NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Ethiopia fighting: A senior military official said Monday that the air force was “pounding targets with precision” as the government continues its offensive against the defiant northern region of Tigray and no clear route to peace is yet seen. Maj. Gen. Mohammed Tssema also denied as “totally wrong” a claim by the Tigray regional government on Sunday that a fighter jet had been shot down. It remains unclear how many people have been killed in the fighting that erupted last week in Tigray as the government of Nobel Peace Prizewinning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed comes under increasing international pressure to calm tensions. The Tigray regional government felt marginalized by Abiy’s political reforms and defied the government by holding a local election in September.
2 Bolivia politics: Former President Evo Morales returned to Bolivia on Monday following an election that returned his socialist party to power a year after he fled the nation amid a wave of protests. Hundreds of supporters accompanied the nation’s first Indigenous president as he crossed the border from Argentina, whose leftist leader came to bid him farewell. Morales still faces charges of treason lodged by prosecutors under the conservative interim government that accused him of stirring violent protests and spent much of the past 12 months attempting to reverse his policies. But there is no active arrest warrant.
3 Police raids: Investigators in several Austrian regions carried out raids early Monday on people and organizations suspected of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas groups, prosecutors said. Authorities said there was no link between Monday’s action against suspected Islamic radicals and the attack in Vienna a week ago in which an assailant described as a supporter of the Islamic State group fatally shot four people before being killed by police. Prosecutors said dozens of people are under investigation in the new case and 60 properties were searched. Thirty people were taken in for questioning.
4 Leader impeached: Peruvian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Monday night to remove President Martin Vizcarra from office, expressing anger over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and citing alleged but unproven corruption allegations. The president announced he would not try to fight the ouster, while analysts called the action by legislators an overt and risky power grab in a country where Vizcarra is highly popular but Congress is not. The ouster measure was supported by 105 legislators — far more than the 87 votes needed for the twothirds majority required to remove Peru’s president. Many said they were casting their vote for his removal in the name of dead loved ones. According to the chain succession, the head of the legislature — opposition lawmaker Manuel Merino — will take his place.
5 Restive region: Armenia and Azerbaijan announced an agreement early Tuesday to halt fighting over the NagornoKarabakh region of Azerbaijan under a pact signed with Russia that calls for deployment of Russian peacekeepers and territorial concessions. The region has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a 1994 truce ended a separatist war. Fullscale fighting reignited on Sept. 27. Several ceasefires had been called but were almost immediately violated. However, the new agreement appeared more likely to take hold because Azerbaijan has made significant advances, including taking control of the strategically key city of Shushi on Sunday. In all, 1,960 Russian peacekeepers are to be deployed in the region under a fiveyear mandate.