 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Randoff with People's Dispatch where we bring you some of the top stories from across the globe. Let's take a look at today's headlines. Families of Beirut blast victims who would protest amid worsening crisis in Lebanon. Activists condemned the high government's decision to halt COVID testing for migrant workers. Thousands of farmers observed strike to protest falling prices of produce in Ecuador and finally we bring you an excerpt from a conversation between Vijay Krashad and Roger Waters of the US embargo on Cuba. In our first tour, we go to Lebanon where hundreds of people held a protest in the capital city Beirut on July 13th. Most of them were family members of the victims of the 2020 blast at the Beirut port. Demonstrators marched to the residence of the caretaker and here minister Muhammad Fermi. They demanded an end to what they call an obstruction of the investigation into the explosion. Over 200 people were killed after hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate being stored at the port ignited. The explosion injured at least another 6,500 people. The material had been improperly stored and many blamed officials for keeping it at the port. The judge investigating the blast Tariq Bitar had requested that the immunity granted to senior politicians and security chiefs be lifted. Among them were the head of the general security, Maj. Abbas Ibrahim and head of state security Major General Tony Saliba. However, Judge Bitar's legal request was denied by Interior Minister Fermi. A procession was held outside his residence on Tuesday as protesters scared empty coffins and held a symbolic burial. They also threw tomatoes and water bottles at the ward. Killer was spray painted on the building. Right police soon gathered in the area as some protesters attempted to cross the metal gates. They were severely beaten with batons and tear gas, was deployed to disperse the crowd. Tuesday's protests took place at a time when Lebanon is facing a severe economic and political crisis. The country is without the proper government and they have been cut to food, medicine and fuel subsidies. White spread power outages lasting over 21 hours a day have also been reported. The currency has lost over 90% of its value and the prices of fuel have increased by over 30%. The import dependent country is also facing acute shortages of necessary medicines and outpatient, healthier facilities are at risk of shutting down. Rights activists have condemned a decision taken by the Thai government to suspend COVID-19 testing for migrant workers. In the letter dated July 5th, the Ministry of Labor cited scarce resources and personnel as the reasons behind the move as per reports over 30,000 high-risk workers in the Bangkok region will now be left without any assistance. Most of these workers are from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The migrant working group coalition has argued that the government's decision will encourage discrimination and inequality. The authorities have previously also been criticized for negligence in the handling of the pandemic. Amid rising cases last month, the government imposed a general lockdown on construction sites and 575 worker camps over 80,000 workers were effectively stranded in these places in Bangkok for 30 days. Moreover, while workers placed under compulsory quarantine are supposed to be paid, they are only eligible to receive 50% of their wages. According to human rights watch workers are often already in debt due to the recruitment fees they have to pay. The MWG coalition has also stated that over 1 million workers have been taken out of the government register during the pandemic. This makes it even more difficult for them to access any remedies or aid. While many workers have left the country, most still remain stranded in containment zones and camps. Over 47,000 workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos tested positive for COVID-19 in Bangkok between April 1 and July 12. Activists are now calling for proactive testing, broader vaccination access and proper registration to ensure that migrant workers are covered under social security policies. After we go to Ecuador, where around 8,000 farmers observed a strike earlier this week, Manana and rice producers blocked roads in several places on Monday to protest the fallen prices of their products. They also argued that President Gwilar Mulasso had not complied with agreements made during his campaign. These included a minimum support price while agricultural produce and cost controls were necessary inputs. This strike was held despite warnings from the president that protesters would be jailed. According to the National Corporation of Peasants, Mulasso has promised to set the support price for rice at $35, meanwhile the price of the sack of rice fell from $29 to $22 during the pandemic. Farmers have stated that these prices are not even enough to cover the costs of production, especially with rising prices of fuel. The National Federation of Banana Producers of Ecuador has also stated that they currently receive only $2 per box of bananas for export. Farmers are demanding the reopening of national storage units and stricter controls against the illegal smuggling of produce. Following Monday's strike, the National Movement of Peasants met with government officials in Gaya's. The organization announced on July 13 that the strike had been temporarily suspended following agreements with the government. These include guarantees for fair prices and provision of agricultural machinery and seeds. Other demands include the setting up of field warehouses in rice producing areas so that grass can be stored and commercialized. And for a final story, we go to Cuba, where the crippling embargo imposed by the U.S. has led to serious shortages of food and medicines despite having developed 5 COVID-19 vaccines. The country does not have the millions of syringes needed to administer them. Cuba's economy has suffered under the U.S. blockade, which has been in place for over six decades. It has cost the country over $147 billion so far. Protests against the ongoing crisis were held in several areas over the weekend. However, President Díaz Canel warned against those who were seeking to take advantage of the current situation. Meanwhile, people also took to the streets to hold protests in support of the government and the Cuban Revolution. Cuba has also received support from leaders across Latin America amid increasing calls to end the blockade. Here is a conversation between historian Vijay Prashad and musician Roger Waters on the situation in Cuba. Fidel Castro and the Revolution and the people of Cuba, the people of Cuba in their steadfast struggle, not only have resisted the attempts by the United States and some of them crude, invasions, the Bay of Pigs being the most notable example, but they have spread their enduring love for their brothers and sisters all over the globe in small and large ways. Whether it was in West Africa, where they actually sent troops back in 1970 whenever it was. So I don't know, so Cuba has been immensely important and now, of course, a lot of the medical help in the COVID pandemic that has been going over the world came from Cuba because they train a lot of doctors and they train doctors with big hearts. I'm not saying they're the only country. There are doctors sans frontier from all kinds of Western countries as well. But in Cuba, it's enshrined almost in their constitution that this is who they are and this is what they do. But the fact of the matter is, as you know, and as you said, that Cuba has stood as a beacon of hope against really suffocation. And during the pandemic, the United States government has intensified the blockade. Trump put 243 new gripping sanctions against Cuba. And so there's been a real social impact of these sanctions, this blockade. At the same time, a wave of the pandemic has kicked in on the island. And there was some protests on Sunday against the situation. Immediately, the US government said that, yes, go out on the streets and overthrow the government. They attempted to make it into a rebellion. Biden made a statement saying, go and fight for freedom, fight for freedom. And the Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canal went out on the streets and met people and said, look, we are facing a serious challenge, but let's not convert a social problem into a political problem. And in effect, around the world, there's a lot of confusion because people are saying, oh, maybe the government needs to be overthrown. How casual people are with their language. Maybe the government should be overthrown, not 11 million people, but people outside like Biden deciding like the Pope, which government should be excommunicated? Yeah, well, they've almost had their way in many countries. So they've succeeded in the Philippines and in Honduras and probably now again in Guatemala, but they have failed in Peru and they have failed in Nicaragua and they have failed in Venezuela with the weight of the IMF and the treasury and the printing of dollars and the blah, blah, blah. But they have failed to overthrow the will of the people. Hopefully they will fail in Chile as well in the upcoming presidential elections there and in the rewriting of the Constitution to give the people of Chile more of a chance of developing a society more like Cuba. And that's all the time we have for today. In this episode of The International Daily Roundup for more stories and videos visit our website www.peoplecistach.org, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for watching.