering in unusual warmth, on Thursday Moscow saw strong winds and a deluge of rain that has caused disruption across the city, with the weather delaying flights and damaging property in the Russian capital. A number of flights were delayed leaving the city’s main international airport, Sheremetyevo, while video emerged online showing lightning strike the concourse. Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport saw flights delayed, as its tarmac was flooded due to heavy rain. Until now, the Russian capital has been experiencing a record-breaking heatwave, with the mercury soaring to levels not seen since 1951.

CHINA - China is bracing for a heavy flood season with 71 rivers already exceeding warning levels, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, as meteorological authorities warned that global warming is fuelling more extreme weather. Rain in some parts of central and southern China has hit record highs in recent weeks even though overall precipitation is about 10% lower this year compared with last year, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. Water levels on the Yangtze and its tributaries were expected to rise further over the next week, the ministry said, and it warned of major floods throughout the country from June to August.

Here’s some of what happened while the world was distracted by the coronavirus: Hungary banned the public depiction of homosexuality. China shut Hong Kong’s last pro-democracy newspaper. Brazil’s government extolled dictatorship. And Belarus hijacked a passenger plane to arrest a journalist.

GERMANY - Angela Merkel and Joe Biden are set for showdown talks over the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The German Chancellor and US President have both stressed they want to reset ties between Berlin and Washington after the presidency of Donald Trump. But the Russian gas pipeline is expected to blight their relationship for years to come. Mrs Merkel has so far snubbed opposition from the United States and eastern Europe, who have called for the project to be halted amid fears it could isolate Ukraine. The pipeline is set to carry vast amounts of natural gas between Russia and Germany when it is completed. Most nations are worried that it will hand too much influence over Europe to Russia. Veteran leader Mrs Merkel has also spent 16 years working to forge closer economic ties between Germany and China. Mr Biden is opposed to the plans and sees Beijing as a global threat to western democracy.

SOUTH AFRICA - The death toll in South Africa has risen to 72, after violence engulfed parts of the country after the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma. This includes 10 people killed in a stampede during looting on Monday night at a shopping centre in Soweto. The BBC filmed a baby being thrown from a building in Durban that was on fire after ground-floor shops were looted. The military has now been deployed to help the police overstretched since the unrest began last week. South African police said in a statement that they had identified 12 people suspected of provoking the riots, and that a total of 1,234 people had been arrested.

USA - The Navy’s top brass is more focused on wokeness and diversity training than on winning wars — leaving sailors feeling unprepared to face a 21st century conflict with China, according to a damning report commissioned by Republican lawmakers. The report, commissioned by Republicans on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, showed that since the end of the Cold War, the Navy has been drifting more towards a culture of careerism, political correctness, and risk aversion than actually training its sailors on how to fight and win. “The sailors interviewed for this report do not believe the Navy prioritizes fighting and winning because Navy leaders do not talk about fighting and winning …Unless changes are made, the Navy risks losing the next major conflict.”

UK - Boris Johnson faces a major crisis as shortages of lorry drivers threaten to put UK supplies at risk with 100,000 vacancies. The UK faces a chronic lack of HGV lorry drivers as industry leaders pen a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson amid growing concerns over shortages. BBC Reality Check's Chris Morris painted a worrying picture as he broke down the scale of the issue on Tuesday. He quoted from a survey of members of the Road Haulage Association which showed that 100,000 driver places need urgent filling in order to get goods moving. Mr Morris said: "None of us likes to be stuck behind an HGV lorry on the motorway but they do keep the economy moving by transporting everything around the country. Germany's logistics system has reportedly been thrown into a similar crisis with Brexit rule changes leaving businesses in chaos."

CHINA - China's President Xi Jinping has been warned any attack on Philippine armed forces in the South China Sea will prompt a US military response, in a stark illustration of escalating tensions in the region. US Secretary of State Andrew Blinken’s comments came on the same day Beijing bragged about “driving away” a US vessel which it accused of illegally entering Chinese waters close to the Parcel Islands yesterday. Mr Blinken issued his written statement on the fifth anniversary of a ruling by an arbitration tribunal repudiating China's vast territorial claims in the South China Sea, which encompass the so-called Nine Dash Line, also contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China had no historic title over the South China Sea, a ruling that Beijing said it would ignore.

CHINA - Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have pledged to strengthen their friendly relations as they exchanged messages on the 60th anniversary of a bilateral landmark defense treaty. The close ties between the nations have been “gaining momentum” in recent years, having “comprehensively developed onto a higher stage in all fields, including politics, economy, military and culture,” Kim said, according to North Korean state news agency KCNA. The bilateral treaty has played a pivotal role in ensuring peace and stability in Asia against “hostile forces” in the region, the North Korean leader said, noting that the two neighbors share a “fixed stand… to ceaselessly develop the friendly and cooperative relations” with each other.

MIDDLE EAST - Two recent heat waves in the Gulf are a sign of things to come as temperatures rise due to climate change. How will the region's countries deal with this new reality, and why is Israel better equipped than others? In the space of little more than a month, Iraq, Iran and the United Arab Emirates and other countries bordering the Gulf have suffered two blistering heat waves. In back-to-back doozies, temperatures pushed past 50 degrees centigrade (122 degrees fahrenheit), once early June and again in the first days of July. Bahrain experienced its hottest June in nearly a century.

UK - Flash-flood hit Londoners in some of the city's wealthiest areas were waking up in emergency accommodation this morning and battling to save their treasured belongings after their homes were deluged with water and left without power. Some families in West London had to shelter in a makeshift community centre after they were washed out of their multi-million-pound properties. Others were facing rush-hour chaos today as many Tube and rail services are still suspended after 'biblical' storms saw flash floods hit the capital last night and left a trail of destruction across the city. Network Rail has confirmed widespread disruption continues across the Thameslink network despite services resuming within the last hour while Tube services on the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines remain partially suspended due to the flooding. The London Overground also remains partly suspended with severe delays across the network while teams work to repair the damage caused.

USA - The pandemic has pushed global government debt to the highest level since World War II, surpassing the world’s annual economic output. Governments, especially in rich countries, are borrowing still more, partly to erase the damage of Covid-19. Advocates say the spending, also encouraged by new economic thinking about debt, could usher in a period of robust global growth, reversing the malaise many wealthy countries have felt this century. But if those theories are off-base, the world could be saddled with debts that can be absorbed only via inflation, high taxes or even default. Either way, the combination of huge debt and markets’ lack of concern is unprecedented.

JAPAN - A potential Chinese reunification with Taiwan would have serious repercussions for Japan, which is why Tokyo’s becoming more vocal on the island’s future. But the growth of Beijing’s military capabilities presents a major dilemma. For the first time, Japan’s annual defence report has listed Taiwan as a priority issue, noting that the stability of the self-ruled island – which is claimed by China – is critical to its own security. The shift in position demonstrates a growing openness from Tokyo to counter the rise of Beijing, an openness that has been encouraged by the United States. Predictably, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the white paper as a “gross interference in its internal affairs,” reiterating its One China Policy.