Briefly

ETHIOPIA

UN chief warns of 'catastrophe' in Tigray

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the Security Council on Thursday that a conflict in Ethiopia has spread beyond the northern Tigray region and "a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes". Ethiopia has been embroiled in a conflict that flared nine months ago in Tigray, which has since spread to other areas. The government has also struggled to contain other outbreaks of ethnic and political violence over land and resources. Gunmen killed at least 150 people last week in western Ethiopia in an attack by an armed group against local residents, the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Thursday.

KAZAKHSTAN

9 dead after blasts at military depot

Nine people have died following explosions at an arms depot in southern Kazakhstan and four others were feared dead, the Central Asian country's Emergencies Ministry said on Friday. The ministry's statement mentioned emergency services workers and military staff among victims of the blasts that tore through a Defence Ministry ammunitions depot in the southern region of Jambyl on Thursday. It added that four people were missing. The blasts began on Thursday at a military ammunitions depot in the southern region of Jambyl, leaving scores injured and nearby villages evacuated by authorities.

SWITZERLAND

First watchwoman for Lausanne in 600 years

After over 600 years of night watchmen, a woman has for the first time been tasked with shouting out the time each hour through the night from the Lausanne cathedral bell tower. Cassandre Berdoz began working as an assistant night watchwoman at the Lausanne cathedral on Aug 16, the Swiss city announced on Thursday. "This is the first time that this position... has been held by a woman, who is helping keep alive a tradition uninterrupted since 1405, while helping it evolve," it said in a statement. She is joining the ranks of male colleagues who have clambered to the top of the cathedral bell tower every single evening for the past 616 years. All year round, from 10 pm to 2 am, the night watchman, wearing a big black hat and carrying a lantern, steps out to the bell tower railing to serve as a living clock for the people of the picturesque city on the shores of Lake Geneva.

Agencies - Xinhua