we will talk about what is happening in the tigray region. with us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. ago today, ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed was awarded the nobel peace prize for ending the two-decade state of war between ethiopia and eritrea, with many hailing a new era of peace in the region. we turn now to look at how just one year later, abiy ahmed's military has displaced tens of thousands of civilians in an ongoing military campaign in the northern tigray region. thousands have died since ethiopia declared war on the tigray people's liberation front more than a month ago. at least one massacre has been reported. earlier this week, ethpia rejected calls for an independent investigation into the violence, with a top governme official ying ethiopia "doesn't need a babysitter." this comes amid a communication blackout and as ethiopia admitted federal troops fired at and detained u.n. workers in the northern tigray region for attempting to enter

workers in the conflict-torn northern tigray region for attempting to enter areas they say are forbidden. humanitarian groups have been trying to reach refugees and displaced people in the embattled region as they warn the situation is increasingly critical with shortages of food, clean water, and other necessities. this comes as reuters is reporting the united states believes eritrean soldiers have crossed into ethiopia to fight alongside the ethiopian military in its battle against tigrayan forces. both ethiopia and eritrea have denied the reports. ethiopia and eritrea signed a historic peace deal in 2018, ending two decades of hostilities. a new study shows the number of afghan civilians killed in airstrikes led by the u.s. and allies has risen by 330% since 2017. the udy, pubshed by the costs of war project at brown

staffers trying to reach part of the country's embattled tigray region saying the staffers broke checkpoints and have since been released. nbc news reached out to the united nations for comment on that. a u.n. spokesperson told reuters "these are alarming reports and we are engaging at the highest level with the federal government to express our concern and avoid incidents in the future." a humanitarian crisis erupted there after fighting broke out between ethiopian government forces and the tigray people's liberation front in early november. since thousands are feared dead or fled to neighboring sudan. molly hunter and the network social news gathering team are learning more about what amnesty

and in that case, it might not be limited to the tigray region. it could-- you could s conflict spilling over into other parts of the country, i trying to drthese other ethnic groups into the fight that they have started. >> sreenivas: cameron hudson, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: president trump ischeduled to have his fir post-election rally this evening at a georgia airport. we will ve more on the presidential transition and the georgia senate races, tomorrow. that's all for ts edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching.an stay healthy, d have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access gup at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour wkend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. the leonard d norma klorfine foundation. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss

this is the devastating reality for many who have made the trek from ethiopia's war—torn tigray region bbc world news about what he witnessed. the conditions are very difficult. remember that sudan has received now more refugees per day than the average european country receives in a year, and that has been uninterrupted now since the beginning of november. meanwhile, the united nations says fighting is hampering efforts to deliver aid to those in need in the tigray region, despite the announcement of a deal to deliver assistance in government—held areas. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. one of the 13 prisoners deported from the uk to jamaica on wednesday has tested positive for covid—19. the jamaican government says the man is being held in isolation at a hospital in the capital, kingston. the flight has attracted controversy, with critics warning that people might be wrongly removed as in the windrush scandal. after an initial trial in the british city of liverpool, the use of a rapid coronavirus test, which gives a result in under an hour, is now being rolled out in more places across the

this is the devastating reality for many who have made the trek from ethiopia's war—torn tigray regionen visiting refugees, and spoke to bbc world news about what he witnessed. the conditions are very difficult. remember that sudan has received now more refugees per day than the average european country receives in a year, and that has been uninterrupted now since the beginning of november. meanwhile, the united nations says fighting is hampering efforts to deliver aid to those in need in the tigray region, despite the announcement of a deal to deliver assistance in government held areas. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. new raf and satellite images show the world's largest iceberg is on a collision course with south georgia island, in the southern atlantic ocean. the giant iceberg, known as a68a, broke away from antarctica in 2017, and as you can see in these satellite images, it's slowly drifting through the south atlantic sea towards south georgia. some breaking news now. this is following up on the rest yesterday of the mayor of liverpool. joe anderson has apparently been given bail. a s

