NAIROBI (AFP) – Ethiopian forces retreated from Dessie, a strategic town in the Amhara region that borders Tigray, residents told AFP on Saturday following heavy fighting and power outages in the city. If confirmed, the fall of the town to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) would be a major blow to the federal government, which has been embroiled in a nearly year-long war with the rebels. “At around 2 am Ethiopian soldiers began retreating from the area,” said Amir, a Dessie resident who declined to give his second name. TPLF fighters “entered the city, with ENDF (Ethiopian National Defence Force) soldiers not seen,” said another resident who gave his name only as Mohammed. “I don’t know if the soldiers left or were captured,” he told AFP, adding that he was trying to flee Dessie for the town of Kombolcha, located further south. There was no immediate comment from the TPLF or the government on the situation in Dessie. Much of northern Ethiopia is under a communications blackout and access for journalists is restricted, making battlefield claims difficult to verify independently. Dessie, which is located in the Amhara region neighboring Tigray, lies about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

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OTTAWA (Dispatches) – The Canadian government has appealed a federal court decision upholding a ruling that would require that it pay billions of dollars to indigenous children and their caregivers harmed by a discriminatory welfare system, saying it would instead seek to negotiate a deal. At a news conference on Friday, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said that two advocacy groups, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations, have both agreed to sit down with officials to try to hammer out a negotiated deal by the end of December. “Today, the Government of Canada and the Parties, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and Assembly of First Nations, are announcing that we have agreed to sit down immediately and work towards reaching a global resolution by December 2021 on outstanding issues that have been the subject of litigation,” said the statement. The statement is issued jointly on behalf of Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller, and David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Miller said the government is putting “a very significant financial package” forward to compensate children who have suffered harm, adding, he cannot disclose the specific amount but the government knows that proper compensation would amount to “billions of dollars.” Canada’s federal court last month found that the government had discriminated against some 50,000 children by not properly funding child and family services in indigenous communities, upholding a prior decision by a human rights tribunal.

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KIEV (AP) – Belarus has forced the closure of the U.S. Embassy’s Public Diplomacy and USAID offices in a move that comes amid the tensions with the U.S. and its allies over alleged Belarusian authorities’ crackdown on protests. Samantha Power, the U.S. Agency for International Development administrator, said Friday that the Belarusian authorities aim to “severely disrupt U.S. development assistance and public diplomacy in Belarus by forcing the closure of facilities that house key U.S. Government operations, and by ending employment of all of USAID’s local staff and Department of State public diplomacy staff.” She added that the move is effective Nov. 20. Belarus’ relations with the U.S. and the European Union have become increasingly tense following the country’s President Alexander Lukashenko being handed a new term in the August 2020 vote.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. health regulator has authorized the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years, making it the first COVID-19 shot for young children in the United States. The decision is expected to make the vaccine available to 28 million American children, many of whom are back in school for in-person learning. It comes after a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted overwhelmingly to recommend the authorization on Tuesday. Only a few other countries, including China, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates, have so far cleared COVID-19 vaccines for children in this age group and younger. The FDA authorized a 10-microgram dose of Pfizer’s vaccine in young children, lower than the 30 micrograms in the original vaccine for those aged 12 and older. Advisers on the FDA panel said a lower dose could help mitigate some of the rare side effects.

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Melbourne (RT) – A large crowd gathered outside Australia’s Victoria’s state parliament to demand an end to a newly enforced vaccine requirement and to oppose a draft pandemic bill that would give officials draconian powers. Photos and videos circulating on social media show a vast crowd outside Parliament House in Melbourne, the state capital, on Saturday, where activists were seen holding signs and placards – one reading “Sack Dan,” referring to state Premier Daniel Andrews. Similar chants calling for Andrews’ resignation were also heard erupting from the crowd, while other slogans included: “End the mandates,” “Stop medical apartheid,” and “We need Bill of Rights!” Activists also gave speeches at various points, denouncing the vaccine mandate for “essential workers” that took effect in Victoria earlier this month, as well as a proposed bill making its way through parliament meant to replace the COVID-19 emergency powers currently in place, RT reported. The controversial bill would amend a number of other laws if enacted, introducing the country’s steepest fines for non-compliance with health orders and even possible jail time.

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MOSCOW (AFP) – New coronavirus restrictions came into effect across Russia on Saturday with authorities looking to stem soaring infections and deaths in Europe’s worst hit country by fatalities. Saturday’s government tally recorded 40,251 new cases, the highest figure for new infections since the beginning of the pandemic. President Vladimir Putin last week ordered a paid holiday from Saturday to November 7 in a bid to break a recent chain of records in daily cases and deaths. Russia has held back on imposing significant nationwide measures since ending a short lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic and instead placed its hopes on the rollout of several homegrown vaccines, including Sputnik V. The Kremlin this week said epidemiologists had raised “concerns” after polls cited by news agencies showed one-third of Russians planned to travel during the holiday period.