When Kidus Gebre-Gzabiher last spoke to his father two weeks ago, he begged to give part of his kidney to save his life. The 60-year-old, living in Mekelle in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, said he needed time to consider the offer and asked his son to call back the next day.
That was the last his son heard from him.
Shortly after they hung up the phone, the Ethiopian government shut down phone lines and internet access in Tigray, leaving thousands with no way to reach family and friends as a deadly conflict erupted in Tigray, the northernmost region of Ethiopia.
From his home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, the 25-year-old computer scientist has watched the latest conflict in a nation of more than 110 million reach its third week, killing hundreds and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes for neighbouring Sudan.
"My father is sick. All his supplements are regularly shipped from Addis Ababa and with all transportation interrupted… I worry for his well-being and whether he has made it," he told The National, adding that he has been unable to send the medication for his father's kidney failure by mail.
The telecommunications blackout in Tigray has made it practically impossible for people to contact their family members
“I am close to my father. He ensured I received a good education so that I follow in his footsteps and have a career,” he said, adding his father retired from his position in public service earlier this year.
“At his time of need and in retirement after serving for long and becoming a grandfather, he certainly does not deserve such fate.”
UNHCR has warned of a “full-scale humanitarian crisis unfolding” after more than 30,000 people crossed the border to neighbouring Sudan to escape the fighting. Many others, including elderly people and young children, are stranded in the region as Ethiopian forces march on the capital, Mekelle.
The conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front began on November 4, after the country’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military offensive against the TPLF state government.
The federal government accused the TPLF, a political party which controls Tigray, of holding an illegal election and attacking a military base. The TPLF has said that Mr Abiy lacks a mandate to lead the country after he postponed elections due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Henok Tsegaye, a 33-year-old teacher came to Addis Ababa from Axum in Tigray a day before the conflict began to pick up a wedding ring; he is now stranded in the capital with no information on the fate of his family.
"I feel hopeless, every sound and ending reminds me of my mother and fiancée. I cry and pray but I always come to the dead-end that I cannot help them," he told The National.
His mother depends on him financially and after being cut off for more than two weeks, he does not know whether she will try to reach Sudan and find refuge like so many others.
He has also been unable to contact his fiancée, whom he hoped to marry early next year. He lost his father in the Ethiopian-Eritrean war two decades ago.
Ethiopia was governed by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front under which the TPLF were a dominant force for 27 years. But one-time chairman of the EPRDF and Ethiopia’s current Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did away with the old structure and created a new political party, Prosperity Party, which the TPLF refused to be part of.
TPLF leaders have since complained of being unfairly imprisoned and blamed for Ethiopia’s difficulties for present and past.
“As fighting continues, we are seeing a devastating humanitarian crisis unfold, not just within Ethiopia but across its borders, the head of the International Red Cross delegation to Ethiopia, Katia Sorin, said.
“Thousands are crossing into Sudan seeking safety, and an untold number are displaced from their homes inside Ethiopia. The telecommunications blackout in Tigray has made it practically impossible for people to contact their family members, causing fear and anguish on the whereabouts and safety of their loved ones.”
Ethiopia’s military said it was planning to surround Mekelle on Sunday and warned civilians to flee.
"Save yourself. A directive has been communicated for you to dissociate yourself from this junta, after that there will be no mercy,” military spokesman Dejene Tsegaye told state broadcasters.
Mr Tsegaye continues to live in fear of the outcome.
“I have always wanted to protect my mother from harm, from the moment she lost her own husband and my father and my beautiful fiancée whom I hoped I would start a family with.
“With their fate unknown, I feel like a dead-man walking”.
SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
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Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
What%20is%20Dungeons%20%26%20Dragons%3F%20
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Result
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 – Group 1 (PA) $65,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Brraq, Ryan Curatolo (jockey), Jean-Claude Pecout (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (Turf) 1,800m; Winner: Bright Melody, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: Meydan Classic – Listed (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Naval Crown, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $195,000 (T) 2,810m; Winner: Volcanic Sky, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
8.50pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Meydan Challenge – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Zainhom, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
RIDE%20ON
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Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
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