News Highlights – Thursday, December 3, 2020 News Contents COVID-19 Pandemic..................................................................................................... 3 Africa aims to vaccinate 60% of population against COVID-19 in 2-3 years 3 Ethiopia.......................................................................................................................... 3 Ethiopia, UN Discuss Ways To Restore Infrastructure Services In Tigray ... 3 Defense Forces Found Arms Depot in Mekelle.............................................. 4 Russia Backs Ethiopia’s Efforts To Enforce Law And Order.........................4 Reuters: Ethiopia's war still churns, but relief aid coming..............................4 House Approves Agreement Between Ethiopia, Russia On Peaceful Nuclear Energy Use............................................................................................................. 6 Ethiopia, World Bank Sign Over $512m Financing Agreement ....................6 Horn of Africa and IGAD Region..................................................................................6 TPLF Junta Plays Negative Role In South Sudanese Peace Process: Amb.... 6 SPLM-IO accuses government forces of ceasefire violations ........................7 Sudan’s investigation committee summons military over bloody attack........8 FFC, Hamdok discuss formation of Sudan’s second transitional cabinet.......8 Puntland parliament strips legal immunity from 8 MPs..................................9 Kenya-Somalia diplomatic tiff throws miraa talks into disarray.................... 9 Gulf Region and the Middle East.................................................................................10 Report: Egypt seeks to host Palestine-Israel peace summit.......................... 10 10 political figures to be prosecuted for sending Sudan youth to fight in Libya.....................................................................................................................11 Iran ready to show goodwill if U.S., Europe abide by nuclear deal: Zarif ...12 US: Biden willing to return to Iran nuclear deal........................................... 13 US official: Israel behind Iranian scientist's killing...................................... 13 Emerging Powers......................................................................................................... 13 Pompeo rebukes Turkey at NATO meeting..................................................14 Russia orders U.S. rights worker to leave on national security grounds - spokeswoman ...................................................................................................... 15 COVID-19 Pandemic Region Infections Deaths Recoveries Globe 65.03 million 1.5 million 45.1 million Africa 2.215 million 52,683 1.877 million Ethiopia 110,984 1,715 76,067 Follow live updates on worldometers.info/coronavirus/ Africa aims to vaccinate 60% of population against COVID-19 in 2-3 years - CGTN Africa aims to have 60% of the continent’s population vaccinated against the coronavirus within the next two to three years, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday. “We hope that for this to be meaningful, our 60% must be reached in the next two to three years. We should be deliberate in this,” said John Nkengasong, director of Africa CDC, adding that, “If the delay takes us to four to five years then the virus will be endemic in our communities.” Nkengasong said that there were logistical problems to overcome in Africa, including how to keep vaccines cold. “We have a window from now to January and February to keep strengthening our systems, which is the refrigeration,” said Nkengasong. 2.2 million out of Africa’s 1.3 billion people have been infected by COVID-19, according to a Reuters tally. Some European countries expect to start rolling out vaccination campaigns in the next few weeks, but the control group said that vaccinations were unlikely to start in Africa until midway through next year. ___________________________________________________________________ Ethiopia Ethiopia, UN Discuss Ways To Restore Infrastructure Services In Tigray - Fana Taye Atske Selassie, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the UN, held a meeting with Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Head of UNOCHA. The meeting focused on the agreement signed between Ethiopia and the UN for enhanced coordination mechanism for humanitarian access in Ethiopia. The two exchanged views on the operationalization of the agreement and the need for the maintenance and restoration of basic infrastructure services in the Tigray region. It is to be recalled that Ethiopian and the UN yesterday signed an agreement that seeks to enable unimpeded, sustained and secure access for humanitarian personnel and services to areas under the control of the Federal Gov’t in Tigray, the bordering areas of Amhara and Afar regions. Defense Forces Found Arms Depot in Mekelle - ENA The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) has found a weapons depot that the TPLF junta has been using during a search by the army in the city of Mekelle. Lieutenant Colonel Sadiq Ahmed said that leaders of the Northern Command of the defense force have no knowledge of its existence. He said the TPLF junta was powerless to survive the law enforcement operation and forced to retreat leaving the ammunitions behind. Lieutenant Colonel Sadiq further stated that there is a possibility to find out more weaponry depots in Mekelle and other areas in the region. He confirmed that the army will continues the search to ensure that such weapons don’t fall in the hands of criminals. Russia Backs Ethiopia’s Efforts To Enforce Law And Order - Fana Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia yesterday held a phone conversation with Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister. Demeke commended the long-standing and friendly relationship that exists between the two countries and underlined the need to further strengthen it, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Regarding Tigray, Demeke said the law enforcement operation has successfully been completed, carefully avoiding civilian casualties, with Mekelle now fully under the control of the national defense forces. The government will apprehend the leaders and cliques of the TPLF junta, he said, adding that some have begun to surrender to the government. Demeke said the government is now engaged with reconstruction and rehabilitation, and law and order restoration activities in the region. The government is working in close consultations and collaboration with the interim government of Tigray that has been active in holding public discussions and organizing regional executive organs. Sergei Lavrov, on his part, thanked Demeke for the briefing and affirmed that Russia respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia. Appreciating what the Ethiopian government is doing to protect the rights of civilians and provide humanitarian assistance to affected people, he said Russia believes that ensuring peace in Ethiopia is indispensable to let peace reign in the Horn of Africa. He said the government of Ethiopia has got the right to enforce law and order in the country without the interference of external parties since the matter is the internal affair of the country. He further added that Ethiopia and Russia should strive more to scale up their bilateral relations and cooperation in multilateral fora. Reuters: Ethiopia's war still churns, but relief aid coming - Reuters Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory over the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) after federal forces captured the regional capital Mekelle at the weekend. However, TPLF leaders have dug into surrounding mountains in what appears to be an emerging guerrilla strategy. One aid worker in touch with Tigray told Reuters that fighting continued to the north, south and west of the highland city of 500,000 people. Diplomats following the crisis and in touch with sources on all sides say thousands of combatants and civilians appear to have died since Abiy’s offensive began on Nov. 4 after a TPLF attack on a military base was the last straw in their feud. More than 45,000 refugees have crossed into neighbouring Sudan, while many more have been displaced within Tigray. One refugee, who gave his name only as Abraham, said he fled heavy fighting in the Tigrayan town of Humera and saw corpses in civilian clothes as he walked towards the border with Sudan. “Nobody can bury them, they were outside on the road,” he recounted from Hamdayet, a Sudanese border transit point. Ethiopia’s government and the TPLF have both accused each other of targeting civilians - and both denied that. Reuters has been unable to verify claims from all sides as access to the northern Tigray region has been largely blocked and communications mainly down, although internet and phone services were returning to some towns this week. In Qadarif, also in Sudan, the mother of a newborn baby recounted how she had fled Tigray even though she was more than eight months pregnant. “While I was frightened and running away, that’s when the pain started, right in the middle of the street,” said Atikilti Salem, breast-feeding her 22-day-old baby Abeyam. “I found a small village and gave birth in the hospital ... I wanted to call her Africa, but I instead named her after the doctor who delivered her ... When the war is over and