a member of the liberation group in the tigray region told cnn that the majority of the forces operatingre are actually frommer trea. a cnn team on that border has collected testimony indicating troops are targeting civilians because of their ethnicity. and cnn senior international correspondent joins us now from london with her exclusive report. always good to see you emma. what all did you find in your investigation? >> reporter: well it is very much the worst possible scenario for those looking on at what's happening in the horn of africa, a regional contagion that threatens not to just entangle on the ground fighting, we have been told, but also to place further burdens on sudan's already overburdened infrastructure system. much of what you are about to see and hear is incredibly disturbing but is also incredibly important. this is testimony that these refugees risked their lives to tell. take a look at this, rosemary. the sudan-ethiopia border, the last leg in the journey to safety. in the first weeks of the conflict, thousands of refugees crossed daily. now the figures are dwindlin

and how do you maintain that -- wage war against the tigray region. ays he was forced to postpone elections because of the impact of covid-19 on ethiopia, but then he accused the tigray's liberation front of war. say theythe tigray have been targeted based on the ethnic distinction on their id cards. so people are telling us they are being pulled over at best jail into teen and worst been forced to flee in sudan. the prime minister says not a single civilian was injured in all of this, in all of these weeks of fighting. and what we are hearing from our team on the border is that is just not true. we have images of civilians who are injured, who have been hit by bullets. one lady told us she had to flee her home and forced to give they on the roof, that were not allowed to cross over into sudan. so on the backgrounds that took her days, for a trip that should have taken hours, she eventually gave birth and she was met at the border by our teams and the doctors and virtually comment wonderfully, her child survived and subissueut that is just one story. -

the conflict escalated when the ethiopian military tried to overthrow the region's ruling party, the tigray united nations is now calling for access to the region, as well as an investigation into human rights violations and war crimes committed by both parties. we are releasing together with 30 humanitarian partners and urgent appealfor $156 million humanitarian partners and urgent appeal for $156 million to support refugees fleeing ethiopia's tigray crisis. requested funds are needed to meet the critical humanitarian needs of ethiopian refugees fleeing the conflict and tigray throughout the conflict and tigray throughout the first half of 2021. this appeal will also bring all my strength and prepared us receive refugees and other countries in the region in case of —— also bring strength. without proper facilities and there continues to be a shortage of medicine and other supplies. we have seen a medicine and other supplies. we have seen a huge demand for family tracing and unification, education and for child friendly spaces and nutrition programmes. well, we know very little about the si

staffers trying to reach part of the country's embattled tigray region saying the staffers broke checkpoints and have since been released. nbc news reached out to the united nations for comment on that. a u.n. spokesperson told reuters "these are alarming reports and we are engaging at the highest level with the federal government to express our concern and avoid incidents in the future." a humanitarian crisis erupted there after fighting broke out between ethiopian government forces and the tigray people's liberation front in early november. since thousands are feared dead or fled to neighboring sudan. molly hunter and the network social news gathering team are learning more about what amnesty international is calling a massacre. a wrning ing warning to our viewer action what you're about to see and we're about it-to-show is you disturbing. >> reporter: this video from the northern tigray region shows bodies being carried on stretchers and shows bodies on the ground, some of them covered in blankets. amnesty international reported scores and likely hundreds of people were stabbed or hacked

pompeo also urged that humanitarian organizations be given access to the tigray region.n saturday, government forces had ousted rebs ithe capital, but minority forces say they're still fighting. the government began military operations last month after tigraian forces attacked their base. many fled to neighboring sudan. the united nations and other groups voicedoncerns about the deteriorating hanitarian situation. >>> iran is once again pledging to retaliate against those responsible for the killing of its top nuclear scientist. officials there say they've uncovered more evidence pointing to a multi-pronged terrorist attack perpetrated by israel. fakhrizadeh was killed on friday. the expert worked on iran's nuclear program. some western countries say he led covert weapons research, but iran denied this iranian media saysakhrizadeh was killed in a complicated attack using remotely controlled machine guns. english language press tv quotes the source as saying the weapons carrie israeli logos. iran used the funeral for fakhrizadeh to rally public sentiment. during the cerem

