Portal:Current events/2020 July 6

• A group of unknown assailants assassinate prominent Iraqi historian and government advisor Hisham al-Hashimi near his home in Zayouna, Baghdad. No group has claimed responsibility for his killing. (Reuters)

• New Zealand news media company Stuff announces it will temporarily stop posting articles to Facebook and Instagram, saying they have not done enough to address fake news, hate speech, and false advertising. (The Guardian) (Stuff)

• 2020 Kyushu floods
  • The death toll from floods in Kyushu, Japan, rises to 49 people. The country is bracing for more heavy rain. (The Japan Times)
• More than 400 people are evacuated from their homes in Iloilo City in the Philippines after an explosion on a power barge caused an oil spill. (AP)
• An overturned fuel tanker catches fire while dozens of people were attempting to siphon off fuel, killing seven people and injuring more than 40 others, near Pueblo Viejo, Magdalena in northern Colombia. (BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India records 24,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, surpassing Russia to become the country with the third highest number of cases in the world at 697,413 cases. (BBC News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar
      • Qatar exceeds 100,000 cases, becoming one of the world's highest per capita infections, having a population of 2.8 million. (Al Jazeera)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait
      • Kuwait surpasses 50,000 infections after reporting 538 new cases in the past 24 hours. Its death toll jumps to 373. (Al Jazeera)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia
      • Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tests positive for COVID-19. (CNN)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in West Virginia
      • West Virginia Governor Jim Justice issues an order mandating masks in indoor public spaces to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (NBC News)

• Philippine Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020
  • Two lawyer groups file petitions to the Philippine Supreme Court to question the constitutionality of the recent anti-terrorism law. Opposition lawmaker Edcel Lagman, who contributed to one of the petitions, claims that the law's "imprecise and vague definitions" make its enforcement susceptible to infringements on certain civil liberties. (Al Jazeera)
• Hong Kong national security law
  • A court in Hong Kong denies bail to Tong Ying-kit, a 23-year-old man who was arrested last week for driving a motorbike into police officers and carrying a separatist banner. Also, prominent pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow appear in court. Wong pleads not guilty to inciting others to participate in an unlawful assembly last year while Chow pleads guilty to similar charges. (Reuters)
• COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, censorship in China
  • In Beijing, authorities arrest Xu Zhangrun, a law professor who published essays strongly criticizing Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping over censored academia on the COVID-19 pandemic and accusing him of ruling "tyrannically." (Al Jazeera)
• Spain's Audiencia Nacional agrees to extradite former CEO of PEMEX Emilio Lozoya Austin to Mexico where he is wanted on charges of bribery and money laundering. He denies any wrongdoing. (Reuters)
• Former Prime Minister of Mongolia Jargaltulgyn Erdenebat is senteced to six years in prison and banned from government work for six years from working in government office accused of abuse of power. (News.mn)

• 2020 Brazilian municipal elections; COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
  • The Brazilian Congress and Superior Electoral Court announce the postponement of this year's municipal elections to November 15 (first round) and 29 (second round) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Folha de S. Paulo)

• 2020 in spaceflight
  • Israel Aerospace Industries successfully launches the Ofeq-16 reconnaissance satellite via a Shavit rocket. The Israeli Defense Ministry describes the satellite as a "optoelectronic reconnaissance satellite with advanced capabilities". (Times of Israel)