Fred Harter
@FredHarter
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Journalist in Ethiopia | @thetimes @guardian @theafricareport @newhumanitarian
Addis Ababa
Joined October 2016
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Kidnapping has become rampant in Ethiopia's Oromia region, leaving residents of Addis Ababa scared to leave the capital, with many accusing OLA rebels. I interviewed several victims and their relatives, who paid ransoms from $350 to $8,800.
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Driving through Abala yesterday, on Afar's border with Tigray. A complete ghost town - most homes, the hospital and the police station looted during four months of TPLF occupation.
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Photos sent from Ayder hospital showing empty wards and bare cupboards.
Doctors say they were forced to send all patients home last week - except emergency ones - owing to a lack of supplies, despite the recent increase in aid to Tigray.
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People traffickers are abducting Tigrayan refugees from camps in southeastern Sudan and selling them across the border to Libya, where they are tortured until they pay ransoms, several victims of the trade said.
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Dozens of aid trucks lined up outside Semera on Thursday. They are expected to arrive in Mekelle today as part of a convoy of 200, the biggest since the truce was declared 2 months ago.
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With Somalia threatening war, Ethiopia insists it did not agree to recognise Somaliland in return for a port. But Somaliland's foreign minister told me "nothing is going to happen" without recognition .
My report on the "memorandum of misunderstanding".
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The Ethiopia-Somaliland MoU is leading to calls in the UK to lend diplomatic recognition to Somaliland
In light of the Ethiopian deal with Somaliland, yesterday in the Houses of Parliament I called on the UK Government to start the process to recognise Somaliland as a free, independent sovereign nation.
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Residents of Mariam Shewito, Endabagerima, Gendebta and other villages near Adwa said Eritrean soldiers killed hundreds of civilians following a battle in the area in late October, days before the ceasefire was signed.
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Tigray forces have called on the international community to help them facilitate the release of 4,200 POWs, a major possible step towards peace in northern Ethiopia after 18 months of conflict.
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Gold and money traders in Hargeisa's market, Somaliland.
“You could not trade like this in Mogadishu," says one. "Here no one will touch it, but there you would get robbed straight away.”
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Nearly one year after the Pretoria ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of IDPs from western Tigray are still trapped in shabby displacement camps and now starving without aid, with no hopes of returning home soon.
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Despite resuming food aid in December, aid agencies are struggling to distribute at scale and get food to all who need it. "Just 14% of 3.2 million people targeted for food aid by humanitarian agencies in Tigray this month had received it by Jan 21."
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First used in Tigray and now deployed to Amhara and Oromia, drones have become an essential counterinsurgency tool in Ethiopia. The military says they are like any other weapon, but concerns are mounting over the civilian toll. My report:
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War, climate change and the legacy of an aid suspension have combined to push millions of Ethiopians to the brink, as reports of hundreds of starvation deaths begin to emerge.
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The successes of Tigrayan athletes - who won 3 of Ethiopia's 4 gold medals - at the world athletics championship this month have shone a light on the communications shutdown affecting Tigray.
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Postcard from Somaliland where everyone is talking about the revelations in Mo Farah's BBC documentary
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The humanitarian system is financially broke. With aid agencies increasingly stepping in to provide govt services due to climate change, soaring conflict and bad governance, experts are asking if it is also fundamentally broken. My report from Chad.
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The US has resumed food aid for the 1 million refugees in Ethiopia from Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia, after the 🇪🇹 govt agreed to step back from dispatching and distributing refugee supplies.
But food for 20m Ethiopians remains paused while talks over reforms continue
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Airstrike hit Maychew on Wednesday November 2nd, killing "40 people", according to a medical source in Tigray, hours before the peace deal came into effect at 00.00 EAT on November 3rd.
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More than 80 people were killed in the Amhara town of Merawi in "house-to-house" searches" on Jan 29, according to the Ethiopia Human Rights Council, following clashes between govt forces and "armed groups".
አስቸኳይ ትኩረት ሚያስፈልጋቸው የሰብዓዊ መብቶች ጉዳዮች
የኢሰመጉ ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ-ጥር 28/2016 ዓ.ም
ቻናላችንን ለመቀላቀል ከታች ያለውን ማስፈንጠሪያ ይንኩ።
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Just 2% of Tigray's health facilities are described as "intact" by this
@WHO
report, with pretty much all the rest still "partially damaged" or "fully damaged" owing to the conflict and looting.
Based on data collected in May and June.
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Europe is the biggest destination for Ethiopian coffee, but new EU deforestation rules could shut Ethiopia out of this market and millions of livelihoods are at risk. My report from Kafa, Ethiopia's coffee heartland:
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These huts near Ebereti, Afar, are home to 5 families of 40 people displaced from Abala, who have been travelling for months.