the united nations has reach an agreement to allow aid into government controlled areas of the tigray regionthe conflict has displaced tens of thousands of people. the you and have been mourning for weeks about a possible humanitarian catastrophe. german man is being investigated on 18 counts of attempted murder and five counts of murder after he drove his car into pedestrians. there is no motive for the attack that has yet been established. u.n. secretary general has urged world leaders to make 2021 the year they commit to fighting climate change. saying humanity is waging war on nature. in report, the u.n. has highlighted 2020's record-breaking weather and fossil fuel extraction. thailand's highest court has allowed -- the opposition accused him of a conflict of interest at -- are remaining in his military residence after he retired from the army. it comes after months of pro-democracy protest amending his resignation. it's south korean pumps and dacian bts will now be able to defer mandatory sir -- mandatory military service. all able-bodied south korean men between ages of 18-28 must ser

justice reform efforts says that the parts of ethiopia could experience fighting because of the tigray regionhting. >> that is a fear, because the human rights commission, which you just quoted, came up with the most comprehensive information on this, and the attacks started when the federal troops that were stationed to guard the community actually withdrew yesterday, on tuesday, so they withdrew to escort officials who were there, and the prime minister and regional officials were there, and they were with the prime minister that the army was escorting. that led to the massacre. it is a huge problem. i mean, we have been hearing this for more than a month. the area had been volatile for more than two years now, and there are renewed attacks that are going on in some parts where some ethnic minorities have also been attacked, so the ethnic conflicts in ethiopia have been persistent, and there has to be a comprehensive solution for all of them, if they are not going to be contained by command folks like the government. >> there have been confrontations between police and frustrated truck driv

says fighting in ethiopia's tigray region is becoming worrying and volatile. declared victory in that conflict last month. >> we should work on peace and security of this area. [applause] because peace is a foundation for everything we are aspiring to transform the life of our people. if we could eliminate al-shabaab from this region, you could see how these people can be transformed into one family, one country, one people, with great joy and cooperation. >> the u.n. human rights chief, michelle bachelet, says the crisis in tigray is ongoing as she is -- and she is concerned about civilian casualties. >> is worrying and volatile. as i had warned, it is spiraling out of control with appalling impact on civilians. >> now, argentina's congress is divided on whether to -- is to vote on whether to legalize abortion. it could become the first major country in latin america to allow the procedure, which has been only allowed in cases of rape or if the mother's life is at risk. this report from buenos aires. >> the legalization of abortion has been a demand by women'

reports from ethiopia's tigray region say more than 4,000 government soldiers who'd been held captivethe tplf attacked a federal military base, triggering more than three weeks of fighting. armenia has handed back the last of three districts it agreed to return to azerbaijan as part of a peace deal to end the conflict in nagorno—karabakh. the azeri defence ministry said its forces had entered lachin. armenia had controlled the area for nearly three decades. officials in selangor have announced an enquiry into a ride at a prison where eight inmates died. guides —— guards opened fire on sunday. they damaged a perimeter fence and pa rt damaged a perimeter fence and part of the prison was set alight, causing extensive damage. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: talk show host sharon osbourne tells us how tv shows have changed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor people living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. i am feeling so helpless that the children are dying in front of me and i can't do

the rebel leader in ethiopia's tigray region is insisting that fighting goes on even after losing hisital. ethiopia's army seized the city of mekelle over the weekend, after nearly a monthfighting that killed and displaced thousands.ec u.s. stary of state mike pompeo spoke with ethiopia's prime minister today and called for aease-fire. still to come, the u.s. braces for a spike in infections following the holiday. president-elect biden names his picks to advise him on the economy and spend. the trump administration's attempt to immigrants from the census reaches the supreme court. and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from wbt a studios in washingto-- from weta studios in washington inand the west from the walt cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: even as pes grow about the distribution of vaccines in the coming months, covid-19's impact continues to ripple consequences.s. with enormous more than 138,000 new cases reported over the pastand over 800 deaths. hospitalizations remain very high. more than in all. 90,000se26 staterecords for covid-related ho

