ANC forces South African President Mbeki to resign (MiamiHerald0

...South Africans vote for parties, not individuals. That puts a premium on party loyalty and discipline among legislators and allows political leaders to quickly make radical changes....more..

Ethiopia starving Somalis(Pr-inside)

...The latest grief for Somalis was the confirmation of Ethiopian administration to designate Fridays as a working day. Friday is similar to Sabbath and Sunday for Muslims as they consider it a holy day. This loss of religious right has become the latest denial of rights to Muslim Somalis. Somali experts cite an increasing fear of the regime afraid of Muslim gatherings and sermons as the rising tension could spark demonstration in cities such as Jigjiga....read more..

Ethiopian rebels call for Ogaden aid corridor(Reuters)

"The situation is getting out of hand. Women and children and the elderly are dying from thirst and hunger," Abdirahman Mahdi, a founding member of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) said in a telephone interview...more..

Ethiopia downplaying effect of food crisis: UN (The Australian)

JIJIGA, Ethiopia: Ethiopia has been accused of deliberately underestimating the scale of the deadly drought facing millions of its people, some of whom are being deprived of emergency food aid by the country's military.

The humanitarian crisis, caused by three years of failed rains, affects more than 4.6 million people, and the official number could jump to as high as 6.7million this week, The Times newspaper reported yesterday.

The UN says the real number at risk is more than 8 million, an estimate disputed by Addis Ababa, which is insisting on publishing a much lower figure.

"The figure has risen very substantially, maybe even doubled," said John Holmes, the UN's emergency relief co-ordinator, who visited Ethiopia this month, in comments reported by The Times...read more...

Ethiopia accused of hiding famine as millions starve(TimesOnline)

The WFP has told donors that it blames Ethiopia’s “delays in recognising the extent of need” for causing the rapid depletion of existing food stocks. But a Channel 4 News investigation tonight claims that the army has withheld food from villages in the Ogaden deliberately as part of a “scorched earth” policy against separatist rebels of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)....more..

Militant threat paralyses Mogadishu airport((SwissInfo)

Turning deaf ears to what al Shabaab said means planes will be burned and staff assassinated at their houses," an official at the airport said. "We have agreed not to land planes."...more...

Just Can’t Shake It Loose: Feingold and Leahy for Human Rights in Ethiopia (Ethiomedia)

Feingold-Leahy’s Senate Bill 3457 (“Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia Act of 2008’’), shares the same legislative justification and evidence as H.R. 2003. S.B. 3457 documents serious, widespread and extensive human rights violations by the “Government of Ethiopia” in the aftermath of the 2005 elections. It notes the murder of 193 innocent demonstrators and injury of 763 others, detention of “thousands more opposition party leaders and their followers”, “violations of human rights and international law by the Ethiopian military in Mogadishu and other areas of Somalia, as well as in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia.” The bill describes the use of “unjustifiably brutal tactics [by the ‘government’ of Ethiopia] against its own citizens in Oromiya, Amhara and Gambella regions.” The bill asserts that the recent so-called civil society law has the effect of “creat[ing] a complex web of onerous bureaucratic hurdles, draconian criminal penalties and intrusive powers of surveillance that would further decrease the political space available for civil society institutions.” Section 5 of the bill requires the President to take “additional steps to support the implementation of democracy and governance institutions and organizations in Ethiopia,” including support for civil society organizations, fundamental freedoms, bolstering the independence of the judiciary and full international access to the Ogaden, among other things. The bill provides $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 to carry out its purposes. In contrast to the Feingold-Leahy bill, H.R. 2003 imposes stricter limitations on security assistance and travel restrictions on any official of the government of Ethiopia involved in human rights violations. To avoid triggering the sanctions provisions, H.R. 2003 requires the President to report to Congress that the “government” of Ethiopia is making “quantifiable” progress in specific areas such as the release of political prisoners, independent operation of the judiciary, free operation of the print and broadcast media and restructuring of the national elections board to reflect the political diversity in the country, among others. H.R. 2003 also provides support for economic development...more..

Statement by Senators Feingold and Leahy on S. 3457 (Galbeed)

Furthermore, the Ethiopian military has come under increasing scrutiny for its conduct in the Ogaden as well as Somalia, with credible reports from non-governmental organizations of torture, rape and indiscriminate attacks. By providing unconditioned security assistance we are also sowing the seeds of insecurity and creating new grievances both in Ethiopia and in its neighboring countries....more..

Islamists threaten to shut down Mogadishu airport(Reuter)

"We banned all planes from Mogadishu after confirming that American spies, the African Union, Ethiopians and the infidel government troops use the airport," said a statement in Somali on www.kataaib.net, one of several sites used by the militants....more..

Jolie-Pitt Foundation to Open Children's Clinic in Ethiopia (Koin News)

"Our goal is to transfer the success we have had in Cambodia to Ethiopia where people are needlessly dying of tuberculosis, a curable disease, and HIV/AIDS, a treatable disease," Jolie said in a statement to People. ...more...

Reparations for Ethiopia will redress injustices ( bdafrica)

“At that moment”, wrote Nkrumah ,” It was almost as if the whole of London had declared war on me personally. For the next few minutes I could do nothing but glare at each impassive face, wondering if these people could realise the wickedness of colonialism, and praying that the day might come when I could play my part in bringing about the downfall of such a system.”...more..

