Ethiopia's pardoned critic jailed (BBC)

Her colleague Berhanu Nega, who was also pardoned and now lives in exile, told the BBC it showed the government "was hell-bent on staying in power". ...more..

Top 10 Ethiopian Music Videos of 2008 (Ethiopian review)

Top 10 Ethiopian Music Videos of 2008

The Horn of Fear (galbeed)

Since January 2007 (the onset of Zenawi’s invasion) at least 870,000 civilians have fled the chaos in Mogadishu alone — two-thirds of the city’s population. Across south-central Somalia, 1.1 million Somalis are displaced from their homes.
[Following the invasion] Insurgent fighters quickly adopted hit-and-run tactics…Ethiopian and TFG forces developed patterns of responding to those attacks that have since become part of the day-to-day reality of life in Mogadishu — reacting to indiscriminate mortar attacks in kind, with devastating barrages of rocket, mortar, and artillery fire across populated neighborhoods.

ENDF [Ethiopian National Defense Forces] forces in Mogadishu have routinely and indiscriminately bombarded populated residential areas of Mogadishu since March 2007. They have made regular use of “Katyusha” rockets in Mogadishu, often fired from BM-21 “Grad” multiple-rocket launchers.

Ethiopian forces carried out similar indiscriminate bombardments in fighting in the strategically important town of Beletweyne. ENDF forces responded by indiscriminately bombarding large swathes of the western districts of the town for three days beginning in July 2008. Humanitarian organizations estimated that at the end of July, 74,000 people—more than 75 percent of the town’s population—had been displaced as a direct result of the bombardment and related fighting....read more...

In pictures: Red hot in Ethiopia (BBC)

EID MUBARAK !!!

Obama's Victory Shames Africa ( The Huffington Post)

"Government" doesn't care about the people, let alone provide them with basic social services (clean water, electricity or health). In fact, the role of government is not to serve but to fleece the people. It has been hijacked by a cabal of gangsters, who use the state machinery to enrich themselves, their cronies and tribesmen. The richest in Africa are heads of state and ministers. Says a tribal chief: "Here in Lesotho, we have two problems: Rats and the government."...more..

Disputing HRW's Irrefutable Facts with TPLF Propaganda (Ogaden Online)

How can a former TPLF soldier and an ex-Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs employee be tasked with investigating the very crimes that this ministry, the TPLF cadre, and the clique in Addis Ababa are accused of?...more..

Ethiopia - A cover for TPLF indefinitely(Nazret)

To survive in Ethiopia you have to become a registered TPLF voter and officially we were told that membership is now in tens of millions. New college graduates have no chance to get a job without being a member and survival depends on getting membership certificate.....more..

Ethiopia's dictator wants to talk with OLF (Ethiopian Review)

In January, a group of mediators drawn from 3 Oromo ethnic elders met OLF leaders, namely Dawd Ebsa and Temam Yosuf, in Amsterdam and signed with the rebel leaders a pact of agreement to come for peace talks under which the rebels agreed to accept Ethiopia’s constitution in principle....more..

Ali Bira & Kemer Yousuf: Traitors or Nationalists? (Oromo Affairs)

Much has been said on and off the Internet about Ali Bira’s and Kemer Yousuf’s visits to Ethiopia to perform there. To my knowledge, not since Leencoo Lataa’s visit to Ethiopia (purportedly to have Ibsa Gutema released from TPLF dungeon) has any Oromo’s visit there generated such a heated debate among our people. Opponents have painted them as traitors and sell-outs. The old adage “everyone can be bought” is heard a lot in reference to the two singers. Supporters, on the other hand, see no issues or concerns with what they have done and argue that their critics’ concerns are misplaced....more..

EPRDF failed Ethiopia but blames international community for "double standards" (Ethiomrdia)

The early anticipation, that EPRDF would be a harbinger of peace, justice, equality, democracy and economic salvation has been proven wrong. They have shown no sign of wanting to do this and it is increasingly becoming clear that it is finished now. As a ruling entity, it is in office but practically not in power. The system is paralysed, deeply disorganised and perhaps permanently damaged. Individual members do as they wish; pursuing their interests. Since EPRDF came to power, it failed to remain true to its promises. It has exploited our ethnic difference to divide us further and bring misery and endless conflicts. Yet unfortunately, many countries treat them as partners, especially in the fight against terrorism. Many Ethiopians found it difficult to fathom out how raping and strangling innocent girls and women in the remote Ogaden region could contribute positively to the war on terror. How can punishing, torturing, starving and killing the poverty-stricken pastoralists in the desert Ogaden weaken terror organisations? ...read more..

50,000 Ethiopians displaced by floods (AFP)

Ethiopia, home to 80 million people, is chronically hit by floods and droughts and is currently experiencing what UN and other relief organisations have described as a critical humanitarian situation...more..

