1. Austalia floods update
The Queensland floods death toll has now reached 13 and the state is anticipating a damages bill of over $2.5bn. NSW SES has issued flood warnings for residents in parts of Sydney’s south-west, namely Sussex Inlet and St Georges Basin. According to the Bureau of Meteorology: "Heavy rainfall which may lead to flash flooding is forecast for the Mid North Coast, Hunter, Sydney Metropolitan, Illawarra, South Coast, and parts of the Central Tablelands districts.

“Six-hourly rainfall totals between 70mm to 120 mm are possible,” although totals could even reach 150mm during that time period if thunderstorms develop.

2. EU seeks to slash dependence on Russian gas by 80% this year
The European Union is revising its energy strategy and releasing a road map on Tuesday that will propose steps to dramatically cut back its reliance on Russian gas such as tapping new gas supplies and increasing energy efficiency. The commission considers that the EU already has sufficient gas to get through the rest of this winter even in the event of an abrupt disruption of Russian supplies, according to people familiar with the assessment,” Bloomberg reports. The commission is set to say that accelerating the Green Deal, the bloc’s sweeping strategy aimed at reaching climate neutrality by 2050, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cut reliance on imported fossil fuels and shield the economy from price hikes, according to the official, who asked not to be identified, as discussions on the strategy are private. The proposals may still change before they are adopted.

3. Trump says US should “bomb shit out of Russia” disguised as China
In a speech to Republican donors in New Orleans, Donald Trump said the US should put the Chinese flag on F-22 jets and “bomb the shit out of Russia” in retribution for its invasion of Ukraine. The former US President went on to say: “And then we say, ‘China did it, we didn’t do it, China did it,’ and then they start fighting with each other and we sit back and watch.” Trump’s speech was reported by The Washington Post, claiming he also called NATO a “paper tiger”, said the US military had won “skirmishes” against Russian troops while he was president, and claimed to have been tougher on Vladimir Putin than any other US leader.

4. Russia becomes world’s most-sanctioned nation
In less than a fortnight, Russia has surpassed the likes of Iran and North Korea to become the world’s most-sanctioned nation, amassing some 5,530 sanctions since its invasion of Ukraine on 21 February, according to global sanctions -tracking database, Castellum.ai. “This is financial nuclear war and the largest sanctions event in history,” said Peter Piatetsky, a former Treasury Department official in the Obama and Trump administrations who co-founded Castellum.ai. Putin said over the weekend that the blitz of sanctions is “akin to a declaration of war.”

5. ASX to dip, oil surges higher
ASX futures were down 5 points or 0.1% to 7022 near 6.30am AEDT, with the AUD -0.5% to 73.30 US cents. On Wall St: Dow -1.8% S&P 500 -2.2% Nasdaq -2.6%, while US oil climbed another 4.9% to $US121.32 a barrel. 2-year yield: US +0.06% (1.54%) Australia -- 1.10%. 10-year yield: US +0.02% (1.75%) Australia -0.02% (2.13%).