Our daily voyage around the world

⛈️ Central Europe is experiencing its worst flooding in over two decades. Border areas between the Czech Republic and Poland were struck by heavy rain and surging water levels over the weekend, as a major weather system named Storm Boris passed through the region. The storm collapsed several bridges, damaged buildings, and forced tens of thousands of evacuations. Overall, at least 17 people have died in flooding from Romania to Poland over the past several days.

🇷🇺 President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s army to be increased to 1.5 million active troops. In a decree published on the Kremlin's website, Putin ordered Russia’s army to be increased by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million, marking the third such order since 2022. The latest troop increase would see Russia surpass the US and India in terms of active combat soldiers, making Russia second only to China and its 2+ million active duty troops, per data from a leading military think tank.

🇨🇳🇺🇸 Beijing released a Chinese-American pastor the US says was wrongfully detained for 18 years. In a surprise move, China freed 68-year-old David Lin on Sunday without any apparent explanation. Lin first entered China in 2006 and attempted to establish a Christian training center, but faced pushback from China's Communist Party, which typically exerts strict control over Christian churches (and religions in general). Lin was detained and eventually sentenced to life in prison for contract fraud, a charge Beijing often applies to home church leaders attempting to raise money, per local rights groups.