The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in a three-point resolution on Tuesday incriminated all parties to the conflict in Tigray for abuses.

"Concerning the situation of human rights in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the Council expressed grave concern at the reports of serious human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law and international refugee law allegedly committed by all parties in the Tigray region since the start of the conflict on 4 November 2020," it said.

Underscoring the need to hold all who were responsible for alleged human rights violations and abuses accountable, the Council also called for the swift and verifiable withdrawal of Eritrean troops from the Tigray region.

The resolutions adopted by the Council are regarding human rights in the Tigray region, human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS, and violence against women and girls with disabilities.

It said women and girls, including those with disabilities, should be protected against abuses and indicated the need to ensure they receive HIV prevention, care and support.

Politically motivated

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry rejected the UN’s proposed resolution as "politically motivated."

It said a joint probe was launched by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.

Ethiopia declared a unilateral cease-fire last month and pulled forces from Tigray, Ethiopia's northernmost region where TPLF fighters currently have free rein and are attack towns westward and southward into lands contested by the Amhara and Tigray regional states.

The TPLF has already been declared a terror organization by the Ethiopian parliament.

At the head of a four-party coalition, TPLF ruled Ethiopia with an iron grip, exorbitant corruption and grim human rights violations for 27 years until 2018./agencies

US stocks closed lower Tuesday after high consumer inflation rattled markets.

The Dow Jones fell 107 points to 34,888, while the S&P 500 was down 15 to 4,369.

After hitting an all-time high on Monday, the Nasdaq lost 55 to 14,677.

The dollar index was up 0.56% to 92.78, and the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, soared 5.9% to 17.12.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes increased 3.6% to 1.412%.

Despite posting a decline Monday after seven consecutive days of increase, gold was up 0.1% at $1,808 per ounce. Silver, however, was down 0.8% below the critical level of $26 to $25.98.

US consumer prices rose 5.4% in June from the same month a year ago, marking its largest 12-month increase since August 2008.

The producer price index (PPI) that will be released Wednesday will give more hints for the Federal Reserve amid rising inflation before a definite answer about an interest rate decision./agencies

Sports community has expressed solidarity with English national football team players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka, who were racially abused after their team lost the EURO 2020 final to Italy.

Rashford, Sancho, and Saka, the three Black players in the English national team, were subjected to offensive and racist online abuse after missing penalties in the UEFA EURO 2020 final.

Paul Pogba, a French midfielder for Manchester United, expressed his support for the players in a social media post.

Pogba said he is proud of them in an Instagram post, adding: "You win some, you lose some. You took the courage to take the penalties and you showed your worth to help your country reach the final."

"We cannot tolerate or stand for racism anymore and we will never stop combatting it. You boys should hold your heads high and be proud of your confidence," he said.

Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time Formula One winner, also spoke out against the racial abuse.

"Success would feel like a double victory, but a miss feels like a two-fold failure when it's compounded with racist abuse," Hamilton said on Instagram.

"I so badly wanted that win like all of you but for me it was for much more than winning the euros, it was a much bigger picture. However, the disgusting behavior by the few, shows how much work that still needs to be done," he said.

"I hope that this opens a conversation around acceptance. We must work towards a society that doesn’t require Black players to prove their value or place in society only through victory," he added.

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka also voiced her support for four footballers by sharing a strong photo on Twitter. The four-time Grand Slam winner shared the photo of the Black players with golden crowns above their heads.

Spanish football club Barcelona also issued an anti-racism message.

"Losing a penalty shootout is a part of football and a part of life. Racism is not," Barca said on Twitter.

Italy were crowned the winners of the EURO 2020 on Sunday after beating England 3-2 on penalties at Wembley Stadium./agencies

A Turkish military plane carrying medical supplies arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday to help the country in its efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The medical supplies include 50,000 coronavirus vaccine doses, 30 ventilators and an oxygen generator for a 150-bed capacity hospital, the Turkish Embassy in Tunisia said in a statement.

It also includes 100,000 coronavirus testing kits, 500,000 medical masks, 50,000 sterilized gloves and another 100,000 disposable gloves, the statement added.

"As two friendly and brotherly countries, Turkey and Tunisia will remain united under all circumstances. This solidarity comes at the core of partnership and friendship between the two peoples,” the embassy said.

In May 2020, Turkey sent medical supplies to Tunisia to help it fight the pandemic and also offered in December of the same year a grant of 5 million euros ($ 5.9 million) to address the COVID-19 virus.

