Rising Price of Gas Impacting Daily Life in Ethiopia (Christian Children's Fund)

“We can no longer afford a proper breakfast for the whole family,” Hulagerish said. “We give priority to the youngest kids. We can’t invite guests or relatives home anymore and we feel bad when relatives visit us unexpectedly as we cannot even offer them tea.”...more..

Hundreds of Ethiopian troops have died fighting Islamist insurgents in Somalia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: A government spokesman says hundreds of Ethiopian troops have died fighting the Islamist insurgency in Somalia.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Wahide Belay said Tuesday that Ethiopia has about 3,000 troops in Somalia.

They deployed in December 2006 and drove out Islamist fighters who had seized control of most of southern Somalia including the capital, Mogadishu. But since then they have got bogged down and failed to halt the insurgents. Source: International Heral Tribune.

Report: Arrested "pirates of Ponant" related to Somali president(Waridaad)

Le Point said their identities, as members of the same Darod- Majteen clan as the president, have been confirmed by several French government sources...more..

Worldwide March for Freedom, Justice and Human Rights in Ethiopia (Anuak Justice Council)

Plans are well underway for the four-day event, Worldwide March for Freedom, Justice and Human Rights in Ethiopia, starting on May 15, 2008 and ending on Sunday, March 18, but the invitation is still open for more people to join in as organizers and support people. Teleconference meetings are being held daily to assist participants in the process....more..

Entertainment monthly’s deputy editor freed on bail( Reporters Without Boarders)

Alemayehu Mahtemework, the deputy editor of the entertainment monthly Enku, and the three other people who were arrested at the same time as him were released on bail today despite the existence of a court order authorising their detention for 14 days pending trial....more..

Ethiopia accuses Amnesty of smear campaign(Reuters)

"In light of the devastating testimony we received from ordinary Somalis who have been the victims of brutal attacks by all parties to the conflict, we expect the Ethiopian government to support a call for an international independent commission into the serious crimes being committed," a spokesperson said....more..

Somali refugees speak of horrific war crimes (Guardin UK)

The Amnesty report said: "Among the most common violations reported were an increased incidence of gang rape, and scores of reports of a type of killing locally referred to as ... 'killing like goats'."..more..

Rebels fear Puntland, Ethiopia secret pact(Afro News)

The secret pact was forged to provide arms and military training for Puntland authorities, a clear violation of the United Nations arms embargo on Somalia, ONLF complained.

Happy Mother's Day- Sweden Best, Ethiopia Worst Place for Mothers and Children(Injury board)

On the other end of the scale are countries where mothers face the greatest hardship.

Include Niger, Chad, Yemen, Sierra Leone, Angola, Guinea Bissa, Eritrea, Djibouti, Mali and Ethiopia...more..

Murder attempt against Puntland's last woman TV presenter (Nieuws bank)

"A terrible tragedy has been narrowly avoided in this country, which was in 2007, the deadliest for journalists in Africa. Bisharo Mohammed Waeys's forced descent into life under guard symbolises a serious step backwards for Somalia since the outbreak of war between the transitional government and Islamic insurgents," the worldwide press freedom organisation said....more..

Meles Zenawi is back to business (Ethiomedia)

In fact, survival as a country is the most critical problem facing Ethiopia at the moment. In addition to his humiliation and repression of its citizens, Meles Zenawi is continuing his despicable task of violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia. He is holding Ethiopia hostage and functioning as a patronage for foreign interest in the country and the region. He has always fought and stood against the national interest of Ethiopia as a reaffirmation of his allegiance to his foreign backers and financiers...more..

The causes of the current Ethiopian soaring inflation rate( Ethiomedia)

In fact, this is not the first time that Mr. Zenawi deceptively used the millions of destitute Ethiopian peasants to his political advantage. As Kahsay Berhe in his 2005 book aptly put it, all that Meles Zenawi has done, beginning in the 1970s, is control the socioeconomic life of the peasantry (see pp. 74-76). Not only is Meles Zenawi controlling the life of the peasantry, but his party has also been extorting the peasantry by levying its exorbitant and...more..

Elections, Qatar, Commodity Exchange and Teddy Afro –(Quatero)

....When there is too much noise from the regime, you know something is up. You have to be alert to separate the chaff from the grain. They just throw everything at you. This time their main aim was to deflect attention from the sham ‘election’ they were orchestrating. It was considered to be a non-event by everybody except the regime....more..

Solve Ethiopia’s governance crises (Business Daily Afrivca)

Why the regime prefers to go through the motion of an election, when it has literally zero interest or commitment to honour the choices and voices of the people particularly when they vote for opposition party candidates, strikes any impartial observer as nothing else but activities that are supremely diversionary, opportunistic, cynical and immoral. It is the regime’s indulgence which appears to be a cruel joke on the people....more

Somali children freed from mosque (BBC)

...Among the dead were religious leaders from the Tabliq Sufi sect, which had stayed out of the conflict.

The UN emergency relief co-ordinator John Holmes has called for action against those involved in the attack....more..

Amnesty urges Ethiopia to probe Mogadishu mosque executions (AFP)

...Seven of the 21 killed at the mosque were reported to have had their throats cut, a form of illegal execution practised by Ethiopian troops in Somalia," it said...more..

Somalia/Ethiopia: Deliberate killing of civilians is a war crime (African Press Organization)

“Deliberately killing civilians is a war crime,” said Amnesty International. “We call on the Ethiopian government to ensure an independent investigation is carried out into the raid on the mosque and the subsequent treatment of those detained by its forces.”..more..

Ethiopia denies Amnesty’s accusation of killings at mosque (The Peninsula

Some moderate Islamist leaders in Somalia have postponed plans to attend UN-sponsored peace talks after the mosque incident and an escalation of fighting in Mogadishu...more..

Army slit throats in mosque, says Amnesty (Herald sun)

"Eye-witnesses report that those killed inside the mosque were unarmed civilians taking no active part in hostilities," Amnesty said.

"Seven of the 21 were reported to have died after their throats were cut - a form of extra-judicial execution practiced by Ethiopian forces in Somalia.". ...more..

Internet Enemies (Reporter Without boarder)

The government in May 2006 blocked access to opposition websites and the most read blogs. The information ministry said at the time that “technical problems do occur from time to time (...) but [that its] intention was not to censor". The blog platform, Blogspot.com, was blocked preventing Internet-users from communicating and getting out information about the situation in the country. The Ethiopian blog and news portal Nazret.com, was also blocked....more..