Ethiopian premier seen at war front
NAIROBI, Kenya -- A state-affiliated broadcaster on Friday purportedly showed Ethiopia's Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister on the battlefront of the country's yearlong war against Tigray forces, four days after he announced he would direct the army from there.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in military uniform, claimed that the war "is being conducted with a high level of success" and referred to locations on the border between the country's Amhara and Afar regions, which neighbor Tigray.
Late Thursday, Ethiopia's government issued an order seeking to restrict media reporting of the war, forbidding the sharing of non-official information on "military-related movements, battlefront results and situations."
The statement, which applies to everyone in the country, also warns that "supporting the [rival Tigray forces] directly or indirectly in the name of freedom speech should cease immediately." And it strongly warned against calls for the formation of a transitional government.
Security forces will "take measures" against violators, it said, but didn't elaborate.
Police, water protesters clash in Iran
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Police fired tear gas and fought protesters with batons on Friday in a central Iranian city that has seen days of demonstrations demanding government action over a drought, online videos show.
The social media videos and others from activists show police and protesters clashing in the dry bed of the Zayandehrud River in the city of Isfahan. The videos correspond to reporting by The Associated Press and satellite images of the area, as well as some semiofficial Iranian news agency accounts of the unrest.
The Iranian semiofficial Fars news agency said a heavy presence of security forces brought the gathering of some 500 people in Isfahan to an end. A separate report carried by the semiofficial Tasnim agency said unknown perpetrators had damaged a pipeline that transfers waters from Isfahan to other provinces Thursday night.
People in Isfahan later Friday reported mobile internet service being disrupted in the city, without explanation. Iran in the past has shut down both mobile and landline internet to halt protests.
Farmers reportedly had ended a long protest in the area on Thursday, after authorities promised to compensate them for losses suffered in drought-stricken areas of central Iran.
U.S., others slam Burma's military
BANGKOK -- The United States and six other nations issued a joint statement Friday calling on the international community to suspend all assistance to Burma's military, and expressing grave concern over reports of human rights abuses by its security forces.
The statement comes as fears of an escalation of violence grow in the Southeast Asian nation, whose army is attempting to crush an increasingly active armed opposition movement seeking to end military rule.
"We are concerned about allegations of weapons stockpiling and attacks by the military, including shelling and airstrikes, use of heavy weapons, and the deployment of thousands of troops accompanying what security forces assert are counter-terrorism operations, which are disproportionately impacting civilians," the statement from the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea and the United Kingdom read.
Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that military authorities adopted in 1989. Some nations, such as the United States and Britain, have refused to adopt the name change.
Faced with increasing opposition in both the cities and the countryside, there is fear the military may launch an all-out offensive, especially as the annual rainy season comes to an end, allowing it to more easily maneuver.
Russian craft docks with space station
MOSCOW -- A Russian cargo craft carrying a new docking module successfully hooked up with the International Space Station on Friday after a two-day space journey.
The new spherical module, named Pier, docked with the orbiting outpost at 9:19 a.m. It has six docking ports and will allow potential future expansion of the Russian segment of the station.
The module has moored to the docking port of the new Russian Science laboratory module.
On Wednesday, a Soyuz rocket took off from the Russian launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, carrying the Progress cargo ship with Pike attached to it. After entering space, the cargo ship with the module went into orbit.
Progress is also delivering nearly 0.8 ton of various cargoes to the space station and is expected to undock from the station on Dec. 22.
The first Soyuz spacecraft is expected to dock at the new module on March 18, 2022, with a crew of three cosmonauts: Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergei Korsakov.
The space outpost is currently operated by NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron and Mark Vande Hei; Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov; and Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports