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WORLD NEWS Thursday 26 November 2020

Ethiopian leader rejects international 'interference' in war

By CARA ANNA warned Mekele's half-mil- reach more secure areas,"
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — lion residents to move away Human Rights Watch's Horn
Ethiopia's prime minister is from the Tigray People's of Africa director Laetitia
rejecting growing interna- Liberation Front leaders or Bader said in a statement.
tional consensus for dia- there will be "no mercy" — Diplomats said U.N. Secu-
logue and a halt to deadly language that the United rity Council members in a
fighting in the Tigray region Nations human rights chief closed-door meeting Tues-
as "unwelcome," saying and others have warned day expressed support for
his country will handle the could lead to "further vio- an African Union-led effort
conflict on its own as a 72- lations of international hu- to deploy three high-level
hour surrender ultimatum manitarian law." But com- envoys to Ethiopia. But
runs out on Wednesday. munications remain almost Ethiopia has said the en-
The Tigray regional capital, completely severed to the voys cannot meet with the
Mekele, remained quiet Tigray region of some 6 TPLF leaders. "This conflict is
but tense as sunset ap- million people, and is not already seriously destabiliz-
proached. But a statement Tigray refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, clear how many people in ing the region," European
this week from a civil soci- receive aid from the UNHCR at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Mekele are aware of the Union foreign policy chief
ety representative in the re- Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. warnings and the threat Josep Borrell said Tuesday
gion, seen by The Associat- Associated Press of artillery fire. "Warnings after meeting with Ethio-
ed Press, described heavy community should "stand "We respectfully urge the alone do not absolve the pia's foreign minister.
bombardment of commu- by" until Ethiopia's govern- international community government of its duty to "Both sides should imme-
nities elsewhere that had ment asks for assistance, to refrain from any unwel- take constant care to pro- diately begin dialogue fa-
kept many residents from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's come and unlawful acts of tect civilians when carrying cilitated by the AU," the
fleeing. It pleaded for a office said in a statement interference," it added. out military operations in national security adviser
safe corridor to ship in aid as government forces were The government led by urban areas that are home for U.S. president-elect
as food runs out. reportedly positioned well Abiy, last year's Nobel to thousands of people Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan,
However, the international outside Mekele with tanks. Peace Prize winner, has who may not be able to tweeted..q

Thousands without heating, power in

Russia after ice storm

MOSCOW (AP) — Thou-
sands of people in Russia's
Far East region of Primorye
remained without heating
or electricity on Wednes-
day, as local authorities
and emergency services
wrestled with the conse-
quences of an unprec-
edented ice storm that hit
the region last week.
According to Russia's Ener-
gy Ministry, 5,800 Primorye
residents as of Wednesday A railing covered in ice after an ice storm, on a street in Vladi-
were still cut off from pow- vostok, Russia, Friday, Nov. 20, 2020.
er, and 3,300 people in the Associated Press
city of Vladivostok, the re-
gion's capital, still had no gion hasn't seen weather The authorities have been
heating, the ministry said. like this in 30 years, Primor- working on restoring power
The region was hit by freez- ye Gov. Oleg Kozhemyako supplies in the region for
ing rain on Nov. 18, and said on his Instagram page. a week. Shelters and hot
thousands of its residents The ice storm continued meals for those affected
woke up in dark, cold apart- for several days. On Satur- were organized. The gov-
ments the next day. Thick day, nearly 180,000 people ernment allocated 700
layers of ice covered trees, in the region had no elec- million rubles ($9 million) of
cars, roads and power tricity, heating or water, assistance to the region,
lines, many of which broke according to the regional where a state of emergen-
under the weight. The re- government's website. cy was declared Friday. q