 Hello and welcome to People's Dispatch. I am Prashant and you're watching Around the World in 8 Minutes, where we bring you news from working class and popular movements across the globe. In our first story, we take you to Egypt where a three-day national referendum began on April 20th on a number of constitutional amendments. These include a provision extending current president Abdel Fateh LCC's term until 2013. The announcement of the referendum came a day after the Egyptian Parliament voted on April 16th in favour of the proposed constitutional amendments. The amendments were passed by a tally of 531 to 22 votes. If passed, the amendments will extend the president's term in office from four to six years. A special article in the amendments extends LCC's current term by two years to 2024. He will also be able to run for another six-year term. This will enable him to possibly stay on in power till 2030. The amendments also allow the president to appoint top judges and bypass judicial oversight in reviewing draft legislation. They gave the military a greater role in the political life of the country. Critics termed the amendments another step back into authoritarianism, a coalition of various liberal and left-leaning opposition parties called the Civil Democratic Movement has called the amendments an assault on democracy. They urged voters to break the barrier of silence and vote no in the referendum. Speaking to people's dispatch, Mohammed of the bread and freedom party said that LCC was an expression of reactionary forces inside the military that sought to be part of state wealth and governing business. He said that LCC's popularity had severely declined due to astronomical rise in prices and debt and the collapse of public services. He added that the suppression of the youth, rise in arrest and forced disappearance of activists had turned the people against him. In such a situation, LCC needed to reverse one of the last achievements of the 2011 revolution, that is the term limits, that is why these amendments were being passed. Mohammed also said that LCC's government was trying its best to suppress any sign of dissent against the amendments by arresting anyone who was critical of it. The state security services are also conducting a major campaign to give the impression that the amendments are very popular. Members of the leftist parties have been arrested, including three from the bread and freedom party. Other reports have also indicated that the opposition has been banned from hanging banners that call on people to vote against the referendum. Meanwhile, large banners urging the people to approve the amendments have come up across Cairo, including Therese Square. Therese Square is famous for, as the place where massive anti-Hussein Mubarak protests took place during the Arab Spring. LCC came to power in a bloody military coup in 2013 against the government of President Mohammed Morsi. Human Rights Watch said that in the past three years, 15,000 civilians, including children, have faced military persecution in Egypt. 60,000 political prisoners may have been detained. In our next story, we take you to Argentina, where two major protests were organized, one by farmers and one by scientists. On April 17th, on the occasion of the international day of peasant struggle, Argentine farmers staged a protest in front of the National Congress in Buenos Aires. Small and medium-scale agricultural producers, family farming organizations, indigenous people and rural workers took part in the protest that is called a verdurazo. They were angry at the rampant inflation and demanded better policies for the Argentine agriculture sector. Verdurazo is a form of protest in which agricultural producers give away fruits and vegetables to people for free in order to draw attention to the difficulties. A number of organizations, including the State Workers Association, the Argentine Confederation of Medium Size Enterprise, Association Grito de El Corta, Argentine Workers' Central Union, Excluded Rural Workers' Movement, La Campora Rural Front, and Land Workers' Union gave the call for the protest. Some of the key demands were regulation of the family farming law, declaration of a family farming emergency law, advancement of the law of access to land, access to soft loans, public policies for the sector, and withdrawal of the modification to the seeds law. In Argentina, more than 70% of agricultural families do not own their land or are in conflict over their possession. About 90% of the sector rents the land at an unpayable cost of 15,000 pesos per hectare. In addition, they pay unsubsidized and increased electricity and water bills of 20,000 to 30,000 pesos. On the same day, hundreds of scientists, researchers and teachers carried out a torch march in Buenos Aires. The march in defense of science and technology rejected the budget cuts announced by the government of Mauricio Macri to the National Science and Technical Research Council, CONICET. The budget cuts announced earlier this month affected about 83% of CONICET researchers. This year, only 450 researchers entered the course and the applications of more than 2,000 students were rejected due to shortage of funds. Enrollment in these courses has been constantly declining. The slashing of budgets is posing a threat to the future and development of science and technology in Argentina. Argentina has been rocked by protests, especially since the government of Mauricio Macri signed a deal with the IMF. On January 12, an increase of 40% in transportation was implemented and from February 1, rates of electricity services increased by 32% and residential gas by 35%. A 38% increase in water bills was imposed in March. In April again, drinking water and electricity tariffs were further increased by 50% and 55%. These austerity measures are a result of the conditions put forth by the IMF in exchange for a loan of USD 57 billion. The IMF demanded that the Argentine government reduce the fiscal deficit and apply severe budget adjustments between 2018 and 2019. In our final story, we go to Ireland, where farmers staged a protest over healthcare. On April 16, over 300 Irish farmers protested outside the Department of Health in Dublin, over the delayed implementation of the changes made in the Fair Deal Nursing Home Scheme. Farmers from all over the country joined the demonstration, which was organized by the Irish Farmers Association. The protesters demanded that the changes that were introduced to the scheme in 2018 be implemented immediately as well as retrospectively. The Fair Deal Scheme allows the elderly in Ireland to contribute towards their own care in a private, public, or voluntary nursing home, while the state pays the balance. The Health Service Executive conducts a financial assessment of the applicant's income and assets to determine how much they have to contribute to the cost of their care. The more assets an income one has, the higher the percentage that they are required to contribute. The applicant's primary residence is included in the financial assessment, but it is subject to a three-year cap. After three years, its value is no longer included to determine the applicant's contribution, which essentially brings down the total amount they would have to pay. In July 8, 2018, the government introduced a policy change that extended this cap to farms and family businesses. However, nine months later, the farmers are yet to reap the benefits of this change. Costs of care for the elderly have put many farmers in massive debt. Some families pay as much as Euro 1000 a week in fees. In many cases, families have been forced to sell off parts of their land to eke out the funds for the nursing home. That's all we have time for today. Keep following us at our website peoplesdispatch.org and on Facebook and Twitter.