Eurotopics.net

The past month in Europe and around the world was the hottest June on record, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Weather Attribution Project. Severe heatwaves are increasingly likely and are the result of climate change brought on by human activity, scientists say. Despite lower temperatures in some places the heat is weighing heavily on many commentators.

A missile from the Syrian civil war that was presumably misdirected landed around 20 kilometres from the Cypriot capital Nikosia on Sunday night, setting fire to a hill in occupied Northern Cyprus. No one was hurt. Are Syria's neighbours aware of how close this war is?

In an interview with the Financial Times, Russian president Vladimir Putin criticised liberalism, in particular regarding the way liberal democracies have dealt with migrants. Liberalism is obsolete; the majority of the population doesn't want it, he maintained. But for commentators from East and West, Russia does not have anything better to offer.

The EU heads of state and government have agreed on who should get which top job. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen was nominated as Commission president, Belgian Prime minister Charles Michel as EU Council president, IMF boss Christine Lagarde was chosen to head the ECB, and Spain's top diplomat Josep Borrell is to become the EU foreign policy chief. Europe's press assesses the outcome of prolonged and tense talks.