Ethiopia and Egypt pledge troops for Darfur

31 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia and Egypt will each send 850 troops early in the new year to serve with a joint United Nations-African Union force in Sudan's Darfur region, an AU official told Reuters on Monday. more >>

Gebrselassie believes in more world records

30 December, 2007

World Marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie believes he can lower his mark still further when he takes part in the Dubai Marathon on Jan 18. more >>

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Issues Press Statement

MFA Issues Press Statement

27 December, 2007

The version of the story about an incident along Ethiopia Eritrea border recounted by Eritrea on Dec.26, 2007 is not based on what really took place. more >>

UN mission calls on Ethiopia, Eritrea to show restraint after shooting incident

United Nations News Service

27 December, 2007

The United Nations peacekeeping mission monitoring the ceasefire between Ethiopia and Eritrea today called on both sides to show maximum restraint after a shooting incident in the border area where the two countries fought a two-year war that ended in 2000. more >>

TPLF’s small-scale attack in Eritrean sovereign territory meets with failure

By Staff - shabait.com

27 December, 2007

Asmara – In continuation to its ongoing provocations against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Eritrea, the TPLF regime has unleashed a relatively small scale attack at exactly 03:00 am local time yesterday December 25 more >>

Ethiopia government praises Burundi deployment in Somalia

27 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia on Thursday welcomed the recent deployment of Burundian peacekeepers to Somalia and asked for more help from the African Union in its struggle with Islamist insurgents there. more >>

Ethiopia activists get 2 1/2-year jail sentence

26 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Two human rights activists received a two-and-a-half year jail sentence on Wednesday for inciting post-election violence in 2005, but will walk free within days as they have already served their prison time. more >>

Escalating Somali conflict 'second Iraq' for world: Eritrea

26 December, 2007

NAIROBI (AFP) - The escalating Somali conflict is a "second Iraq" for Ethiopia and its international partners who supported the country's invasion, said Eritrea's information ministry a year on from the invasion. more >>

Fear of war increasing in Horn of Africa

26 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Isayas Gabriel remembers when tens of thousands of his fellow soldiers were cut down during Ethiopia's last war with Eritrea, a 2 1/2 year bloodbath over a seemingly insignificant border town called Badme. more >>

Former Zambian leader Kenneth Kaunda visit the tree he planted on May 25, 1963

25 December, 2007

Former Zambian leader Kenneth Kaunda (Phd), who led his country in its first years as an independent state, returned to Addis Abeba last week to petition for Ethiopia's support for his country's nominee for chairman of the Africa Union (AU) Commission. more >>

Ethiopian Migrant Workers Get Life Insurance

25 December, 2007

The Ethiopian Private Employer Agencies Association (EPEAA) made an agreement with the Ethiopian Insurance Corporation (EIC) last week on December 20, 2007 to insure tens of thousands of people, mostly women, sent to the Middle East to work as domestic servants, labourers and other unskilled employees. more >>

British designer Matthew Williamson fingered in cultural piracy

24 December, 2007

The pressure against Matthew Williamson, a British high profile designer, who has introduced Ethiopian national dresses in his spring/summer ‘08 collections, is mounting worldwide. more >>

Ethiopia activists found guilty - BBC NEWS

24 December, 2007

An Ethiopian court has convicted two anti-poverty activists of inciting violence after the elections in 2005.

Daniel Bekele, who works for ActionAid International, and local charity worker Netsanet Demissie could face up to 10 years in prison. more >>

Ethiopia Playing the US Game in Somalia

Gwynne Dyer, Arab News

24 December, 2007

It is exactly a year since Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, fell to Ethiopian troops (Dec. 28), and the occupation has been one of the most brutal on record. The resistance started at once, and Ethiopian counterinsurgency tactics are not gentle. more >>

Ethiopia Marks Yearlong Occupation in Somalia

By Joe De Capua - VOA Washington

24 December, 2007

It was Christmas Day a year ago that the situation in Somalia changed dramatically. That’s when Ethiopia invaded and drove out forces belonging to the Islamic Courts Union. However, Ethiopia’s initial, decisive military victory has turned into a yearlong occupation with no end in sight. more >>

Ethiopia banks on coffee harvest growth

24 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - The Ethiopian government said Monday it was banking on an eight percent growth in coffee harvests for the coming season. more >>

Ethiopia reports influx of Eritrean refugees fleeing oppression

22 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Ethiopia claimed on Saturday it was receiving an influx of around 600 Eritreans fleeing political oppression in their country every month. more >>

30,000 people sponsor Aids orphans in Ethiopia

22 December, 2007

A coalition of NGOs and charities has collected over 30,000 personal pledges in support of Ethiopian children affected by HIV/Aids. more >>

Draft parties registration law raises controversy

22 December, 2007

A draft political parties registration proclamation has met resistance from the opposition in parliament.The draft proclamation, which will replace the current one governing the laws of registration, has added articles restricting sources of donation for locally registered parties. more >>

Two men appear in court on drug charges

By Geoffrey Fattah - Deseret Morning News

22 December, 2007

Two Utah resident refugees accused of importing more than 400 pounds of an exotic stimulant from Ethiopia made an appearance in federal court Friday. more >>

Eritrean opposition urges overthrow of government

22 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Eritrean opposition groups should help each other bring down the pro-Ethiopian government of President Isaias Afwerki, the Walta News Agency quoted one opposition leader as saying on Friday. more >>

TAKE ACTION! BRING ETHIOPIAN ACTIVISTS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

20 December, 2007

Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie, human rights lawyers and coordinators of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) in Ethiopia, have been in detention for more than two years for treason-related charges. If found guilty, they could face life in jail or the death sentence. more >>

Oil in 2008: Still strong but not at $100 says UBS

www.financialmirror.com

20 December, 2007

The year 2007 saw crude oil break free and march towards the USD 100 mark on the back of continued strong demand from Asia, low crude oil stocks in the US, and geopolitical tensions across the Middle East. more >>

Ethiopia wins trademark rights for coffee brands

20 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia has successfully won trademark rights for its specialty Harar and Sidamo coffee names, it said in a statement on Thursday. more >>

Tigrayans want end to border row

By Elizabeth Blunt - BBC News, Mekelle, Ethiopia

20 December, 2007

The mountains of eastern Tigray in Ethiopia are bare and brown just three months after the end of the rains. The people in the region are skilled farmers and hard workers but even they struggle to support their families from their tiny patches of worn-out land. more >>

Ethiopia PM accuses UN of exaggerating situation in Somalia: BBC

20 December, 2007

NAIROBI (AFP) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in a BBC interview broadcast Thursday accused UN agencies of exaggerating the humanitarian and security emergency in Somalia, a country increasingly running adrift in the face of an insurgency. more >>

Ethiopia cracks open airwaves to commercial radio

By Nicholas Benequista | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

19 December, 2007

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - By most accounts, Meaza Birru is patient. Not easily daunted, she waited eight years to have a commercial radio station – the first in Ethiopia. more >>

Commodity Exchange Pushes Opening Back Two Months

18 December, 2007

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECEx), which was due to begin operations last week on December 12, has postponed opening for two months due to delays in installing equipment. more >>

Monument to Cuban Internationalists dedicated in Addis Abba

18 December, 2007

ADDIS ABBA — Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo and Tesome Toga, the Ethiopian parliamentary president, today inaugurated in this capital city the Monument Park dedicated to Cuban internationalists who died in this African country. more >>

Bodies of 56 migrants found on Yemen coast: report

18 December, 2007

SANAA (AFP) - The bodies of 56 illegal immigrants, mostly from Somalia and Ethiopia, have been found on the south coast of Yemen, the official SABA news agency reported on Tuesday. more >>

AACRA says Gotera interchange roads project being speeded up

17 December, 2007

Addis Ababa city roads authority (AACRA) announced that construction of Gotera Interchange Roads- a flyovers and interchange squares project, is being speeded up. more >>

Oromia to build TV station

By Muluken Yewondwossen - Capital

17 December, 2007

The Oromia Regional State government has signed a contract agreement with EURO-tel, an Italian telecommunications company, to build a television station and transmitters, on Friday December 14, 2007 at the regional president’s office. more >>

Will Democrats Punish Another Ally in the War on Terror?