A few hours before we visited, one of the children, a 1 year old girl, had died from an infection. They said they have recieved little help.
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One year after the Pretoria ceasefire, Tigray's 270,000 former fighters are yet to be demobilised and the region is still awash with small arms. Many veterans are languishing in camps, surviving by begging from villagers, despite promises of support.
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I loved reporting this story on Harar's hyenas. The town's relationship with the animals goes so much deeper than the feeding shows tourists go and see.
Great photos by Guillaume Peterman.
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Dozens of people are trapped in Sudan because their passports are locked inside an abandoned UK visa centre in Khartoum. Hundreds more passports are inside other empty embassies.
“If I had my passport, I would have a chance to escape,” one man told me.
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Just as aid was finally getting to those who need it in Tigray, USAID says it has suspended aid to the region "until further notice" after discovering humanitarian food was being "diverted and sold on the local market".
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Despite the big uptick of aid entering Tigray, Ayder Hospital had sent home all patients except emergency one.
According to WFP, few of the trucks to Mekelle are carrying medical supplies.
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Ethiopia govt says soldiers “did not target any civilians" in Merawi, but acted in "self-defence" when fired on during home searches.
US, UK, Canada, EU have all condemned the alleged massacre of dozens of civilians - a rare intervention by donors.
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Reports say the afternoon flight to Lalibela was forced to turn back to Addis due to fighting around Lalibela airport between federal police and Fano.
Not clear who currently controls the airport itself.
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LGBT people in Uganda are being evicted from their homes and attacked by mobs of homophobic vigilantes following the passing of the homosexuality law in May. "There is complete social terror", said
@nickopiyo
My report form Kampala:
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Since Scotland restyled violence as a "public health" issue, knife attacks in cities like Glasgow have plummeted. Can England learn from its approach? My piece in this week's
@TheEconomist
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Rare reporting from inside Ertriea.
"Mulugeta fears being conscripted and sent to fight in Ethiopia. He does not want to die in another country’s civil war."
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As tens of thousands of people die from opioid addiction in rich countries, in the developing world the opposite is happening: millions of chronically ill people are dying in agony because they cannot access pain relief. With thanks to
@hospiceethiopia
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Before Covid and war hit, Lalibela was a thriving tourist hub. Now residents are keen for visitors to return. Report for
@Independent
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I spent Tuesday and Wednesday on a Saudi boat that's been taking refugees from Port Sudan across the Red Sea. Some pics from the evacuation.
Many more people are still stranded in Port Sudan, unable to get visas for Saudi.
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Peace has returned to Lalibela after months of TPLF occupation last year, but people there still fear for the future. Report for
@thetimes
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There were 1.1 million refugees, including 309,000 reguees, in Sudan when fighting started.
I spoke to several who are stranded in camps with few services after NGOs pulled out, or trapped in the Khartoum crossfire with no help. Most are struggling to eat
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Addis Ababa's Chinese-funded $475m light railway carries just 55,000 passengers daily in a city of 4 million. Just one-third of its 41 trains are operational. They come every 20-25 mins, down from 4-6 mins in the railway's early days. Via
@FasikaTade
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Hours before this EU announcement, UN human rights experts warned that violations continue in Ethiopia and also highlighted the risk of future ones.
Their investigation's mandate will expire on Weds unless there is a last minute vote to renew it.
EU announces €650m in development aid for Ethiopia.
A big first step in normalizing relations after Pretoria, despite concerns about ongoing human rights abuses in Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, elsewhere.
This aid was paused in late 2020 over the Tigray war.
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In Um Rakuba camp another Tigrayan refugee said
“The refugees are very worried about the situation. We are hearing most of the citizens of Sudan are leaving, so what is going to happen to us? There are limited services for now, but maybe they will totally stop in the next days"
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Tigrayan refugees say they were beaten w/ plastic pipes, burnt w/ cigarettes and shocked w/ electric cables, some for years, inside Libyan warehouses.
"We’re packed so densely, I cannot turn around. On the floor there is no space to lie flat," said a man still inside the system.
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As the fighting escalates, patrols are now a common sight in Addis Ababa. Report for
@Independent
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Ethiopia hails return of its first plane, stolen by Mussolini in 1930s
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Clashes between militants and security forces reported this morning in Gambella city, with one resident telling BBC Amharic they could hear heavy gunfire near government offices
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Around 43% of
@BritishQuakers
do not profess a belief in God. Enjoyed writing this piece with
@bruceclark7
about the growing number of atheist and agnostics joining the Religious Society of Friends.
