 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup with People's Just Patch where we bring you some of the top stories from across the globe. Let's take a look at today's headlines. Latin America reports over 5 million COVID-19 infections. Educators in school staff in US protest against attempts at reopening. Bolivian's intensified protests against election delay. Trade unions block major highways. Israel bombs military targets close to Damascus. We begin with an update on the COVID-19 pandemic. As of today afternoon, the number of infections has reached around 18.5 million cases globally. The number of fatalities is around 698,000. The number of cases in Latin America has crossed over 5 million cases according to a recent estimate. This makes it the worst-infected continent right now, only slightly ahead of North America that has reported nearly 4.8 million infected persons. The Americas has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic with two of the most-infected nations situated here. Doctors Union in Germany has raised concerns about the new wave of spread in the country. Suzanne Jonah, the head of Barbara Goodbun, the nation's largest doctors union, told the local media that Germany is already witnessing a low-level surge in cases. Yesterday, the country saw 858 new cases with six new deaths. The union as well as public health experts have raised concerns that attempts to ease containment measures could lead to reversal of Germany's achievement in containing the spread. In the meanwhile, the United Nations has warned of a generational catastrophe pointing to closure of schools worldwide. Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated that 160 countries have closed down schools affecting 1 billion students. He also said that over 40 million children have missed out on preschool. Guterres insisted that governments should prioritize getting children back to schools once local transmissions are brought under control. Thousands of teachers and school staff across the United States have come out in protests against reopening of schools. The protests held on Monday were organized by unions representing hundreds of thousands of educational workers in 35 school districts. Educators and support staff have been demanding that schools not reopen unless governments can ensure safe working conditions during the pandemic. Unions have argued that in-person classes could pose a risk to public health at a time when the US continues to see a surge in new cases and deaths. The US has reported a four-week surge in fatalities even when the number of new reported cases has come down. Over 8,500 deaths were recorded last week alone. Specific demands of the trade unions include proper scientific backing to attest safety of in-person classes, significantly lower class sizes, aggressive testing among teachers and students and hiring more support staff including nurses and counselors in all schools. Several of these demands are long-standing once by teachers' unions across the country. In the recent years, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its exponential spread in the US has only intensified these demands from teachers. The protest also comes at a time when President Donald Trump has made reopening of schools and businesses a central issue in his reelection campaign in the November elections. Trump and his Republican party have been pushing to ease counter-pandemic restrictions on businesses and educational institutions. On Monday, Bolivians demonstrated across the nation against the postponement of the general elections in the country. The demonstrations are part of intensification of the struggle by social movements, trade unions, indigenous and peasant organizations and groups associated with the movement towards socialism or mass. The Supreme Electoral Court, that is the TSE appointed by the de facto regime, on July 23 postponed the elections to October 18, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the third time that the government has postponed elections this year. The demonstrations demanded restoration of democracy and compliance with the earlier agreed-upon decision of holding the general election on September 6. The protesters blockaded major highways and roads in protest against a coup install government's decision to further delay the elections. Over 24 major highways have been blocked by protesters since the midnight of August 3. The call to maintain nation-by-road blockades was given by the Trade Union, Central Obrero, Boliviana or COB and the Pact of Unity, which is an alliance of grassroots organizations in Bolivia. During a public meeting in El Alto on July 29, COB's leader Juan Carlos Juaracci announced a 72-hour deadline to reverse the decision to postpone elections. The Trade Union center had warned that if the deadline was not met, they will embark on a general strike and block major highways indefinitely. Israel conducted a series of airstrikes in southern Syria late on Monday. Israel claimed that the airstrikes were in retaliation with attempted attack on Sunday along the Israel-Syria Armistice border in the Israeli-occupied Jolan Heights. Israel claimed on Monday that its soldiers stationed on the border spotted four men attempting to plant explosives near an unmanned defense post. The men were killed by a team of Israeli special forces on the ground with the help of Israeli air support. No Israeli soldiers were set to be wounded in Sunday's perpetrated attack. Syrian state media later confirmed the airstrikes on Monday. It reported that Syrian air defense systems were activated to shoot down the incoming missiles, which targets closer Damascus. It also stated that the airstrikes caused significant material damage to Syrian government property, adding that no Syrian civilian or military were injured. The Israeli military attributed Sunday's alleged bomb-planting operation to an Iranian proxy militia without presenting any evidence to justify the claim. Israel has previously conducted such attacks on Syria using similar justifications, with little to no evidence to justify them. Last month Israel bombed military targets in southern Syria, citing munitions fire towards Israel from Syria.