FEINGOLD INTRODUCES “SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ETHIOPIA ACT OF 2008” IN SENATE(Coalition for H.R. 2003)

The Feingold bill is substantially similar in legislative intent and appraisal of the poor human rights conditions in Ethiopia. The “findings” in the bill document a slew of human rights violations committed by the “Government of Ethiopia” in the aftermath of the 2005 elections, including the injury of “763 civilians,” the murder of 193 persons and detention of “thousands more opposition party leaders and their followers, “widespread violations of human rights and international law by the Ethiopian military in Mogadishu and other areas of Somalia, as well as in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia.” The bill describes the use of “unjustifiably brutal tactics [by the government of Ethiopia] against its own citizens in Oromiya, Amhara and Gambella regions.” The bill finds the recent civil society law has the effect of “creat[ing] a complex web of onerous bureaucratic hurdles, draconian criminal penalties and intrusive powers of surveillance that would further decrease the political space available for civil society institutions.” ...read more..

U.N.: Armed killings cost U.S. $45 billion yearly (MSNBC)

Among the 90 countries are nations from every continent, including Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia and the United States....more..

Ethiopia kicked out of World Cup (BBC)

However, that January meeting was not recognised by Fifa, who together with Confederation of African Football then released a roadmap in February aimed at rectifying the situation.

The EFF had agreed to implement the roadmap, but failed to put it into action and was suspended six weeks ago as a result....more..

Ethiopia says Eritrea "incapable" of another war (reuters)

The two governments intensely dislike each other and still do not agree on their frontier despite its "virtual demarcation" on maps by an independent boundary commission...read more..

High chicken prices cause discontent in Ethiopia(GMA News)

But people trying to buy live birds for Thursday's Ethiopian New Year celebrations found the price suddenly out of reach even for the relatively well-off...read more..

Egypt-Ethiopia –Food aid(African Press Agency)

APA-Cairo (Egypt) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday ordered the Defense Ministry to send food aid to Ethiopia to help alleviate the food crisis currently besieging that country.

A spokesman of the Egyptian government, Magdi Radi said in Cairo that the ministry was preparing to dispatch two military planes full of different foodstuffs to Ethiopia.

The move came in response to appeals from the international community to provide food aid to help drought - stricken Ethiopia to overcome its current humanitarian crisis.

The Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with Africa has revealed recently plans to provide food aid to several African countries to help them to ease the food crisis. Source African Press Agency

Ethiopia: Desperate farmers eat seeds before planting(Relief Web)

"I did not have any other option but to eat the 25kg of haricot bean seed that I had saved from last year," she said. "I readied my land to plant when the rain came again [but] I knew I would not be able to get any seeds."...more..

Middle East/North Africa: Treat Domestic Workers Fairly This Ramadan (HR New)

(New York, September 2, 2008) – At the beginning of Ramadan, a month of reflection and fasting, employers of domestic workers in the Middle East and North Africa should take special care to consider the rights of domestic workers, who work extra hours to aid with the month-long gatherings of their employers, Human Rights Watch said today. ..read more..

Bekele storms to Olympic double (BBC)

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele crushed the opposition as he cruised to 5,000m gold on Saturday, adding to the 10,000m title he won eight days ago....more...

Athletics - No wifely distractions for Bekele's bid (Reuters)

"We are gifted from God," he said, solemnly....more...

Dibaba storms to Olympic double (BBC)

It is the first time a female runner has won the 5,000m and 10,000m titles....more..

Somali insurgents 'take key port' (BBC)

Islamist insurgents in Somalia say they have taken control of the southern port of Kismayo amid fighting that has left dozens of people dead.....more..

Ethiopia - another famine, another avoidable disaster (TimesOnline)

There are two big causes, and drought is not one of them. They are within the power of politicians to tackle, and tackled they must finally be, with the requisite sense of urgency. The first is Ethiopia's population explosion; with families averaging 5.4 children, it has soared from 33.5 million in the 1984 famine to 77 million now. In a country where 85 per cent of the people rely on farming for a living, this means that, per head, food production has actually fallen since 1984 - by more than a third - and farm plots get smaller and smaller. A fifth of Ethiopian farmers try to survive on areas no more than 20 metres by 40 metres per person, yielding no more than half their cereal needs....more..

ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ ሁለተኛዋን የወርቅ ሜዳሊያ አገኘች (Ethiopia Zare)

Ethiopia Zare (ዓርብ ነኀሴ 16 ቀን 2000 ዓ.ም. August 22, 2008)፦ ዛሬ በቤጂንግ ኦሎምፒክ በተደረገው የሴቶች 5 ሺህ ሜትር ርቀት ፍፃሜ አትሌት ጥሩነሽ ዲባባ አንደኛ በመውጣት ለራስዋ ሁለተኛውን፣ ለኢትዮጵያ ደግሞ ሦስተኛውን የወርቅ ሜዳሊያ አስገኝታለች። አትሌት መሠረት ደፋር ደግሞ ሦስተኛ በመውጣት ለኢትዮጵያ የመጀመሪያውን የነኀስ ሜዳሊያ አስገኝታለች።...more...

Ethiopia’s Dibaba Outkicks Rival to Complete a Distance Double (Newyprk Times)

The women are neither enemies nor friends, but they are rivals. They trade Olympic gold medals and world records. They are in the same events, at the apex of their careers. There are only so many baubles to go around. Gold medals are not like pizza that can be divided into slices....more..

Green famine in Ethiopia (The real news)

Was it like 43 Billion wasted on the Olympics? I don't know if 43 or 34 billion, but hey, that's a whole bunch of money that could help people like these and many others because they aren't the only ones suffering shortage of food. The whole system in which we live today was shaped by the banking mafia, we need to get rid of it completely....Watch the video here

Ethiopia's Bikele repeats as Olympic 10,000-metre champ (CBC)

Bikele won gold in a time of 27 minutes, 1.17 seconds. He took almost four seconds off his own Olympic record although he was short of the world record......more..

Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia
gestures after winning
the gold in the 10,000,
ahead of countryman
Sileshi Sihine, right.
(Stu Forster/Getty Images)

DENAN, "THE MINI-DARFUR" IN ETHIOPIA.:TV VIDEO & EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW....(Maxim New)

Dick Young, the acclaimed Oscar-nominated, multiple award-winning documentary filmmaker traveled to a place in Ethiopia called Denan, also known as, the “Mini-Darfur” where he produced the following three-part video now presented on MaximsNews.TV and MaximsNews YouTube.

