Our daily trip around the world

🇬🇷 Greece’s worst wildfire of 2024 continues to spread near Athens. The ongoing fire, which affected 156+ square miles as of yesterday evening, has prompted thousands of evacuations since it first started on Sunday. Local officials say it’s currently unclear how the wildfire started, though heavy winds and a prolonged drought have worsened its spread. The EU is sending rescue aid, aircraft, and firefighting teams to combat the blaze.

🇮🇳 Indian law enforcement busted a fake cricket league swindling Russian gamblers. In 2022, four men created a fake Indian Premier League tournament aimed at scamming gamblers in Russia out of thousands of dollars via illegal online betting on matches. The hoax games were broadcast as live YouTube streams featuring the mimicked voices of famous cricket commentators and a BBC logo. The fake tournament was eventually shut down by Indian law enforcement, while one of the scam’s main organizers was recently arrested after traveling to India from Russia.

🇨🇳 China lost a record $15 billion in foreign investment last quarter. Analysts largely attribute the decline to new espionage laws in China (which carry enhanced surveillance powers), growing geopolitical tensions with the West, and China’s relatively poor economic performance since the pandemic. Meanwhile, China’s overseas investment hit a record $71 billion last quarter, up 80+% from the same period last year.