Editor’s Note: This listicle is part of a weekly series by The Ball State Daily News summarizing five stories from around the world. All summaries are based on stories published by The Associated Press.
Canada’s deadliest mass shooting, child sex abuse by religious clerics in Pakistan, protests against Israel’s prime minister, Google and Facebook to pay for news content in Australia and North Korea’s questionable zero virus claim make up this week’s five international stories.
16 killed in shooting rampage, deadliest in Canadian history
A gunman disguised as a police officer shot people in their homes and set fires in a rampage across the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that killed 16 people, the deadliest such attack in the country’s history. A police officer was among those killed. Officials said Sunday the suspected shooter was also dead. The assault began late Saturday, and authorities believe the shooter may have targeted his first victims but then began attacking randomly.
Read more: Shootings
Child sex abuse in Pakistan’s religious schools is endemic
An AP investigation found dozens of police reports alleging sexual harassment, rape and physical abuse by Islamic clerics teaching in madrassas throughout Pakistan, where many of the country’s poorest study. There is no central body of clerics that governs more than 22,000 registered madrassas and no central authority that can investigate or respond to allegations of abuse by clerics, unlike the Catholic Church’s clear hierarchy topped by the Vatican.
Read more: Sexual abuse by clergy
Israelis accuse Netanyahu of endangering democracy
More than 2,000 Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Sunday, demonstrating against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to form an “emergency” government with his chief rival and accusing him of using the coronavirus crisis to escape prosecution on corruption charges. Demonstrators wore face masks, largely followed social-distancing rules and some held black flags, as speakers criticized Netanyahu’s possible partnership with rival Benny Gantz.
Read more: Israel
Australia to make Google and Facebook pay for news content
Global digital platforms Google and Facebook will be forced to pay for news content in Australia, the government said Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic causes a collapse in advertising revenue. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would release in late July draft rules for the platforms to pay fair compensation for the journalistic content siphoned from news media.
Read more: Australia
North Korean defectors, experts question zero virus claim
Experts say North Korea’s reluctance to admit major outbreaks of disease, wrecked medical infrastructure and extreme sensitivity to any potential threat to Kim Jong Un’s rule means Pyongyang is likely handling the current coronavirus pandemic in the same manner. This has led to widespread skepticism over its claim to have zero infections. Outsiders suspect COVID-19 has already spread to North Korea because it shares a border with China.
Read more: North Korea