Secretary Of State Clinton? Obama Should Not Sleep With Wolves (Black Star News)

Clinton developed special relationships with African dictators like Yoweri K. Museveni of Uganda and leaders of Rwanda, Paula Kagame; Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi; Eritrea, Afewerki; and Kenya, then Daniel arap Moi. Clinton then coined a bogus term, referring to these men as a "new breed of African leaders."...more..

The genius of America By Alemayehu G. Mariam (Galbeed)

Questions for Ethiopians: Can we….?Barack Obama got a resounding “Yes, we can!” from the American people to his questions. As Ethiopians we have many questions to answer: Can we produce leaders who inspire us with hope and faith in the future? Leaders who are able to put our humanity before our ethnicity, our Ethiopianity, our Africanity? Can we get leaders who can unite us as one people in an Ethiopian nation instead of keep us corralled in a nation of shredded nationalities? Can we get leaders who embrace the politics of unity and shun the politics of ethnic identity? Can we replace benighted demagogues with enlightened visionary leaders? Engage leaders with the courage of their convictions and hold accountable criminals who convict the innocents? Can we cultivate leaders who persuade by the power of their logic and substance of their arguments instead of dictators who measure their power by the diameter of the barrel of their guns and the caliber of their bullets? Can we develop leaders who speak truth to dictators living in gilded castles of lies? Can we replace brutes who rule by the law of the jungle with leaders who understand, believe in and practice the rule of law? Can we assemble leaders who respect the human rights and dignity of the least of their citizens and are committed to bringing to justice murderers and thugs who have built a memorial to their power on the gravesite of their innocent victims? I say, YES, WE CAN! Oh! Yes, we can. But first we must believe in the creed of our inner strength as a people: The unity of the Ethiopian people. The territorial integrity of the Ethiopian nation. The inalienable right of all Ethiopians to human rights and their entitlement to freedom and democracy....more..

Broken bones and body bags: horrors facing Ethiopian domestic workers(The Daily Star)

In one recent case, Mekdes Tesfaye Tefera's corpse was found with a noose around her neck. But the consulate has doubts that this was a self-inflicted death and has filed a police report.
"They always say, 'she killed herself,'" the social affairs officer said.
In the case of Zebiba Kedr, who is currently hospitalized, the consulate is working on having charges laid against the woman for whom she was working. The employers have stated that Kedr fell from the 12th floor of their building, but the head of the consular section said that when he went to see her in the hospital and asked her "Madame" had pushed her, she indicated 'yes' by blinking her eyes. read more...

G7 condemns the ongoing mass detention of Oromos Ethiopian Media Forum)

The Meles dictatorship is known for forging documents, producing fake witnesses and conjuring up spectacular crimes, such as treason and genocide against any one, even peaceful human right activists. Seen in this context, the recent mass detention of Oromos under the pretext of foiling a terror plot is a complete farce. We believe that it is an attempt by the regime to gain the sympathy of the new U.S. president...read more

የለውጥ ዝናብ መቼ ይሆን በኢትዮጵያ የሚያካፋው? (ግርማ ካሳ) (Ethiopia Zare)

ጥቂት ደቂቃዎች እንደቆየሁ ለቅሶው የደስታ ብቻ መሆኑ ቀረና የኀዘን እየሆነ መጣ። የተፍታታውና በፈገግታ የተሞላው ፊቴ መጥቆር ጀመረ። የተወለድኩባትና ማንነቴ የሆነችዋን ሀገሬ ኢትዮጵያን አሰብኩ። ድህነቷ፣ ለማኝነቷ፣ የልጆቿ በዘር መከፋፈል፣ የልጆቿ መራብ፣ የልጆቿ በዓለም ዙሪያ ሀገር እንደሌላቸው መበታተንና የልጆቿን መብት መረገጥ ወደ አዕምሮዬ ሲመጣ ውስጤ አዘነ።...more..

A Call for Ethiopians live in the Twin Cities and in greater MinnesotaAnyuak Media)

Right now, our Ogadeni and Somali brothers and sisters are being slaughtered and starved to death by the man who claims to be the leader of their own country, Meles Zenawi, and what is our response?.more..

Body of housemaid lying in UAE morgue for a month (Gulfnews)

"The cost of visa cancellation and obtaining departure permission is not more than Dh200 and must be shared by both," the official said...more..

Barack Obama has Opened Up a New Door of Opportunity and Now We Must Move Ahead! (Anuak Justice Council)

His language of acceptance, justice, unity, inclusiveness and hope was what attracted many supporters, but the road to the presidency required perseverance, sacrifice and hard work. History was made in front of our eyes and could be made in Ethiopia, but it cannot be done as long as we are divided. The antidote is the moral and spiritual transformation of our culture, one person at a time, into a people who can work together with humility and determination for a better future not only for themselves or their ethnic groups or regions, but also for other Ethiopians...more..