He is interviewed here about the project by MaximsNews International Editor Marisha Wojciechowska-Shibuya. MaximsNews Multimedia Editor Bonnie Blake developed the videos for the MaximsNews YouTube channel....more..

Ethiopia’s Golden Girl: Dibaba Wins Women’s 10000m (Tadias)

(BEIJING, August 15) — Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia has won gold and set a new Olympic record in the Women’s 10000m at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 15....more

Guji versus Burji – Proxy War and Ethnic Cleansing (Addis Voice)

Four days ago I wrote a letter to the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about the on-going political, cultural, economic and the national destruction of Ethiopia. I was candid about the role I felt the USA has played in facilitating the current thugs in Addis Ababa to bring Ethiopia to the current state of degradation. While I feel it is legitimate to lay some blame on the Bush Administration for emboldening the Meles regime in their systematic dismantling of the social fabric of Ethiopians and the sovereignty of Ethiopia, ultimately Ethiopians must take the majority of the blame for the sorry state of affairs!

Meles and his TPLF have never made any secret about their scheme against Ethiopia! They sought and obtained the co-operation from the rest of the country, notably the OLF, in instituting the most subversive constitution imaginable. Once they got that out of the way, they were done with the OLF and the rest is history! The systematic purging of the communities which showed any resistance to their thuggish rule has been well documented:

1. The massacre of the Anuaks;
2. On going purge of the Oromos using their OLF support as the main excuse;
3. The ongoing genocide in Ogaden;
4. Atrocities against the people of the various ethnic background throughout the country; and
5. Blaming natural disasters such as failed rainfall while the country’s thousands of square miles of arable land in Ethiopia lie fallow, thus condemning millions of Ethiopians to recurrent seasons of slow deaths by starvation....more..

HR2003 'Inhofed', but alive and well (Addis Voice)

On Planet Inhofe, Mugabe is an "authoritarian" leader by conducting elections that are "tainted by intimidation of voters and violence against the opposition party and their supporters", but Zenawi is a benevolent leader who has "taken significant steps to regain a democratic process that is fair and respectful of human rights" by jailing opposition leaders, human rights advocates and journalists, and thousands of ordinary citizens suspected of disloyalty to his regime. Mugabe is a heartless and ruthless despot for "threatening already hungry people to either vote for Mugabe or starve", but Zenawi is an enlightened leader for weaponizing famine against civilians, creating the second largest refugee population (after Darfur) in Africa, and condemning 13 million Ethiopians to avoidable famine. "It is time for Mugabe to allow his people to decide the next phase and direction of their country," but it is NOT time for Zenawi to do the same in Ethiopia....more..

Country’s biggest reggae star’s arrest sharpens dissent in Ethiopia (The Indian Express)

“We’d hoped that was the beginning of an opening in the democratic space,” said Hailu Araaya, deputy chairman of the recently formed Unity for Democracy and Justice party. He spent 20 months in jail before his release in July 2007. “But the political space is contracting again. It’s clear the ruling party is determined to stay in power by any means.”...more..

Woyanne tribal politics rears its ugly head at Beijing Olympics (Ethiopian Review)

Ethiopia's superstar athletes such as Haile Gebreselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba and others were no where to be found among the Ethiopian delegation. Instead, the flag (with that ugly Woyanne logo in the middle) was carried by Miruts Yifter, a great Ethiopian athlete from the 1970s, followed by Ato Seyoum Bereded, a Woyanne cadre who has never done any sport in his life, and...more..

Islamists Seize Provincial Capital Near Ethiopian Border (VOA)

Witnesses in Somalia say Islamist insurgents have seized control of Hudur, the capital of the Bakool region.

The insurgent group al-Shabab says on its Web site that its fighters entered Hudur early Friday after government-allied soldiers fled the town late Thursday. ...more

The rains have come, the land is lush but Ethiopians still go hungry (Guardian)

n June the government said 4.6 million people in drought-affected parts of the country required £162.5m of assistance, but unofficial estimates from donor agencies following recent nationwide assessments put the figure closer to 8-10 million people....more..

UN To Disband Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Mission (Reuters)

The UN move comes after Eritrea withdrew support for the mission last year, demanding the UN pressurize Ethiopia to agree with an earlier international border ruling that awarded the disputed territory to Eritrea....more..

FIFA suspends Ethiopia with immediate effect. (Ngex)

FIFA has suspended the Ethiopian Football Federation with immediate effect after the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) failed to comply with a roadmap agreed in February 2008 aimed at normalising the Ethiopian federation. ..more..

Obang Metho's Message to Ethiopian Muslim Leaders (Anauak Justice Council)

ight now there are human rights atrocities going on in the Afar region, in Oromia, in the Beninshangul-Gumuz region, in the Southern Nations and especially severely in the Ogaden and into Somalia. These are not just violations of human rights, they are violations of Allah/God’s law and principles and people who fear Allah/God and value human life, should show that they care about such injustice through their actions.
When the Anuak were killed, no one spoke out. It is now our chance to speak out for those now suffering in our country. If someone is wounded at the side of the road, we should not first ask the wounded person if they are from the same tribe, region, culture or religion before we help them....more..

ICI claims article was 'racially offensive' (Irish Times)

Section 2 of the Act says it is an offence to publish or distribute written material if it is threatening, abusive or insulting and intended to, or having regarding to all of the circumstances, is likely to, stir up hatred.

In the article, Mr Myers questioned whether it was moral to save an Ethiopian child from starvation, given that it could grow up to face poverty, hunger, violence and possible sexual abuse....more..

