 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you major news developments from across the world, our headlines. Tensions mount in West Asia after fires in Iranian nuclear facilities, early counting in the Dominican Republic presidential election shows opposition candidate in the lead, Croatian election returns right-wing ruling party to power, the turnout is the lowest, petitions filed in the Philippines' apex court against Duterte's anti-terror law, and South African Union's call for resignation of Finance Minister over proposals in liquidate national carrier. To begin with an update on the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 11.6 million cases have been reported around the world as of today afternoon. Of these, around 4.5 million are still active cases, and around 55-37,000 cases ended in fatalities. India has added around 24,000 new cases yesterday, pushing it to the third rank in terms of the reported cases so far, right behind the US and Brazil. We now go to West Asia, where tensions are high ever since a speculated blast and a fire occurred on July 2 at a major nuclear facility in Iran. Iran's atomic energy organization confirmed on Sunday that the fire could have seriously damaged the country's efforts to upgrade its civilian nuclear energy program. Earlier, Iranian authorities have said that the damage was minor. However, a satellite image released yesterday by London-based Iranian news outlet shows damage in large parts of the said building. Some experts have speculated that the damage is caused by a large blast. Iranian officials, however, have not confirmed the blast. According to the reports in the Iranian media, a fire broke out on Thursday in one of the over-ground buildings of the Nathans facility in Iran's Isfahan Dispolance. The incident was followed by two more similar incidents on Saturday, July 4, a fire at a power station in the southwestern city of Awas, and a gas leak in a petrochemical unit in the Poesian Sea. The series of incidents prompted speculation of sabotage by foreign actors. The New York Times quoted an unnamed Middle Eastern intelligence official saying that the incident at Nantaz was caused by a powerful bomb explosion orchestrated by Israel. Niahu has earlier called for the destruction of the Iranian nuclear program. It has been a major opponent in the Iran nuclear deal that protected a civilian nuclear program and even admitted to sabotage in Iran in the past. Penny Gantz, Israel's defense minister, however, tried to avoid a direct answer and dismiss speculations of sabotage. In our next story, Louis Abadinder of the Central-Left Modern Revolutionary Party of the PRM emerged as the frontrunner in the presidential elections held in the Dominican Republic on July 5. The Central Electoral Board of the Republic, after preliminary counting of the results, showed the opposition candidate to be leading with over 53% of the votes. The ruling party candidate, Gonzalo Castillo, of the Dominican Liberation Party of the PLD came second with 37% of the votes. He was followed by the Progressive People's Force candidate, Lionel Fernandez, with around 8.6%. Even though the final results are yet to be declared, Abadinder proclaimed himself as a president-elect considering his victory in the elections is irreversible. Castillo and Fernandez, along with incumbent President Danilo Medina, considered the election to Abadinder. With over 7.5 million Dominicans voting for the country's vice president, 32 senators and 192 deputies on Sunday, the new president will assume office on August 16. The elections were originally scheduled for May 17, but were postponed due to the pandemic. The Dominican Republic is the first Latin American country to hold elections amid the health emergency. Despite irregularities in the pandemic, the turnout actually increased. We continue with election news this time from Croatia. On Sunday, officials announced that the right-wing Croatian Democratic Union, the HDZ, had won the parliamentary election. The HDZ, led by acting prime minister Andres Plenkovic, got 66 out of the total 1651 seats in the parliament called the Sabur, after the counting of more than 95% of the vote. HDZ is expected to form a coalition government with smaller right-wing parties. The main opposition, Restart Coalition, led by the Social Democratic Party, came second with 41 seats. The voter turnout for the election held in the midst of the pandemic was the lowest, ever since its separation from the erstwhile Yugoslavia in 1991. The political seat in the country has been dominated by the HDZ ever since its creation. We now go to the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte received widespread condemnation for the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act. Multiple petitions have been filed against the latest law at the Philippine Supreme Court on July 6, calling for it to be struck down as anti-constitution. House Minor Leader Etzel Lagman is among the petitioners, which includes several human rights lawyers and religious groups. The new law was signed into an act by Duterte administration on Friday, July 3. The law will replace the existing Human Security Act of 2007. It changes the definition of terrorism, removes protection against wrongful detention, and sets up an extrajudicial anti-terrorism council with wide-ranging powers. Critics have argued that the law was pushed through the Congress in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and was not adequately debated in either House. Critics have also raised concerns that the vagueness and expanded definition of terrorism can include political protests against the government. Duterte administration has been facing massive protests recently for its mismanagement of the outbreak. On Saturday, hundreds across Manila came to protest, which was organized by the Youth Faction of the Gabriela Women's Party. Other social movements and religious groups have also come out in protest over the weekend, like the Catholic Organization, De La Salle Brothers, which is also one of the petitioners against the law. The National Union of the Metalworkers of South Africa and the South African Cabin Crew Association have demanded that President Cyril Ramaphosa immediately intervene and fire the finance minister, Tito Umbovini. The demand comes ahead of the National Treasury's announcement regarding the liquidation of the South African Airways. Ahead of a crucial vote by stakeholders to determine the future of the airline, the Treasury told the Parliamentary Committee on Friday that the airlines, along with other affiliated airlines, were insolvent and proposed liquidation. The Treasury also stated that it does not plan to put any additional funds to bail out the airline. The liquidation would result in job loss for roughly 4,700 workers, with a measly severance pay not exceeding 32,000 rands, which is around $1,800. Even this amount is not guaranteed and is conditional on the availability of funds. The unions have vowed to take all possible legal measures to prevent its liquidation. The Treasury's liquidation proposal was made despite the standard of the public enterprise's Minister Praveen Gurdan, who has repeatedly said that liquidation is not an option. That's all we have in this episode of the International Daily Roundup. We will be back tomorrow with the latest news developments from across the world. Until then, keep watching People's Dispatch.