International
Three MSF aid workers killed in Ethiopia’s Tigray
AFP
A Spaniard and two Ethiopian employees of medical charity MSF have been “brutally murdered” in Ethiopia’s war-torn northern Tigray region, the organisation said in a statement Friday.
The trio “were travelling yesterday afternoon when we lost contact with them. This morning, their vehicle was found empty and a few metres away, their lifeless bodies,” the statement added.
“No words can truly convey all our sadness, shock and outrage against this horrific attack. Nor can words soothe the loss and suffering of their families and loved ones, to whom we relay our deepest sympathy and condolences,” the international aid group said.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, said 35-year-old Maria Hernandez from Madrid was among those killed.
She started with MSF in 2015 in the Central African Republic and had since worked in Yemen, Mexico and Nigeria.
Also killed in the attack were Yohannes Halefom Reda, a 31-year-old coordination assistant who joined MSF in February 2021, and Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael, also 31, who had been a driver for the charity since May.
“We condemn this attack on our colleagues in the strongest possible terms and will be relentless in understanding what happened,” said MSF, which was founded in Paris but is headquartered in Geneva and has several global affiliates.
“Maria, Yohannes and Tedros were in Tigray providing assistance to people, and it is unthinkable that they paid for this work with their lives,” the group added.
– ‘ Great sadness’ –
In a tweet, Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya expressed her “great sadness” and said she was in contact with the authorities in Ethiopia to “clarify” what happened and repatriate Hernandez’s remains.
The Ethiopian foreign ministry confirmed that three humanitarian workers had been killed in the Abi Adi area, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the regional capital Mekele, adding that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) operate in the region.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to Tigray in November to oust the dissident regional leadership, promising a swift victory.
But nearly eight months later, fighting continues triggering a humanitarian crisis with the UN warning 350,000 people are on the brink of famine.
The violence has increased in recent days.
On Tuesday at least 64 people were killed and 180 injured in an air strike on a market in Tigray region.
The army denied targeting civilians.
Details of the bloody attack on Togoga town, 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of the regional capital Mekele, were slow to emerge partly because soldiers initially blocked emergency workers from accessing the area.
World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday condemned the Ethiopian airstrike on the market in his native Tigray, saying attacks on civilians were “completely unacceptable”.
Tedros told a WHO news conference in Geneva that the strike had killed and wounded civilians.
“Ambulances were blocked for more than a day from attending the scene and evacuating the wounded for medical care,” he said.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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