#Ethiopia: Key points raised by #UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in his address to the media at the Security Council stakeout:
*The situation in Ethiopia is spiraling out of control.
*Violence and destruction have reached alarming level.
*The Social fabric is being ripped apart.
* Hostilities in the #Tigray region must end now, including the immediate withdrawal and disengagement of Eritrean armed forces from Ethiopia.
*There is no Military solution
* Civilians paying horrific prices
*Indiscriminate attacks including in residential areas are killing more innocent people everyday, damaging critical infrastructure
* Disturbing accounts of sexual violence & other forms of brutality against women, children & women
* The level of needs is staggering
* Even before the resumption of hostilities, 13 million people required humanitarian aid in #Amhara, #Afar, and Tigray
* The is UN is ready to support the #AU to end this nightmare.
* The international community must rally together now for peace

Ethiopian soldiers take strategic city in Tigray amid civilian exodus

Thousands of terrified inhabitants fearing a repeat of previous atrocities — including gang rapes and mass killings — began streaming out of the opposition-held city of Shire over the weekend, said an aid worker who was among a group of people evacuated from the city.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/17/ethiopia-tigray-eritrea-war-shire/

Business: #Maersk launches new multi-purpose centre in #Ethiopia
porttechnology.org/news/maersk-la… “The new consolidation centre in #Modjo Dry Port saves our customers time and cost through consolidation, synergies and providing a single point of contact with greater visibility."

#Ethiopia: #UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warns of devastating impact of continued hostilities on civilians


“Since 31 August we have received numerous reports of civilian casualties and destruction of civilian objects due to airstrikes and artillery strikes in Tigray – disruptions to communication make it particularly difficult to verify reports, but it is clear that the toll on civilians is utterly staggering,” Türk said.

https://shar.es/af66PD

ዜና: ከኦሮሚያ ክልል የተፈናቀሉ በርካታ ሰላማዊ ሰዎች ወደ አማራ ክልል እየገቡ ነው፣ ተ.መ.ድ

በኦሮሚያ ክልል በተለይም በወለጋ ዞኖች እየተካሄደ ባሉ ግጭቶች የተነሳ በርካታ በአካባቢው ይኖሩ የነበሩ ሰላማዊ ሰዎች ወደ አማራ ክልል መፈናቀል መቀጠላቸውን በኢትዮጵያ የተባበሩት መንግስታት ድርጅት የሰብአዊ እርዳታ ማስተባበሪያ ቢሮ ዲስ በለቀቀው ዘገባ ተናግሯል። ይሁንና ሪፖርቱ ምን ያህል ሰላማዊ ዜጎች ተፈናቅለው ወደ አማራ ክልል እንደደረሱ አልገለጸም።

በዚህም መሠረት በርካታ የተፈናቀሉ ሰላማዊ ሰዎች ወደ ጎጃም፣ ሰሜን ሸዋ፣ ደቡብ ወሎ፣ ዋግ ኽምራ ዞኖች እንዲሁም ወደ ባህር ዳርና ደብረ ብርሃን ከተሞች መጉረፋቸውን የዞኑ ባለስልጣናት እና ግብረሰናይ አጋሮች አረጋግጠዋል ሲል ቢሮው በትናንትናው እለት ባወጣው አጭር ዘገባ ገልጿል።

https://amharic.addisstandard.com/%e1%8b%9c%e1%8a%93-%e1%8a%a8%e1%8a%a6%e1%88%ae%e1%88%9a%e1%8b%ab-%e1%8a%ad%e1%88%8d%e1%88%8d-%e1%8b%a8%e1%89%b0%e1%8d%88%e1%8a%93%e1%89%80%e1%88%89-%e1%89%a0%e1%88%ad%e1%8a%ab%e1%89%b3-%e1%88%b0/

#Ethiopia: Government security forces kill member of Karrayyu Gadaa leaders, abduct five others in East Shewa Zone of #Oromia regional state

By Getahun Legesse

Government security forces have killed Boru Roba, a respected member of the #KarrayyuGadaa leaders, and abducted his brother and sister along with two other individuals in #Fentalle, East Shewa Zone of Oromia regional state. According to multiple sources in the area who spoke to #AddisStandard, the killing and abductions took place on Saturday, 15 October.

