 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you some of the major news developments from across the world, our headlines. The US surpasses Italy in terms of the number of deaths in the pandemic. Duggish parliament and Yemen's Ansarullah decide to release thousands of prisoners. US clears arms sales worth US$155 million to India amid the pandemic. Indian activists forced to surrender in charge of sedition. We begin with an update in the novel coronavirus pandemic. The number of reported cases is around 1.92 million, of which 1.35 million are active cases. The number of deaths has come close to 120,000, with over 5,300 deaths alone added yesterday. The US continues to have the maximum number of cases at 587,000. It also surpassed Italy in terms of deaths due to COVID-19, adding over 1,500 deaths. The number as of today stands at over 23,600 deaths in the US alone. Even as the country suffers from a growing number of casualties and cases, the two ruling political parties are working to beat each other in easing restrictions the fastest. State governors declared regional blocks to work around ways to lift lockdowns put in place to deal with the epidemic. Led by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a group of six East Coast states, these include Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, have announced that they will be forming a joint task force to figure out how soon they can lift the lockdowns. A similar pact was arrived at by West Coast states California, Oregon, and Washington. The pacts between the governors, all of whom belong to the Democratic Party, effectively seek to bypass the Donald Trump administration to decide the process of easing restrictions. This popular response from Trump, who insisted the President has the authority to override state governors on the matter, which the state administrations have conflicted. Later in the day, the federal administration instituted a task force to study the possibility of easing restrictions. The states going against the federal government include some of the worst affected in the country. New York alone, with over 195,000 cases, has more infections in the second worst affected country. Turkey's parliament voted earlier today to release 90,000 prisoners from overcrowded jails in the country. 45,000 of these are said to be released temporarily under judicial control to the end of May. The term of parole can be extended by the Justice Ministry twice at the maximum for two-month periods at each time. Another 45,000 prisoners will be released permanently. The law was passed by a simple majority with 279 votes in favor and 51 against. The legislation was passed in an attempt to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus in the country's prisons. Turkey has more than 286,000 prisoners as of late 2019. Its prisons are overcrowded with an average occupancy rate of 118. The bill for the release of prisoners amid the COVID-19 emergency acquired the support of both the Ruling Justice and Development Party and its ally, the National and Partialist Movement Party or MHP. Prisoners charged with crimes related to sexual violence, drug trafficking and terrorism are not eligible. While the act to decongest the prisoners was welcomed, some opposition members objected to the omission of political prisoners. Most of these political prisoners were arrested during the 2016 Co-attempt. Around 50,000 Turkish prisoners are charged with terrorism, mostly political dissidents and Kurdish opposition members. In Yemen, the Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, have announced on Monday the release of more than 2,000 prisoners from their custody. The Houthi chief prosecutor Nabil al-Azani said in a statement that they had released 2,361 prisoners from parts of the country under their control since mid-March. According to the statement, the release was made after prisoners met certain criteria like having served three quarters of the sentences. Yemen has only reported one case so far early this month. Having been ravaged by wars and political crisis for nearly a decade, the country's public healthcare system is not in a place to deal with the outbreak. Yemen is already facing a recurring public health crisis due to outbreaks of malaria, dengue and cholera, compounded by the five-year-long imperialist aggression and blockade by a Saudi-led military alliance. The UN human coordinator warned that if the virus spreads in Yemen, the effects would be catastrophic. The World Health Organization is reportedly sending medical supplies, testing kits and ventilators to the country, as well as training Yemeni doctors and other medical service professionals to be prepared for the outbreak. In our infocus section, we look at the continuing efforts by sections of Brazil's right wing to deny the seriousness of the pandemic and oppose the lockdown. Brazil has witnessed many protests since the far-right government of Zair Bolsonaro assumed power. They have been national strikes led by the working-class groups which have been triggered by austerity measures in the implementation of neoliberal economic policies. They have been mass protests across the country by students and teachers against fund cuts in education, as well as protests by feminist groups against femicide and misogyny. But on April 11th, Brazil witnessed a very different kind of