 Hello and welcome to People's Dispatch. I am Prashant and you are 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 the Philippines, where activists have called for an international day of outrage on April 10th against the massacre of 14 farmers in the southern island of Negros on March 30th. The call, given by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, seeks to highlight the gross violation of human rights and indiscriminate killing of civilians by the government, led by President Rodrigo Duterte. The armed operation by the police and the military on March 30th also saw the arrest of 12 farmers. It was the deadliest act of mass murder by Filipino law enforcement agencies in recent memory. The massacre is viewed by many as an outcome of the government's policy of militarization and infringing upon civil liberties. As many as 205 present activists and leaders have been killed as part of anti-insurgency operations under the current government, according to the Justice for Negros 14 campaign by the ICHRP. As many as 60 such killings took place in Negros alone. The repression is reportedly increased as the midterm elections are closing in. Experts point out that the heavy crackdowns in the name of fighting the communists are aimed at generating mileage for the ruling Philippines Democratic Party, power of the nation. Over the past few months, the ruling party and President Duterte himself have been accused of instigating campaigns, labelling various human rights groups as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Organizations working for human rights, like Karapatan and rural missionaries of the Philippines, as well as smaller political parties, like Kabatan, have filed court cases against the government for being labelled as CPP front organizations. At least 13 people, including 7 children, were killed and more than 100 injured on April 7, after a large explosion at a warehouse in the Yemeni capital, Sana. According to reports, the explosion was caused by airstrikes launched by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition. Some reports suggested that around 11 children were massacred in the airstrike. The blast impacted the nearby school where the children were studying. The explosion took place in the eastern, Sawan neighborhood of the city, which has been under the control of Ansarallah, known in the international medias as the Houthis, since 2014. Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States, Britain and France, is leading an international coalition in favour of the forces loyal to former president, Abdurab Mansur Hadi, who was deposed by Houthi forces in 2015. The coalition has been accused of acts of war crimes in Yemen, including the bombing of schools and hospitals, killing hundreds of civilians. The airstrikes come just days after the US House of Representatives, following the lead of the US Senate, voted to end the US support and involvement in the war in Yemen. The House had voted in favour of the bill last Thursday, by a tally of 247 to 175 votes, with 16 Republicans also joining the Democrats in voting for the bill. The law was passed under the War Powers Act of 1973. A law introduced during the Vietnam War to curb the power of a president to wage war or deploy armed forces of the United States without Congressional approval. This was the first time that the US Congress invoked the act to pass the resolution of this kind. The Republican-controlled US Senate had passed the resolution earlier in March, with a 54 to 46 bipartisan vote. US President Donald Trump, however, has already threatened to veto the resolution. Neither House of Congress has the numbers to override the veto. Daming the bill, a statement by the White House said that it raises serious constitutional concerns. It also argued that the US support for the Saudi-Elect coalition does not constitute engaging in hostilities, and therefore, the War Powers Act does not apply. The White House had previously warned that the resolution would harm bilateral relationships in the region. The US has been providing air-to-air refuelling of jets, reconnaissance, targeting, and intelligence information to the Saudi-Elect coalition, as it wages war against the Ansar Allah in Yemen. The coalition has collected more than 19,000 air raids in Yemen. Humanitarian groups estimate that close to 60,000 civilians have been killed in the war, and as many as 85,000 children have starved to death. In our last story for this episode, we take you to Myanmar, where the military carried out an aerial strike in South Boudinang Crownship in the Rakhine state on April 5. The attack killed as many as 30 civilians and injured dozens more. Eye witnesses said that the civilians were collecting bamboo in the nearby area, when the army helicopters fired indiscriminately at them. The attack has been condemned by the United Nations and various rights groups, who accused the Myanmar army of committing war crimes. The United Nations Human Rights Office earlier said that they have credible reports of the killing of civilians, burning of houses, arbitrary arrests, abductions, indiscriminate fire in civilian areas, and damage to cultural property. On April 9, the United Nations added that the number of casualties may be higher than expected. We have unconfirmed reports that the number may be as high as 30. Myanmar's authorities denied that their forces killed any civilians, claiming that the air strike was conducted to neutralize terrorist activities in the western part of the country. Arkan Army, the insurgent group, rejected the army statement, saying that the dead and injured were not the armed group's accomplices, but villagers. Myanmar's military officials, including Commander-in-Chief Min Ong Lang, are believed to have carried out various human rights violations in the Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states. The report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar that is published in September 2018, detailed how Tatmadaw, the armed forces, committed crimes against humanity. The 20-page report recommended that the top five military officials must face prosecution for their involvement in numerous massacres and decades of persecution of minorities. The repeated arbitrary arrests, summary executions, forced labour, ill treatment and sexual violence committed by the Myanmar army and militias, led to the exodus of 700,000 Rohingyas in late August 2017. That's all for this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. 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