Security forces composed of the national defense forces, Oromia special force, and the militia are operating in villages including Gidara, Tututi and Toro Bedeno in Fentalle district.

https://addisstandard.com/news-government-security-forces-kill-member-of-karrayyu-gadaa-leaders-abduct-five-others-in-east-shewa-zone-of-oromia/

Civilians in #Ethiopia’s #Tigray Region at Heightened Risk: #HRW

"For several weeks, towns in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have endured regular bombardments from an escalating joint offensive by Ethiopia and Eritrea forces against Tigrayan forces. Yesterday, the government forces captured Shire, a major town in Tigray. Attacks around the town – already host to thousands of Tigrayans forcibly displaced from Western Tigray in an earlier ethnic cleansing campaign – led to further flight as fearful residents evacuated the town in droves."

Full report: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/18/civilians-ethiopias-tigray-region-heightened-risk

#Unprecedented drought brings threat of starvation to millions in #Ethiopia, #Kenya, and #Somalia

"Rainfall deficits during the recent March-April-May 2022 rainy season have been the most severe in at least the last 70 years in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. The ongoing, four-season drought has also been the most extensive and persistent event since 1981. Further concerns are raised by elevated risks of a fifth below-average rainy season in October-November-December."

https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news/unprecedented-drought-brings-threat-starvation-millions-ethiopia-kenya-and-somalia-2022-06-09_en

News: Prosecutor charges three law enforcement officers, accomplices accused of rape, grave corruption and abuse of power

The Prosecutor filed charges against three police officers and their accomplices, including the head of criminal investigation department at the Airport Police Station, who are accused of abusing their authority and committing grave crimes of corruption and rape against a woman victims, the Ministry of Justice said.

Extraordinary accusations by prospector on crimes of rape, grave corruption, & detention in illegal places of a woman victim.

https://addisstandard.com/news-prosecutor-charges-three-law-enforcement-officers-accomplices-accused-of-rape-grave-corruption-and-abuse-of-power/

News: Benishangul Gumuz regional govt, rebel group sign peace agreement

The #BenishangulGumuz regional government communication bureau said the regional government and and the #Gumuz People’s Democratic Movement (#GPDM), a rebel group militarily active in the region, signed a peace agreement today to resolve their differences “through dialogue.”

In May last year, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Benishangul Gumuz regional state government and an unnamed “armed group”, which would see members of the later take up leadership positions in the region.

https://addisstandard.com/news-benishangul-gumuz-regional-govt-rebel-group-sign-peace-agreement/

#NewsAlert: Postponed #AU peace talk to take place on 24 Oct. in #SouthAfrica: #Ethiopia

Ambassador Redwan Hussien, National Security Advisor to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, said that the African Union Commission “has informed us that the Peace talks is set for 24 Oct, 2022 to be held in South Africa.”

This is the second attempt by the continental organization to organize peace talks in South Africa in as many weeks. In a letter dated 01 October and sent to Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD), President of Tigray regional State, inviting him to “peace talks” scheduled to take place in South Africa from 08 October 2022, erroneously mentioned as Sunday. Both the federal government and Tigray regional state said they accepted the invitation. https://addisstandard.com/newsalert-postponed-au-peace-talk-to-take-place-on-24-oct-in-south-africa-ethiopia/

#ASDailyScoop: ICRC #Ethiopia distributes essential household items to displaced people in Horo Guduru Wollega

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Ethiopia said that last week its team has distributed essential household items to 3,310 households (16,550 Individuals) who are sheltered in Horo Guduru Wollega, Shambu town. The assistance is distributed to displaced persons from 14 kebeles of Jardega Jarte and Amuru woredas of Horo Guduru Wollega zone, in western Oromia.

More than 160 civilians were killed in two separate attacks in various localities of Horo Guduru Wollega zone,#Oromia in the months of August & September.

https://addisstandard.com/asdailyscoop-icrc-ethiopia-distributes-essential-household-items-to-displaced-people-in-horo-guduru-wollega/

News: #Malawi police discover mass grave suspected to contain bodies of #Ethiopian nationals

“The grave was discovered late on Tuesday but we cordoned it off and started exhuming today. So far, we have discovered 25 bodies,” Peter Kalaya, police spokesperson, said.

In June this year, #Addisstandard reported that more than 500 Ethiopian migrants who were stranded in Malawi would like to return to their communities of origin, according to a verification exercise conducted by the Ethiopian authorities with support from the IOM.

https://addisstandard.com/news-malawi-police-discover-mass-grave-suspected-to-contain-bodies-of-ethiopian-nationals/

Analysis: Parents struggle with rising cost of education as wars, natural disasters force 13 million students out of schools in #Ethiopia

*** "This puts Ethiopia among the top five countries with the most children out of school”

By Mihret G.kristos & Assefa Mola

Apart from the impact of war, drought and flooding, inflation in prices of education materials posed a serious challenge to the education system in the country as parents struggle to send their kids to school including in the capital Addis Abeba.

