NEWS OF THE DAY
Gay hate crime: More than 30 years after American mathematician Scott Johnson died after falling off a cliff in Sydney, a man has been charged with his death in an apparent gay hate crime that police believe was one of many over several decades in Australia’s largest city. New South Wales state police said Tuesday that a 49yearold man who they did not name has been charged with murdering the 27yearold Sydneybased Johnson in 1988. They said the man was refused bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. A 2018 police review of 88 suspicious deaths from 1976 to 2000 revealed that 27 men were likely murdered for their homosexuality by gangs, with cases peaking in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
Migrant riot: Police in northern Greece arrested 25 people Tuesday during a protest at a migrant processing center that damaged converted shipping containers used as living quarters and other facilities but caused no reported injuries. Authorities said officers intervened to stop several hours of rioting at the center, located near Greece’s border with Turkey. People who enter Greece illegally are registered there and temporarily detained until they apply for asylum. The protest occurred following weeks of delays in processing asylum claims due to the coronavirus pandemic. The center currently houses 250 asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors, the Evros Police Department said.
Hospital fires: Russian health officials on Tuesday announced an investigation into the safety of ventilators at two hospitals, where fires in intensive care units for coronavirus patients killed a total of six people over the past four days. A fire Tuesday at St. George Hospital in St. Petersburg killed five coronavirus patients who were on ventilators, Russian emergency officials said. The fire was put out within half an hour. On Saturday, a fire in the Spasokukotsky Hospital in Moscow killed one patient. Both hospitals have been recently repurposed for coronavirus patients and in both, faulty ventilators were reported to have caused the fire.
Surfers drown: Five surfers drowned off the coast of the Dutch beach resort of Scheveningen after they were caught in strong winds and foamy waters, local authorities said Tuesday. Rescuers from the Dutch coast guard began a search operation shortly after six surfers went missing Monday evening. Three people were rescued, two of whom were later pronounced dead. Two bodies were found Tuesday morning, and one more was seen floating out to sea. The coast guard ended its search in the early afternoon and said it had not found that last person, taking the toll to five. The deaths shocked the surfing community in the Netherlands and locals in Scheveningen, a district of The Hague about 30 miles southwest of Amsterdam. The rescue operation was complicated by strong winds and a rough sea, the Dutch coast guard said.
Yemen conflict: Fierce clashes erupted in Yemen’s southern province of Abyan between Saudibacked government troops and separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates, with at least six fighters from both sides killed in the past 24 hours, officials said Tuesday. The fighting between the two sides — allies in the Saudiled coalition that for years has battled Yemen’s Iranbacked Houthi rebels based in the north — has added another layer to the complex civil war in the Arab world’s most impoverished country. It comes amid weeks of mounting tensions after the secessionist Southern Transitional Council last month declared selfrule over the key port city of Aden. The fighting could further undermine a Saudi Arabiabrokered peace deal between the government side and the separatists.