Africa is giving nothing to anyone -- apart from AIDS ((Independent .ie)

Sorry. My conscience has toured this territory on foot and financially. Unlike most of you, I have been to Ethiopia; like most of you, I have stumped up the loot to charities to stop starvation there. The wide-eyed boy-child we saved, 20 years or so ago, is now a priapic, Kalashnikov-bearing hearty, siring children whenever the whim takes him.

There is, no doubt a good argument why we should prolong this predatory and dysfunctional economic, social and sexual system; but I do not know what it is. There is, on the other hand, every reason not to write a column like this...more..

Failed leader + failed regime = failed state (Ethiomedia)

Contrary to Assefa’s categorical denial that Ethiopia is not a “failed state”, his boss admitted in a Time Magazine interview that Ethiopia actually is just such a state “in terms of poverty”. Zenawi stated⁵: After Nigeria, we are the second biggest black African nation. We are the headquarters of the African Union. We are the only African country that has never been colonized. This is perhaps the last surviving African civilization. We have our own script. We have our own calendar. We represent the greatness of Africa's past. We also represent the worst of Africa's present, in terms of poverty. It is the best and the worst of African reality.

This frank admission by the leader of the ruling regime reflects not so much a failure of state institutions, but rather a dismal failure of individual and collective leadership. It is an admission that the country is at the bottom of the African economic barrel because its lacks capable and visionary political leadership with a long-term economic recovery and growth plans for the country....more

Abebech Gobena: A profile in compassion (drmehretmandefro)

Abebech’s life instructs what happens when you do not stop the love. The kids soon became 200 and in 1988 she received a permit to raise the children as orphans. Her unusual actions have grown into 6 different branches of the Abebech Gobena Children’s Care and Development organization with over 12,000 children under her care...more..

The aid Africa can't afford(LA Times)

Instead of serving their people, most African states function as vehicles for the self-enrichment of political elites that have inherited none of the public-spiritedness of their colonial predecessors but all of the latter's contempt for the African masses. The remedy, therefore, might be to let Africa's failing neocolonial states disintegrate totally -- so that organic African political structures can emerge....more..

OutragCrisis e Over Lavish G-8 dinner At Food Crisis Talks (RTTnews)

Ironically, leaders from Africa - where some of the world's poorest nations exist - - including the heads of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Senegal, who had taken part in the talks, were excluded from the feast organized by the Japanese government in Hokkaido, according to media reports....more..

Medical aid group pulls out of Ethiopia's Fik region after government harassment (Pr-inside)

GENEVA (AP) - The aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres says it is pulling out of Ethiopia's Fik region because of persistent government harassment.
MSF representative Hugues Robert says staff members have been denied work permits and detained without reason....more..

Millions Face Disaster Due to U.S. Ethiopian Occupation of Somalia (Black agenda Report)

The U.S. has made Ethiopia its hit man in the Horn of Africa, a decision that is guaranteed to destabilize the entire region. That’s part of the American modus operandi: to create chaos – always resulting in mass deaths among the poor – in order to declare Africans unfit to run their own affairs. This is a theme that plays well among U.S. corporate media, who have dutifully pushed the Bush line on Zimbabwe, but go months without even mentioning the American-made crisis in Somalia. Democratic Party leadership is no better, including presidential nominee-to-be Barack Obama, whose father was born in Kenya, Somalia’s neighbor. Obama, the Speaker of the House and the top Democrat in the Senate are all mum on U.S. crimes against the Somali people...more..

Somali government base attacked(BBC)

It was the first time Baidoa, the only town fully under government control, had been attacked since late 2006.

A soldier was killed and six people wounded in the attack on the airport and presidential palace, witnesses say....more..

New Media Law, New Threat to Press Freedom (IPS news)

The new law fits into a pattern of official persecution of journalists seen over the last three years. Soon after controversial 2005 elections, three newspapers and magazines belonging to the country's largest private publisher, Serkalem Publishing House, were closed down as part of a widespread crackdown on media that dared to criticise the handling of the poll. Serkalem Fasil and her family were imprisoned for over a year....more...

Ethiopian army occupies Mount Hantub in Sudan - statement(Borglobe)

Tuesday, 08 July 2008 08:57 KUNA

HARTOUM, July 7 (KUNA) -- The Sudanese army announced Monday evening that the Ethiopian army has occupied Mount Hantub, 17 kilometers inside Sudanese territory.

Army spokesman Othman Mohammad Al-Agbash said that the Ethiopian army has attack Mount Hantub this morning and occupied the area, revealing the attack resulted in the death of several policemen as well as the injury of Sudanese citizens and security personnel.
The attack is another attempt to deprive Sudan from its natural and economic resources, stated Al-Agbash affirming that Sudan would from a committee to inquire about the reason behind the attack. (end) hhi.gta KUNA 072134 Jul 08NNNN

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 July 2008 09:08 )
....Source

A safari-free zone: Ethiopia's ancient cultural heritage (TopNews)

Even experienced travellers are often unaware that Ethiopia, one of the world's most impoverished countries, is home to a wealth of natural and cultural treasures.

You won't find safaris with lions or giraffes here, but you will discover a culture that stretches back thousands of years....more..

Sudan says Ethiopia attacked military base (Reuters)

By Opheera McDoom

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's army accused Ethiopian troops on Tuesday of attacking a military camp in northern Sudan and killing about 19 people.

A senior Ethiopian official played down the allegation, saying any "minor incident" on the border could be easily resolved.

Sudan's military spokesman said the attack took place early on Monday in the Jabel Hantub area of Sennar state.

"They hit a camp belonging to the central reserve police and they killed about 19 people," the Sudanese army spokesman said. He did not know how many people were injured....more..

