 Hello, you're watching The 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. Colombian Army leaders confessed to civilian killings. Horn of Africa faces severe drought and hunger. U.S. court halts execution of Melissa Lucio and four soldiers killed in Israeli attack on Syria. In our first story, 10 former members of the Colombian military have publicly admitted their role in the extrajudicial killings of civilians. Between 2007 and 2008, 120 people were murdered in and around the town of Ocana in the Catatumbo region. These were later branded as combat killings of left-wing guerrilla fighters. A historic public hearing on the incident was organized by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace or JEP on April 26. Around 50 of the victims' family members attended the meeting in the Norte de Santander department. A former military general, one civilian, four colonels and five army members admitted their participation in abducting and killing the civilians. The JEP was set up under the 2016 peace accord between the now demobilized revolutionary armed forces of Colombia or the FARC and the government. It found that the military carried out over 6,400 extrajudicial killings between 2002 and 2008. This coincided with an incentives program launched under President Alvaro Uribe. Soldiers with higher combat kills were given rewards including vacations and promotions. The JEP is examining atrocities committed over 50 years of armed conflict in Colombia. It stated on April 22 that over 5,700 people had been killed or disappeared between 1984 and 2016. These were linked to military-backed paramilitaries in a campaign against the FARC-linked Petriotic Union or UP. The tribunal noted that 4,616 victims were murdered whilst 1,117 were forcibly disappeared. Out of this, 538 people had no links to the UP whatsoever. Moving on, over 15 million people are facing acute food insecurity amid a severe drought in the Horn of Africa. Areas in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are facing their driest conditions in more than 40 years. The region is at risk of facing a fourth consecutive season of failed or poor reign. The United Nations has warned that this could lead to one of the worst climate-induced emergencies in its history. Some areas in Somalia are now at risk of famine. Nearly 6 million people are acutely food insecure including 81,000 people in the IPC's catastrophic level. Between 5.5 to 6.5 million people in Ethiopia and 3.5 million in Kenya are also facing drought-related acute food insecurity. Across all three countries, around 5.7 million children are acutely malnourished. Over 1.7 million out of this are suffering already from severe acute malnutrition. Factors including low harvest and global rise in prices has made access to food more difficult. The price of a food basket has increased by 66% in Ethiopia and 36% in Somalia. In some of Somalia's worst affected areas, the price of water has surged by a shocking 72%. Water shortages have also increased the risk of disease and infection. Factors including lack of food, water and pasture has triggered mass displacement. In Somalia, over 759,000 people have been forced to leave their homes since January. This figure is projected to reach 1.4 million in the next 6 months. In our next story, a U.S. court has issued a stay in the execution of 53-year-old Melissa Lucio, the Hispanic mother of 14, was convicted for the murder of her 2-year-old daughter in 2007. Her case drew widespread condemnation given the gross violation of established procedures and rights during her interrogation and trial. Lucio and her family maintained that her daughter had fallen down a flight of stairs while they were moving houses. Her daughter Maria suffered from a physical disability which made her walk unsteadily. She died 2 days later. Immediately after the incident, Lucio was taken into police custody. She was interrogated for over 5 hours during which she asserted her innocence over 100 times. According to reports, police officers deployed coercive methods including intimidation. After undergoing this manipulation, Lucio made statements that were used to incriminate her. She was charged and sentenced for fatally beating her daughter. Lucio's lawyers argued that her supposed confession had been coerced. They also highlighted her vulnerability given her history of being subjected to domestic violence and sexual assault. Lucio was also not allowed to present evidence which challenged the validity of her confession. They added that false and unscientific evidence had misled the jury to believe that Maria's injuries could have only been caused by abuse and not the fault. Information related to her disability was reportedly also omitted. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay just 2 days before Lucio was to be executed on April 27. The case will head back to a lower court which has been ordered to review 4 claims raised by her lawyers. And for our final story today, at least 4 Syrian soldiers were killed in an Israeli missile attack near Damascus on April 27. The Syrian Defense Ministry confirmed that 3 others had also been injured. The Syrian Arab News Agency or SANA reported that the missiles had been launched from the Israeli city of Tiberias. It added that most of the projectiles had been intercepted by Syrian air defenses. Venice Day's attacks also caused some material damage. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported 9 fatalities. It also stated that an ammunition depot was among the reported targets. The missile attack took place a day after an Israeli military drone crashed in Syrian territory. The military stated that it was investigating the incident. However, it has not commented on Venice Day's attack. Israel reportedly also struck several targets near Damascus on April 14. The missiles were allegedly fired from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Israel has carried out hundreds of such attacks on Syria since 2011. It claims to be targeting positions of Iranian-backed militias including Lebanon's Hezbollah. Israel has also stated that Iran's position near the northern border is a quote-unquote red line. It often launches these unprovoked attacks by making illegal use of Lebanon's airspace.