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☆ Opinion | Germany Has Finally Woken Up
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Anna Sauerbrey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The ground was icy as my partner, my son and I made our way to the center of Berlin two Sundays ago. The protests, some of the country’s largest in decades, emerged everywhere: not just in liberal cities like Berlin, Hamburg and Munich but also in many cities in eastern Germany, where the far right is particularly strong. The far right, we know, is built on racist fantasies of ethnic homogeneity, and the AfD has long been deemed extreme. Germany, at last, has woken up. It’s that in many parts of the country, a general sense of discontent has tipped over into disdain.

Locations: Berlin, Potsdam, Germany, Hamburg, Munich

☆ Agencies Consider New Aid Route Into Sudan as Humanitarian Crisis Worsens
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Aidan Lewis(Reuters) - Aid agencies are looking at delivering aid to Sudan on a new route from South Sudan as they struggle to access much of the country, a senior U.N. official said on Monday, nine months into a war that has caused a major humanitarian crisis. More than 7.5 million people have fled their homes, making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally, and hunger is rising. Aid agencies lost access to Wad Madani, a former aid hub in the important El Gezira agricultural region southeast of Khartoum, after the RSF seized it from the army last month. Diplomats and aid workers say that the army and officials aligned with it have hampered humanitarian access as both sides pursue their military campaigns. They say the RSF does little to protect aid supplies and workers, and that its troops have been implicated in cases of looting.

Persons: Aidan Lewis, Rick Brennan, Madani, Brennan, We've, Martin Griffiths, Christina Fincher Organizations: Reuters, Rapid Support Forces, World Health Organization, WHO, ., Diplomats Locations: Sudan, South Sudan, Port Sudan, Cairo, Khartoum, El Gezira, South Kordofan, Chad, Darfur, Kordofan

☆ 2023 through the lens of Reuters photographers
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Reuters Photographers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters photographers were on the ground to capture it all as it unfolded - and much more. 649 photographers125 countries1.3 million photosOn Oct. 7, Hamas rampaged through southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. While this war and other stories took the spotlight off Ukraine, the conflict raged on in the country’s east. Amid the death and despair that marked 2023, humans still found ways to remember and to celebrate - and Reuters photographers looked for those stories, too. A Reuters photographer took a picture of an object drifting down to the coast in South Carolina after it was shot down, just one moment among many that made up the world in 2023.

Persons: Abdulalim Muaini, Donald Trump, Sam Bankman, Fried, King Charles III Organizations: U.S ., Reuters Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Turkey, Syria, Morocco, Europe, Canada, America, California, Congo, Darfur, Sudan, Haiti, U.S, rickety, Gaza, United States, Mexico, South Carolina

☆ Karabakh refugees in Armenia face uncertainty and poverty in exile
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Elada Sargsyan, 54, a refugee from Nagorno-Karbakh region, poses for a picture in a disused kindergarten, where she now lives temporarily along with dozens of other refugees from Karabakh, in the town of Masis, Armenia November 22, 2023. Born in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, Sargsyan fled her hometown in 1988, aged 19, as the Soviet Union began to fall apart. In 2020, they lost another home, when Azerbaijan - by now closely allied with Armenians' bête noire, Turkey - reconquered much of Karabakh including their village in a second war. Like many refugees, they have struggled to find work in Armenia. Alvina, a grandmother aged 65, has become the family’s main breadwinner, earning a little money selling homemade "jingalov hats" or "green bread", a flatbread stuffed with herbs that is a staple for Karabakh Armenians.

Persons: Elada Sargsyan, Irakli, Sargsyan, I’ve, they’ll, Masis, Alina Harutyunyan, Harutyunyan, I'd, Lilia Abrahamyan, Felix Light, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, Soviet Union, Mount, Karabakh, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Masis, Armenia, Azerbaijan, MASIS, Baku, Soviet, Soviet Armenia, Aknaghbyur, Turkey, Armenia’s, Yerevan, Mount Ararat, Harutyunagomer, Ottoman Turks, Karabakh's, Vanadzor, Alvina

☆ I made a GPT, a custom version of OpenAI's ChatGPT, and it only took me 15 minutes. Here's how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In early November, OpenAI unveiled GPTs, customizable versions of its AI chatbot ChatGPT. AdvertisementYou can now create your own version of OpenAI's ChatGPT — and it can take as little as 15 minutes. Screenshot from ChatGPT/Business Insider3) Once you enter the prompt, GPT Builder will spend a couple seconds generating the GPT. I asked GPT Builder to focus on low-carb recipes that span a range of ethnic cuisines. AdvertisementI asked GPT Builder questions like "Suggest a recipe that contains 40 grams of protein and can be made in 20 minutes given the ingredients listed below."

