 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup with People's Dispatch where we bring you some of the top stories from across the globe. Let's take a look at today's headlines. Conservative banker Willair Molasa wins Ecuador's presidential election, brought his breakout following police shooting of a black man in the US. Iran blames Israel for attack on Natan's nuclear site, detained Hiraab protesters launch hunger strike in Algeria and in the video section we take a look at the case of Israeli billionaire Dianne Gertler and his dealings in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Conservative banker Guler Molasa has won Ecuador's presidential run of elections held on April 11. As per latest updates, he secured 52.42% of the votes. Progressive candidate Andres Arauz from the Union of Hope Alliance has secured 47.58% of the votes. He had been the clear frontrunner going into Sunday's election, having won the first round in February. He was running on a platform of social protection which would have reversed the Moreno administration's neoliberal agenda. These policies have plunged the country into a series of economic, health care and social crises. Arauz formally conceded the election on Sunday night stating that he would call lasso to congratulate him. 13 million Ecuadorians were set to elect the country's president and vice president on Sunday. However, over 17% of the electorate did not vote and 16% of the votes were declared null. The democratic process had also witnessed several disruptions in the preceding months. This included a demand to recount the votes which was rejected later and an attempt to have the armed forces intervene in the process. President-elect Lasso has received messages of support from right-wing leaders in the region, including Colombian president Iván Duque. Lasso belongs to the right-wing, creating opportunities and social Christian Party alliance. He is set to take office on May 24. Meanwhile, exit polls in neighbouring Peru have indicated that left-wing candidate Pedro Castillo is in the lead. The country held its general elections on April 11. Castillo's lead has come as a surprise given that he was not a top contender in previous opinion polls. As for the latest available updates by the I-Post Perot company, he is winning with 16.1% of the votes. However, as reported by Kaba Sachun News, the winners of the election will not be declared before early May. In our next story, we go to the US where protests have broken out following the police shooting of a young black man. 20-year-old Dante Wright was shot in his car in the state of Minnesota on April 11. He had been apprehended over an alleged traffic violation. Wright's father has stated that the police did not disclose a valid reason as to why he was stopped. She has also stated that she was on the phone with him at the time. Wright was pulled over for having an air freshener dangling over his car window during questioning. Police found that there was a standing arrest warrant against him. Police have claimed that Wright tried to re-enter his vehicle when they were trying to take him into custody. He was then shot, which led his car to crash. His partner, who was also present in the car, was injured as well. His family and civil rights groups have indicated that there are several inconsistencies in the police account. Over 100 protesters gathered outside the Brooklyn Center police station to demand justice for Wright. They were faced with dozens of Wright police officers deployed at the scene. Officers were attacked with rubber bullets, tear gas and flash pancreinates. Wright's death has taken place in the same city where 46-year-old George Floyd was killed by police in 2020. Derek Chauvin, the former police officer and prime accused in Floyd's death, is currently on trial for murder. The Iranian government has stated that Israel is responsible for the attack on the Natanz nuclear facility. Foreign Minister Javid Zarif was addressing the parliament's National Security and Foreign Police Commission on April 12. The attack has been called an act of nuclear terrorism. The electric grid at the Natanz facility suffered a blackout on Sunday. The foreign ministry later announced that no human or environmental damage had been caused. However, Israeli media has reported that the attack has set back Iran's nuclear enrichment ability by nine months. Public broadcaster Khan reported that intelligence agency Mossad was behind the attack. Iran has also considered the attack an attempt to obstruct the negotiations around the 2015 nuclear deal. While repeatedly opposing the deal, Israel has now announced that it will work closely with the U.S. In the meantime, it has also stepped up its hostilities towards Iran. A joint commission meeting of the signatories to the deal was held in Vienna last week. The meeting was convened to discuss the lifting of U.S. imposed sanctions on Iran among other issues. U.S. officials were also present in the city, however, there were no direct official talks with Iran. The meeting is now set to resume on April 14. Iran has stated that all sanctions imposed by the U.S. since its withdrawal from the deal in 2018 must be revoked. 