News Highlights – Friday December 11, 2020 News Contents COVID-19 Pandemic................................................................................................... 3 Nigeria to vaccinate 20 million people against COVID-19............................ 3 Egypt Receives 1st Shipment of Chinese Vaccine Tested in UAE.................3 GERD............................................................................................................................ 4 Ethiopians Continue Unwavering Support for GERD: Director.....................4 Ethiopia......................................................................................................................... 4 Ethiopia: Aid agencies say four staff killed in Tigray fighting....................... 4 Ethiopian government says it is returning Eritrean refugees to camps in Tigray..................................................................................................................... 5 Ethiopia government denies war impeding aid, agencies report staff deaths..6 Some 88 Trucks Of Food, Medical Supplies Dispatched To Several Towns Tigray: PM Office.................................................................................................. 6 TPLF Clique High Official, Dr. Addisalem Balema, and Seyoum Mesfin’s wife and son appear before Court.......................................................................... 8 State of Emergency Inquiry Board Unveils Field Report............................... 8 TPLF Clique Looted, Destroyed Office of Refugee Camps in Shire: ARRA.9 Council Of Ministers Endorses Ethiopia’s 10 Year Perspective Plan.............9 NEBE Invites Local CSOs To Submit Interest To Observe Upcoming Elections...............................................................................................................10 Benishangul, Sudanese Blue Nile Start Joint Consultative Forum............... 10 Horn of Africa and IGAD Region.............................................................................10 Amnesty calls to maintain UNAMID for more six months in Darfur...........10 General prosecutor of ICC urges UNSC to encourage Sudan to cooperate with ICC............................................................................................................... 11 South Sudan’s parties agree on national assembly formation....................... 12 Uganda receives 1st batch of presidential ballot papers for Jan. 14 polls.....13 Sub Saharan Africa....................................................................................................13 Two soldiers injured, 14 houses torched in Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon 13 DR Congo parliament votes to remove speaker............................................ 14 Ghanaian president appoints 15-member transition team............................. 14 Gulf Region and the Middle East............................................................................. 15 Morocco agrees to normalize relations with Israel........................................15 Libya releases 2 Russians detained on spying charges................................. 15 Saudi-backed Yemen govt hails US sanctions on Houthi leaders.................16 Saudi crown prince asks US court to dismiss assassination lawsuit............. 16 Palestinian President Says Ready to Resume Peace Talks............................17 Emerging Powers....................................................................................................... 18 U.S. government, 46 states sue Facebook, claim Zuckerberg operates ‘illegal monopoly’............................................................................................................ 18 EU rejects imposing economic sanctions on Turkey.................................... 19 US set to sanction Turkey over Russian defense system.............................. 20 COVID-19 Pandemic Region Infections Deaths Recoveries Globe 70.852 million 1.591 million 49.292 million Africa 2.339 million 55,359 1.991 million Ethiopia 115,360 1,779 88,975 Follow live updates on worldometers.info/coronavirus/ Nigeria to vaccinate 20 million people against COVID-19 - CGTN Nigeria plans to vaccinate 20 million people against the novel coronavirus. While speaking at a press conference, the health minister Osagie Ehanire said that the government will receive 20 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ According to Ehanire, health sector employees will be vaccinated first, then the vulnerable and those with chronic illnesses. “We have hope to vaccinate as many people as possible, but we want to start with 20 million doses of the vaccine first,” he said. The West African nation has recorded at least 70,500 COVID-19 cases and 1,184 fatalities, while more than 65,000 patients have recovered from the disease. Egypt Receives 1st Shipment of Chinese Vaccine Tested in UAE – Al-Awsat Egypt on Thursday received its first shipment of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine, which was tested in the United Arab Emirates and is said to be 86% effective. The shipment by Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm landed at Cairo’s international airport from the UAE. Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed and diplomats from China and the UAE were at the airport to greet the shipment, The Associated Press reported. Health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement that the government would first vaccinate health care workers, particularly those who deal with COVID-19 cases. He said they would receive two doses of the vaccine over 21 days. Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, has seen an increase in confirmed coronavirus infections in recent weeks amid warnings by the government about a second wave of the pandemic. It also reported 445 newly confirmed coronavirus infections Thursday and 22 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the country’s overall tally to 120,147 cases, with 6,854 deaths. The Sinopharm vaccine has been approved for emergency use in a few countries and the company is still conducting late-stage clinical trials in 10 nations. Sinopharm’s vaccine relies on a killed virus, similar to how polio immunizations work. Vaccines being developed by Western companies, like the shot made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, target the coronavirus’ spike protein using RNA. The United Kingdom already has begun vaccinating people with the Pfizer shot. Pfizer reports its shot as being 95% effective, while another RNA candidate from Moderna appears to be 94.5% effective. Results suggest a third vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca is safe and about 70% effective, but questions remain about how well it may help protect those over 55. _____________________________________________________________________ GERD Ethiopians Continue Unwavering Support for GERD: Director - ENA Ethiopians across the nation have increasing their unwavering support for the realization of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as the financial support reached 14 billion birr, GERD Public Participation Coordination Office, Director Argawi Berhe said. Aregawi said that Ethiopians and Ethiopian born Diaspora have been exerted massive efforts on countering all diplomatic attacks to destruct the construction of the dam. “The nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia from all walks of life have contributed over 14 billion birr so far. In addition to the financial support, Ethiopians have been behind the dam in moral, profession, in labor and other contributions including the priceless efforts on countering the pressure and diplomatic attacks from various actors,” he said. Ethiopians, as they were victorious over various enemies through their diversified but united hands, now they are repeating it on construction of the flagship dam project which shows diversity is an asset for the country, he noted. He further said “Ethiopia is endowed in various natural assets with diversified nations, nationalities and peoples. It is our homeland. One of the major assets of the country is being the home of heroes who can properly defend its sovereignty and integrity”. Aregawi noted that the swift measures of the government towards rectifying confusion circulating the grand dam following the comprehensive reforms undertaken in Ethiopia highly increased the participation of the public. “Due to the swift actions undertaken by the government starting from the post reform of the country, the support for the grand dam has been continuing in a better manner. The filling of the first phase of the dam enables to the boost the participation of the general public,” he pointed out. He urged Ethiopians to continue their resolute support to realize the GERD in spite of any differences. ___________________________________________________________________ Ethiopia Ethiopia: Aid agencies say four staff killed in Tigray fighting - Aljazeera Four staff members of two international aid agencies were killed during last month’s fighting in Ethiopia’s troubled northern Tigray region. The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) reported the deaths of three security guards, while the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said one of its staff members was killed. An estimated 600,000 people in Tigray, including 96,000 refugees from neighboring Eritrea, were dependent on food aid before the fighting began. When Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered troops into Tigray on November 4, following alleged attacks by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces, aid workers were left stranded and vulnerable. A communications blackout imposed by