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Over 400 000 people have "crossed the threshold into famine" in Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region, a senior UN official said on Friday, appealing for urgent humanitarian action to help the millions affected by the brutal eight-month long conflict.
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
[ENA] Addis Ababa -- Ethiopian Ambassador to Sweden and other Nordic countries, Deriba Kuma has held a virtual meeting with Head of the Horn of Africa and West Africa Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Elisabeth Schwabe-Hansen.
[Nation] Kenya and peers at the UN Security Council have endorsed an African Union commission of inquiry into atrocities in Tigray even as the Ethiopian government began to count the cost of the war it began in November.
[Monitor] By Agencies
Parties to the conflict in Yemen must do more to protect civilians, a senior UN humanitarian official there has said, as the number of civilian deaths has witnessed a sharp rise over the last few weeks in the war-ravaged country.
Most of Mali, in West Africa, lies in the Sahara. A landlocked country four-fifths the size of Alaska, it is bordered by Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Côte dIvoire. The only fertile area is in the south, where the Niger and Senegal rivers provide water for irrigation.
Republic.
Caravan routes have passed through Mali since A.D. 300. The Malinke empire ruled regions of Mali from the 12th to the 16th century, and the Songhai empire reigned over the Timbuktu-Gao region in the 15th century. Morocco conquered Timbuktu in 1591 and ruled over it for two centuries. Subjugated by France by the end of the 19th century, the land became a colony in 1904 (named French Sudan in 1920) and in 1946 became part of the French Union. On June 20, 1960, it became independent and, under the name of Sudanese Republic, was joined with the Republic of Senegal in the Mali federation. However, Senegal seceded from the federation on Aug. 20, 1960, and the Sudanese Republic then changed its name to the Republic of Mali on Sept. 22.
In the 1960s, Mali concentrated on economic development, continuing to accept aid from both Soviet bloc and Western nations, as well as international agencies. In the late 1960s, it began retreating from close ties with China. But a purge of conservative opponents brought greater power to President Modibo Keita, and in 1968, the influence of the Chinese and their Malian sympathizers increased. The army overthrew the government on Nov. 19, 1968 and brought Mali under military rule for the next 20 years. Mali and Burkina Faso fought a brief border war from Dec. 25 to 29, 1985. In 1991, dictator Moussa Traoré was overthrown, and Mali made a peaceful transition to democracy. In 1992, Alpha Konaré became Malis first democratically elected president.
In the early 1990s, the government fought the Tuaregs, nomads of Berber and Arab descent who inhabit the northern desert regions of Mali and have little in common with Malis black African majority. The Tuaregs accused the government
Eritrea's president arrived in Sudan on Tuesday for talks with officials amid tensions over a longtime border dispute between the two nations:
[ENA] Addis Ababa -- Residents of Shire and Adi Daero towns of Tigray region have expressed their readiness to stand firm with the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and the Interim Administration to restore peace and stability in the region.
By CARA ANNA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Up to 200,000 refugees could pour into Sudan while fleeing the deadly conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, officials said Wednesday, while the first details are emerging of largely cut-off civilians under growing strain. Nearly 10,000 people have crossed the border, including some wounded in the fighting, and the flow is growing quickly. 'There are lots of children and women,' Al-Sir Khalid, the head of the refugee agency in Sudan's Kassala province, told The Associated Press. 'They are arriving very tired and exhausted. They are hungry and thirsty […]
The post Sudan braces for up to 200,000 fleeing Ethiopia fighting appeared first on Black News Channel.
[UN News] The World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed operations in Ethiopia's Tigray region, after fighting halted the emergency response last week, although the agency warned on Friday that \"serious challenges\" continue to threaten the entire humanitarian response.
[UN News] The dire shortage of food, water, fuel and cash in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia is seriously affecting people there, including aid workers, the United Nations reported on Tuesday, citing its humanitarian affairs office, OCHA.
[ENA] Diplomats at the UN Security Council (UNSC) have reaffirmed their respect and commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia and commended the government for the unilateral ceasefire it declared over Tigray.