Persons: OpenAI, Insider's Aaron Mok, —, GPTs, GPT Organizations: Service, ChatGPT, Pixar

☆ Sudanese women describe being gang-raped in attacks by Arab forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( On The Chad-Sudan Border | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Young women from the ethnic-African Masalit tribe say they were sexually assaulted at gunpoint by RSF paramilitary and Arab militia forces during attacks on the city of El Geneina in West Darfur. In early November, the RSF and Arab militia fighters waged another wave of ethnically targeted attacks in the city, Reuters recently reported. Source: Natural EarthThis report details the accounts of other Masalit women who say they were raped. Taken together with reports of rape cited by international organizations, their allegations point to the specific targeting of Masalit women for sexual assault by the RSF and allied Arab forces in El Geneina. All 11 women interviewed for this story said the men who attacked them wore either RSF military uniforms, or robes and turbans commonly worn by Arab militiamen.

Persons: ’, – Organizations: RSF, Reuters, Rapid Support Forces Locations: Sudan, Young, El Geneina, West Darfur, Arab, Sudan’s West Darfur, Chadian, Adre

Survivors recounted executions and looting in Ardamata, which they said were carried out by RSF and allied Arab militias. The RSF developed from Arab militias known as the Janjaweed that helped Sudan's army crush a rebellion in Darfur in the 2000s. Atta said the UAE had funnelled unspecified supplies to the RSF through Uganda, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad. Sudan's army, Chad and the CAR did not immediately respond to requests for comment. While the UAE backed Sudan's aborted political transition after the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, it has remained publicly quiet on the war.

Persons: El Tayeb, Yassir al, Atta, RSF, General Abdel Fattah al, Burhan, Omar al, Bashir, Nafisa Eltahir, Khalid Abdelaziz, Maha El, Elias Biryabarema, Aidan Lewis, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Sudanese, United, Rapid Support Forces, Army, UAE, General Intelligence Service, Reuters, Central African Republic, Wagner Group, CAR, Thomson Locations: West Darfur, Adre, Chad, Ardamata, Arab, El, Rights CAIRO, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Darfur, Omdurman, Sudan, Chadian, Amdjarass, Uganda, Chad's, Ndjamena, Russia, Khartoum, Maha El Dahan, Dubai, Kampala

CNN —Almost three years on from its bloody coup, Myanmar’s military junta is facing the biggest threat to its hold on power as it fights wars on multiple fronts across the Southeast Asian nation. Junta airstrikes and ground attacks on what the Myanmar military calls “terrorist” targets have killed thousands of civilians to date, including children, and displaced about 2 million people. Stringer/AFP/Getty ImagesCNN has reached out to Myanmar’s military spokesperson for comment on the recent fighting but has not received a response. Stringer/AFP/Getty ImgesIn the jungles of southeast Kayah state, fighting has raged near the state capital Loikaw. Video filmed and published by the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force appears to show Myanmar army soldiers surrendering to rebels at Loikaw University who are filmed treating their injuries.

Persons: ”, Matthew Arnold, ” Arnold, Min Aung, Aung, Suu Kyi, “, Bo Nagar, Stringer, Myint Swe, Chin Shwe Haw, Nan Diya, Lalmalsawma Hnamte, Lin Lin, Ye Myo Hein, May, – “, Karen, Chin state’s Matupi, Tian Junli, Arnold, Myanmar’s, it’s, Suu Organizations: CNN, United Nations, National Unity Government, Junta, Myanmar, UN, Administration Council, Burma National Revolutionary Army, National Liberation Army, Alliance, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Arakan Army, ”, Getty, Reuters, Loikaw, Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, Loikaw University, Resistance, Burma People’s Liberation Army, Brotherhood Alliance, United States Institute of Peace, Wilson Center, Border Guard Forces, China, Global Times, PLA Southern Theater Command Locations: Myanmar, Myanmar’s, Suu, Yangon, Mandalay, Burma, Namhsan Township, Shan State, AFP, Arakan, China, ”, Shan, Chin, Muse, Rakhine, Pauktaw, Lashio, Kayah, Mizoram, “, Sagaing region, Asia, Kawkareik, Karenni, Sagaing, India, Thailand, Bangladesh