@TheEconomist
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One week after the government declared an immediate humanitarian truce, aid is yet to reach Tigray by road. The government and the TPLF are blaming each other. For
@TheAfricaReport
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In Khartoum: A Tigrayan refugee said RSF troopsout shoot at his hiding place whenever they hear noises from the building, shattering windows. They've also put an anti airgunon the roof.
Two men have been killed and a pregnant woman miscarried her baby from stress.
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319 trucks of aid reached Tigray in the past week, according to the lastest UN figures.
This is still short of the 500
@WFP_Ethiopia
says need to enter every week to meet needs in the region, but a huge increase compared to a few months ago.
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I spoke to residents of Zamzam camp in North Darfur, where
@MSF
says a child is dying of hunger or disease every two hours. The main reason: aid groups don't have enough cash to help. It's a disaster completely overlooked by the international community.
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Delighted to have won the 2019 Richard Beeston Bursary. I'll be reporting for
@thetimes
next spring on Ethiopia's turbulent democratic transition under Abiy Ahmed.
Congratulations to Fred Harter and Mohammed Moussa who have been awarded Richard Beeston Bursaries for young journalists in association with
@frontlineclub
.
@FredHarter
will travel to Ethiopia and
@MoeMoussa25
will come to London from his native Gaza while on the bursaries.
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Hundreds of people were massacred last month when the RSF took a Sudanese army base in Ardamata, West Darfur. Survivors said RSF fighters and allied Arab militia went house-to-house targeting the Masalit and members of other black African groups.
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Some Tigrayans refugees have escaped the desert warehouses to Tripoli, where they say they are preyed upon by Libyan police, who imprison anyone without documents and demand huge bribes to release them.
They are hiding out, hoping to take boats to Europe
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An Eritrean people trafficker says there has been “a big increase” in the number of Tigrayans crossing the Sahara since war broke out in northern Ethiopia in late 2020, joining a route already well-trodden by refugees from elsewhere in Africa.
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"Eritrean forces must fully withdraw. Both Ethiopia and Eritrea must refrain from provocation and respect the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of all countries in the region."
1st Anniversary of Ethiopia’s Cessation of Hostilities Agreement
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Those who cannot pay ransoms of up to $6,000 do not leave. Rape is commonplace.
One woman said: “They took us any time they wanted. I was raped several times. They were threatening to make us pregnant if we didn’t pay.”
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They have become some of the latest victims of a huge and vastly lucrative people trafficking industry that traps and exploits people fleeing conflict, repression and hardship across the continent.
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@MuluBK
That is where the customs checks are done. All have now been checked and left Serdo yesterday
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A
@RESCUEorg
staff member has been killed and another injured in an "attack" while distributing nutrition supplies in Shire.
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Flights from Addis to Gondar have been cancelled today, according to flight tracking data. Residents report fighting in Gondar town today.
Reports say the afternoon flight to Lalibela was forced to turn back to Addis due to fighting around Lalibela airport between federal police and Fano.
Not clear who currently controls the airport itself.
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Ethiopian govt says TPLF have assassinated 22 interim officials in Tigray and kidnapped 20
Targeted assassinations of Tigray Provisional Administration Members thus far by TPLF within the region.
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Commercial Bank of Ethiopia has published the full names and account details of the 565 people who withdrew money that wasn't theirs during the "system glitch" earlier this month and have not yet paid it back.
Aren't there privacy laws against this?
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UN human rights commission for Ethiopia calls for "unhindered access without delay" following it's visit to Addis last week.
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EU announces €650m in development aid for Ethiopia.
A big first step in normalizing relations after Pretoria, despite concerns about ongoing human rights abuses in Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, elsewhere.
This aid was paused in late 2020 over the Tigray war.
🇪🇺 is launching Multi-Annual Indicative Programme benefiting 🇪🇹 people and efforts to consolidate peace.
We recognise that there is a long way to go. Today’s launch shows that through
#GlobalGateway
, we are willing to support
#Ethiopia
to get there and emerge from the conflict.
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Inside the race to leave Sudan. The lucky few who found a place on a Saudi ship felt overwhelmed by guilt after leaving grandmothers, cousins behind.
“When you are leaving your home, you don’t feel good," said one woman. "A part of you is always there."
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Tigray forces say they are ready to participate in AU talks in South Africa but seek clarity on their structure
Government of Tigray’s position on proposed peace talks
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Around 50% of elders in Borena are malnourished, making them the group hardest hit by the drought. But little is being done to specifically help them as aid agencies prioritise children and mothers.