By Patrick Poole www.pajamasmedia.com

16 December, 2007

Ethiopia has ousted the Al Qaeda-backed Islamic Courts Union in Somalia and pledged 5,000 troops to a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur. Yet a bill that prohibits the US from providing financial and military support to the country has made its way to the Senate. Patrick Poole reports on a possible setback for American foreign policy. more >>

Ethiopian roses cast shadow over coffee

16 December, 2007

HOLETA, Ethiopia (AFP) — The smell of flowers is displacing the aroma of coffee as a driving force in the Ethiopian economy. more >>

U.S. Company to Aquire Oil Exploration Area (www.angolapress-angop.ao)

16 December, 2007

Addis Ababa - A US based company called Inter Global is to acquire oil exploration areas in Ethiopia. The exploration areas are found in the Afar Regional State, Tigrai and eastern part of the Amhara Regional State. more >>

Somalia's top clan says Ethiopian pullout only end to deadlock

16 December, 2007

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Ethiopian troops must leave Somalia for the country's ailing transitional institutions to garner any legitimacy and a political solution to emerge, leaders from Somalia's top clan said Thursday. more >>

Iran, Ethiopia boost bilateral ties - PRESS TV

15 December, 2007

Iranian and Ethiopian officials discuss opening the Ethiopian embassy in Tehran in a bid to boost bilateral and economic relations. more >>

Hailu suspends five CUD leadership members Blames Berhanu for CUD division

15 December, 2007

Hailu Shawel, chairman of the former Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), this Tuesday wrote a letter to the party's Supreme Council in which he suspended five leadership members. more >>

Nokia Siemens to connect rural Ethiopia

General, HANA Staff - By Andualem Gessesse

14 December, 2007

Nokia Siemens, a joint venture of Siemens Communications and Nokia Networks Business Group, has announced plans to expand its business in Ethiopia to reach the rural parts of the country. more >>

UA law school chosen to help create graduate law programs in Ethiopia

TuscaloosaNews.com

14 December, 2007

The University of Alabama School of Law was recently chosen by the Ethiopian government to help that country build its graduate law programs. more >>

Ethiopians get texting in Amharic

By Elizabeth Blunt - BBC News, Addis Ababa

13 December, 2007

A new range of mobile phones has just gone on sale in Ethiopia, with the onscreen menu in Amharic, and the ability to send SMS text messages in the Geez script - used for Amharic and other languages in the region. more >>

Ethiopia to Provide Family Planning for Over 8 Million Citizens

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)

13 December, 2007

The government is set to provide family planning services to 8.5 million mothers across the country during the current Ethiopian year, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday. more >>

Locust infestation serious in Kenya and Ethiopia, says FAO

13 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (IRIN) - The locust infestation remains serious in northeast Kenya and southeast Ethiopia, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). more >>

East Africa peace bloc urges Eritrea return

13 December, 2007

NAIROBI (AFP) - An East African peacemaking bloc on Wednesday urged Eritrea to return to the fold, seven months after it pulled out, undermining efforts to restore regional stability, Kenyan officials said. more >>

Ethiopia, on Verge of Halting Oil Imports from Sudan, Looks to Saudi Arabia

12 December, 2007

Ethiopia is on the verge of halting petroleum product imports from Sudan, and may be forced to pay as much as 10 million dollars more every year to get its fuel from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations. more >>

Government Plans to Build Dry Ports in Modjo and Mille

12 December, 2007

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) will construct two dry ports for lorries and trains with a projected cost of 300 million Br. The Ministry annexed 140hct of land in Modjo and Mille for the facilities, paying four million Birr in compensation to the displaced farmers. more >>