On Friday, the Tunisian health authorities said the country was facing an unprecedented wave of virus infections amid a wide spread of the new Delta variant.

On Monday, the Health Ministry reported 106 deaths and 4,310 infections from the virus, taking the nationwide tally to 501,923 cases, including 494 fatalities./aa

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday held a phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to discuss steps to improve bilateral relations.

Erdogan and Xi discussed the steps that will improve bilateral relations, particularly in trade, investment, energy, transportation and health, and regional developments, according to a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate.

Highlighting that there is a wide potential for cooperation between the two countries in all areas of the regional and global economy and diplomacy, Erdogan said the High-Level Joint Working Group will give great impetus to the cooperation between the two countries.

Erdogan said that they would like to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and China in a manner worthy of the deep-rooted friendship between the two countries.

Expressing Turkey's respect for China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, he underlined the importance for Turkey of Uyghur Turks living in prosperity, freedom, and peace as equal citizens of China.

Uyghurs make up around 45% of population in Xinjiang autonomous territory and have long accused China's authorities of cultural, religious, and economic discrimination.

Up to 1 million people, or about 7% of the Muslim population in Xinjiang, have been incarcerated in an expanding network of “political re-education” camps, according to US officials and UN experts./aa

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Tuesday called for the “immediate release” of a journalist working for the Spanish press in Cuba.

Camila Acosta, who has been covering the protests in Cuba for the conservative Spanish daily ABC, was detained on Monday.

According to ABC, she was arrested for “crimes against state security” — a charge often levied against dissidents.

“Today I witnessed violence and repression against peaceful protesters in Habana, the Cuban regime’s hatred and crude manipulations,” she tweeted on Monday, just before her arrest. “Now is the time to pressure them to step down. If we give in now, we will have many more years of dictatorship.”

According to the NGO Cubalex, at least 100 activists, protestors and journalists have been detained since thousands of citizens took to the street this weekend. They are protesting shortages of basic supplies, the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and even the communist government itself.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Spanish Foreign Ministry released a more tepid statement, calling for the Cuban government to allow peaceful protests.

Now, Spain’s new foreign minister, who just took office on Monday, is already taking a slightly more aggressive tone.

“Spain defends the right to protest and asks the Cuban authorities to respect that. We defend human rights without conditions,” he wrote on Twitter, before demanding Acosta’s release.

Spain’s journalist association FAPE also released a statement condemning the behavior of Cuban officials. It said that they not only arrested Acosta in connection with the protests but also injured two other journalists, including Spanish photojournalist Ramon Espinosa.

“Journalists are usually harassed so they won’t share information which, without their work, would remain hidden,” said the statement.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel alleged that the US is behind the protests, with their embargo acting as “economic asphyxiation to provoke social outbursts” and manipulating citizens on social media.

According to local reports, Cuban authorities have blocked social media and other parts of the internet to try to quell the protests./agencies

Ten young Canadian students have raised CAN$1,425 as of Tuesday toward their goal of CAN$2,150 to help survivors of a former Indian Residential School.

North Vancouver's Sherwood Park Elementary students aged 5 to 10 will run, bike, swim, skate or paddle their way to 215 kilometers (134 miles) in sporting activities toward the goal of CAN$215 for each child.

One parent who helped organize the Gofundme campaign, Every Child Matters - Kms By Kids for Kids, said students were deeply saddened by 215 unmarked graves found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in late May. They wanted to do something to show they cared.

“We know there are still more children yet to be recovered and brought home, but we are choosing 215 as a symbolic number because of the recent discovery of the remains of 215 children at the Kamloops Residential School,” said Andriana Beauchemin. Her son, Varley, is a fundraiser participant.

Sherwood Park Elementary was built on Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation land and there are many First Nation children attending the school.

“Our school has a lot of First Nations students and it’s on Tsleil-Waututh Nation land, so [the students] are really connected to the First Nations community,” said Beauchemin. “It really hit home, just how sad that discovery was.”

The money will go to the Indian Residential School Survivor Society, a group in the province of British Columbia that has provided services to survivors for the past two decades.

The discovery of the unmarked graves at Kamloops was the first of four lost cemeteries at former residential schools.

The latest discovery was Monday when it was revealed that 160 unmarked graves were located at the site of the former Kuper Island residential school by the Penelakut First Nation. That brings the total located to date at 1,308 at four former schools.

There were 139 residential schools in Canada, many run by the Catholic Church with the first opening in the 1820s.

Indigenous children were forced to attend as the government tried to eradicate their culture.

The last one closed in 1996. Many children were buried at the site of the schools./agencies