The United Nations is considering suspending relief operations, including food aid deliveries, in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, following deadly attacks on humanitarian workers, according to a draft proposal seen by Reuters and verified by two diplomats. Five aid workers were killed in the first six months of 2024, 10 were physically assaulted or injured and 11 kidnapped by unidentified criminal groups, according to the document which is dated August 2024…A cessation of relief operations would have a dire impact on more than 2.3 million people in Amhara who rely on food aid to survive, two donor nations and an NGO opposed to the suspension told Reuters…Amhara is home to more than 36 million people as well as the first stop for thousands of refugees fleeing the war in neighbouring Sudan. Fighting between Ethiopia’s army and Amhara Fano militiamen broke out in July 2023 and has killed hundreds and displaced thousands according to U.N. estimates. (Reuters)

Kenya’s lawmakers approved a motion Tuesday to impeach the country’s deputy president, following daylong discussions and after Rigathi Gachagua appeared in parliament to defend himself against several charges, including allegations that he supported anti-government protests in June. The motion was approved by a 281-44 vote in favor of impeachment, well above the 117 votes constitutionally required. The motion now goes to the parliament’s upper house, which will debate the matter and also hold a vote. For impeachment to be final, it will need the additional backing of two thirds of senators in the upper house. It’s not clear when that vote will take place. Under Kenya’s constitution, the removal from office is automatic if approved by both chambers, though Gachagua can challenge the action in court — something he has said he would do. (AP)

“Malnourished children and mothers are dying due to lack of access to care, and cholera is spreading in many parts of [Sudan]. Aid workers face immense challenges,” WHO regional director Hanan Balkhy told a briefing in Cairo. “Without immediate intervention, famine and disease will claim countless more lives.” Estimates of the number of deaths run into tens of thousands but are highly uncertain, with control of the country split between the army and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and health facilities crippled. In the capital, Khartoum, 75% of health facilities are out of operation while the situation in the west and south of the country is worse, according to the WHO. More than 20,000 cholera cases have been recorded this year in half of Sudan’s 18 states, an outbreak spreading faster than another one in 2023, said Richard Brennan, a WHO regional emergency director. An oral vaccination campaign is due to start this week following the arrival of 1.4 million doses, with another 2.2 million doses expected later, he said.

A J-curve is a trendline that shows an initial loss immediately followed by a dramatic gain. In a chart, this pattern of activity would follow the shape of a capital “J”.