 Hello and welcome to today's episode of the International 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. US Navy fuel leak contaminates Hawaii's water. Ethiopian federal forces retake key towns amid war. Solomon Islands Prime Minister survives no confidence motion. And Ecuador's indigenous people declare state of resistance. In our first story, a leak at US Navy fuel storage facility has poisoned a major drinking water source in Hawaii. The Navy confirmed last week that petroleum had been detected in the water from its Red Hill tank farm. The underground fuel facility is located just above a Hawaiian aquifier which supplies 20% of Honolulu's drinking water. Red Hill is a World War II Iran tank farm and has caused multiple leaks in the past. The US Navy reported on November 20th that 14,000 gallons of fuel had spilled in the facility. Families at the Pearl Harbor Hickam base started complaining that their water was smelling of fuel. Navy engineers investigated these reports at the end of November but stated that there was no smell or sign of chemicals in the water. Finally, on December 2nd, the Navy confirmed that petroleum had been detected in the water at Red Hill. Nearly 1000 families and several schools had complained of possible contamination by then. Some also complained of ailments including stomach cramps and vomiting. Documents made public last week showed that water samples collected by the Navy between July and September already showed petroleum contamination. Meanwhile, the Honolulu civil beat has also reported that the Navy was aware of a leak from a pipeline connected to Red Hill as early as January. At the time, the US Navy was set to appear before the Hawaiian government to secure a widely opposed permit for the facility. The Navy did not confirm that Red Hill was a source of the leak until July. Finally, on December 6th, Hawaii ordered the Navy to immediately suspend its operations at Red Hill. The incident and the sheer scale of potential impact on Hawaii's water has intensified calls for complete demilitarization. In our next story, Ethiopian federal forces have recaptured key towns in the ongoing civil war with the Tigraya People's Liberation Front or the TPLF. On December 6th, the Federal Army along with Amharan militias recaptured Desi and Kombolcha in the Amhara state. Both lie on a major highway leading to the capital of Addis Ababa. Federal and Allied forces also liberated 10 towns in Amhara's North Sheva Zone last week. Civilian killings, rape, looting and destruction had been reported from at least two of these towns. The TPLF was also defeated on the western front where it was hoping to connect with Sudan which is alleged to be supporting the group. However, federal forces re-took several towns including Ghasena on December 1st. In the neighboring state of Afar, federal forces also recaptured the town of Shifra from the TPLF on November 28th. The TPLF had intended to use Shifra to attack the strategic Mille district. A major highway connecting the capital of Addis Ababa to a port in neighboring Djibouti passes through the district. The town of Shifra itself is also located at the junction between three war-affected states of Tigraya, Amhara and Afar. It is also less than 150 km from Desi and Kombolcha. The 13-month-long war in Ethiopia has killed thousands of civilians and displaced around 3 million. 10 million people have also been pushed into hunger amid reports that the TPLF has seized eight trucks. The group escalated its attacks in June when the federal government declared a unilateral humanitarian ceasefire. As the fighting continued, thousands of Tigrayans held a rally in support of the federal government in Addis Ababa on December 5th. Resistance against Western support to the TPLF is also growing globally under the hashtag NoMore. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogaware has survived a no-confidence motion in the parliament. The vote was tabled on December 6th but failed after 34 lawmakers voted against and only 15 in favour. The vote followed weeks after large-scale violent protests hit the capital of Hunyara. Starting November 24th, protesters burned down over 60 buildings including a structure next to the parliament and another inside Sogaware's residence. However, the main target of the rioting and violence was Hunyara's Chinatown. Buildings and businesses were looted and burned down over three days. The remains of three people were discovered in one such building on November 27th. Most of the protesters had arrived in Hunyara from the Malayhtar province. The unrest was fuelled in part by issues like unemployment and poverty. However, tensions between the provincial government and the Sogaware administration had grown since 2019. This was when the Prime Minister de-recognised Taiwan and established formal diplomatic relations with China. Malayhtar opposed the central government's decision and has banned Chinese companies from operating in the province. Sogaware's decision was key given that the Solomon Islands was among the few countries which had ties with Taiwan, a decision backed by foreign powers like the US and Australia. Following the November protests, Australia deployed troops to the Solomon Islands along with Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. During Monday's Parliament session, Sogaware said that he would not submit to calls to resign by Taiwan and its agents. He added that China was an economic powerhouse and the Solomon Islands stood with its bilateral partners in recognising Beijing. And for our final story, we go to Ecuador where indigenous peoples have declared a state of resistance. The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador or CONAI has denounced President Guillermo Lasso for refusing to address the people's demands. CONAI has engaged in two rounds of dialogue with the government over six main issues. These included a decree which regularly raised fierce prices, price control on agricultural inputs, moratoriums on debt of small producers and intercultural education, among other things. While Lasso agreed to scrap the fuel decree, he had already raised the price of diesel by 21 cents and gas by at least 5 cents. Due to worsening conditions, CONAI organised several protests alongside trade unions in October. Among the issues raised was job insecurity at a stop to the expansion of oil development and mining in the Amazon. However, the Lasso government's response was to declare a state of emergency which continues to be in place. Another round of dialogue was held on November 10th after which the government promised to address the demands within 15 days. However, no action was taken even by the 1st of December. At the end of November, CONAI announced that it was withdrawing from the dialogue process. It has also declared that a fresh round of mobilisations against the government will begin in January. And that's all for today. For more such stories, visit our website at www.peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for watching.