 Salam, you're watching the International Daily Roundup brought to you by People's Dispatch where we bring you a quick run-through of some of the top stories from around the world. Let's first take a look at today's headlines. The strike at Clover, South Africa has entered its 10th week. Extreme poverty is on the rise in Latin America and the Caribbean. The United States approves $2.5 billion in arms sales to Egypt. And in the Philippines, health workers demand better protections. Our first story is from South Africa where workers at Clover are in their 10th week on strike. Pickets and rallies were held across the country on January 27 to mark an international day of action against the company. Clover is South Africa's largest dairy producer. On November 22, 5,000 workers walked out to protest planned retrenchments and restructuring. The strike is being led by the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa and the Food and Allied Workers Union. Clover was bought by the Milko Consortium in 2019. Unions have said that there has been a multi-pronged attack on their rights since then. Over 800 people have been forced to opt for voluntary severance packages. The company has also closed down six plants since 2019. Unions launched the strike after Clover issued retrenchment notices, which would have led to 1,418 job losses. Striking workers are demanding the nationalization of the company. A major focus of the protest is also the fact that 60% of Milko is owned by the Israeli Central Bottling Company. Workers have expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian people and demanded that South Africa divest from Milko. A successful boycott of Clover products has been launched in the country. Unions have alleged that Clover is behind recent petrol bomb attacks against workers. Hundreds have also been arbitrarily dismissed and Christmas bonuses have been cancelled. Meanwhile, the strike has received broad support from civil society groups and unions like Namsa and Saf2. Many rallies over this week were also held in Sa Paolo in Brazil and several cities across the United Kingdom. The COVID-19 related health and social crisis has worsened extreme poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of people experiencing extreme poverty grew to 86 million in this region. These figures are part of the 2021 Social Panorama Report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean or the EC-LAC. In 2020, extreme poverty reached levels which have not been seen in the past three decades. The economic recovery in 2021 was not enough to mitigate the pandemic's deep social and labour impact. The proportion of women who did not receive any income of their own has increased massively. Poverty gaps persisted in rural areas and among indigenous peoples. These had initially announced emergency transfers worth 89 billion US dollars. However, announced spending in the first 10 months of 2021 was only 45.3 billion. EC-LAC is also ranked the region as the most vulnerable to COVID-19 in the world. Despite forming just about 8% of the world's population, the region accounted for close to 30% of all COVID deaths. As of January 25, 2022, 62% of the region's population had been fully vaccinated. EC-LAC has called for the strengthening of vaccine procurement, cooperation and social protection systems. It's also called for universal health coverage and for the state to act as a guarantor of the right to health. The EC-LAC also proposes moving towards a care society where care is recognized as a universal need. The United States has approved a $2.5 billion arms sale to Egypt. The potential exchange includes 12 Super Hercules C-130 transport aircraft and related equipment. It also includes in a separate deal air defense systems worth around 350 million US dollars. Egypt is one of the biggest recipients of US weapons, second only to Israel. According to the Kato Institute, it received $8.5 billion worth of arms in the period between 2009 and 2020. Activists have been demanding that the US halt these sales given Egypt's human rights record. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been repeatedly accused of cracking down on dissent and opposition. Rights groups estimate that over 60,000 people are being held as political prisoners. Recent reports have documented inhuman conditions in the country's prisons, including prolonged solitary confinement. The Biden administration has allocated $1.4 billion in bilateral assistance to Egypt for the 2022 fiscal year. In September 2021, the State Department froze $130 million in military aid, citing the same human rights concerns. Egypt was reportedly given a deadline to improve conditions by January 30. On Tuesday, the Democratic lawmakers wrote to Biden urging him not to unfreeze the funds. The administration notified Congress of the $2.5 billion sale the same day, stating that the two are unrelated. And in our final story of the day, health workers in the Philippines held a coordinated online protest on January 27. The action included participation across wards and hospitals under the slogan, We are not Immortals. On January 14, the Health Department released new protocols, fully vaccinated health workers who test positive for COVID and are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms only need to isolate for five days. Meanwhile, those who are close contacts of positive cases do not need to be quarantined at all. The Alliance of Health Workers is demanding a 14-day quarantine period and isolation protocols for health workers as well as the general public. The EAHW has also opposed the one COVID-19 allowance or OCA measure, which will combine all COVID-related benefits. The group argues that this consolidation scheme will actually reduce benefits that accrue to workers. The OCA will also allot benefits based on a COVID-19 risk exposure classification. Health workers at high risk or directly working with COVID patients will receive around $176 U.S. dollars a month. Benefits at the moderate risk equal around $117 and low risk just about $50. Workers unions argue that given the virus is airborne, all health workers must be treated as high risk. The EAHW has also said that benefits under the now expired Bainihan II remain unpaid. That's all we have on this episode of the International Daily Roundup. For more details on all of these stories, visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and do give us a follow on all the regular social media platforms for continuing updates. Thank you for watching. Goodbye.