 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, Colombia and Police Arrest Present Activists, International Criminal Code says there is evidence of crimes against humanity by the Philippines government in its so-called war on drugs. Donald Trump threatens to withdraw defense budget over the issue of troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. And in our in-feature section, we take a look at the Palestinian health system which is crumbling due to COVID-19 and Israeli occupation. In our first story, prominent present activists Teofilo Acuna, Adelso Galo and Roberto Daza were arrested by Colombian authorities on December 15th and 16th. The arrests were made by members of the Colombian National Police and the Office of the Attorney General. Acuna, Galo and Daza are members of the People's Congress and the National Agrarian Coordinator. There are also spokespersons of the Agrarian, Pesant, Ethnic and People Summit, which is a platform for various indigenous, peasant and afro-descendant organizations. These organizations have also issued statements condemning the arrests. Teofilo Acuna is a prominent leader in the region and has been involved with the Interlocution Commission of Departments from South Bariwad, Central and South Caesar, South Magdalena and Santander. Adelso Galo has played a crucial role in opposing the abuses carried out by oil companies such as Occidental Petroleum in the region. He has also been part of various community-led campaigns from the Arakua department that have been historically persecuted by the legal system. Roberto Daza is a member of the Integration Committee of the Colombian Maziko in Narino in southwestern Colombia and has been working in defense of food sovereignty in the region. The arrests have been condemned as being evidence of the increasing criminalization and persecution of social activists and movements under the right-wing government of President Iwad Duque. This year also witnessed numerous social mobilizations such as the March for Dignity, the Social Minga and the Humanitarian Caravan in Cannondale, Makai, which denounced the political and socio-economic conditions under the current administration. The arbitrary arrests of these activists have also been denounced by organizations such as the International Network of Brotherhood and Solidarity with Colombia. In our next story, the Philippines government has been accused of committing crimes against humanity during its so-called war on drugs. The findings were published in the annual report of the Chief Prosecutor's Office of the International Criminal Court. The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte has been accused of committing murder and acts of severe mental and physical torture on people in the period between July 2016 and March 2019. The report focused on allegations that Duterte and his officials had promoted the extrajudicial killing of people suspected of dealing or using drugs. Law enforcement officers were reportedly involved in the deaths of nearly 5,300 people. However, thousands of more killings were carried out by unidentified vigilantes. According to certain independent estimates, this has brought the total death to more than 27,000 people. The Philippines government has rejected the findings as speculative, stating that the ICC no longer has jurisdiction over the country. The Philippines had announced its withdrawal from the ICC and the Rome Statue in 2019. This was following the initiation of a preliminary investigation into the drug wars by the current Chief Prosecutor Fatah Ben-Soda in 2018. Ben-Soda has stated that even though the Philippines is no longer a part of the Rome Statue, the court still has jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed in the country during the period in which it was signatory. The ICC will decide if it wants to proceed with a formal investigation into the matter in the first half of 2021. In case the prosecution is initiated, President Duterte will not have judicial immunity and will face international sanctions. In our next story, President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to veto a $740 billion defense authorization bill. The announcement was made by White House Press Secretary K. League McKinney on December 15. President Trump had raised objections regarding a provision which would restrict the administration's ability to reduce the number of troops deployed in Afghanistan, Germany and South Korea. Previously, the president also threatened to obstruct the bill over a provision that would require the renaming of military bases that commemorated Confederate leaders. Later, he also demanded the inclusion of an unrelated provision to remove liability protections for social media and tech companies. Lawmakers ultimately excluded both these demands from the final draft of the bipartisan legislation. The bill was passed by the Senate with a majority vote of 84 to 13 and by the House of Representatives with a majority vote of 335 to 78. The votes in both the Senate and the House crossed the two-thirds majority threshold, thereby making the bill veto-proof. Once the bill is officially delivered to the president, he will have 10 days to either veto it or sign it into law. In case a presidential veto is issued, Congress will once again require a two-thirds majority to override the veto. And finally, we look at the health situation in Palestine, especially with the number of COVID cases rising and due to a shortage in supplies. Here is a video on the issue. COVID-19 is continuing to spread rapidly across Palestine. The Israeli blockade is worsening this crisis. Authorities are worried that if drastic steps are not taken, the health system might collapse. Partial lockdowns have been imposed in different regions of Gaza and the West Bank, but a number of other problems are hampering the efforts of Palestinian authorities to combat the pandemic. This includes shortages in medicines, vital health care equipment such as test kits and financial difficulties. In the first week of December, authorities in Gaza had halted testing after running out of testing kits. The interruption came when one-third of COVID tests were coming back positive, an alarmingly high rate of infection. Lack of testing would have halted any efforts of monitoring and containing the virus and caused a much larger outbreak. The World Health Organization was able to prevent such a crisis by providing test kits for the next few days. But the long-term problem remains. Israeli blockades have devastated Palestine's health infrastructure. Moreover, the existing system is under severe strain as it also has to regularly deal with fatal injuries, gunshot wounds and other similar medical emergencies. Most of these are the result of Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza and assaults carried out by the Israeli military. Also, Gaza is one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Over 2 million people inhabit an area of 360 km2. The number of hospitals in the region is grossly inadequate to accommodate them. On December 10th, the Palestine Chronicle reported that all the hospitals in Gaza were full. The occupancy rates had reached 100%. The Israeli Apartheid regime has created a permanent emergency in Palestine's health care. For years, it has been on the brink of collapse. Agencies such as the WHO are able to provide temporary relief, but even they have their limitations. For instance, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or the UNRWA, caters to around 5.6 million refugees. In late November, the agency said they are stretched beyond capacity and are about to crash. The situation is a result of a massive fall in funding. The U.S., which was formerly UNRWA's largest donor, withdrew its funding in 2018. Saudi Arabia donated $50 million in 2018 to help fill the gap created by the U.S. But last year, it donated just $2 million. Israeli blockades and restrictions on movement have destroyed Palestinian infrastructure to the extent that Palestinians often have to rely on Israel to meet their essential needs. The Human Rights Group al-Haq stated in its position paper on COVID-19 that the pandemic poses a disproportionate and substantial threat to a Palestinian society deliberately denied for decades the right to develop a functioning healthcare system. The biggest obstacle in the way of Palestinians' access to healthcare is the denial of their right to self-determination. It is only with financial, social and cultural autonomy can they build the systems required to meet the needs of the people. The U.S.