Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen asked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for explanations on the controversial reform weakening the country’s anti-corruption agencies, saying the bloc was “very concerned” about the new law and highlighting its potential impact on Ukraine’s EU accession process (16:11, 16:17).
French and German ministers also separately expressed their concerns about the reform (9:23, 13:57).
But Zelenskyy defended the proposals and saying that a new plan will be prepared within two weeks to address the concerns (11:38).
The controversy comes just before the third round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine taking place in Istanbul, Turkey (14:39, 14:48, 18:59).
Separately,
The EU and the US were reportedly closing in on a trade deal that would impose 15% tariffs on European imports in a bid to fend off Trump’s higher tariffs from August, as reported by the Financial Times (18:08).
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič was meant to speak with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick this evening, with the EU’s “primary focus … on achieving a negotiated outcome with the US” (12:59).
German chancellor Friedrich Merz also suggested that the deal was close this evening, saying there “could be decisions” soon (19:30).
In other news,
The EU has vowed to work more closely with Japan to “counter economic coercion and address unfair trade” at a summit intended to shore up the multilateral world order (12:22).
Greece and Italy were among south-eastern European countries affected by another extreme heatwave (15:52, 19:34).
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk presented a new look Polish cabinet after a reshuffle intended to regain momentum after his party’s defeat in the presidential election last month (11:28).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Updated
Five dead in Italy as country battles extreme heatwave
Five people have died after becoming ill on beaches in the Salento area of southern Italy’s Puglia region as the country endures another extreme heatwave.
All the fatalities, believed to have been triggered by the heat, occurred since Monday as temperatures climbed to almost 40C.
The youngest was a 19-year-old woman, reportedly with health problems, who died while swimming near a campsite close to the town of Ugento. Others included a 69-year-old tourist from Croatia who died while swimming, a 66-year-old Italian who died while on his boat, and an 81-year-old man who died on shoreline.
This is the second intense heatwave to engulf Italy within the last month and temperatures are forecast to hit peaks of up to 40C over the next day or two in areas of the south, particularly Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata and Sicily.
Scientists estimated that high heat killed 2,300 people across 12 major cities as temperatures soared across Europe between 23 June and 2 July.
The northern Italian city of Milan was the hardest hit in absolute terms, with 317 out of 499 heat deaths attributed to climate breakdown, followed by Paris and Barcelona.