In recent years, Shein has gained popularity among U.S. consumers, particularly teenagers and young adults, for its wide variety of low-priced trendy apparel and accessories. But Shein has also faced claims that it has copied designs and unevenly benefited from a U.S. trade rule that allows it to avoid paying custom fees. In April, two members of Congress asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to require Shein, as a condition of its expected offering, to certify through an independent party that it doesn’t use Uyghur forced labor. It has also teamed up with Forever 21, the fast-fashion mall stalwart, which could lead to more Shein apparel in brick-and-mortar locations. In June, a trip that it hosted for influencers at some of its warehouses in China was widely panned on social media as being tone-deaf.

Persons: Shein, ” Shein Organizations: Securities and Exchange Commission, influencers Locations: U.S, Xinjiang, China

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland considered a resolution to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war on Monday, potentially joining nearly a dozen other U.S. cities from Michigan to Georgia that have supported the same. The resolution before the Oakland City Council also calls for the unrestricted entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and a restoration of basic services, as well as “respect for international law” and the release of all hostages. A temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which Qatar helped broker, is currently in place. “It raises an interesting question on where they are getting this mandate to speak for the people in their city when nobody elected a city council person because of their stance on Middle East peace,” he said. Now, city councils are just the latest arena where intense debates over the war and the United States' support for Israel are playing out.

Persons: — Oakland, ”, councilmember Carroll Fife, David Glazier, Israel, “ We've, ___ Jablon, Julie Watson Organizations: OAKLAND, Oakland City, Loyola Law School, Jewish Community Relations Council, Oakland, Zionist, Israel, California Democratic Party, Health Ministry, Associated Press Locations: Calif, Israel, Michigan, Georgia, Gaza, ”, Oakland, Atlanta ; Akron , Ohio, Wilmington , Delaware, Providence , Rhode Island, Qatar, U.S, Los Angeles, Richmond, Ypsilanti, Detroit, San Francisco, United States, Southern California, Vermont, San Diego

☆ Indonesia Says 'Positive' Signs From Myanmar's Warring Camps on Dialogue Effort
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia said on Friday it had hosted a meeting of some of the key stakeholders in the conflict in military-ruled Myanmar at which each gave a "positive indication" about holding inclusive dialogue soon. As outgoing chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia is pushing for dialogue between rival camps in a bloody crisis triggered by the military's coup against Myanmar's elected government in 2021. The objective of the meeting, Indonesia said, was to enable inclusive talks, reduce violence, and support humanitarian efforts, in line with a "five-point consensus" agreed to by Myanmar's military soon after the coup. "Upon receiving the respective messages, stakeholders indicated positive indication on the possibility of convening dialogues in an inclusive and genuine manner soon." Indonesia has been quietly engaging various parties but has said progress has been impaired by some insisting on preconditions for talks.

Persons: Myanmar's, Stanley Widianto, Martin Petty, William Maclean Organizations: National Unity Government, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, United Nations Locations: JAKARTA, Indonesia, Myanmar, Jakarta, ASEAN

☆ Sudan refugees detail second wave of ethnic purge by Arab forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

After seizing swathes of Khartoum, it has forced retreats by the Sudanese army in parts of the Darfur and Kordofan regions. When they were ambushed by Arab militiamen and came under fire along the route, the vehicle’s occupants scattered. In return, the Arab forces would guarantee the safety of the camp’s occupants and allow safe passage out of El Geneina for those who wanted to leave. He said he watched the Arab forces from his hiding place behind a wall at his home. Multiple eyewitnesses said that RSF and Arab militia forces rounded up hundreds of Masalit men, some of whom were executed.