Tension grows along Sudan-Ethiopia border (Sudane Tribune)

The newspaper said that Khalifa was accused by the Ethiopian authorities of offering concessions to Sudan on border issues. Sudan has turned down a request by its Eastern neighbor to hand over Khalifa...more..

Ethiopian soccer tournament fails to score with fans (Medill Report)

WASHINGTON--The teams at this year's African soccer tournament in Washington are playing to a nearly empty stadium. Ethiopian community groups are boycotting the annual event to protest the ... Click here to watch the vedio...

African Immigrants Among Obama's Enthusiastic Backers (WashingtonPost)

But the owner of Duke's City, Donato Sinaci, is not one of Obama's many young, white supporters. And the host of the event, Michael Endale, is not a native-born black American. They are members of Ethiopians for Obama, one of several campaign groups made up of African immigrants who are rallying around the first black American to win a major party's presidential primary, and the son of a Kenyan immigrant...more..

With Spies and Cellphones, Ethiopian Terror Touches Minnesota (New American Media)

“Every Ogadeni in Minnesota has friends or family who have been jailed, tortured, or killed. It seems there is no end to it. We could tell you stories all day for a whole week and still have more stories to tell you.”..more..

Living by Ethiopia's sewage canal (BBC)

But as long as extreme poverty in this country persists, families like the Alemus and the Wordfas will continue to live in a filthy no man's land on the banks of Addis Ababa's rivers...Full text..

Rights groups urge pressures on Ethiopia over repressive NGOs draft law(Sudan Tribune)

The United States and Britain, which collectively provide Ethiopia with more than $600 million in foreign assistance each year, are the Ethiopian government’s most important donors.

"Both governments have consistently failed to speak out publicly against longstanding patterns of repression and human rights violations including war crimes committed by Ethiopian armed forces in Somalia," the statement said....more...

Ethiopia: Gov't Prepares Assault On Civil Society (Scoop)

"Ethiopia's government has already made meaningful public engagement in governance impossible in many areas by persecuting its critics and cracking down on freedom of expression and assembly," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The clear intention of this legislation is to consolidate that trend by taking the 'non' out of 'nongovernmental' and putting civil society under government control."...more..

በጅማ ዩኒቨርሲቲ አንድ ተማሪ በጩቤ ተገደለ (Ethiopia Zare)

Ethiopia Zare (ረቡዕ ሰኔ 25 ቀን 2000 ዓ.ም. July 2, 2008)፦ ወጣት ደጉ ተስፋዬ ሰኔ 13 ቀን 2000 ዓ.ም ከጅማ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ትምህርቱን አጠናቅቆ ወደ ቤተሰቦቹ ለመመለስ ጊዜያዊ የትምህርት ማስረጃውን ይዞ፣ ዕቃውን ሸክፎ መናኸሪያ ከደረሰ በኋላ፤ የሞባይል ስልኩ ጠፍቶበት ስለነበር ስልኩ መገኘቱን የሚገልጽ መልዕክት ደርሶት ወደ ግቢው ሲመለስ ነው ሦስት ቦታ በጩቤ ተወግቶ የተገደለው።..more..

Somalia: The TFG/Ethiopia likely to derail the Djibouti Peace Accord (Somali Press Review)

As demonstrated by the deeds and actions of Ethiopia in the past, it has always played an outside spoiler in all the past Somali peace agreements and perpetuated the Somali crises for the past 17 years and illegally invaded Somalia on December 2006. In his response to this invasion, Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia stated that "Our defense force has been forced to enter a war to defend [against] the attacks from extremists and anti-Ethiopian forces and to protect the sovereignty of the land." This could not be farther from the truth, as Ethiopia has been Somalia's perennial enemy and its desire to cause eternal crisis in Somalia is its chief objective....more..

አፋኙ የፕሬስ ሕግ ዛሬ ፀደቀ (Ethiopia Zare)

ምርጫ 97ን ተከትሎ 21 ጋዜጠኞችን ከቅንጅት ከፍተኛ መሪዎች ጋር እስር ቤት ከከተተ በኋላ ያልታሰሩት የነፃው ፕሬስ ጋዜጠኞች አብዛኞቹ ሀገራቸውን ጥለው ለመሰደድ መገደዳቸው ይታወሳል። ከእስር ከተፈቱትና በፕሬስ ሥራ ላይ ለመሰማራት ፈቃድ የጠየቁትም መከልከላቸው ይታወቃል።..more..

Aid urgently needed to avert serious famine in Ethiopia: Unicef (AFP)

"I witnessed children die when I was present at the stabilisation centre. Government officials reported that children were already dying in villages where there was no access to therapeutic feeding," she said...more..

A Tangled Political Landscape Raises Questions About U.S. Ally (IPS)

These elections weren't even good enough to be rigged," asserts Bulcha Demeksa, a former United Nations and World Bank official who currently leads the OFDM and serves in Ethiopia's parliament. "A genuine dictatorship has been evolving."...more...

Ethiopia's Urban Poor Cannot Afford To Eat (IPS)

Really, again, the food crisis and, by extension, the energy crisis. We are lucky to have electricity today, but tomorrow we don't expect any. Energy meaning not only oil, but in the rural areas where we have 80% of the population, they are using firewood. There, they have to cut trees, and the deforestation of the country is really alarming, it's at about 30 percent now. There should be a policy to stop it. The poor farmers should be helped to plant trees and rewarded for planting trees. ...more..