UN says most of the troubled region remains ‘inaccessible’ for aid workers amid growing hunger due to ongoing fighting.
The European Union has postponed nearly €90m ($110m; £81m) in budget support payments to Ethiopia due to concerns over the crisis in the Tigray region. European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero-Hernandez told the BBC there were five conditions for the aid to be resumed: Granting full humanitarian access for aid workers to reach people in need in all affected areas Allowing civilians to seek refuge in neighbouring countries Ethnically targeted measures and hate speech must stop Mechanisms to monitor, and investigate allegations of, human rights violations Communication lines and media access to Tigray should be fully re-established. She said the decision 'does not affect EU humanitarian programmes on the ground or other development actions'. Government forces have been battling Tigray fighters since 4 November. Hundreds, even thousands, of people are thought to have been killed in the conflict, while about 50,000 have fled to neighbouring Sudan.- BBC
The United Nations Security Council on Monday struck Burundi off its political agenda citing peaceful elections recently conducted in the country.
In a statement presented by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, the 15-member body said the broadly peaceful elections had marked a new phase for central African country.
South Africa holds the Council's presidency for December.
The development means Burundi is close to ending nearly six years of international isolation.
\"Burundi has received, with joy, the noble decision taken by the UN Security Council of withdrawing Burundi from its political agenda,\" government spokesman Prosper Ntahorwamiye said in a statement aired on the state broadcaster.
The government of Burundi had stated on many occasions that the country no longer posed a threat to regional peace and security, and demanded that the Security Council end its mandatory reporting on Bujumbura.
Le Conseil de sécurité de l’#ONU a pris note de l’amélioration des conditions de sécurité au #Burundi et des priorités annoncées par le Président #Évariste_Ndayishimiye pour son gouvernement en juin 2020,à la suite d’élections qui se sont déroulées de façon globalement pacifique. pic.twitter.com/N3pCn4lg1T
— MAECD (@MAEBurundi) December 7, 2020
In May, Burundi held a presidential election which was won by Evariste Ndayishimiye, candidate of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party.
Ndayishimiye was hurriedly sworn in after the untimely death of president Pierre Nkurunziza in June.
Rights violations continue
The Council encouraged donor countries which had suspended aid to Burundi to continue dialogue towards resumption of development assistance.
A report by a UN watchdog in September said human rights violations were still being committed in Burundi, including sexual violence and murder.
The country was plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term, which he ultimately won in July 2015.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed and over 300,000 fled to neighboring countries.
[VOA] Geneva -- The U.N. Children's Fund warns at least 33,000 severely malnourished children in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region face imminent death if they do not receive immediate help to treat their condition.
[ENA] Addis Ababa -- The House of Federation has anonymously approved a proposed resolution presented to it by the federal government to interfere and establish transitional administration in Tigrai Regional state.
He said the Green Legacy project which begins Tuesday will continue until September and October. Minister for Agriculture Omar Husen said that over 10 billion trees were planted in the first two years of the ‘’Green Legacy’’ project.
The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Thursday that the grave humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region is deteriorating, with no sign of Eritrean troops withdrawing and alarmingly widespread reports of systematic rape and other sexual violence mainly by men in uniform.
The post UN: Tigray's Humanitarian Crisis Worsens, No Eritrean Exit appeared first on Los Angeles Sentinel.
[Thomson Reuters Foundation] Addis Ababa -- Hundreds of unaccompanied child refugees vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking, aid agencies warn
[The Point] Since the 1990s, West Africa has become a major transit and repackaging hub for cocaine and heroin originating from the Latin American and Asian producing areas to European markets.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is from Tigray, said many people were dying of hunger and that rape was spreading too.
Many soldiers and civilians have been killed in the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, a spokesman for the Ethiopian government task force for Tigray said on Wednesday.
[State Department] Since the January 28, 2021 Presidential Memorandum on Protecting Women's Health at Home and Abroad, the United States has been re-engaging with UNFPA in support of its essential work to address preventable maternal deaths and the unmet need for family planning, and prevent and respond to gender-based violence and harmful practices around the world. Our re-engagement directly benefits communities around the globe, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the efforts that have taken place