protest. So what was this about? Well, people were protesting against social distancing. Yes, you heard that right. A group of right-wingers and followers of Zair Bolsonaro hit the streets of Sao Paulo to protest against the social distancing measures imposed by the governor Sao Paulo. They were on the streets demanding the impeachment of the governor as well as the scrapping of the lockdown. This public outburst goes in line with the attitude of the president who has discredited physical distancing measures as well as the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic. Bolsonaro has been making a cautious statement after statement belittling the pandemic. For instance, he called it just a little cold and said that 90% of people that will be infected will not have symptoms. To quote him, the world has shown us that the risk group is people over 60 years old, so why close the schools? He even said that the press is causing panic and hysteria in Brazilian society while reporting on Covid-19. Even as the number of cases are soaring, no appropriate steps have been taken to contain the pandemic. As of April 14th, nearly 24,000 cases had been reported with over 1,350 deaths. Public health experts have raised concerns over the condition in Brazil, becoming similar to that of the US and Italy soon. The governors of most states have been trying to slow transmission by advocating physical distancing. But clearly, there are signs that such efforts are fraying. A growing number of people are stepping out onto the streets of cities every day to work so as to sustain themselves. Austerity measures over the years have taken a toll on the lives of working class in Brazil and they have no option but to work even in these tough times to survive. Informal workers from the poor neighborhoods of Brazil survive aided by solidarity and in fear of the pandemic. Social movements such as the Brazil Popular Front and the Fearless People Front jointly launched on March 31, the emergency platform to fight the coronavirus pandemic and the crisis in Brazil. This includes more than 60 proposals to unite Brazilian society. It also seeks to mobilize the executive, legislature and judiciary branches to support the undertaking. Amid governmental neglect and irresponsibility, social movements have reaffirmed that only the people will save the people. In addition to launching the political platform, which calls on institutions to take action, the movements have spearheaded initiatives of solidarity and mutual aid. In partnership with rural movements such as the Landless Rural Workers Movement, the MST which is involved in food production, social movements have been collecting donations and distributing food to vulnerable and marginalized populations in Brazil cities to fill the gap where the state seems unwilling to act. In the meanwhile, the US has cleared the sale of dollars 155 million worth of missiles in torpedoes to India. The Defense Security Corporation Agency or the DSCA, which regulates arms trade and international military relations, has notified the Congress on Monday of two sets of sales to be conducted. One set of sales worth 92 million dollars is for 10 anti-ship air-launched missiles and another set worth 63 million is for 19 light weight and excise torpedoes. The US Defense Department stated that the sales were requested by the Indian government to boost its supposed defense capabilities against China's rising influence. The sales come at a time when both the US and Indian governments are facing criticisms for the handling of the outbreak. The Trump administration has been criticized for not diverting its productive capabilities towards the manufacturing of necessary medical equipment and medicines to deal with the crisis. India's Modi government, on the other hand, has been called out by progressives and the opposition for not investing enough funds in welfare programs, despite having enforced a nationwide lockdown and witnessing a massive jump in unemployment. Earlier today, social activists Anand Teltumde and Gautam Naulaka were forced to surrender to the police on charges of sedition and rioting in India. The surrender was necessitated after the bail pleas of the two were rejected by the Supreme Court earlier. The two will be joining the list of nine lawyers and activists who were arrested in 2018 on similar charges over violence at Bhima Koregaon in Western India. All of them were booked under the controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a UAP. The violence in 2018 was a result of an attack by Hindu supremacist groups on the annual gathering of the Mahars and oppressed caste group, commemorating a historic battle. The state government, which was then led by the right-wing BJP, characterized it as a clash and accused the social activists around the country of being responsible. The government also did not charge a Hindu supremacist at the event who were on record making hateful comments against the Mahars. One of them was arrested later. Several civil society activists, writers, academics, political commentators, left-wing and opposition parties have characterized the prosecution as a witch hunt by the ruling BJP. That's all we have time for today, in this episode of the International Daily Roundup. To know more about these stories, visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for watching.