The Top 10 Gadgets of the Decade (ABC NEWS)

Ten years ago, we couldn't live without them. Today, they're inching closer and closer to obsolescence. read more....

Ethiopian Despot Hijacks Copenhagen Leadership Role (The MaGill Report)

To be more specific, the Meles regime has held its grip on power the past 18 years through the use of genocide, ethnic cleansing, gulag prisons, a sham court system, medieval property laws and the jailing, torture and lawless execution of civilians and political opponents. ...more..

The Obama Manifesto (Huffington Post)

...The Ethiopian junta, basking in American support for the War on Terror, overturns democratic elections and executes political opponents with impunity.....more..

Activist: Rights, liberties waning in Ethiopia ( AP )

What is very interesting to note in Ethiopia is sort of the opening of democratic space until 2005, and how that ... has constantly been shrinking, if not closing down since then," Daniel said in a telephone interview from Toronto. In keeping with Ethiopian custom, he uses his first name on second reference....more..

Spate of suicides by foreign maids in Lebanon sheds light on abuse (CNN)

London, England (CNN) -- A recent spate of suicides by foreign maids in Lebanon is prompting outrage among human rights groups, who say the government is doing too little to protect migrant domestic workers from severe abuse.
Over the past seven weeks at least 10 women have died, either by hanging themselves or by falling from tall buildings. Six of these cases have been reported in local media as suicides and four more have been described as possible work accidents....more..

OPINION | Ethiopia’s despot goes hunting for billions in Copenhagen ( Daily Planet)

Meles' 18-year rule of terror in Ethiopia has easily earned him a place alongside dictators such as Kim Jong-Il, Slobodan Milosevich, Muammar Qaddafi, Robert Mugabe, Omar al-Bashir, Than Swhe, and Ali Khamenei.
Would any of these despots be welcomed in Copenhagen? ...more..

›?Ç=„]ÁM (Awramba)

The Great Ethiopian Run to Freedom (Huffingtonpost)

In the annual "Great Ethiopian Run" that was held last week in Addis Abeba, one can see a fitting metaphor for a long and hard run for freedom in Ethiopia. The organizers and sponsors may have seen a clever money making gimmick in the event, but for the Ethiopian runners it was their one and only chance a year to collectively breathe the fresh air of freedom. It was their annual festival and gathering of peaceful mass protest for freedom and justice, and against tyranny and dictatorship in Ethiopia. On the day of the Great Run, Ethiopians who could afford to pay at least 50 birr got to say out loud what has been burdening their hearts, distressing their minds, agonizing their souls and searing every fiber in their bodies for the past year. The assembled crowd of 35,000 runners did not mind paying. Each one of them knew the fresh air of freedom, however fleeting and momentary, is priceless....more..

መልካም ኢድ !!!

EID MUBARAK !!!

Bege nagan gessan !!!

Ethiopian Opposition Slates U.S. Help for Ruling Party Company (Bloomberg)

“The American government is using public money to support a dictatorial government,” Beyene Petros, an opposition lawmaker from the Forum for Democratic Dialogue, said in a phone interview on Nov. 23. “This is simply crazy. I don’t know who is advising them or why they are doing this.”

As part of the deal, Almeda will produce restaurant uniforms and other garments for Atlas, which specializes in importing textiles to the U.S. from African countries eligible under AGOA. Ethiopian textile exports under AGOA were $18 million in 2008, lagging countries such as Lesotho, which exported $340 million in goods under the trade pact....more..

Africorruption, Inc. (Nazret)

Corruption persists in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa because the people who cling to power benefit from it enormously. Having FEAC investigate the architects and beneficiaries of corruption in Ethiopia is like having Tweedle Dee investigate Tweedle Dum. It is an exercise in futility and absurdity. FEAC’s claims of saving or thwarting the loss of billions of public birr by vigilant corruption detection and prosecution are laughable cock and bull stories. Most Ethiopians do not find corruption a laughing matter; but they do feel powerless and resigned to it. They view the whole anti-corruption effort with a jaded eye. At best, corruption control in Ethiopia today is a matter of triage: Does one start investigating corruption at the very top of the regime leadership, survey the bureaucratic middle and selectively prosecute, or focus on the petty local official and the street cop for dramatic effect?...more..

የታላቁ ሩጫ ተሳታፊዎች ወ/ት ብርቱካን እንድፈታ ጠየቁ፣ ተቃውሟቸውን ገለጹ (Ethiopia Zare)

ሯጩ ተሳታፊ ቤተመንግሥት በር ላይ ሲደርስ እየቆመ፤ “መሰናበቻ መሰናበቻ፣ ስድስት ወር ብቻ፣ … እንደፈራችሁ ደረስንባችሁ” በማለት በከፍተኛ ጩኸት ተቃውሞን ሲገልጽ ነበር። ፍትህ ሚኒስቴር በር ላይ ሲደርስ ደግሞ “ፍትህ የሌለው፣ ፍትህ ሚኒስቴር ነው” በማለት ሯጩ ህዝብ ሚኒስቴር መስሪያ ቤቱን አጣጥሎታል። ..read more...