"They are completely overlooked," says
@HelpAge
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Recent pictures from Abala hospital, which has been thoroughly looted. When I visited the word "gun powder" was written in several places in Tigryina on the walls.
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Fascinating take on 19th century Britain's conceptualisation of the Middle East, and how greater knowledge arguably made it less coherent
@LRB
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Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the Axum massacre. There has yet to be full investigation into the killings. Report for
@UnHerd
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.
@USAID
plans to restart nationwide food aid to Ethiopia in December as part of a one-year-long trial of new oversight reforms to prevent theft.
Aid has been suspended to Tigray since mid-March and the whole country since early June.
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.
@WFP
has followed
@USAID
's lead by restoring food aid to the roughly 1 million refugees hosted by Ethiopia.
Still no indication as to when food for Ethiopians will be resumed.
.
@WFP
has resumed food distributions to refugees in Ethiopia.
This is following a full revamp of the safeguards & controls in our refugee operations.
Full News Release:
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In the name of journalism, three friends and I shared a kilo and a half of raw meat. An article I've wanted to write for a long time!
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Some flights are still running between Bahir Dar and Addis this morning, with one in the air right now, despite others being cancelled amid reports of heavy fighting in the regional capital.
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"We urge the delegations to engage seriously in these talks to reach a lasting resolution to this conflict. As a first priority, it is essential to achieve an immediate cessation of hostilities." --
@SecBlinken
on RSA peace talks
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Now
@EthioHRC
says it has confirmed the killings at least 45 civilians in Merawi "by government security forces" for either supporting Fano or because they were suspected of being Fano, adding that the true death toll may be higher than this.
More than 80 people were killed in the Amhara town of Merawi in "house-to-house" searches" on Jan 29, according to the Ethiopia Human Rights Council, following clashes between govt forces and "armed groups".
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Ethiopians living in Somaliland have been attacked and had their homes looted and burned down after the signing of the MoU granting Ethiopia sea access, according to
@BBCAfrica
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Abiy told parliament yesterday that a committee has been formed to come up with terms for eventual negotiations with the TPLF, the biggest sign yet a peace process could be be underway soon.
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There's a lot of great things about living in Addis, but the supermarkets are definitely not one of them
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Mourners targeted by snipers, women raped in the streets, bodies clogging up rivers. It's hard to describe the horrors in Darfur last year.
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The story of Tewodros II's son, Prince Alamayu, who was taken by the British from Maqdala aged six in 1868 and died unhappily in Leeds 12 years later. The UK is still refusing to return his bones.
@lootplunder
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The black-maned lion is ubiquitous in Ethiopian culture, but the animal is under threat as pressures on its habitat grow.
Numbers are plummeting & conservationists warn it could die out if things do not change soon.
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Residents say there is heavy fighting happening right now in Gondar. Situation unclear.
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State of emergency in Amhara after step up in clashes between the army and Fano militia units.
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After ICHREE's expiry this week, the Ethiopian govt says it's committed to human rights and says its justice mechanism -- due to be set up in a few weeks -- will ensure accountability and reconciliation.
#STATEMENT
: The Government of Ethiopia is committed to the preservation of Human Rights 🔽
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Joint statement from EU envoy
@EUSR_Weber
and US envoy
@MikeHammerUSA
encourages AU-led mediation and says Debretsion has handed them a letter for the federal government, containing "security guarantees" for workers needed to restore services to Tigray.
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An interview with
@BNMarkussen
, the outgoing EU ambassador to the AU. We discussed the rising tide of conflicts across the continent and the lessons the AU could glean from the EU as it takes its first steps as a multilateral actor on the global stage.
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After peace conference in Addis, Chinese envoy Xue Bing said he is not yet involved in mediation of Tigray conflict.
"My job as special envoy is to mediate all sorts of conflicts" he said. "China has offered to do that, but there is a condition: all parties concerned must agree."
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The fighting has forced 300,000 people form their according to local officials, although aid groups said the figure was hard to verify as many areas are cut off and the displaced are spread across a large area.
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I spent part of this week talking to aid workers about how Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping are making an already catastrophic situation in Sudan even worse.
Medicines have been delayed by months and some freight costs have increased by 800%.
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Delighted to have written my first piece for
@tortoise
- a long read on growing calls to return colonial art from western museums
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A look at dating practices around Timket in Ethiopia where traditional lemon-throwing is falling out of favour as young people turn to social media
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My Twitter timeline has been taken over by memes and "funny" videos since
@elonmusk
took over. Does anyone know how to get rid of the "For You" feed or stop it from being the default Twitter page I land on?
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In Borena this week. The first proper rains for 2.5 years have turned the landscape green, but this has brought little relief to most people whose livestock have died and still rely on aid.
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