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Australia
Chinese journalists in Australia raided in June
Shivani Kumar, The Global Times
According to the Chinese state media, four journalists based in Australia had their residences raided by Australian police on June 26. The police found that they did nothing wrong, but this raid comes as Australia and China have been locked in diplomatic and economic disputes based on their support of the United States in the region as well as calls for independent investigations into the origins of COVID-19 in the Wuhan Province of China.
Ukraine
Ukrainian church leader blaming LGBT people for COVID tests positive for COVID
Harmeet Kaur, CNN
Patriarch Filaret, spiritual head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has tested positive for COVID-19 and is reportedly stable and undergoing treatment. In March, the church leader called the COVID-19 pandemic “God’s punishment for the sins of man, the sinfulness of humanity… I mean, same sex marriage.”
United Kingdom
UK prime minister hedges avoidance of second lockdown on new testing plan
Robert Booth and Sarah Boseley, The Guardian
United Kingdom prime minister Boris Johnson places all hope of avoiding a second lockdown in Britain on the in-development Operation: Moonshot, according to leaked government documents. The program would employ mass population testing, up to 10 million a day and would be the sole responsibility of Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock. Johnson also pointed out that the status of COVID between now and spring may be rough and that British citizens should prepare for more protective measures.
Greece
Fire ravages Europe’s largest refugee camp on Greek island Lesbos
Patrick Kingsley, New York Times
A fast-moving fire on Tuesday night ripped through a refugee camp on Lesbos in Greece leaving as many as 12,000 refugees homeless again. No deaths were reported but the majority of the camp was destroyed. First responders determined that the fire started due to high winds and an explosion of a gas canister.
South Africa
Human rights lawyer for Nelson Mandela George Bizos dies at 92
Promit Mukherjee, Reuters
George Bizos, the lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela through multiple trials during the fight against Apartheid in South Africa, has died at 92. He died at his home in Johannesburg with family, according to a joint statement made by the family and the Legal Resource Center of which he was a member. In addition to Mandela, he represented multiple South African victims of Apartheid atrocities and was led the team that pushed the South African government to pass the new constitution in 1996.
The Philippines
Piracy and other high seas crimes on the rise, Islamic State suspected
Jonathan Landay, Reuters
According to a report by Virginia-based data analysis company Babel Street, piracy and other crimes on the high seas have been on the rise despite the COVID-19 pandemic in the seas surrounding the Philippines. The Abu Sayyaf Group, an offshoot of the Islamic State in the Phillipines, has claimed responsibility for many attacks this year.