 Hello and welcome to International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you major news developments from around the world, our headlines, U.S. designates Yemen's Houthi Rebels as a terrorist group, U.S. lifts restrictions on diplomatic-related interactions with Taiwan, civilian massacres in assassination of social leaders continue in Colombia, and finally, police crackdown on left-led commemorative rally in Berlin. In our first story, the U.S. government designated Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist group. U.S. state Mike Pompeo announced on January 10 that the movement officially known as Ansarallah would be declared a foreign terrorist organization, FTO, and a specially designated global terrorist entity. Ansarallah leaders Abdul Malik Houthi, Abdul Khaliq Badaraddin Alhouthi, and Abdullah Yahya Al Hakim will also be designated as SDGTs. The designations will come into effect on January 19, a day before Joe Biden is sworn as President of the United States. The statement issued by Pompeo maintains that the designation will advance efforts for a peaceful, sovereign, and united Yemen, and hold Ansarallah accountable for so-called terrorist attacks and cross-border attacks. The statement also makes a reference to Ansarallah's alleged ties with Iran, which Iran has repeatedly refuted. Ansarallah has governed the majority of Yemen, including the capital Sana, since Ustawsing the regime of Udrab Mansur Hadi in 2014, after allegations of widespread corruption. In 2015, a Saudi-led military coalition has been waging a war against the Houthis, including land and sea blockades. The war and the resulting food and medical scarcities have led to the deaths of over 100,000 people in Yemen. Mike Pompeo has stated that the United States government is prepared to issue licenses to relevant organizations for assistance programs. However, aid agencies have stated that the designation of Ansarallah as a terrorist organization and the pursuant sanctions will restrict crucial assistance to Yemen and worsen the ongoing severe humanitarian crisis. Nearly 80% of Yemen's population is dependent on assistance, as the country faces acute shortages of food, medical supplies, and fuel. The State Department is also reportedly planning to classify Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Cuba had been previously removed from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism under the Obama administration in 2015. If the decision is approved, it will lead to wide-ranging sanctions yet again, including restrictions on foreign assistance and defense exports and sales. The U.S. has imposed severe blockades on Cuba for decades in an attempt to suppress the socialist government there. The blockades have resettled in extensive economic damage and have impacted basic services in the country. Continuing to the United States government in Mike Pompeo, they have lifted all restrictions of diplomatic interactions with Taiwan. This decision was announced on January 9th and is the latest in a series of continuing foreign policy actions under the outgoing Trump administration. China accused Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of seeking to maliciously inflict a long scar on China-U.S. ties. The decision is also undermined internationally, accepted one China policy which recognizes Beijing as the official government of China. Taiwan has proclaimed itself to be a rummed state of the Republic of China, which had been deposed after the 1949 Communist Revolution. The Chinese government has presently characterized Taiwan as a renegade province and has deemed its attempts to be treated as a separate country as one of secession. The Taiwanese government under Xi Yingwen has increasingly adopted a pro-U.S. stance, which also included two arms deals worth billions of dollars. The U.S. has also made an unofficial contact with Taiwan and has an embassy in its capital Taipei. The Taiwan government has also released a new passport design which features Taiwan as a country separate from China. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Kraft will now visit Taiwan for a two-day diplomatic visit on January 13th. These measures are now being seen as an attempt to set an aggressive foreign policy precedent for the incoming administration of Joe Biden, which is set to take office on January 28th. In our next story, two social leaders and six civilians were killed in Colombia on January 10th. The killings took place less than a week after the assassination of two social leaders and two former combatants under similar circumstances. Three civilians were killed and seven were left severely wounded. After two unidentified men opened fire into a poultry farm in the Kakeda Department in the early hours of January 10th. A few hours later, two men and one woman were killed inside their home by three armed men in the Antiquia Department. It is on the same day that peasant leader Alfredo Garcia was assassinated by armed men in the same province, in the same department. Garcia had been a member of the Itoango Peasant Association, ASCIT, and it faced repeated threats from parliamentary groups. Local media also reported that the body of another community leader, Edwin Antonio Indaburo, had been discovered in the Kaoka River. Indaburo had been abducted by paramilitary forces during a raid on the island of Buenos Aires two days before. Activists have increasingly drawn attention to the continued persecution and massacre of peasant, indigenous, and social leaders in Colombia. Approximately 375 people were killed in 90 massacres in 2020. The right-wing government of President Iván Duque has been accused of carrying out a systematic and violent campaign against social movements in the country. For our final story, we go to Berlin where police forces disrupted a commemorative rally organized by left groups on January 10th. Around 1,000 people had thousands of people gathered in the membranes of communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Carl Leibniz, who had been assassinated in 1919. Police officers proceeded to attack the rally, alleging that some people were displaying forbidden free German youth flags. Here is a video feature on the incident. Time for today, we'll be back tomorrow with more news from around the world. Until then, keep watching People's Dispatch.