Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat on Wednesday expressed deep concern over the escalation of military confrontation in Ethiopia.

"The Chairperson calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities, the full respect for the life and property of civilians, as well as state infrastructure," an AU statement read, urging the parties to the conflict to engage in dialogue and seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the country.

ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa announced on Tuesday they have started a two-day weapons registration drive.

"Any resident of Addis Ababa starting from today has to register weapons it has in its hands in a two days period to the nearest police stations regardless whether the weapon was registered in prior times or not," said Chief of Addis Ababa city Peace and Security Administration Bureau Kenea Yadeta.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Rebellious Tigrayan forces said on Saturday they had seized the strategic town of Dessie in Ethiopia's Amhara region where tens of thousands of ethnic Amharas have sought refuge from an escalation in fighting, but the government denied this.

The fighters pushed Ethiopian government forces from Dessie and were headed towards the town of Kombolcha, Getachew Reda, spokesperson for the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed location.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 8,483,555 cases as of Thursday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU), said the death toll from the pandemic across the continent stands at 218,803. And some 7,881,834 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease so far.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Wednesday announced it has suspended the membership of unrest-hit Sudan.

In a press statement, the peace and security council of the AU, said Sudan's membership has been suspended due to Monday's "unconstitutional change of government", which it said was an affront to the shared values and democratic norms of the continental body.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Ethiopia conducted two air strikes in Tigray on Sunday as the government intensifies a nearly week-old campaign of aerial bombardment against the rebellious forces who control most of the region.

One strike hit the western Tigray area of Mai Tsebri, targeting a training site of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), government spokesperson Legesse Tulu said. The other hit the northern Tigray town of Adwa, targeting a military manufacturing facility controlled by the TPLF, the government said in a statement.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 22 (Reuters) - An Ethiopian government air strike on the capital of the northern Tigray region on Friday forced a U.N. flight carrying aid workers to abort a landing there, the United Nations said.

Humanitarian sources and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the area, said a university in Mekelle was hit by the strike.

Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu said a former military base occupied by TPLF fighters was targeted, and he denied the university was hit.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Ethiopia carried out an air strike on the city of Mekelle for the third day this week, a government spokesperson said, in a campaign to weaken rebellious Tigrayan forces they have been fighting for nearly a year.

Spokesperson Legesse Tulu told Reuters the strike hit a military training centre being used by the Tigrayan forces. He said the centre was a former base, known as the Northern Command, for the Ethiopian military in the area.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 10 (NNN-ENA) – Nearly 97 percent of voters in a local referendum, held on Sept 30, approved a proposal to create Ethiopia’s 11th region, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) disclosed yesterday.

The NEBE disclosed, out of 1,262,679 votes cast, 1,221,092 votes approved the proposal to create the new region, which will be called the South-west region, reported state media outlet, Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC).

Addis Ababa, Oct 4 (AP-PTI) Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been sworn in for a second five-year term running a country in the grip of a nearly year-long war.

Abiy's Prosperity Party was declared the winner of parliamentary elections earlier this year in a vote criticised and at times boycotted by opposition parties but described by some outside electoral observers as better run than those in the past.