Eritrean troops fighting in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray killed hundreds of people in Aksum mainly over two days in November, witnesses say. The mass killings on 28 and 29 November may amount to a crime against humanity, Amnesty International says in a report. An eyewitness told the BBC how bodies remained unburied on the streets for days, with many being eaten by hyenas. Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane G Meskel has dismissed the accusations as “preposterous”. In a tweet, he suggested that the interviews were conducted with militiamen allied to Tigray’s former ruling party, the TPLF, whose dispute with Ethiopia’s federal government led to the conflict in the region.

The Ethiopian Human Rights commission says the report should be “taken seriously” and that it was investigating the allegations. Both Ethiopia and Eritrea deny that Eritrean forces have been involved in the Tigray conflict.(BBC)…[+]

More than 300 schoolgirls have been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from a school in Nigeria’s north-western Zamfara state, police say. Security officers have been dispatched to the town of Jangebe where the girls were seized early on Friday morning. Local officials have confirmed the attack but have not given more details. This is the latest mass abduction targeting schools in recent weeks. Armed gangs often seize schoolchildren for ransom. At least 42 people, including 27 students, who were kidnapped last week in Kagara, in neighbouring Niger state, are yet to be released. The 2014 kidnap of 276 schoolgirls in the north-eastern town of Chibok by Islamist militants Boko Haram brought global attention to the scourge of raids on schools in Nigeria but the most recent attacks are suspected to be the work of criminal gangs.(BBC)…[+]

US President Joe Biden has talked by phone with King Salman of Saudi Arabia as he seeks to put relations with America’s old ally on a new footing. He “affirmed the importance” the US “places on universal human rights and the rule of law”, the White House said. Mr Biden made the call after reading a forthcoming US report into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The report is expected to implicate the king’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He denies involvement. Mr Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, pursued closer ties with Saudi Arabia. The Trump administration had rejected a legal requirement to release the report in declassified form, focusing instead on improved co-operation with the Saudis.   The White House says Mr Biden will “recalibrate” the relationship with Saudi Arabia.(BBC)…[+]