Briefly

ARGENTINA

Milei inks political pact to back economic plan

Argentine President Javier Milei signed a long-delayed pact with 18 provincial governors early on Tuesday, in a push to broaden support for economic reforms and strengthen his nearly 7-month-old minority government. The deal looks to allay market doubts about Milei's ability to weather the worst economic crisis in decades, which has pushed half the population into poverty and sent inflation surging to nearly 300 percent. Milei's La Libertad Avanza party lacks a parliamentary majority and has no provincial governors, so it must bargain with other political parties to carry out its agenda.

UNITED STATES

Storm Beryl downgraded after killing 4 in Texas

Beryl was downgraded on Monday evening to a tropical depression after slamming the southern US state of Texas as a Category 1 hurricane, killing at least four people and causing millions to lose power amid scorching summer heat. After a peak of more than 2.7 million customers around Houston without power, the numbers improved to more than 2.4 million homes and businesses lacking electricity by Monday night, according to PowerOutage.us. The lack of cooling to people's homes, downed power lines and nonfunctioning traffic lights led officials to ask residents to stay home if possible.

NEW ZEALAND

Oceanic, coastal water warmest since 1982

Oceanic and coastal waters around New Zealand reached the warmest annual temperatures between 2022 and 2023, since statistics department Stats NZ started to collect data for the series in 1982. Sea surface temperatures increased by 0.63 to 1.05 C during the recorded period across New Zealand's oceanic regions, with the Tasman Sea having the highest average rate, Stats NZ said. Coastal regions warmed by 0.74 to 1.35 C during the recorded period, with East Coast South Island having the highest average rate.

Agencies - Xinhua