No escape

A hotter world is forcing people to change their daily habits. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Scorching temperatures and an unusual absence of rain are disrupting lives across the planet and testing the limits of human survival. These events aren’t just abstract numbers on weather forecasts or scientific reports – they’re forcing people to change their daily habits, from washing dishes to raising cattle and going on holiday. They’re also claiming lives by exacerbating existing infirmities and disease and inflicting heat stroke even in healthy people. Key Reading: [In Pictures: Europe’s Extreme Drought Is Wreaking Havoc in Spain]( [Heat Stress Deaths Show Europe Isn’t Ready for Climate Change]( [How Extreme Heat and Humidity Test Survival Limits]( [World’s Biggest Climate Fund Makes Its Largest Water Investment]( [‘Hot Continent’ Perception Downplays Africa's Heat Wave Dangers]( Record-breaking temperatures caused the deaths of more than 60,000 people in Europe last summer, according to a report this week that said at least some could have been avoided. Catalonia in northeastern Spain is among the hardest hit regions in Europe’s driest period in at least 500 years. There, empty reservoirs have forced authorities to pay for water trucks in at least 80 villages. In Africa, heat waves reaching 50 degrees Celsius (122F) are going underreported, and studies on health impacts are limited. In Somalia alone, at least 43,000 people died last year as a result of the worst drought in four decades. Nearly a quarter of the US population this week is facing high temperatures that show no sign of abating. Overall, governments have failed to act. It’s likely that “in the near term” the world will exceed the 1.5 degree Celsius limit of warming that countries pledged to try to keep to under the 2015 Paris agreement, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in March. Global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut to 60% below 2019 levels by 2035, it said. Worldwide, the first week of July was the hottest ever recorded. With the onset of the El Niño weather phenomenon, signs are that it’s only going to get worse. — [Laura Millan]( A sandstorm in Dollow, southwest Somalia. Photographer: Sally Hayden/LightRocket/Getty Images Listen to our [Twitter Space discussion]( on NATO and its long-term future. And if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Global Headlines South Korea ranks near the bottom of major democracies contributing aid to Ukraine and close to the top for [weapons sales]( to other states since Russia’s invasion. That has put President Yoon Suk Yeol in a tough spot during a high-stakes visit to Europe coinciding with this week’s NATO summit. He holds talks today in Poland, which accounted for more than 70% of South Korea’s weapons exports last year. - Read this behind-the-scenes [account]( of the wrangling at the summit between NATO heavyweights and Ukraine. - Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wagner mercenaries [surrendered]( thousands of weapons, including battle tanks and missiles, following the mutiny that threatened President Vladimir Putin’s 24-year rule. The US government defended President Joe Biden’s [record]( on China in the face of Republican criticism that his team is pulling its punches. A State Department official said the Biden administration has issued a record number of sanctions, export controls and “competitive actions” against Beijing. But the tenor of the exchange showed just how hawkish on China both parties have become. - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s top foreign policy official, Wang Yi, will [hold their second talks]( in a month, as the governments of the two largest economies ramp up high-level dialog to stabilize ties. Siemens is set to unveil a new investment in Germany today, a moment Chancellor Olaf Scholz is looking to seize as part of his efforts to [reverse an exodus]( of capital from Europe’s biggest economy and creeping de-industrialization. More than €135 billion ($150 billion) of direct investment flowed out of the country last year, while only €10.5 billion came in. Thai politician Pita Limjaroenrat will have his first shot at occupying the country’s [top political office]( today, as lawmakers gathered to elect a new prime minister in a vote that will test whether conservative groups are willing to undermine the results of the May election. His premiership isn’t a given, despite the fact that he’s the only candidate in the race. Apart from needing the support of military-appointed senators, he also faces legal challenges that could see him disqualified as a lawmaker. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [A ‘Made in Germany’ Fix to a Climate-Crisis Problem: Javier Blas]( - [India’s Northeast Is on the Brink. Where’s Modi?: Ruth Pollard]( - [Sweden, Finland Give NATO an Arctic Opportunity: James Stavridis]( Months of verbal attacks on Israel’s central bank and Governor Amir Yaron by ministers in the right-wing government are culminating in an unprecedented foray into the country’s monetary policy. Coalition members have their sights on the bank’s sway over interest rates. That’s [pitting]( Yaron, who’s nearing the end of his term, against parts of a government that increasingly want monetary policy to reflect their populist goals. Police use a water cannon on demonstrators during a protest against the government’s plans to overhaul the justice system on Tuesday. Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg Explainers You Can Use - [How Large Language Models Work, Making Chatbots Lucid]( - [Why US-Turkey Relations Hinge on a Fighter Jet Deal]( - [Here Are the Options China Still Has for Stimulating Its Economy]( North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “[personally guided](” the launch of a new missile designed to strike the US and pledged more weapons tests if Washington didn’t back away from its “hostile policy,” state media reported. The test of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile served as “a strong practical warning” to the US and South Korea to halt bringing American nuclear assets to the region, flying spy planes overhead and holding joint military exercises that are pushing the peninsula to the brink of war, it said. Tune in to Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power at 5pm to 6pm ET weekdays with Washington correspondents [Annmarie Hordern]( and [Joe Mathieu](. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here](. News to Note - Scholz’s administration will send a signal that Germany is [taking a tougher stance]( toward China with a new strategy paper describing the Asian nation as a “partner, competitor and systemic rival.” - Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was among the US officials [whose emails were breached]( in a hack of government accounts that Microsoft said originated from China, a source says. - Tens of thousands of England’s junior doctors are walking out of hospitals across the country, plunging the National Health Service into the [longest strike in its history]( at a time of record waiting lists. - Dutch Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag said she will step down as the leader of Netherlands’s second-largest political party because of her family’s concerns over [the threats she receives]( from conspiracy theorists and right-wing extremists. - Guatemala’s electoral authority [certified the results]( of last month’s vote for president, but a prosecutor stirred uncertainty about the upcoming runoff by alleging irregularities by one of the winners. And finally ... After decades of state interference in the economy, a history of expropriations and severe sanctions, executives willing to invest in Venezuela are few and far between. Against that backdrop, Alberto Vollmer has made an unlikely success story of the country’s biggest rum maker, Ron Santa Teresa. Yet as Patricia Laya and Nicolle Yapur explain, Vollmer [wears another hat](: He’s the head of a low-key business group that meets behind closed doors with the government, learning to navigate — and even help shape — President Nicolas Maduro’s pivot toward capitalism. A sugarcane field at the Ron Santa Teresa distillery in El Consejo on June 2. Photographer: Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. 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