23 detained protesters have been on hunger strike in Algiers since April 7. They were arrested last week during a protest in Algiers as part of the ongoing anti-government Iraq movement. They are facing charges including causing damage to national unity and holding an unarmed gathering or protest. The National Commission for the Liberation of Detainees confirmed on Sunday that the strike was ongoing at the El-Hirach Jail News portal, Algeria Power reported on April 9 that authorities had arrested 36 Hirach protesters last week. These included minors, one of whom reported being subjected to sexual abuse and custody. Arrested activists are facing charges of drug possession and leading and organizing criminal associations. Other charges are related to undermining national security and disseminating images intending to harm the life of a child. Algerian security forces have been condemned for the heavy repression of the Iraq movement. Mass protests had spread across Algeria in 2019 when the president, Abdulaziz Botheflika, had announced his intentions to seek a fifth term in office. While he later withdrew his candidacy and stepped down, the protests continued. People demanded a complete overhaul of the political system. They condemned the influence of the military and corruption in the Algerian state. The protest movement has been witnessing a resurgence over the past few months after being suspended due to the pandemic in 2020. April 9 marked the 112th such demonstrations since 2019. And in the final story, we take a look at the case of Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler. The Biden administration has imposed sanctions against him over allegations of massive corruption. These are related to his dealings in the mining business. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gertler was first sanctioned by the U.S. in 2017 under the Trump administration. However, he was later granted a license allowing him to access previously blocked accounts. Here is Kambali Musawili to talk more about Gertler's case and his ties to the government in the DRC. Then Gertler was sanctioned by the Trump administration in 2017, if I'm not mistaken. And he was around some of the corrupt dealings that he had with the DRC. He's seen as one of the people who have allowed the regime of Joseph Kabila, the former president of the Congo, to stay in power for long. Many through mining deals. The way he has operated in the DRC, because he's been close to the president of the DRC, he has had access to some of business deals that he shouldn't have. And these business deals mean mining concessions. So what he would do, he would acquire a mining concession, a penny on the dollar, take it to the London Stock Exchange and sell it back for millions of dollars. When he receives the money, he funds the funds through the government, mainly Joseph Kabila. Then Gertler came in the DRC in 1997, at the age of 24. Just as he finishes a three-year military service in the Israeli Defense Force. So a 24-year-old Israeli shows up in 1997 in the DRC, focused on trying to get deals around diamonds, because I think his family members, his grandfather, he's the founder of the Israeli Diamond Exchange. And he had some interest around also diamonds. So as he came to Congo, he became very close with Joseph Kabila, whom at a time in 1997 was also 25 years old. So you have a 24-year-old Israeli connecting with a 25-year-old former rebel, Joseph Kabila, who then introduced him to Laurent Desiree Kabila, the president at the time. There is a war unfolding in 1998. There is a process where because of the war, Congo is receiving some sanctions. They want arms, so they are not able to buy arms. Then Gertler is able to facilitate purchase of arms through contacts that he has in Israel. And Laurent Desiree Kabila is able to get these weapons. Through Nali's affiliation with Laurent Kabila, and then of course in 2001 Laurent Kabila is assassinated, and Joseph Kabila in what I call the military coup becomes the president of the Congo in 2001. Since Joseph Kabila was very close to him, many of the shady mining deals stopped going through then Gertler. He's allowed some support to the regime to stay in power. So when Trump put the sanctions, it was to signal in 2017 to Joseph Kabila that he should not run for a third term. That was one of the biggest conditions of Congo's elections. Will Joseph Kabila stay in power? And strategically, the US government used sanctions to renege it, because they felt in the US interest they needed to be a new wave of leaders in the DRC. But after 2018, there was not much traction. What we realized was that then Gertler hired a lobby firm, a higher lobbyist in Washington. Particularly was interesting. His lawyer, lobbying for him, lobbying in the US administration, was the same lawyer that Donald Trump also used for his impeachment trial. So he was able, in some shape or form, to get the US to listen to his demand. So in the last days of Donald Trump, on January 15th, the Trump administration removed the sanctions, which surprised everyone. What is going on? There is a job done as being declared. We know the elections in the United States in 2020. Before he is actually able to be sworn in on January 15th, the sanctions are removed. And no one to be found about why this is unfolding. You can contact the Treasury Department. No one is clearly explaining how did this happen. So there was an outcry from civil society organizations and watchdogs in the West, and also in the DRC. And in March, the Biden administration reinstated the sanctions. But we need to be clear what this means. Because one, we said there is a Trump versus Biden. Biden is the great president who supports democracy and has in his cabinet his agenda that he will fight corruption. To me, be Trump or Biden is around US sanctions. We really have to decipher what actually unfolded. And that is all we have for this episode of the International Daily Roundup. For more such stories and videos, visit our website, people'sespice.org, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for watching.