CHINA: Heavy flooding in central and southern regions has killed at least nine people and displaced tens of thousands as more rainfall is forecast, Chinese media reported today.

At least eight people were listed as missing in the worst-hit provinces of Henan, Hubei and Guizhou, where rivers burst their banks and poured into city streets, housing estates and shopping centres.

CLIMATE: Two people died in Italy today as temperatures remain scorching across Europe.

In Bologna, a man died after falling ill on a sweltering construction site while another drowned during flash flooding at a tourist resort west of Turin.

Parts of Spain and Portugal recorded their highest ever June temperatures, with 46°C registered at El Granado in south-west Spain.

RUSSIA: Former deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov was convicted today of embezzlement and money laundering and handed a 13-year prison sentence.

Mr Ivanov is the most visible figure in a far-ranging probe that has exposed corruption widely blamed for Moscow’s military setbacks in Ukraine.

UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump has signed an executive order lifting many US economic sanctions imposed on Syria.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that the action was designed to “promote and support the country's path to stability and peace.”

The executive order is meant to “end the country’s isolation from the international financial system, setting the stage for global commerce and galvanising investments from its neighbours in the region, as well as from the United States,” said the US Treasury’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brad Smith.