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World leaders fret they're about to run into an 'exhausted and angry' Trump buzzsaw

Donald Trump is heading to NATO's summit in Ankara, and European leaders are holding their breath.The president will touch down in Turkey on Tuesday following a grueling week of Independence Day festivities and public relations setbacks, involving his disastrous Great American State Fair. He'll meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before joining other alliance leaders for dinner.According to a report from the Washington Post, Trump has already made his lack of enthusiasm obvious before even departing. He told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte he wouldn't bother attending at all if Erdogan weren't hosting. When pressed on what he expects from NATO members, his answer was stripped of diplomatic niceties: "I just want loyalty."The president has spent recent days hammering the alliance on social media, asserting that America bankrolls the entire operation while gaining nothing in return. "The United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing," he posted.According to the Post, "One senior European diplomat fretted that Trump would arrive in Turkey exhausted and angry after a week of tiring travel, including a 3:30 a.m. Saturday return from an event at Mount Rushmore and a rally on the National Mall later that day in the sweltering Washington heat."That volatile emotional state could prove consequential. "Europeans are nervous that the way [Trump] feels about NATO is that this is not fundamentally in U.S. interests," Max Bergmann of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the Post. "Especially now as there's more domestic political pressure on European leaders to be seen as standing up to Trump."

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China tests long-range missile in South Pacific in move Australia condemns as ‘destabilising to region’

Launch comes just hours after Australia and Fiji sign defence agreement as expert says timing not a coincidenceChina has conducted a long-range missile test in the South Pacific just hours after Australia signed a defence agreement with Fiji, sparking condemnation from Canberra and regional leaders.The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the missile test was “destabilising” to the region, while her New Zealand counterpart, Winston Peters, described it as “deeply concerning”. Continue reading...

Rodríguez defends Venezuela’s emergency earthquake response as number of bodies expected to soar

Interim president says unrest will not break out despite anger at official response to the 24 June disasterVenezuela’s interim president has defended her country’s emergency response to the twin earthquakes that have killed more than 3,000 people, vowing the country would not descend into social unrest.Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at what they see as the US-backed government’s inadequate response to the 24 June disaster before international teams arrived. Continue reading...

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Archaeologists uncover ancient Byzantine city in Egypt’s western desert

Well-preserved fourth-century quarters reveal details of daily life, urban development and economic activitiesArchaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a well-preserved Byzantine-era city in the western desert.The fourth-century quarters had residential and religious structures, including a basilica-style church in the Dakhla oasis. Archaeologists also found coins, pottery fragments and tools. Continue reading...

‘The situation is terrible’: aid workers on life in Sudanese city pummelled by drone strikes

El Obeid becomes key battleground in war between Sudan’s armed forces and their paramilitary enemies, the RSFFatima has lost count of the number of drone attacks on the besieged city of El Obeid in Sudan, but said the attacks this past weekend were the most violent so far.The drones hit schools and fuel stations, killing more than 20 people, including students, she said. “Over the past few months, seeing 40 or 45 drones is the norm. You can literally count them,” said the aid volunteer, whose name has been changed for fear of retribution. Continue reading...