 Hello and welcome to International Day Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you major newsday elements from across the world, our headlines. The US imposes new sanctions on Syria under the controversial Cesar Act, Bolivian march in the capital demanding the release of political prisoners, former police officer accused in Atlanta killing to be charged with murder, aboriginal group sues Australian state government for loss over mining contracts, and over 9 million people were displaced in 2019, says UNHCR annual report. We begin with the United States announcing a new set of political and economic sanctions against Syria on Wednesday. The sanctions are passed under the sections of the controversial Cesar Act that were included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act 2020. The Cesar Act seeks to prevent the government of Syria and its allies, Russia and Iran, from retaking territories captured by rebel forces supported by Turkey. The Syrian government has rejected this act, saying that it cannot allow such a division of the country. The sanctions issued by the U.S. State Department include travel restrictions and isolation from the U.S. financial system for foreign persons who are partied to the conflict in Syria. Syria is already reeling under several sanctions by the U.S. and the European Union. The fresh sanctions will cause further economic deterioration to the war-average country. The decade-long war has virtually halted all of Syria's trade with the outside world. The country has seen a massive rise in unemployment and poverty. The U.N. Special Envoy to Syria, Gair Pettison, stated earlier this week that these sanctions have been primarily responsible for the economic collapse of the country. In anticipation of the sanctions on Tuesday, Syria devalued its currency to Syrian pound by 44 percent. The Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday calling the sanctions to be in violation of international law and an example of the thuggish behavior of the U.S. The Syrian government has previously called the U.S. sanctions economic terrorism and insisted that the so-called Caesar Act is based on lies and fabrication. In our next story on Wednesday, a large group of women and citizens demonstrated in Bolivia's capital, La Paz. They demanded freedom for the 13 women political prisoners who were victims of political persecution in the country. The protesters insisted that they were arrested under false charges by the far-right coup-installed government, Jeanine Arnais. In addition to the liberation of innocent captives, the protesters called for immediate general elections in the country. The political prisoners for whom the protest was held include Elena Flores, an Afro-Bolivian union leader, Patricia Hermosa, lawyer to the coup-deposed president Eva Morales, and Maria Eugenia Choke-Crispe, the former president of the National Electoral Body or the TSE. Elena Flores was imprisoned on charges of robbery, harming public property and preventing the state from exercising its services. Patricia Hermosa was arrested for trying to register Morales as a candidate for the Senate in the upcoming elections, and Maria Eugenia was accused by the coup regime of committing alleged fraud in the general elections of October 2019. The claims of such fraud have been debunked by a number of studies, including a recent one from the US. Now next story, the former Atlanta police officer accused in the killing of Rayshard Brooks has been charged with murder by the county administration. Garrett Rolf, the police officer who was seen shooting Brooks with live rounds, will face 11 criminal charges including murder. District Attorney Paul Howard, a Fulton country, announced the charges against Rolf. Howard also stated that the lesser charge of aggravated assault will be pursued against the second police officer, David Brosnan. Brosnan, who has been demoted to a desk job as reportedly testified against Rolf, supporting the charges against him. The murder of Rayshard Brooks intensified the protests against police violence that are taking place across the US. The police had tried to apprehend Brooks over a complaint from the Wendy's outlet of him's fear of falling asleep in his car. One of the officers shot Brooks in the back while he resisted arrest and tried to escape. The county medical examiner had ruled earlier this week that the killing was a homicide which supports the prosecution's case. An aboriginal group in Australia has filed cases against the Western Australia State government over loss of land for mining and other activities. According to ABC News, two cases were filed by members of the Zewall type tribe in Western Australia for cultural damage and loss of access to land in the Goldfields region. Among the activities listed as reasons behind the loss of land includes licenses granted to mining companies like the BHP Group and a highway development project among others. The case is reportedly inspired by the legal victory of the Timber Creek tribe in the Northern Territory last year in March. In the Timber Creek case, the aboriginal land title holders were compensated up to $2.5 million for spiritual losses incurred because of the mining activities. The Zewall Aboriginal Cooperation, which is the complainant in this case, claims nearly over 7,800 square kilometers as part of their aboriginal title, which includes a town in several cultural sites dating as far as 10,000 years or more. Recently, the state government led by a conservative party has been under scrutiny for land grants to several mining companies like the BHP Group and the Rio Tinto Group. This was especially exacerbated after the destruction of a thousands of year old rock shelter, which was a major aboriginal cultural site by Rio Tinto. And finally, in its annual Global Trends Report released on Thursday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated that 2019 saw record growth in the number of displaced people. The number rose by 9 million around the world last year. Though most of them are internally displaced, the number of people who are forced out of their countries is also rising. According to Thursday's report, there were around 26 million refugees in the world by the end of 2019. Of these 26 million, 5.6 million are Palestinian refugees displaced in successive events since 1948. Apart from formal refugees, there are around 3.9 million stateless people who were denied citizenship rights by their countries. Half of the refugee population is below the age of 18. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has created renewed concern for the safety and well-being of refugees who mostly live in squalid and inhuman conditions. Refugees around the world have also been the targets of attack by people in their host countries, especially during the pandemic. In the run-up to World Refugee Day, which will be observed on June 20th, the report is a sobering reminder of the enormously unfinished work of rehabilitation and reconciliation. That's all we have in this episode of the International Daily Roundup. 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