Persons: Ardamata, Josep Borrell, ”, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Dagalo, Abdullah Omar Abdullah, Al Fadhl Abdullah, Khamis Hassan, ” Ibrahim Youssef, “, Youssef, Gamareldin Mohammed, Mohammed Ahmed Goma, ” Goma, Goma, Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, Abdul Rahman Juma, ” Dagalo, RSF, El Geneina, Hussein Fayez, Hassan, Hussein, Yassin Ahmed, Abdu Mohammed Ibrahim, Ibrahim, Reuters couldn’t, Adam Mohammed, Mohammed, Ibrahim Youssef, didn’t, Ben Lesser, Grant Smith, Maggie Michael, Ryan McNeill, Mohammad Kawoosa, Han Huang, Edgar Su, Catherine Tai, Peter Hirschberg Organizations: UNICEF, United Nations, European Union, UNHCR, Diplomats, South, Sudanese, Sudanese Alliance, Army, Reuters, Planet Labs Locations: El, Chad, El Geneina, Darfur, Adre, Chad’s, Sudan, Ardamata, “, West Darfur, Khartoum, Sudanese, Kordofan, Nyala, Port Sudan, South Sudan, U.S, Al Mashtal, El Geneina’s, New York

☆ Myanmar hands over to China thousands of telecom fraud suspects
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Myanmar authorities have handed over 31,000 telecom fraud suspects to China since law enforcement officers from both countries launched a crackdown on online scams in September, Chinese authorities said on Tuesday. More than 100,000 people engage in telecom fraud each day in at least 1,000 scam centres in Myanmar, which shares a border with southwest China, Chinese state media has reported. The Myanmar ringleader of a gang committed suicide last week while on the run from Myanmar authorities, Chinese police said. With telecom scams in Myanmar targeting Chinese citizens surging, Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong visited Myanmar this month, saying China was ready to work with Myanmar on tackling cross-border crime including online gambling. Nong also said China supported Myanmar in maintaining stability on their common border as Myanmar's junta battled insurgents in the area.

Persons: Nong Rong, Nong, Albee Zhang, Ryan Woo Organizations: Ministry of Public Security, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Myanmar, China

☆ Is the rule of Myanmar's junta under threat?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Importantly, they were joined also by members of so-called people's defence forces, a loosely organised movement backed by Myanmar's parallel, National Unity Government (NUG). HOW SERIOUS A THREAT IS THE JUNTA FACING? It is too soon to predict the extent to which the military's rule in the rest of the country could be under threat, analysts say. But the 1027 offensive has given a black eye to a well-equipped military with decades of experience fighting insurgencies. With its reputation at stake, the junta is unlikely to concede easily and risk a domino effect of challenges to its authority in more regions of a country where its rule is deeply unpopular.

Persons: Martin Petty, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, National Liberation Army, Arakan Army, National Unity Government, AA, Security, Thomson Locations: Myanmar, Myanmar's Khawmawi, India, Zokhawthar, Champhai district, India's, Mizoram, Shan State, China, Rakhine State, Kayah, Thailand, Sagaing, Chin State

☆ Armenia and Azerbaijan Have Agreed on Basic Peace Treaty Principles -TASS Cites Armenian PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) -Armenia and Azerbaijan have been able to agree on the basic principles for a peace treaty but are still "speaking different diplomatic languages", Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Saturday, according to Russia's TASS news agency. "We have good and bad news about the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process," TASS quoted Pashinyan as saying in Yerevan. "It is good that the basic principles of peace with Azerbaijan have been agreed. "The most important bad news is that we still speak different diplomatic languages and very often do not understand each other," Pashinyan said. Pashinyan said Armenia had also proposed swapping all Armenian prisoners for all Azerbaijani prisoners, TASS reported.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Charles Michel, Alexander MarrowEditing, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Reuters, Armenian, TASS, European Locations: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Yerevan, Brussels

☆ World Court: Azerbaijan must let ethnic Armenians return to Nagorno-Karabakh
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsTHE HAGUE, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Judges at the World Court on Friday ordered Azerbaijan to let ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh in September return, and to keep the Armenians remaining in the enclave safe, as part of a set of emergency measures. Azerbaijan in September recaptured the region, then controlled by its ethnic Armenian majority despite being internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. The lightning offensive, after decades of enmity between Baku and Yerevan and a nine-month blockade of essential supplies by Baku, prompted the mass exodus of most of the region's 120,000 ethnic Armenians to neighbouring Armenia. Yerevan accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing and asked the International Court of Justice, as the World Court is formally known, to issue emergency measures aimed at protecting the rights of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said it had already pledged to ensure all residents’ safety and security, regardless of national or ethnic origin, and that it had not forced the ethnic Armenians to leave Karabakh.

