 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you major news developments from around the world. Our headlines, Santiago's subway workers go on strike as anti-government protests continue in Chile. At least 14 children reported death following military bombing in Colombia. US Congress approves a trillion dollar COVID relief plan with amendments. Rich countries block appeal by poorer countries to waive WTO patents on vaccines. In our video section, we take a look at the judicial bias in the corruption cases against former Brazilian President Lula da Silva. For our first story, we go to Chile, where subway-trained workers in the city of Santiago have gone on strike. The call to strike was issued by the Santiago's Subway Union of Professionals and Technicians on March 10. Workers are protesting against cuts in salaries and mass layoffs. As reported by Telisur, the workers have also not been included as an essential group for COVID-19 vaccines. The Santiago's subway administration has also been criticized for refusing to engage in talks with the workers. The workers' union organized a rally at the headquarters of the Santiago's Subway System in La Moneda Station. Around 1,800 workers across departments including maintenance, engineering and operations participated in the demonstration. Wednesday's strike comes at a time in Chile as it is witnessing widespread protests against the government. The unrest can be traced back to the social outbreak protests of 2019 and 2020. These were met with brutal repression including the use of tear gas, water cannons and mass arrests. The Chilean National Human Rights Commission estimated that over 450 people sustained eye injuries from projectiles fired by the police during these protests. People are now demanding the resignation of right-wing president Sebastian Pinyera and the release of all political prisoners. Hundreds of people are also gathered in Santiago last week to protest police violence. Police forces were seen deploying water cannons and tear gas to repress the crowd. In our next story, at least 14 children between the ages of 10 and 19 have reportedly been killed in a military bombing in Colombia. As reported by Pensa Latina, the army was conducting an operation against insurgent groups in the Guaibara department on March 2. Journalists in politician Holman Morris first reported the deaths on his YouTube channel on March 10. However, Defense Minister Diego Molano has refused to confirm the number of children that were killed during the bombings. He also called them war machines and justified the military operation as legitimate. He further stated that the miners, to quote him, cease to be victims when they commit crimes. These comments have drawn widespread condemnation. Many have also pointed to the lack of governmental support to children and young people in the region. The Legal Medicine Institute has also stated that there are no records of miners being killed in the operation. However, this contradicts ground reports by journalists who have stated the bodies of three miners were being held in the morgue. Three other children have been injured or rendered reportedly in hospitals. We now go to the United States where the Congress has officially passed a billion dollar COVID relief plan introduced by President Joe Biden. The House of Representatives have approved the American Rescue Plan Bill with a majority of 220 to 211 on March 10. The bill had been sent back to the House for approval after it was passed in the Senate with amendments. These included removing an increase in the federal minimum wage and reducing the boost to unemployment benefits. It has been passed almost completely without support from the Republican Party. The plan will allocate $1,400 per person in stimulus payments. According to some estimates, this will cover nearly 90% of households. However, an income threshold has been set. The amount is also less than the $2,000 originally promised by the Democrats. Activists have stated that this will again fall short of the actual assistance required by people. The bill will continue the allocation of an additional $300 a week in unemployment benefits. $35 billion have been set aside for entered in ModKitch 8 and a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures is in place till June. Another $350 billion in aid will be given to state and local governments. $20 billion has also been set aside for the COVID-19 vaccination programs. Additional allocations for rural hospitals and healthcare providers have also been made. The bill will now be sent to President Biden who is expected to sign it into law on March 12. We now go to the next story where over 100 low-income and poor countries have appealed to the World Trade Organization to waive its patents on COVID vaccine production. They have urged the WTO to suspend the agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. The agreement allows companies to establish monopoly over a patented product and restrict its production. The proposal to waive patents had first been presented by India and South Africa on October 2020. This would allow poorer countries to boost the manufacturing of vaccines. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Gabriel Sius also endorsed this proposal earlier this month. The WHO and UN have raised serious concerns about vaccine hoarding by rich countries. As per the UN, 75% of the vaccine doses have been administered by rich countries. As of last month, at least 130 countries were yet to receive a single dose. In spite of this, several rich countries including the US, the UK and the European Union have blocked the trips waiver. They have claimed that it will supposedly be harmful for innovators. Eight unsuccessful rounds of discussion over the proposal have been held since October last year. The matter will reportedly now be once again discussed in April. For our final story, we go back to a recent decision by a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, annealing the convictions of former progressive president Lula da Silva. A judge, Edison Fashin, declared incompetence of the criminal court in Curitiba to try four cases of corruption against Lula. The four cases have been part of operation, car wash and investigation launched in 2014. The decision will now be reviewed by the full Supreme Court. In the meantime, here is Daniel Jovanas from Brazil, the father to talk about the context of the verdict. The only reason for these cases to be there in Curitiba in the federal court was the involvement of Petrobras, our state oil company, in the four accusations. But this involvement of Petrobras was never shown, never proved. And between the lines, what we can say, we can read is that the judge, Sergio Moro, who first condemned Lula in the case of triplex, he was concentrating the cases involving the former president Lula in order to consolidate his position as a leader of the car wash operation in Curitiba. So it's important to remember that Sergio Moro, the same judge, former judge now, he became minister of justice in Bolsonaro government in 2019. And Bolsonaro won the elections, mostly because Lula was arrested several months before the elections. So the timing of this decision is relevant and has to be criticized because this delay had a huge impact. It's interfered directly in the elections of 2018 in which Lula was unable to dispute and Bolsonaro was elected. So it's very important to understand that this timing was a problem. I mean, this delay had such an impact in our political context. And the second thing I think it's also very important is that although minister Fakin of the Supreme Court, he hasn't mentioned the partiality of the former judge, Sergio Moro and the prosecutors of car wash operation in Curitiba. In the last couple of months, it's one of the main issues in Brazil political scenario. Since last year, a huge number of dialogues between the prosecutors and Moro on Telegram have been released and they show how they were interested in punishing Lula and all these dialogues expose many violations to our constitution. So all these messages and the narrative of partiality in the car wash operation, which have been getting more and more consolidated since last year. All this context certainly have influenced Fakin's decision, although he doesn't mention this in his decision. I don't know if it's clear, but as Fakin is very close to Sergio Moro and to car wash operation, we can consider that the decision he made on Monday was also an alternative not only to make justice for Lula, but to avoid the judgment of Moro's suspicion in the Supreme Court. If that was his strategy, I think it went wrong. It wasn't successful because in the next day, Tuesday, thanks to the effort of another minister, Gilmar Mendes, the Supreme Court kept judging Moro and his suspect conduct in the car wash operation. And I think and it's likely that Moro will lose again in this case. That's all your time for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more news from around the world. Until then, keep watching People's Suspension.