ethiop ahe united nations agreed today on opening a humanitarian corridor i' the country' tigray region. some 6 million have been trapped there during a month of fighting forces. the army and rebel the agreement callsin for all in food, medicine, and other supplies. hong kong's leadits are being ized after three pro-democracyer activists sentenced to jail. they will serveth 7-13 monover a protest last year. supporters demonstrated in solidarity today, some hiding their faces out of caution as china cracks down. >> compared to oer protesters who did damage on facilities, they were just participating in the protests. everyone was angry at that time. they shouldn't be the only people to take the blame. sthanie: back in this country, the boeing 737 max made its grounded for 20 months after fatal crashes. reporters flew on a 737 max from dallas to tulsa, oklahoma as part of ann effort by ameri airlines to restore public trust. american plans to return the planes to service on december 29. the transportation department is putting a limit on emotional support. anims on airliners. a rule issued

it has reached a deal with ethiopia's government to allow humanitarian access to the northern tigray region and start providing aid to some 6 million people caught in the crossfire of the deadly conflict. on tuesday, the u.n. warned food has run out for tens of thousands of eritrean refugees in tigray camps. ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed launched military action against regional forces one month ago, setting off a bloody conflict and adding to the already alarming number of displaced people and refugees in the country and neighboring nations. ethiopia declared victory over the weekend after announcing it took control of the capital of tigray, but the tigray people's liberation front say they are continuing to fight. in uganda, presidential candidate bobi wine suspended his campaign after members of his team were injured and his car was shot at. wine told reporters his campaign team was being "tortured by security institutions," adding "our campaign is affected by police brutality." the rapper-turned-politician was seeking to unseat president yoweri museveni, who's been in power for 36

minister said saturday his military had taken complete control of the capital of the northern tigray region, capping a three-week offensive against separatists that forced tens of thousands to flee to sudan amid reports of mass atrocities. ethiopian prime minister ab ahm, who won e nobel ace prize in 2019, refused international demands for talks with the tigray people's liberation front. members of that group accused ethiopia's military of shelling heavily populated areas of the capital, mekele. a warning to our listeners -- iran held a state funeral today for their top nuclear scientist to was assassinated while driving on a highwayutside of tehran friday. iran accused israel of conducting the assassination. iranian president hassan rouhani said iran will retaliate at the quote, proper time. many analysts say the assassination of the iranian scientist was designed to make it harder for biden to rejoin the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with -- which president trump withdrew from. we will have more on this after headlines. a warning to our listeners -- and --s the united nations says at le

ethiopia and the united nations agreed tay on openg a humanitarian corridor into the country's tigray regionme six million people have been trapped there during a month of fighting tween the army and rebel forces. the agreement calls for oolowing in medicine, and other critical supplies. hong kong is under fire afterad three g pro-democracy activists were sentenced to jail. agnes chow, joshua wong and ivan lam will serve seven to 13 months over a protest last year. supporters demonrated in solidarity today, some hiding their faces out of caution, as china crks down on dissent. >> ( translated ): compared to other protesters who d damage on public facilities, or even people who were charged with riot, they were just participating in the protest. everyoas angry at that time, they shouldn't be the only people to take t blame. it's just because they are morea renown that they should shceive a heavy sentencing. >> woodruff: in gton, house speaker nancy pelosi "brutal sentencing of young champions of democracy." back in this country, the boeing 737 max made its first public flight since being grou

more people are fleeing ethiopia's northern tigray region every day though the government's declared the fighting is over refugees are crossing to neighboring sudarsan in the hope of trying to build a new life. as their story. you drop in a few g.'s at the camp getting ready for a long stay they use this plastic sheets to top the ceilings of their new homes the un distributed 480 of them on sunday it also provides these bumble sheets to be used to side walls just creative ways to cook food are tested here as well solo over and designed to do the job with no environmental impact the norwegian refugee council distributes cash amounts equivalent to about $25.00 per individual if we give them cash they can buy whatever is. slim cards baby milk formula new clothes none the worse because they've been in the same clothes for 3 weeks now. they can borrow that from from local traders who are coming in for the camp. instead of us. are spending a lot of money with logistics importing items from different parts of the world. robin and his wife canobie soft drinks and biscuits or sweets for their

