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By Wafaa Shurafa and Joseph Krauss The Associated Press DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians struggled Oct. 14 to flee from areas of Gaza targeted by the Israeli military […]
The post Palestinians in Gaza struggle to follow Israeli evacuation order and face dire water shortage appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers .
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.
There was mounting pressure this week from the international community to end the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, a rebel stronghold in the nation’s northern […]
Dubbed the \"Manhattan of the desert\" for its centuries-old skyscrapers, Yemen's ancient city of Shibam escaped damage in the civil war -- but faces collapse from disrepair amid rains and floods.
Against a backdrop of cliffs looking like America's Grand Canyon, the UNESCO-listed World Heritage site of Shibam is strategically built on a rocky spur high above the river valley of Wadi Hadramawt, in the arid centre of Yemen.
Some of the hundreds of fantastical sun-dried mud-brick towers soar seven stories high, many dating back to the 16th century, all crammed inside a traditional fortified wall built for protection.
The UN describes Shibam, once an oasis stop for the camel caravans on the spice and incense routes across southern Arabia, as \"one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction.\"
But Shibam is struggling.
The mud-brick constructions need constant repair, but Yemen's economy has collapsed in the brutal civil war raging since 2014, creating what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
\"The city looks like it was hit by a disaster -- without precedent,\" said Abdulwahab Jaber, a local official in the town, 480 kilometres (300 miles) east of the capital Sanaa.
Jaber said at least four towers have been completely destroyed and 15 others damaged in recent floods, which have killed scores of people across Yemen.
- Victim of conflict -
The sun-baked earth walls are crumbling.
Hassan Aidid, head of the General Organisation for the Preservation of Historic Cities in Yemen, said that the roofs and the exterior of the mud towers had sustained the most damage.
\"Residents of the city have been unable to restore them because of the war and the difficult situation in which they live, \" Aidid told the press.
Yemen is gripped by a war between Iran-backed Huthi rebels -- who control the capital -- and a beleaguered government supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.
Shibam is controlled by the internationally-recognised government, but while it has largely been spared direct conflict, it has not escaped the effects of the war.
The conflict has almost completely halted public spending.
Shibam, with its densely-packed tower houses and alleyways often too narrow for cars, was put on the UNESCO heritage list in 1982 -- but in 2015 it was also added to the \"List of World Heritage in Danger.\"
It came shortly after the Saudi-led military coalition joined the war to support the government against the Huthi rebels.
- Restoration slow -
Aidid said an emergency response plan in cooperation with UNESCO is underway, with approximately 40 buildings being restored at a cost of $194,000.
Private donors have also offered to help, including a Saudi businessman who donated approximately $54,000, Aidid said.
But while restoration plans are going ahead, including with funding from the European Union, they are not going fast enough, said Barak Baswitine, head of the association of mud-brick architecture in Shibam.
\"There have been
by Najee El-Amin - Homebuyer education and assistance – an ongoing need in the Memphis area – recently got a $50,000 boost from the Bank of America. On December 15, Bank of America named United Housing, Inc. as its latest Neighborhood Champions recipient. As a result, the nonprofit will be receiving $50,000 in grant support, […]
Morayo Olujumu has been selected to represent Bakersfield, California at the Miss California USA®/Miss California Teen USA® Competition as Miss Bakersfield USA. Her selection was based on her academic and professional interests, involvement in her community, her passion for the pursuit of excellence and her interest in empowering other young women to follow in her footsteps.
[Addis Standard] Addis Abeba -- In a statement sent to Addis Standard, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said it is \"extremely concerned about the humanitarian implications of escalating violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, where over two million people are already in need of humanitarian assistance.\" This include 96,000 refugees and 100,000 internally displaced people.
CARACAS/PORT OF SPAIN, (Reuters) - At least 29 Venezuelan migrants, including 16 minors, returned to Trinidad and Tobago yesterday after being deported from the island over the weekend and spending hours at sea, said their relatives, who had been concerned about their whereabouts.
The article Dozens of deported Venezuelan migrants return to Trinidad after hours at sea appeared first on Stabroek News.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Ethiopia's security forces shot at and detained United Nations staffers as they tried to reach part of the embattled Tigray region, a senior official said yesterday, and he blamed the US staffers for trying to reach areas where 'they were not supposed to go'.
[Cameroon Tribune] Mobile clinics will be set up to provide integrated services to hard-to-reach communities.
Telecom services have resumed in parts of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region where the government recently wrapped up a “law and order” operation against the then regional government – the Tigray People's Liberation Front, TPLF.
Operator Ethio Telecom said in a December 2, 2020 statement that service had partially resumed in six towns - Maykadra, Shiraro, Humera, Dansha, Turkan and Maytsebri adding; “In Alamata, telecom service has been fully resumed.”
The company said the service disruption was due to the crisis that saw the national army facing off with TPLF forces. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced days ago that the operation had ended after the army captured the Tigray capital, Mekelle.
“Currently, we are able to resume telecom service using alternative power solutions and after conducting necessary maintenance and rehabilitation works on damaged telecom infrastructure,” the statement added.
The extent of damage to infrastructure is not known, largely because of the disruption in communication. News reports indicated that especially aerial bombings had caused significant damage and casualties but PM Abiy told parliament that the operations were targeted.
Ethiopia has cut the internet thrice this year - two targeted outages and a national blackout in late June through much of July. The first outage in western Oromia lasted three months – January till late March 2020.
The second and more impacting shutdown was nationwide, a measure imposed on June 30, following the killing of a famed Oromo artiste, Hachaalu Hundessa, in the capital Addis Ababa. That blackout lasted over three weeks.
In early November, the whole of Tigray region was cut off. Almost immediately after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed “declared war” on TPLF on November 4, an internet rights monitoring group, Net Blocks; confirmed a connectivity disruption.
It said: “Network data from the NetBlocks internet observatory confirm that internet has been cut regionally in Ethiopia from 1 a.m. Wednesday 4 November 2020 local time. Metrics corroborate widespread reports of a data and telephony blackout in the northern region of Tigray, which are ongoing as of midnight.”
The calls for restoration of connectivity came in thick and fast, by local and international human rights players but the federal government dismissed them even as hostilities triggered a humanitarian crisis along the border with Sudan.
“Cutting off communication has severely hampered the ability to monitor the situation on the ground, particularly the impact of the clashes in the local population,” UN human rights head Michelle Bachelet said in a November 6 statement.
She also called on the national authorities to “re-establish all basic services, including Internet and telephone connections.” Adding that “the right of all people to be informed and to access information is particularly vital in a crisis situation”.
On the humanitarian impact situation, the UN emergency relief agency said in a November 12 report: “Telephone lines remain cut making information flow and corrobo
A yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria has killed 172 people so far, the World Health Organisation says.
(Trinidad Guardian) Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has summoned Venezuela’s Ambassador to T&T, Carlos Amador Perez Silva, to a meeting to discuss recent developments concerning both countries - and Trinidad and Tobago’s position.
The article Trinidad PM summons Venezuela Ambassador to meeting on migrants appeared first on Stabroek News.
[Thomson Reuters Foundation] Getting cash to those in harm's way before a disaster strike saves money and heartache, and remittances might be one source of it
Sudan sends troops to Ethiopian border as tensions rise amid the ongoing Tigray humanitarian crisis.