Ethiopian election a campaign of intimidation (Globe and Mail)

The International Crisis Group, an independent think tank based in Brussels, says the Ethiopian government is controlling its population with neighbourhood committees, informers, media controls and high-tech surveillance.

“Thanks to Chinese electronic monitoring-and-control software, the government is able to block most opposition electronic communications when it desires,” the group said in a recent report.

“Few journalists, academics, human-rights advocates and intellectuals dare to publicly criticize the government. While self-censorship existed before the 2005 elections, it has now become widespread.”..more...

Ethiopia should probe political food aid claim: UK (Reuters)

Ethiopia should investigate allegations that local officials are keeping food aid from opposition members to force them to join the ruling party ahead of national elections, a British aid minister said on Tuesday....more..

The Zenawi-Shawel Handshake – the Anti-Thesis of Liberty & Democracy (Oromoindex)

Weyane is now under immense pressure from Medrek at home, from pro-democracy forces in Diaspora, from famine in Ethiopia, from the international community and, of course, from the Eritrean government. Being under such dire situation, the hegemonist Meles now got a saving handshake from the unitarist Hailu Shawel, who seems to have obsolete mentality. It is a fact that Hailu Shawel does have a support of a lot of Amharas, who are emotionally attached to him, not based on reason, but just based on the false Ethiopian patriotism. I hope they will slowly and surely get the true color of this dictator, and that they will opt for the genuine and lasting solution as pro-democracy Amharas in UDJ and G-7 are trying to do. The only lasting solution is union of all nations in the empire based on self-determination...more..

Ethiopia asks for urgent food aid (BBC)

The drought, brought on by four years of bad harvests, has been made worse by conflict, climate change and population growth.
BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says Ethiopian government policy banning land sales to keep people out of urban areas has also contributed.
All these other factors combined are at least as important as lack of rainfall, he says. ...more...

Ethiopia 2010: Here Comes Africa’s Festival of Electoral Fraud (New America Media)

Elections in Ethiopia under Zenawi’s dictatorship, now spanning two decades, have manifested two recurrent patterns. First, Zenawi has spared no effort to eliminate his opposition. He has used intimidation, threats, arbitrary arrests and detentions, bogus prosecutions, extreme violence, fraud and trickery to wipe out his opposition. Recently, Zenawi invited the opposition for 2010 election talks, but promptly demanded that they sign a “code of conduct” before discussions could be held. Leaders of an alliance of opposition parties under an umbrella organization known as Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia walked out of the talks, plainly sensing a trap. Zenawi retaliated by initiating a campaign of harassment and intimidation that sent nearly 500 opposition members to detention....more...

Ethiopia: Ethnic Federalism and Its Discontents (Crisis Group)

...Furthermore, ethnic federalism has failed to resolve the “national question”. The EPRDF’s ethnic policy has empowered some groups but has not been accompanied by dialogue and reconciliation. For Amhara and national elites, ethnic federalism impedes a strong, unitary nation-state. For ethno-national rebel groups like the ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front; Somalis in the Oga­den) and OLF (Oromo Liberation Front; the Oromo), ethnic federalism remains artificial. While the concept has failed to accommodate grievances, it has powerfully promoted ethnic self-awareness among all groups. The international community has ignored or downplayed all these problems. Some donors appear to consider food security more important than democracy in Ethiopia, but they neglect the increased ethnic awareness and tensions created by the regionalisation policy and their potentially explosive consequences....click here to read more in PDF format..

Human rights violations and conflicts continue to cause displacement (IDMC)

he ongoing conflicts in Somali Region between the army and the Ogaden National Liberation Front, and in the south and south-west of the country with the Oromo Liberation Front, both pose serious security, humanitarian and protection challenges. The impact on civilians of the conflict in Somali Region has been likened to that of Darfur. Meanwhile, there are also conflicts in at least five of the country’s nine regions with causes ranging from competition over scarce water and pasture resources to disputes over administrative boundaries. In February 2009 alone, some 160,000 people were driven from their homes by conflict between the Garre of the Somali region and the Boran of the Oromiya region over a contested piece of land. ...more..

Africa’s problem is corruption and leaders’ insatiable greed (New Vision)

We all know that very few African countries are in the business of manufacturing arms of any kind save for South Africa. We are all net importers of military armaments we deploy in our conflicts. We don’t even manufacture gas masks, teargas, bullet-proof vests and helmets. All we export to industrialised Europe, America and China are raw materials like oil, diamonds, gold, uranium, tea and coffee, most of which they extract themselves and pay us peanuts for! In exchange, our countries have huge and secretive military budgets that we must spend year in year out whether we are at war or not. ...more..