Debretsion Gebremichael accused the Ethiopian national forces of using the airport to launch attacks on Tigray.

Ethiopia's federal government has not yet commented on the accusation.

But the attack is seen as a major escalation of the 12-day conflict between the Ethiopian government and the governing party in Tigray.

Fighting over Tigray has also affected Sudan, with at least 17,000 civilians crossing the border from Ethiopia, according to the UN.

Ethiopia has been through big changes since its Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018. He was awarded the Nobel peace prize last year after reaching out to make peace with neighbouring Eritrea, with whom Ethiopia had fought a bloody war two decades ago.

But the widespread reforms he pushed through sidelined the Tigrayans of the TPLF who had long dominated the political scene - and in recent weeks, tensions between the The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government seriously escalated.

-bbc

Cup Finals Makes TV History

SATURDAY’S FA Cup final be-tween Arsenal and Chelsea was the most watched match of the 2019-20 season, televi-sion viewing figures have re-vealed.The Wembley final, which Arsenal won 2-1, was watched by 8.2million people at its peak on BBC One and had an audience share of 46.1 per cent.It means that nearly half of the UK population who own televisions tuned in to watch the final on terrestrial televi-sion. 

The viewing numbers for the final topped the audience figures for the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Chelsea on July 19, which attracted 7.3million people at its peak. In fact, all of the matches in the list of the top five most-watched games of the season were FA Cup matches broad-casted on the BBC. 

Fans are currently not al-lowed to enter stadiums due to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning supporters and neu-tral must watch the matches on television in order to follow the action. Saturday’s final at Wemb-ley was played behind closed doors, with only a set number of people, consisting of the players, coaching staff, club officials and media person-nel, allowed into the ground.

 In the list of the top five most-watched TV games of the season, three of the games were played behind closed doors.Only Chelsea’s fifth-round win over Liverpool in March (6.8million) and Liverpool’s draw with Shrewbury Town in January (6.1million) had fans in the stadium when the shortlisted match was broad-casted. 

Fire in Plastic Recycling Area

A fire that broke out in the recycling area of Haspolat industrial zone in Nicosia has been brought under control.

An acre of plastic waste material was brought to a controlled burn by firefighters and tankers belonging to Değirmenlik Municipality and Laren Su enterprises.

Police announced that cooling works are continuing.

Yeniduzen

Driver Charged for Seriously Injuring a Nigerian Girl

A 73 years old man is being held in custody,  charged with causing serious injuries to a pedestrian in a traffic accident in Famagusta on Saturday. 

The driver Ahmet Kızan struck Abigail Komolafe (26) while she was using a pedestrian crossing.

Ms Komolafe was first taken to Famagusta Hospital and later transferred to Dr Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital in Nicosia suffering from a brain haemorrhage, fractured pelvis and foot. She remains in intenstive care and her condition is said to be critical.

Mr Kızan appeared before a judge charged with dangerous driving, failing to give priority to pedestrians at a pedestrian crossing and causing a traffic accident resulting in serious injury to a pedestrian.

Ciuconnect Blog announces change in Management

We hereby announce the change in management of ciuconnect blog worldwide to a kenugo LLC. 

Henceforth, the blog promises lots of interesting features, updates and business support. 

Thank you.

Signed ciuconnect.

Met Office Warns Public to Stay Out of The Sea

The Meteorology Department has warned the public not to go into the sea today.

There will be strong to occasional storm force winds making the waters unsafe for bathing or sports.

Yeniduzen

Warning of Potential Second Wave of Covid-19

Health Minister Dr Ali Pilli warned of the possibility of a second wave of Covid-19 noting that although diagnostic tests have been performed without finding any positive results, this however, does not mean that there are no cases. He called on people to take measures such as the use of a mask. “If we take all the necessary measures, there will be no second wave, but even if there is, it will be light,” he said.

Warning that the world has eased up on implementing protective measures against the coronavirus, Pilli argued that 70% of the population in the Turkish Cypriot community does not wear a mask, nor does it apply the social distancing rules.

In a statement to the Turkish Cypriot News Agency (TAK), Pilli reiterated that a total of 31,000 laboratory tests have been performed on the Turkish Cypriot community since March 10. He assured that although there have been no new cases of the virus in North Cyprus for weeks, they will continue, to carry out laboratory tests while the pandemic continues to exist in the rest of the world.

Asked about the opening of the border crossing points, Pilli said he had not contacted his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Konstantinos Ioannouas but that those responsible for the two sides have been contacted, while the Health and Communication Committee is working on the issue, he added. “The issue of border checkpoints will be clarified in the coming days,” he said.

On the issue of the resumption of flights to North Cyprus, Pilli said: “Of course flights will start. We can’t stay closed forever. When the day comes, the Ministry of Health will not make any concessions on this issue regarding safety measures, but at the moment it is not possible to talk about a date “.

Regarding whether the schools in North Cyprus  will be opened, the Minister of Health said that schools will not be opened in the current school year and argued that it has been proven that in all countries that have reopened schools, there has been an increase in cases of the coronavirus.

Vatan, TAK News Agency