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Terrorist Attack in Ethiopia’s Western Wollega Zone
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned of an attack in the Western Wollega Zone of Ethiopia’s Oromia region. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, is located about 300 miles east of Guliso, the local administrative center where the attack took place on Sunday evening local time. Local authorities reported that at least 32 individuals were killed and over 700 individuals were displaced as a result of the attack.
Elias Umeta, a local administrator, reported that OLF operatives had lured Guliso locals into the attack by asking to meet with them. Umeta was unable to attribute any clear motive for the attack. Daniel Bekele, of the government-run Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, reported that the attackers dragged locals from their homes and took them to a school, where they were killed. A school and some 120 houses were burned.
Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous country and home to over 80 ethnic groups. Violent incidents, such as this most recent attack, stem from deep ethnic and political tensions that date back centuries. Several mosques and churches have been burned in recent years as these tensions flare up, demonstrating the impact that wider societal unrest can have on religious communities.
While many details have yet to emerge, initial reports suggest that the attacks were conducted by the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed political entity opposed to the sitting Prosperity Party coalition led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. However, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission stated that federal security forces abruptly withdrew from the area shortly before the attack. The OLA has not acknowledged any role.
The OLA is an armed rebel group connected with the Oromo Liberation Front, a political party which pushes for political independence from the rest of Ethiopia. It was banned from the country before being invited back in 2018 by newly-appointed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Since then, the OLA has created a stronghold in Western Oromia.
It is imperative that Ahmed and his government act swiftly to aid the victims of this attack and to ensure that incidents like these do not continue. Ahmed ran on promises to bring peace and reform to Ethiopia, but ethnic and politically-motivated killings continue. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his early efforts to forge a peace agreement between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea, but now he must turn his attention inward and root out the violence causing havoc among his own people.
Sources:persecution
HAITI – The remaining Catholic clergy who were kidnapped in Haiti earlier in April have been released, a missionary group said Friday.
The Society of Priests of Saint Jacques said the clergy were freed but did not say if a ransom had been paid.
A total of 10 people were abducted in Croix-des-Bouquets, a town northeast of the capital Port-au-Prince, on April 11, including the seven clergy — three of whom have already been released.
The clergy members were a group of four priests and a nun from Haiti, as well as one priest and one nun from France. The three non-clergy were members of the family of a Haitian priest, who was not among those kidnapped.
“Our hearts are filled with joy because we have found our colleagues, the sisters and the family members of Father Jean Anel Joseph in good health,” the missionary society said in a statement, without specifying whether a ransom has been paid.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is plagued by insecurity and natural disasters.
Kidnappings for ransom have surged in recent months in Port-au-Prince and other provinces, reflecting the growing influence of armed gangs in the Caribbean nation.
Haiti’s government resigned and a new prime minister was appointed in the wake of the kidnappings, a move President Jovenel Moise said “will make it possible to address the glaring problem of insecurity and continue discussions with a view to reaching the consensus necessary for the political and institutional stability of our country.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday announced a new bid to boost coronavirus vaccinations: Receive your first dose in May and get a free beer.
“We’re not going to be afraid to try new things,” Murphy said as he unveiled the new program, dubbed “Shot and a Beer,” at a press briefing.
Thirteen New Jersey-based breweries are participating in the program — which is only available to state residents ages 21 years and older, Murphy specified.
Those New Jerseyans will have to show their vaccine cards as proof before receiving their reward, the Democratic governor said.
The breweries themselves are footing the bill for the free drinks, said Murphy, who suggested more beer-makers could soon be added to the list.
The breweries currently participating are: Battle River Brewing, Bradley Beer Project, Bolero Snort Brewing Company, Brix City Brewing Company, Carton Brewing Company, Flounder Brewing Company, Flying Fish Brewing Company, Gaslight Brewery and Restaurant, Hackensack Brewing Company, Kane Brewing Company, Little Dog Brewing Company, Magnify Brewing Company and River Horse Brewing Company.
The program came from the New Jersey Department of Health in partnership with the Brewer’s Guild of New Jersey.
The Garden State is hardly the first to propose an outside-the-box incentive for people to get vaccinated.
West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice last week announced an initiative to give $100 savings bonds to younger state residents who get vaccinated.
Connecticut is offering its own alcoholic incentive with its “Drinks On Us” campaign: Residents who get fully vaccinated and show their vaccine cards at certain restaurants will score a free drink between May 19 and May 31.
Incentive or no, vaccine rates are rising. More than 29% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University, and cases and deaths from Covid are on the decline.
But a significant number of Americans say they are not willing to get vaccinated. A Monmouth University poll published in mid-April found that about 1-in-5 Americans say they won’t get the shot.
That’s prompting health officials and leaders at every level of government to urge more people to seek out and receive their vaccinations.
The “Shot and a Beer” campaign is just one piece of New Jersey’s broader slate of programs aimed at returning the state to a more normal summer as the fight against the pandemic continues.
Murphy announced the free-beer plan after detailing the “Grateful for the Shot” initiative, which makes it possible for congregants to go from religious services directly to vaccination sites.
It’s “perhaps at the other end of the spectrum” of incentives, Murphy said.
ഇന്ത്യക്ക് അടിയന്തിര സഹായം നൽകണമെന്ന് അമേരിക്കൻ കോൺഗ്രസ്സ് പ്രതിനിധി രാജാ കൃഷ്ണമൂർത്തി ബൈഡനോട്
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