Persons: Irakli, Joan Donoghue, Stephanie van den Berg, Nailia, Andrew Heavens, Hugh Lawson, William Maclean Organizations: REUTERS, HAGUE, International Court of Justice, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Baku, Yerevan

The documentary, which will air this Sunday on “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper,” exposes an RSF-led campaign to enslave men and women in El Geneina, the largest city controlled by the paramilitary group in Sudan’s Darfur region. Several former Darfuri abductees told CNN that fighters from the RSF and their Arab militia allies hurled racist abuse at them during their captivity. ‘They flogged us with whips’Another woman told CNN she and the female members of her family were raped in captivity for four days. Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/ReutersCNN also found evidence of the enslavement of males as part of the attack on El Geneina. They felt his biceps because they said they “wanted a strong one,” he told CNN.

Persons: Chad CNN — Mahdi, “, ” Mahdi, “ I’d crouch, –, Anderson Cooper, ”, Zohra Bensemra, El Geneina, Wagner —, Khalid, Alex Platt, —, Mahdi, abductees, Raghm, ’ ”, ’, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, Wagner Organizations: Chad CNN, CNN, Rapid Support Forces, Red Cross, Reuters, Chadian, El, Industrial School, Strategic Initiative, Women, Unit, CNN Rights, Darfur —, Human Rights, Reuters CNN Locations: Chad, West Darfur, El, El Geneina, Darfur, Sudan's Darfur, Ourang, Adre, Russian, Sudan —, Sudan, Horn of Africa, Khartoum, “

☆ Opinion | Trump’s Deportation Plans for Immigrants
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “Trump’s ’25 Immigration Plan: Giant Camps, Mass Deportation” (front page, Nov. 12):After choking on my coffee reading this excellent in-depth piece, I contemplated the America we will live in if these ambitious and aggressive ideas bear fruit. Do the architects of this plan really believe we will have a stronger, safer and more prosperous country by setting up giant immigrant camps and carrying out mass deportations? I am descended from “white” privilege and members of the Daughters of the American Revolution. My family has grown stronger in recent years by the blending of ethnic, cultural and religious origins through marriage and adoption — with Indonesian, Malaysian, Algerian, Romanian, Iranian and Danish heritages combined with Scot Irish and English ones. We have family members who are Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, atheist and agnostic as well as Episcopalian, Quaker and Catholic.

Persons: Scot Irish Organizations: American, Malaysian, Catholic Locations: America, Romanian, Danish

Azerbaijan's President Addresses a Military Parade in Karabakh and Says 'We Showed the Whole World'Hundreds of Azerbaijani soldiers have paraded through the capital city of the Karabakh region that came under full control of Azerbaijan in September after a lightning rout of ethnic Armenian forces

Locations: Karabakh, Azerbaijan

☆ Opinion | The Road Back From Hell
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Daniel Levy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

The nations opposing a cease-fire — Israel, the United States, some European countries and a few others — might acknowledge the perils looming. The United States would need to push for such an outcome, working alongside Qatar and regional states that have Israel’s ear. Revived Palestinian national political structures will be a critical component in advancing broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution after this war. The road back from the hell of a zero-sum “us or them” begins with the humanizing of the other. Maybe it’s a road that eventually leads us back to a two-state dispensation.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel nixed, Bill Burns, Netanyahu, Israel, Israel’s overreach, ” Organizations: Gaza Health Ministry, West Bank, Qatar, Palestinian, Palestinian Authority, Palestine Liberation Organization, Nations Locations: Israel, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, United States, U.S, Qatar, Oslo

☆ Darfur refugees report new spate of ethnically driven killings
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Maggie Michael | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

On Tuesday, a Reuters reporter saw a trail of men crossing from Darfur into Chad at Adre, about 27 km (17 miles) west of El Geneina. More than 500,000 people have crossed into Chad, mostly from West Darfur, the IOM says. Chad border guards said the daily number of those fleeing from West Darfur had surged to 3,146 on Saturday. U.N. officials in Chad said thousands more were expected to cross but had been prevented from doing so by RSF forces demanding money. Toby Hayward, a senior U.N. official for Darfur, described reports and images emerging from Ardamata as "sickening".

