Oil drops as surging COVID-19 infections stoke demand concerns

Oil drops as surging COVID-19 infections stoke demand concerns

NEW YORK CITY: When Abdel Karim Ibrahim Mohammed, 23, fled the recent violence consuming Ethiopia's Oromia region, he never imagined he would fall into the hands of Yemen's Houthis. In fact, like many of his compatriots desperate to escape conflict-ridden Ethiopia, he had not even heard of the Iran-backed militia, which seized control of Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2015. When he first set out on his dangerous voyage across the Red Sea, Abdel Karim had envisioned an arduous overland crossing to one of the Arab Gulf states where opportunity and prosperity awaited him. Events had taken a frightening turn in his native Ethiopia, where the security situation has continued to deteriorate amid growing unrest and political tensions. Human rights abuses, attacks by armed groups and communal and ethnic violence have forced thousands to seek refuge abroad. Abdel Karim's first encounter with the Houthis came just two days after his arrival in Sanaa, when two militiamen approached him in a marketplace. They singled him out in the crowd and demanded to see his ID. Without so much as glancing at his papers, he was placed under arrest and taken to the city's Immigration, Passport and Naturalization Authority (IPNA) Holding Facility, where