Ethiopia fails at U.N. to block funding for independent abuse inquiry

FILE PHOTO: Eritrean refugee children walk outside of the Adi Harush Refugee camp in Mai Tsberi town in Tigray Region, Ethiopia, June 26, 2021. Picture taken June 26, 2021. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo

Ethiopia failed at the United Nations on Thursday in a bid to block funding for an independent investigation into abuses in the country's conflict, garnering just 27 yes votes, while 66 countries opposed the move and 39 countries abstained.

The vote was in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly's budget committee.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler)