 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. Parliamentary elections held in Ethiopia amid delays in several constituencies. Israeli forces continue violent suppression of anti-settlement protests in Beita. Several US states announce early into additional MLM employment aid and in our video section we take a look at the indefinite strike launched by community health workers in India. In our first 20 millions of Ethiopians cast their votes in the country's parliamentary elections held on June 21st. On 33.6% of the country's over 100 million people were registered to vote on Monday. However, logistical and security issues have been in elections in one-fifth of the constituencies. This is the country's first election since Prime Minister Abhi Ahmed came to power in 2018. He introduced economic reforms, released thousands of political prisoners and allowed the return of exiles. Ahmed's prosperity parties was the front-runner among 46 parties and 9,500 candidates on Monday. However, several opposition parties including the aroma of Federalist Congress boycott the elections. They have cited intimidation by security forces in the retention of thousands. They also stated that the agents were beaten and their accretations were taken away in several regions. Meanwhile, no election date has been set for 38 constituencies in the Watt-on-Tigre region. A year after Ahmed came to power, he disbanded the dominant EPR-DF coalition. It was composed of four major parties including the Tigre People's Liberation Front. All three parties except the TPLF joined Ahmed's prosperity party. While elections were delayed in the rest of Ethiopia, the TPLF formed a government in Tigre in 2020. Months later, Prime Minister Ahmed ordered troops in the area claiming that a federal base had been attacked. While the TPLF was soon ousted, the war in Tigre continued to what has been now over seven months. Ethiopian troops have also been joined by troops from neighboring Eritrea. Varying estimates place the death toll in Tigre between 2000 to 2050,000. Around 2 million people have been displaced over 350,000 out of the brink of famine. Aid agencies have also documented widespread sexual violence and extrajudicial executions. In our next story, around 20 Palestinians were injured after Israeli forces attacked a protest in the occupied West Bank on June 20th. People have been resisting the construction of an illegal Israeli settlement on the Jabal Sabeh mountain. The protests have been met with live ammunition, rubber coated bullets and tear gas. Five Palestinians have been killed including 16-year-old Ahmed Zahi Ibaneh Shamsa who were shot in the head last week. Approximately 618 others have also been injured. In addition to the Jabal Sabeh settlement, occupation forces are also seizing a land to build a bypass road exclusively for settlers. The land belongs to Palestinians from Betah, Hwara and Zatar. The land had been seized for military purposes until 2018. As reported by journalist Rania Zabane, no building is permitted on the land and an eviction notice has been sent to settlers on June 8th. However, the settlement is still in place, risking the livelihoods of 17 Palestinian families who grew olive trees in the area. In addition to routine protests, people have also launched what is called confusion activities at night. These include the use of blaring horns, lights and burning tires to force the settlers to leave the land. As for local estimates, over 700,000 Israeli settlers live in illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. 164 settlements and 116 settlement outposts have been set up so far. The settlement at Jabal Sabeh has been set up just months after an outpost was constructed on the Al-Arma Mount. The two outposts will overlook the Jordan Valley which makes up about 30% of the occupied West Bank. We now go to the United States where 26 states have announced an end to the additional unemployment aid. Out of these, nine cut their cut down their federal pandemic unemployment compensation on June 19th. This was over a month and a half before the assistance was set to expire on September 4th. The measure was part of the $1.4 trillion stimulus package passed by the US Congress in December 2020. It offered an additional $300 US dollars each week on top of existing unemployment aid. The cuts are being implemented in Republican controlled states with the exception of the state of Louisiana. Now on a John Edwards stated that the cuts were being put in place to increase state employment benefits next year. However, this increases only $28. 412,000 people filed for unemployment claims in the US last week. State governments have claimed that additional aid is preventing workers from taking open positions. The US has been witnessing labor shortages in chain businesses and restaurants. Unions have pointed to the extremely unsafe working conditions and low wages as the reasons behind this trend. A study by the University of California revealed that the morbidity rates of line cooks increased by 60% during the pandemic. The Century Foundation is estimating that cuts will impact nearly 440,000 unemployed workers immediately. Overall, the impact will be felt by 12 million people awaiting various pandemic assistance programs. These cuts are also being put in place just as the federal moratorium on evictions is set to expire on June 30th. And for our final story, we go to India where thousands of frontline health workers have launched an indefinite strike. Asha workers are primarily women and provide crucial health services in poor and marginalized communities. However, they are classified as volunteers and do not receive salaries. Instead, they are given task-based incentives in a monthly honorarium which can be as low as US$20. Asha workers across India also observed a general strike in May. Despite performing duties such as COVID-19 testing, they were not given adequate safety gear. Now, workers in the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have gone on to strike to raise long-standing demands. Here is A.R. Sindhu from the Center of Indian Trade Unions who talk about the action. Hundreds of Asha workers are dying due to COVID. And you see that the government in the first place itself, they announced an insurance package. It is a life insurance thing of 50 lakh rupees. That also, especially in the first wave, at least minimum to 300 Asha workers have died across the country. But very few, I mean, maybe less than 10 people got the insurance coverage. Their families. And in the second wave, which is without any means, the symptoms is very rarely seen. So they are exposed and they means they are dying. And then they are not even termed as COVID deaths. So there is no post mortem and they are not given any certificate in the second rate. Even in Ariana recently, around eight cases were there in the last month itself of death. None is given because they are telling that there should be because the COVID protocol is there. They are, you know, their bodies are not even hand over to the families and they are cremated. But the government is now asking for a post mortem report for having the compensation. This is the situation. So they are the foremost thing is that they are doing the duty fantastically and they appreciate it. They are the link from the government to the people. So their work is so important and this is their working condition. So during this period, we have been continuously approaching the government for risk allowance and additional because they other all the other health services are almost in a stanchy still it is not being done. So their additional income they were supposed to get was through other immunization, other programs like that. That is also totally their income has been stopped and the services are also not delivered to the people. So here we are demanding that additional means the compensatory allowances that are basic demands of minimum wages and social security, including pension is also already there. But at least during the pandemic, at least some risk allowance that government should announce that the government is not ready and the safety gear without the safety gear, how can you expose people to the corona patients? So that is also the demand. So these are the demands which we are pushing forward. Safety and the risk allowance and the income support and in the families because of due to the lack of employment or the loss of employment and income, there is a rampant poverty. So the income support and the food support that also for all the workers we are demanding. So these have been continuously raised. That's all we have time for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more news from around the world. Until then, keep watching People's Dispatch.