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..