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..