Ethiopia: Meles Will Ultimately Fall—Are We Ready? (African Path)

Almost daily, we Ethiopians hear about another problem in the country that can be at least partially attributed to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his corrupt gang of leaders. The list is endless. Here are some, most all of which have been absurdly denied by the government of Meles as “fabricated” or exaggerations; others which have been blamed on others:

• drought and crop failures,
• skyrocketing inflation,
• starvation and malnourishment of millions of Ethiopians,
• the giving away of Ethiopian land to Sudan from Gondor to Gambella,
• the intimidation of the opposition
• EPRDF control of the recent election,
• the thousands of remaining political prisoners,
• the repression of the media,
• the increase in military spending rather than in feeding the people
• lack of agricultural development,
• the lack of progress in healthcare, access to clean water, education and infrastructure in most regions of the country,
• the lack of private enterprise and land ownership
• the gold-plated steel bars in our treasury,
• corruption in high places with great disparity between a select elite minority and the rest of an impoverished nation
• the human rights atrocities in the Ogaden, in the Afar region, in Beninshangul-Gumuz, in Oromia and other place
• constant need for hand-outs from the international community
• the inclusion of Ethiopia as being one of the worst countries in the world on most every index of well-being
• the pervasive lack of hope throughout the whole country
• the lack of unity in addressing these problems...click here to read more..

Stop British complicity in human rights abuses in Somalia (Respect)

This Government are never done talking about the shortcomings of African leaders. Just last week in Rome, the Secretary of State for International Development was roaring at Robert Mugabe, yet there has not been a squeak out of him, or any other Minister, about the much bigger crime in which we are ourselves deeply complicit. Is it any wonder that African opinion considers so much of what we have to say about misgovernance in Africa to be the deepest, most cynical hypocrisy?

Two weeks ago, Channel 4’s “Dispatches” team took terrifying risks to bring us the latest from occupied Mogadishu. That was undoubtedly an award-winning documentary. It was memorable for many reasons, not least the scene in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office when the Minister of State, Lord Malloch-Brown, his face frozen in horror, was confronted by Aidan Hartley with the central case of the documentary makers. For the benefit of Members who did not see the programme—the Minister will certainly have seen it; she would hardly be sent out to bat on this wicket without being shown it—that central case was that, in the grim prison state of occupied Somalia, the fingerprints of our country and our Government were all over the scene of the crime....more..

British law maker blasts Meles regime (Addisvoice)

British lawmaker blasts Meles regime

June 14, 2008 (AV) British Member of Parliament George Galloway has criticised the Meles regime for its continued aggression against Somalia while the people of Ethiopia are starving. He said that immediately after television viewers across the world watched shocking pictures of starving children, the Meles regime increased its military budget. "The US and Britain immediately pledged $90 million in famine relief. Just one week after its appeal to the international community for famine relief, the Ethiopian Government increased their military budget by $50 million to $400 million. The regime in Addis Ababa—when I knew them in the 1980s, they were pro-Albanian Maoists—are the most militarised and heavily armed in Africa." Mr Galloway also slammed the Ethiopian embassy in London which is to hold a grand party to celebrate the 17th anniversary of the coming to power of the TPLF. "The Ethiopian Government are having a beano in the Ethiopian embassy in London to celebrate the 17th anniversary of their coming to power, and it is going to be a very grand event. That event comes at a time when the Ethiopian Government’s own people are starving to death," he said. more..

UDJ UPDATE

UDJ CONGRESS BANNED ! Source Unity for Democracy and Justice

At about 4 o'clock pm today, the police told Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ)—former CUDP---that it cannot hold its Founding Congress which was scheduled to be held at the Imperial Hotel, tomorrow, Saturday, June 14, 2008. Their excuse is that we do not have prior permission for holding a public gathering. Peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the Ethiopian Constitution. There is no law that requires obtaining prior permission for indoor gathering. The hotel reservation was made over two weeks ago. The Hotel Management had informed the relevant authorities on the details of the gathering – a usual practice – over a week ago and were told that it could go ahead as scheduled. Then, suddenly, there came this ban on a Friday, at the end of the day's working hours, followed by a weekend. We believe that this was a deliberate measure calculated to prevent the Congress from taking place. It is an illegal measure that violated our constitutional right. Over 400 delegates were to attend the Congress at the Imperial Hotel. Two-thirds of these delegates have come from the Regions. The rest are from Addis. UDJ had spent over four months painstakingly preparing for this Congress. The preparation started with the gathering of founding-members signatures from throughout the country, the preparation of documents such as the Programme and Bylaw and the selection of delegates. We started our preparations with the full knowledge of the National Electoral Board. We have invested about 300,000 birr on this Congress and on various preparations leading to it. We are examining several options on what to do next. One of the options is to hold the Congress in-house: on the premises of our office. The space available is very limited, weather condition is not favorable. We may have to make drastic adjustments in our programme such as limiting activities, without affecting vital ones, and extending the meeting by a half day. We see the present obstacle before us as a challenge. The Congress will be held, if not tomorrow, then soon.

Unity for Democracy and Justice June 13, 2008 Addis Ababa

UN Security Council condemns Eritrean attack on Djibouti (IHT)

A statement approved by the 15 council members and read by its president at a formal meeting urged the nations to commit to a cease-fire and called on Djibouti and, in particular, its northern neighbor Eritrea, to show "maximum restraint" and withdraw forces from the border along Red Sea shipping lanes.....more..

Éthiopiques: sounds of Ethiopia the generals could not crush (Times Online)

It wasn’t always this way. In the late 1960s, Ethiopia was home to some of the funkiest big bands on the continent, long before the country was pegged as a drought-stricken hell by Band Aid. Forty years on, a concert at the Barbican in London on June 27 brings together for the first time the era’s greatest stars: the singers Mahmoud Ahmed and Alè-mayèhu Eshèté, the saxophonist Gétatchèw Mèkurya and pianist Mulatu Astatqé. Musically and emotionally, it promises to be among the gigs of the year. The following night they headline at Glastonbury, an inspired alternative to Jay-Z....more..

