Stories followed in this country, with their framing set against the rest of the world.
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Copernicus recorded the hottest June-July ever measured in Western Europe (21.62 °C) and NOAA confirmed the hottest July in the contiguous United States. A fifth heatwave hits Europe: rivers at record lows, nuclear reactors under strain, 70% of France under water restrictions. At the same time, South Korea is mobilising its army against drought — with no narrative link to Europe.
On Tuesday, Damascus's Fourth Criminal Chamber sentenced Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for war crimes and crimes against humanity — the killing of children, torture leading to death. His brother Maher and seven other officials were sentenced alongside him; only his cousin Atef Najib appeared in person. The verdict was read live on state television. Assad, living near Moscow since December 2024, has not been extradited.
UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC — three of FIFA's six confederations, whose presidents are also FIFA vice-presidents — accuse Gianni Infantino of breaking trust "through deception" and demand an independent review of the abandoned plan to sell a stake in the World Cup. CAF and CONMEBOL did not sign. That evening, Donald Trump said replacing him would be "a terrible mistake".
At 7:34 a.m. on Monday, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia, with its epicentre in Chocó. Felt as far as Quito, Panama and Caracas, it collapsed Pereira's airport and damaged hundreds of buildings. The president, in office for three days, declared a national disaster. Depending on the newsroom, the toll runs from 111 to 138 dead — and more than 2,000 people are registered as missing.
"Israel rejects the 15-point document." At a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu formally refused the roadmap published on 31 July by Donald Trump's Board of Peace and accepted by Hamas. No withdrawal before "genuine" disarmament, and no Palestinian state while he is in office. On the ground, though, Israel has scaled back its strikes since 3 August. Elections fall on 27 October.
The Telegraph reports that UEFA paid a six-figure settlement to a former employee with whom Gianni Infantino is said to have had a relationship while he was its general secretary. UEFA confirms the payment, Infantino denies the claims 'categorically', and FIFA denounces a 'concerted and ongoing effort'. Northern Europe wants him gone; Africa and South America back him.
On Sunday, Houthi forces claimed a drone strike on the Aramco refinery at Jazan on the Red Sea; Riyadh said the fire was out with no casualties. The same day, shelling of the port of Mokha killed at least seven people. Two days earlier the UN Security Council had condemned Houthi fire on the kingdom since 13 July. A conflict frozen since the 2022 truce is reigniting, two days after the Riyadh-Ankara-Islamabad defence pact.
Madrid gave Rome until 9 August to lift the checks imposed on 1 August, then acted: controls on travellers from Italy until 7 September. Italy extended its own. Behind the quarrel lie at least 141 dead at Ceuta, 1,342 unaccompanied minors, and an investigation into Russia-linked accounts. Twenty-two countries order these three threads differently.
On 7 August 2026, millionaire lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in for 2026-2030 before Milei, Kast, Noboa, Felipe VI and Infantino — but not Gustavo Petro. The ceremony was moved to Cali, the first speech delivered in a barracks, 11,000 personnel deployed. Fifteen countries describe the same man under fifteen different names: Trump ally, far-right president, anti-establishment outsider.
On 7 August 2026, Mohammed bin Salman, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Shehbaz Sharif signed an agreement at Al-Safa Palace stating that an armed attack on any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack on them all. Riyadh insists it is 'neither a military axis nor a sectarian bloc'; thirteen countries read it differently, and Iran, its implicit target, is absent from the account.
Five weeks after the Supreme Court struck down his first executive order, Donald Trump signed two more on 6 August 2026: one denies automatic citizenship to children of four categories of non-citizen parents, the other bans 'birth tourism'. Fourteen countries read it from very different vantage points — a constitutional precedent for some, a direct threat to their nationals for others.
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