Persons: El Tayeb, Chad Violence, RSF, El Geneina, El, Ardamata, Nabil Meccia, Meccia, Sharaf Eddin Adam, Adam, U.N, Mashaar Omar Ahmed, Sarah Adam Idris, Abdel Karim Rahman Yacoub, Toby Hayward, Maggie Michael, Nafisa, Aidan Lewis, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Rapid Support Forces, Reuters, Saturday, International Organization for Migration, IOM, Thomson Locations: Chad, El, Sudan's West Darfur, Darfur, El Geneina, Adre, Ardamata, Ardamata's Kobri, Sudan, West Darfur, Ardamata's District

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s federal government says the future of contested land in its northern Tigray region will be settled by a referendum, and hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people will be returned. The disputed status of western Tigray, a patch of fertile land bordering Sudan, was a key flashpoint in the two-year conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, and the federal government. Western Tigray belongs to Tigray under Ethiopia’s constitution. A referendum will then be held to reach “a final determination on the fate of these areas,” the statement said. Suggestions that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed might return western Tigray and other disputed land to Tigray helped fuel the violence, which has turned into a rumbling insurgency in the countryside.

Persons: Abiy Ahmed Organizations: —, United Nations Locations: ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Tigray, Sudan, Western Tigray, Amhara, Fano, Ethiopia's, Adet

☆ China urges Myanmar to cooperate on maintaining stability on border
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Myanmar should cooperate with China to maintain stability on their common border, a Chinese official said on Monday, after a surge of fighting in Myanmar between junta forces and insurgents rocked the region. "Myanmar is called on to cooperate with China to maintain stability along the China-Myanmar border, earnestly ensure the safety of the lives and property of Chinese border residents, and take effective measures to strengthen the security of Chinese personnel," Nong said. Nong, who visited Myanmar on Nov. 3-5, said China hoped Myanmar would restore stability, and it supported all parties to properly handle differences and achieve reconciliation through dialogue as soon as possible. While Western governments have condemned the Myanmar military and imposed sanctions on it, China, along with Russia, have been supportive of the generals. China says it supports Myanmar in finding its own path and has urged the international community to respect its sovereignty.

Persons: Nong, Nobel, Aung, Wang Wenbin, Ella Cao, Bernard Orr, Tom Hogue, Robert Birsel Organizations: Asia Times, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Myanmar, China, Thailand, Suu Kyi, Russia

☆ Thailand Tries to Rescue 162 Nationals Trapped in Myanmar Fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand is trying to bring home 162 of its nationals trapped in Myanmar by a surge in clashes between junta troops and ethnic minority insurgents near the border with China, officials said. Heavy fighting erupted last week in northern Myanmar's Shan State where an alliance of ethnic minority forces battling for self-determination launched a series of coordinated attacks on junta positions. Newly formed pro-democracy insurgent groups have in some areas teamed up with ethnic minority guerrillas who have been campaigning for decades for greater autonomy. The latest fighting in Shan State has pushed thousands of refugees into China, and displaced thousands more internally, Myanmar media outlets reported. A "three brotherhood alliance" of ethnic minority armies in Shan and Rakhine states, said it is seeking to defend their territory and civilians from attacks by the junta.

Persons: Thais, Srettha Thavisin, Nobel, Aung, Panu, Poppy McPherson, Robert Birsel Locations: BANGKOK, Thailand, Myanmar, China, Israel, Myanmar's Shan State, Yunnan province, Thai, Suu Kyi, Shan State, Shan, Rakhine

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicIn late September, one of the world’s most intractable conflicts ended suddenly and brutally when Azerbaijan seized the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians fled their homes. Andrew Higgins, the New York Times bureau chief for East and Central Europe, explains how the conflict started, why it lasted for more than 30 years, and what its end can tell us about the nature of seemingly unsolvable disputes.

Persons: Andrew Higgins Organizations: Spotify, Music, New York Times, East Locations: Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Central Europe

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