Somalia loosing identity: will Ethiopia alter the demography? (American Chrinicle)

One of the Ethiopian immigrants, Genet Mengesha, a 24-year-old mother of one and former university student, told Reuters News Agency at Port City of Bosasso, Somalia that she lost her brother and sister during public uprising against Meleze Sanawi in 2005. "It was not save for me to continue living in Ethiopia, because of the authorities were hunting those participated in the upraising." She added we are living in Somalia and there is no plan to go back to our homeland until Meleze regime is active....more..

Yacob Hailemariam removes himself from UDJ leadership (Ethiopian Review)

This coming weekend, UDJ will hold its general assembly meeting to decide how the party should move forward and to also elect new leaders. So far, five of the party’s most senior leaders, Ato Muluneh Eyoel, Dr Befikadu Degife, Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam, Dr Yacob Hailemariam, and Ato Seleshi Tena, have made their intention clear not be part of the leadership, citing the extremely hostile political climate in the country created by the U.S.-financed dictatorship of Meles Zenawi...more..

Will it ever be able to stave off starvation? ( Economist )

Mr Zenawi is particularly sensitive about famine talk. He has denied that pastoralists in the south are losing livestock to the drought or that the rates of malnutrition elsewhere are at all close to what foreign aid workers claim. The government has banned photographs of the starving and has told field workers not to give information to foreign journalists....more..

Rights group's report fabricated, says Ethiopia (Reuters)

he government said the U.S.-based group's "groundless" report was based on information provided by sympathisers of the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)....more..

Somali President attacked at Mogadishu airport agai( xinhuanet)n

MOGADISHU, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Islamist insurgents attacked the Mogadishu airport and the motorcade of Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf, for the third time in a month, as the president was to fly for Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, presidential spokesman confirmed to Xinhua on Thursday....more..

UK 'complicit in Ethiopian war crimes' (Telegraph)

Britain is "complicit" in war crimes in Ethiopia because it is "turning a blind eye" to sustained human rights abuses carried out on civilians by the country's armed forces, Human Rights Watch said today.

Women were raped until they were unconsciousness, children were tortured and tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes in a "scorched earth" campaign ordered by one of Britain's closest allies in Africa, Ethiopia's prime minister Meles Zenawi....more...

Ethiopia military accused of rape and torture in fight against rebels (Guadian)

Ethiopia's government has committed extensive war crimes and crimes against humanity during a brutal counterinsurgency campaign in the remote Ogaden region, a report says today.

Human Rights Watch accuses the Ethiopian military of extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, forcibly displacing thousands of civilians and using food as a weapon of war in its attempts to defeat the Ogaden National Liberation Front over the past year. Satellite images in the report show how villages have been razed to deny the rebels a support base. The images have been corroborated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science....more...

Also click here to get full report in pdf file

US denies it ignored rights abuse in Ethiopia (LA Times)

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. is aware of allegations of human rights abuses by Ethiopia's military but is continuing a military aid program in hopes the troops become more professional.

The country in the Horn of Africa is an ally in President Bush's fight against terrorism....more..

US Denies Silence on Rights Abuses in Ethiopia (VOA)

The United States said Thursday it has "persistently" expressed concern about human rights in Ethiopia with top officials in Addis Ababa, including alleged abuses in the Ogaden region. The comments follow an assertion by the monitoring group Human Rights Watch that the United States and key European countries have been silent on Ogaden rights violations. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department....more..

Ethiopian sets world record in one-hour run (CBC)

Ethiopia's Dire Tune set a new world record in the one-hour run during the Golden Spike Grand Prix meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Thursday....more..

Images back Ethiopia abuse claim (BBC)

US scientists say satellite images confirm reports that the Ethiopian military have burnt towns and villages in Ethiopia's Somali region.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science says the images back up a Human Rights Watch's report...more..

Group accuses Ethiopia of war crimes in Ogaden (Victoria Advocate)

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDYAssociated Press Writer

June 12, 2008 - 5:23 a.m.

Ethiopia's government is committing war crimes in its military campaign against rebels in the Ogaden region, a rights group charged Thursday in a report that complained the U.S. and other Western governments willfully ignored abuses....more..

West fails to condemn Ethiopia rights abuses: rights group (Reuters)

By Daniel Wallis

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Western donors have failed to condemn war crimes by Ethiopian forces during a year-old campaign against separatist fighters in the country's eastern Ogaden region, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday...more..

Cry for mother Ethiopia (Ethiopian Review)

We are hungry and destitute for variety of reasons. The single most important cause of hunger is ‘lack of sovereignty’. We are not in charge anymore. This trend did not start yesterday. We have been sliding towards this hellhole of ‘neo-colonial’ camp the last forty years or so. After assuming power the TPLF minority regime was too happy to facilitate the eventual take over of our country by the industrialized west and international bankers.

The mafia clique in charge is doing this not because they are evil, nor because they have a hidden agenda to destroy Ethiopia and liberate Tigrai. That is just a smoke screen. The people of Tigrai are made to feel insecure by waving Amhara Nationalism. The Amhara are made hostile towards all of Tigrains by overplaying the non-existent over development of the region at the expense of others. Meles and company are doing this because that is the only way they can stay in power. TPLF is not a mass based organization. In today’s Ethiopia they have no single interest group they can count on. Their main constituents are the foreigners.

On planet Earth the most vital resource is food. We all get sidetracked by this talk of oil, gold and other rare natural resources. If you think about it without food all others lose their value. Without human being the Earth will be another ball among billions in this vast wonderful universe we call home. At the moment this is the only place where life is known to exist. Without food to sustain us we will not exist. This is exactly our problem in Ethiopia. We do not have enough food to sustain us. But what happened to our food?

We are but just another victim of globalization and the new international order. The military regime, which assumed power after the ‘74 famine, was in the words of our beautiful son Teddy Afro ‘le lewte yalfeterew seltan lai seweta’ situation. The world was polarized between the West and the East and the Derg gravitated towards the Soviet Union. It was a time Russia’s power and influence was ascending and the US was on a retreat mode. The Soviets poured in arms and Cuban solders to reel us into their orbit. The illiterate and cruel Derg mowed down the most experienced older generation and the most educated new generation of our country. We became an empty shell of our former self...more..

