 Learned welcome to the International Daily Roundup 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. Venezuela pardons opposition leaders accused of conspiracy. WHO study points to massive setback in the health care due to COVID-19 pandemic. Filipino activists approach Supreme Court seeking protection from killings. Rafael Coría's sister will try to formalize his candidacy for vice president of Ecuador. Hamas announces ceasefire deal with Israel. Venezuela has issued a pardon to opposition figures including various leaders accused of conspiring against President Maduro in the wake of upcoming parliamentary elections out of the 110 individuals who have been pardoned more than 50 are leaders of the opposition who are either in prison, have fled the country or are seeking asylum in various embassies in Venezuela. The move signals the government's attempts to increase participation in the upcoming elections which the opposition has vowed to boycott. While announcing the list, Minister of Communications Jorge Rodríguez stated that they intend to deepen the process of national reconciliation for national union so that political issues are settled by peaceful means and by electoral means. Despite the pardon, opposition leaders have come out with statements reaffirming the convictions that the 2018 elections were rigged. The WHO came out with a study on Monday stating that the COVID-19 pandemic could set back decades of progress in the healthcare industry across the world. The survey assessed responses from health services and institutions between May and July from over 100 nations. It stated that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on essential services is a source of great concern. Major health gains achieved over the past two decades can be wiped out in a short period. The WHO had also recently raised concerns about the possible impact of COVID-19 on the treatment of HIV AIDS patients specifically in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. According to the study, the pandemic crisis has affected routine immunizations by 70% family planning in over 65% as well as cancer, diagnosis and treatment by 55%. The WHO added that this can develop into a crisis long after the pandemic is dealt with due to the strain it places on the health sector. The study also cites several other concerns which might lead to protracted strain on the health sector for people with health complications, refusing to visit hospitals wearing the virus and patients being unable to afford non-COVID-related services after surviving it are factors that will add to the strain. The WHO stresses these situations could have led to increased death rates across the world. Human Rights Advocacy Group Karapatan Alliance has approached the Philippine Supreme Court for protection from political murders. On September 1st, Tuesday, legal counsels of Karapatan Alliance filed a plea urging the court to take measures to prevent state-sponsored killings and harassment of activists. The submission cited the recent killing of Zara Alvarez, a health activist and member of the Negroes Island branch by unidentified gunmen last month. Alvarez was killed on August 17th, a week after the murder of peace consultant Randy O'Connor on August 10th. The plea demanded that the court grant them the petition for review of Amparo and habeas data, legal provisions in the Philippines to deal with extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances. The manifestation opened by noting the recent slew of political murders in the country under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. Yesterday, Karapatan posted about its death threats against the Negroes Island Deputy Secretary Julius Dagatan, who is also a media liaison for left-wing coalition Bayan Muna. Karapatan has documented 328 killings in line with the government's counter-insurgency program since July 2016. The organization has stated that 185 of these murders were of human rights defenders and social movement activists. Karapatan also stated that with Alvarez's murder, 13 of their activists have now been killed under the Duterte administration. On Tuesday by Irina Correa, the sister of Ecuador's former president Rafael Correa will try to accept his nomination as a candidate for the vice presidency of Ecuador as a brother's notarized power of attorney. Rafael Correa was elected as the running mate of economist Andres Arroz in the primary elections held in August within the new coalition called the Union for Hope. The coalition is made up of left-wing political parties and social movements. As part of a recently reformed electoral law, in order to stand in the elections, the participants are required to present their candidature and accept their nomination in person in the CNE's headquarters due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the CNE, enabling online registration of candidacy. However, the electoral entities stressed that the candidates elected in the primary elections must appear before the electoral authorities to formalize the participation no later than September 1. Former president Rafael Correa is currently residing in Belgium and has been a constant victim of the law for which against him by the current president Len Moreno's administration. His returning to the country could be met with preventive retentions for the bribes 2012-2016 case. Correa has rejected the charges pressed against him and denounced them, as well as the electoral reforms as a form of political persecution intended to prevent him from running in the elections. On Monday, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas announced that it had reached a ceasefire with Israel that would end the recent hostilities in Gaza. Since early August, Gaza has faced constant aggressions from Israel. This includes warming up the region from the air-shell attacks from tanks and attacks on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza coast. As per the ceasefire deal, both sides have agreed to adhere to several conditions. Hamas sources have told reporters that it and other Palestinian factions have reached an agreement to hold all pyres of rockets and dispatching incendiary explosive balloons across the border in response to Israeli provocations and escalations since the first week of August. Israel, on the other hand, said that it will immediately open its border crossing with Gaza to allow the supply of goods and essential items as well as resume fuel shipments. It would also reopen the fishing zone for Palestinian fishermen and would allow them to fish in the waters for up to 25 kilometers off the Gaza coast. According to Hamas, the resuming of fuel supplies between Gaza's power plant will be operational again from Tuesday. Due to the fuel shortages, Palestinians in Gaza had access to electricity for only four hours a day. Nikolay Mladanov, the United Nations' envoy to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, welcomes the news in a tweet stating that ending the launching of incendiary devices and projectiles restoring electricity will allow you to focus on dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. And this is all we have for this episode of the International Daily Roundup. For more such stories and videos visit our website peoplesisfire.org. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for watching. Thank you.