1. Tigrayans dying because of lack of medicine - WHO chief

The head of the World Health Organization has painted a gloomy picture of life in the Tigray region, in the north of Ethiopia, one year into a civil war.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Tigrayan himself, told journalists in Geneva that the region was under an effective blockade.

"No medicine - people are dying; no food - people are starving."

He also said that the phone lines were down and there was no fuel and no cash."So you can imagine the impact of that on the health of people."The Ethiopian government has denied that it has been deliberately preventing aid from reaching the north.

2, Blinken concerned that Ethiopia could implode

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is due in East Africa next week, has said that he fears that Ethiopia could implode if the civil war continues.

Discussing different ways forward, he told journalists in Washington DC that "out and out conflict... could lead to the implosion of Ethiopia and spillover 

into other countries in the region, and that would be disastrous for the Ethiopian people".

The other path, he said, was a ceasefire and negations - adding that the US was backing the African Union mediator, ex-Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Mr. Blinken is expected to leave for Kenya on Monday, where he will be discussing the situation in Ethiopia. He will also be going to Nigeria on his first 

official trip to Africa as Secretary of State.

3 US sanctions Eritrea over Tigray war

The US has placed sanctions on Eritrea's military, its ruling party, and two officials, accusing all of contributing to the war in the Tigray region of 

Ethiopia. The head of the US Treasury department's sanctions office, Andrea Gacki, condemned Eritrea for undermining the stability and integrity of the 

Ethiopian state, resulting in a humanitarian disaster.

Eritrea has supported the Ethiopian federal government against Tigrayan rebels. The UN has accused all sides in the year-long war of committing atrocities that may amount to war crimes. The conflict has displaced over two million people.