But neither report on such massive numbers of school kids missing out on their educations drew the attention it deserved; more so the fact that it came in the backdrop of rising costs of education in the country, which is testing the resolve of parents who are lucky enough to enroll their kids into school.

https://addisstandard.com/analysis-parents-struggle-with-rising-cost-of-education-as-wars-natural-disasters-force-13-m-out-of-schools-in-ethiopia/

#Breaking: #UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has resigned after 45 days: BBC

She said she could not deliver the mandate on which she was elected as Tory leader and had notified the King that she was resigning

There will be a Conservative leadership election to be completed within the next week, she said

"I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen," she said

Her departure after 45 days in office makes her the shortest-serving PM in UK history

Truss's premiership as been in turmoil since her mini-budget last month, which rocked markets and was later scrapped by her new chancellor

The resignation of her home secretary on Wednesday and a chaotic vote in the Commons sealed her fate

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-63309400?at_custom3=%40BBCBreaking&at_custom2=twitter&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_medium=custom7&at_campaign=64&at_custom4=AA2379EC-5073-11ED-A1E7-68BB96E8478F

#UN #genocide official: Hate speech is fueling #Ethiopia’s war
A U.N. official is urging tech companies to do everything possible to stop the onslaught of hate speech fueling the war in Ethiopia’s north, where a violent war pits federal troops and their allies against Tigray’s rebellious leaders.

Inflammatory language by political leaders and armed groups in the Tigray conflict “continues unabated,” Alice Wairimu Nderitu, U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, said in a statement Wednesday.

“There is discourse often propagated through social media, which dehumanizes groups by likening them to a ‘virus’ that should be eradicated, to a ‘cancer’ that should be treated because ”if a single cell is left untreated, that single cell will expand and affect the whole body” and calling for the “killing of every single youth from Tigray” which is particularly dangerous, the statement said.

https://apnews.com/article/technology-africa-uganda-ethiopia-government-and-politics-e7c4173e458dda8056c476305124f44e

News: #France grants five million euro for preservation, restoration of #Lalibela

The Ministry of Finance of Ethiopia and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed yesterday a €5 million (260 000 000 Birr) grant agreement to conduct the preparatory phase of a program of Preservation and restoration of the churches of Lalibela, and of development of the city around its heritage jewel.

“This support complements the financing of the immersive exhibition “Lalibela: Carving Faith”, currently presented in Entoto Fine Arts Center until the end of December, and of the “Sustainable Lalibela” project, implemented by the French Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), jointly with the Church of Lalibela and ECHA,”

https://addisstandard.com/news-france-grants-five-million-euro-for-preservation-restoration-of-lalibela/

Body of missing Princeton University student has been found

The body of missing Princeton University student Misrach Ewunetie was found on campus Thursday, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Her body was found at about 1 p.m. on the facilities grounds, behind tennis courts, according to a statement from Mercer County prosecutor Angelo Onofri and Kenneth Strother Jr., the school’s assistance vice president for public safety.

An autopsy by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of death, the statement said. There were “no signs of injury and her death does not appear suspicious or criminal in nature.”

In a statement, the university called the death an “unthinkable tragedy.”

Misrach Ewunetie’s brother Universe described his sister as a “precious, beautiful soul,” a “great listener” and someone who “cares about people beyond her.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/20/us/princeton-university-student-misrach-ewunetie-missing-thursday/index.html

News: AU PSC meets on #Ethiopia ahead of #UN’s; Blinken, Guteress discuss need for immediate cessation of hostilities, withdrawal of #Eritrean Forces

The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) is holding a session today to receive a briefing on the AU-led peace process for Ethiopia.

Today’s meeting “was not initially included in the monthly program of work of the Council,” according to Amani Africa. It comes in the immediate wake of yet another “private meeting” by the UN Security Council (UNSC) scheduled to take place later today.

The meetings came amid growing fear for civilians in Tigray. The UN reported 210,000 people were newly displaced from Tahitay Adiabo and Sheraro in Zelazele of Northwestern Tigray. The UN also aid that “civilians waiting to receive much-needed humanitarian assistance came under fire on 14 October, which caused injuries and loss of life.”

https://addisstandard.com/news-au-psc-meets-on-ethiopia-ahead-of-uns-blinken-guteress-discuss-need-for-immediate-cessation-of-hostilities-withdrawal-of-eritrean-forces/