Djibouti says clashes with Eritrean troops at border ( Reuters)

10 Jun 2008 19:57:41 GMT

Source: Reuters

DJIBOUTI, June 10 (Reuters) - Djiboutian soldiers clashed with Eritrean troops for the first time in a nearly two-month old standoff, Djiboutian state media reported on Tuesday. The Eritrean government was not immediately available for comment, and no independent confirmation of the clash was immediately available....more..

Famine-hit Ethiopia ups army budget (Aljazeera)

The Ethiopian government has announced plans to increase its military budget by $50m to $400m, just one week after it appealed for international help to tackle its worst famine in 25 years...more..

UDJP General Assembly Meeting to be Broadcasted Live (Ethiopolitics)

UDJP, in the mean time, is finalizing its preparation for the significant and historic meeting. The latest from the organizing committee reveals that the number of participants is 380, including the 30 others who were not invited first but the committee decided they should be included. 70 Dignitaries, Honoraries and Special Guests will attend the meeting at an observatory level...more..

Oklahoma State Senate passed Resolution on Ethiopia

Click here to read the Resolution...[pdf file]
Source Ethiopian Reveiw

Ethiopia eyes biofuels, says no risk to crops (Reuters)

Some 4.5 million Ethiopians need emergency food aid due to failed rains and high food prices, reviving grim memories of the country's 1984-1985 famine, which killed more than 1 million.

But the government also faces an annual fuel bill of up to $900 million, and aims to reduce that over time using biofuels....more..

Desperation as Ethiopia's hunger grows (BBC)

What we have seen in the villages is not famine - but it is a crisis.

Some say tens of thousands of children are at risk. I can believe that...more

የሎንዶኑ ህዝባዊ ውይይትና ተያያዥ ዜናዎች ዝርዝር ዘገባ ( ኢትዮጵያ ዛሬ)

አንድ ኢትዮጵያዊ ፖለቲከኛ “አባዱላ ገመዳ እና አዲሱ ለገሠ ሎንዶን ባደረጉት ህዝባዊ ስብሰባ ላይ ምንም አይነት ተቃውሞ ያላሰሙ ጥቂት ግለሰቦች ይሄንን ውይይት ለመቃወም መሞከራቸው አስቂኝ ሆኖብኛል” ብለዋል።...more..

“በወለጋው ግጭት የሞቱት ከ250 ይበልጣሉ” አቶ ቡልቻ ደመቅሣ ( Ethiopia Zare)

ኢህአዴግ ሀገሪቱን ሲቆጣጠር ትጥቅ ያስፈታው ደጋማውን ክልል ብቻ ነው የሚሉት አቶ ቡልቻ፤ በቤንሻንገል የሚኖሩ ሰዎች ትጥቅ ያልፈቱ በመሆኑ ጉዳቱን ማድረስ ችለዋል። ከኦሮሞ ወገን አንድም ጥይት የተኮሰ ሰው የለም የሚሉት አቶ ቡልቻ፤ ኦሮሞዎቹ ለዓመታት የያዙትን መሬት ልቀቁ በመባላቸውና አንለቅም በማለታቸው ምክንያት ድንገት በተፈጠረ ጥቃት ነው እልቂቱ የደረሰው። ...more..

Hunger in Ethiopia now spreading to adults (AP)

"To see adults in this condition, it's a very serious situation," Mieke Steenssens, a volunteer nurse with Doctors Without Borders, told The Associated Press as she registered the 5-foot-4 Usheto's weight at just 73 pounds.

Aid groups say the older victims suggest there is an escalation in the crisis in Ethiopia, a country that drew international attention in 1984 when a famine compounded by communist policies killed 1 million people....more..

Ethiopian commander killed in Somalia (Press TV)

Ethiopian troops are said to be in a state of shock and confusion over their leader's death...more..

Sudanese authorities release 26 Ethiopians they detained

Ethiopia and Sudan Border Issues Committee reports that 26 Ethiopians who were detained by Sudanese authorities have been released...Click here to read more [pdf, Amharic]

Source Ethiopian Review

Canada denies entry visa to Gambella Genocide suspect (Anyuak Media)

"Zenawi was virtually using Olum as a 'guinea pig' whether his visits to North America would pass unnoticed, or would provoke legal actions of both governments and the Ethiopian Diaspora," one analyst told Ethiomedia...more..

Dibaba on World Record, " I could have run faster." , by Bob Ramsak for IAAF (RunblogRun)

“The early part of the race was pretty good,” she said, “but at 3000m we were a little behind so then I had to catch up on the pace. I could have run faster if the pacing was a little better.”...more..
Tirunesh Dibaba with her
world record figures
(Getty Images)

Gambella Genocide Collaborator to Speak in Cana)da (Gambela Today)

"It's to me ironic, and in fact contradictory, that Canada would be granting (Olom) any type of visa, when we can't get in to see a Canadian citizen who's been held incommunicado for almost two years," McTeague said.

...more..

Gambellan Governor’s Visit Brings International Publicity to Genocide Despite Attempts to Evict Press (Anyuak Media)

Omot Olum was the one in fear who caved in to the pressure from this regime of death. By adopting the foundational principles of Meles—lying and deceit—he was rewarded for selling out on his people by his subsequent appointment as the un-elected governor. He did not need to flee for his life, because he was now initiated into the ranks of loyal collaborators. On the other hand, Okello Akway became a prime target of the EPRDF fury and had to flee for his life. He had seen Omot Olum hand over the list of the Anuak to be killed, something that could later on indict Omot Olum and others...Full text..