 Hello, you're watching The Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you some of the top stories from around the world. Let's take a look at today's headlines. Oxfam report warns of rising extreme poverty, deaths of unhoused people rise in the United States, Swazi Union leader targeted amid labor dispute, and Mexico's Congress votes to nationalize Lithium. In our first story today, over 250 million people across the world could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022. This would mean an estimated 860 million people would be living on less than $1.90 a day. This is being fueled by COVID-19, global inequality, and surge in food prices triggered by the war in Ukraine. These findings have been released by Oxfam International, titled First Crisis Then Catastrophe. The World Bank had projected that COVID and inequality would push 198 million people into extreme poverty. Oxfam has found that rising food prices alone will push another 65 million into extreme poverty. This will bring the global total to 263 million. Poverty levels are close to defaulting on deaths and have been forced to slash public spending to pay creditors and import necessities. The world's poorest countries owe $43 billion in debt repayments in 2022 alone. Rising food costs account for 17 years of consumer spending in rich countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa, however, this share is as much as 40%. Poverty levels are rising alongside hunger with the number of undernourished people expected to reach 827 million this year. Most workers worldwide have seen a stagnation or decline in their wages. The Oxfam report shows how entire countries have been plunged deeper into poverty. Countries are facing greater economic challenges and austerity after also being denied equitable access to vaccines. Oxfam has called for collective measures including debt cancellation and progressive taxation. An annual wealth tax would lift around 2.3 billion people out of poverty, make enough vaccines for all, and deliver universal social protection and healthcare. We move on to the US, which is witnessing a shocking increase in deaths of unhoused people. The unhoused population is aging and the toll of living and sleeping outdoors has shortened lifespans. According to a New York Times report, the wider availability of a dangerous drug called fentanyl has been a major cause. However, many unhoused people have also died of treatable chronic illnesses like heart disease. There are also 16 times more likely to die in a car crash, 14 times more likely to be murdered and 18 times as likely to die of suicide. This leads to medical care and housing become more difficult with the COVID-19 pandemic. In several US cities, the number of deaths of unhoused people doubled during this period. Austin, Denver, Indiana Police, Nashville and Salt Lake City were particularly hit. However, the crisis is at its worst in the state of California where one in four of the country's homeless people live. In Los Angeles, the unhoused population grew by 50% between 2015 and 2020. Dets among this population increased by 200% during this period. The county alone was averaging 5 deaths a day last year. Of the nearly 2000 unhoused people who died in Los Angeles last year, 383 died on streets, alleys and sidewalks. Men and especially black men are disproportionately represented in California's mortality figures. Beyond medical conditions, experts have also drawn attention to the impact of poverty, isolation and lack of support on unhoused people. We move on to Swaziland where police have been targeting a union leader amid an ongoing labor dispute in the public sector. And Bongwat Dlamini is the president of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers or SNAT. Earlier in April, his house was sprayed with bullets by the militarized Operation Support Service Unit. The attack was targeted at members of the Swaziland Liberation Movement who had gathered at a bus stop near the residence. Dlamini is additionally facing charges of obstructing police from carrying out an arrest. The Teaching Service Commission has also reinstated unsubstantial charges of professional misconduct against him. This persecution is taking place amid a conflict between the Swazi government and the public sector associations. The PSA is a coalition of four unions including SNAT which represents around 14,000 members. The government has refused to review the salaries of the country's 44,000 public servants. This is in violation of a 2016 collective agreement. Moreover, the prices of basic commodities including fuel, electricity and water have also increased. Widespread poverty was also one of the key issues raised in the massive anti-monarchy uprising of 2021. The state has so far only offered a cost of living adjustment. The unions have rejected this as inadequate. On top of this, all primary and secondary school teaching posts will now be contractualized. According to SNAT, teachers on contract are not entitled to benefits including maternity leave and housing allowances. And finally, Mexico's Congress has passed an amendment to nationalize the country's lithium reserves. The measure was presented by the President Andres Manuel López Abrador and would change the 1992 mining law. Under the new amendment, lithium exploration, exploitation and use will be exclusively reserved for the Mexican state. The measure was approved with 298 votes in the lower house on April 18. It was part of a broader push by the President to overhaul Mexico's energy sector. This included a major reform which was put up for a vote in Congress on April 17. It would repeal a 2013 law passed by the former Nieto administration which opened up the energy sector to foreign corporations. Amalor had proposed to change the electricity dispatch rules in favor of the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission or the FCA. This would work to limit private investment in the energy market. Government wanted to boost the FCA's market share in energy from the current 38% to 54%. It argued that this would help modernize and strengthen the energy sector without the need for privatization. It would establish a competitive public system with lower prices and higher production standards with accountability. The reform also enjoyed public support with demonstrations held in several areas including Mexico City on April 12. However, the proposal failed in Congress receiving only 275 of the 333 votes necessary for its approval. And that's all for today's episode. For more such stories, visit our website at www.peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for watching.