in ethiopia's norm or it -- northern region of tigray, the people's liberation front held elecons defyingeral ban. the prime minister announced a military offensive after accusing tigray of attacking and seizing a military base in the regional capital, charge they denied. recent violence forced thousands of ethiopians to escape into neighboring sudan. ♪ let's bring our guests. in pretoria, honorary visiting professor at the university of south africa. agnes is managing partner at 53 firm gbs africa where she focuses on -- gbs africa, where she focuses. and she joins us from london. also, the director of the faculty of academic affairs and research at the kofi annan international peacekeeping training center who specializes in west africa states and thus the hall region -- sahal region. from your bencic point, what is the state of democracyn the continent dust from your bandage, what is the state of democracy -- from your advantage, what is your perspective? >> some countries are showing stability, regular elections. some are beginning to have internal civil strife. at at times the kind of

basically said that tigray people's liberation front have manufactured uniforms look like the eritrean army. but if this is true this has serious implications on this becoming much more of a regional do we have a smoking gun, do we have intelligence photographs release ? gun, do we have intelligence photographs release? no. we have european and other diplomats telling us of internal intelligence reports between ethiopian and eritrean military officers, discussing, co—ordinating assaults and counter results? yes we do. those have not been released officially yet, and i think when those do become released, we will have obviously the kind of clarity that we need, obviously though, i think the us and european allies are trying to seek a diplomatic solution, bring partners to the table. and briefly there are reports that aid workers have been killed? the danish refugee council saying three security guards were killed, the international rescue committee saying a staff member killed. there are allegations on the other side, amnesty were looking into that tigray people's liberation front, what they called a massacre where scores of people were killed on the ninth of november when they we

team grey region which borders eritrea many of them fled political persecution and mandatory military service the un's access to routes needed to for refugee camps housing refugees in tigray have all been blocked since the recent fighting began it's been calling on the federal government to open up access and on tuesday the un said food has run out for nearly a 100000 refugees who were sheltered in tikrit. while malcolm where this following this for us from neighboring kenya. you and bill frist for the coordinates a coordination of humanitarian affairs said as reports of continuing fighting in many parts of the c. gray region last week prime minister ahmed said that the government forces were in control of the region the government military operation was over that followed government taking control of the regional capital of micheli but their enemy that c.p.r. left said that it wasn't over they filed to continue fighting on the c.p.l. as reported still control thousands of fighters in substantial stocks of military hardware researches say that thousands of civilians being killed in the fighting there will have been reports of massacres of civilians by militia aligned to b

the region has been plagued by increasing ethnic violence, which has caused tens of thousands to flee amid recent fighting. this comes as ethiopia's military is still locked in a battle with tigray forces in the north of the country in a conflict which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. in bosnia, refugee rights groups are warning of aumanitarian crisis after a massive fire tore through an encampment for hundreds of asylum seekers, forcing them to shelter in tents despite the winter cold. the camp near bosnia's border with croatia is home to nearly 1000 people hoping to cross into western europe to seek asylum. aid groups say many of the refugees are already suffering from frostbite and hypothermia. this is sajid ali, a refugee from afghanistan. >> there isn't any heater inside the tents. it is dangerous to leave here because it snowed yesterday. snow hasee the gathered on the top of the tents. so they might fall down. there are more than 500 living inside the tents. die, who is responsible? amy: at least 20 asylum seekers from countries in sub-saharan africa drowned after their boat capsized off tunisia's coast thursday. over 620 migrants have died while crossing th

reports from ethiopia's tigray region say more than 4,000 government soldiers who'd been held captivelocal officials said they were detained when tigrayan troops loyal to the tplf attacked a federal military base, triggering more than three weeks of fighting. armenia has handed back the last of three districts it agreed to return to azerbaijan as part of a peace deal to end the conflict in nagorno—karabakh. the azeri defence ministry said its forces had entered lachin. armenia had controlled the area for nearly three decades. french lawmakers are rewriting a controversial clause in a security bill that would have made it an offence to share pictures of the police online, maliciously. many said it could have stopped people exposing police brutality. images which have shocked france. a black music producer beaten up in his own studio by others who followed him for not wearing a mask. they are now under investigation after the beating of the man, he was never charged after 48 hours in police custody. he said he was racially abused. after mass demonstrations across france after the incide