Indian firm plans $451 mln potash mine in Ethiopia

12 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia said it had signed an agreement with an Indian mining firm on Tuesday to establish a $451 million factory to mine potash, a key ingredient in fertiliser, in the arid Afar desert. more >>

Genet Mengesha: "Yemen is still my destination"

10 December, 2007

BOSASSO (IRIN) - Genet Mengesha, a 24-year-old mother of one and former university student, left her home in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, shortly after the 2005 elections to reach Yemen through the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia. more >>

Petronas and Sinopec in Ethiopia exploration talks

By Tsegaye Tadesse

10 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Malaysia's Petronas [PETR.UL] and China's Sinopec (0386.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) remain in talks to resume oil and gas prospecting in Ethiopia's Ogaden region, where rebels killed Chinese workers in April, the Ethiopian government said on Monday. more >>

Opposition MPs divided on H.R. 2003

By Kirubel Tadesse - Capital

10 December, 2007

H.R. 2003, Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007, which its supporters claim helps to encourage and facilitate the consolidation of peace and security, respect for human rights, democracy, and economic freedom in Ethiopia, can’t gain the full support of Ethiopian opposition Members of Parliament as it did in the US House of Representatives. more >>

Authority to issue new driving license

By Muluken Yewondwossen - Capital

10 December, 2007

The Federal Transport Authority is set to change the current graded licenses to professional driving licenses. Kassahun Hailemariam, Transport Authority director general, said, “The significance of this change is to minimize car accident and to adopt international standards.” more >>

Cameroon Group to Sue Ethiopian Airlines Over Parrot Smuggling - Report

The Daily Monitor, Addis Ababa

09 December, 2007

A wildlife conservation group in Cameroon is considering to sue the Ethiopian Airlines for complicity after it caught smugglers trying to take 1,000 African Grey parrots out of the central African country. more >>

European collaboration to support African science

SciDev.Net

09 December, 2007

[BRUSSELS] A new initiative aims to enhance scientific research and innovation partnerships between developed nations and Africa by linking research collaboration programmes with the private sector. more >>

EU-Africa Summit Should Take Concrete Steps to Tackle Rights Abuses

Human Rights Watch

08 December, 2007

European and African leaders should go beyond promises and act to end atrocities, hold abusers to account and combat corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. The first European Union-Africa summit for seven years will be held in Lisbon on December 8-9, 2007. more >>

Angelina wouldn't intentionally adopt a non-orphan'

08 December, 2007

By WENN Angelina Jolie would have never adopted her Ethiopian daughter Zahara if she'd known her mother was alive, according to the actress' brother. more >>

Three Britons to be released from Guantanamo Bay, Ethiopian national will remain

Scotsman.com News

08 December, 2007

THREE of five British residents held at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay will soon be released under a repatriation agreement with the British Government, an attorney for one of the detainees said. more >>

Condoleezza Rice Interview With Tefera Ggedamu of Ethiopia TV

08 December, 2007

We are looking at exactly that because we are very concerned about the efforts of Eritrea and what it is doing. And in fact, we have taken some steps because the support for irregular forces, for terrorist forces is simply unacceptable. more >>

Star planter Ethiopia to intensify tree planting next year: official

07 December, 2007

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Star tree-planter Ethiopia will intensify its re-afforestation drive in 2008, which earned the country a pole position in the world for planting 700 million trees this year, an official said Thursday. more >>

UN relief chief sounds alarm about crises in Ethiopia, Darfur and Somalia

United Nations News Service

07 December, 2007

The grave humanitarian conditions in south-eastern Ethiopia, the Darfur region of Sudan and Somalia could substantially worsen in the months ahead, the top United Nations relief official told the Security Council today as he briefed members on his recent visit to Africa. more >>

Ethiopia-Eritrea: U.S. Policy Towards the Border Dispute

Bureau for African Affairs Washington, DC

07 December, 2007

United States policy toward the boundary impasse between Eritrea and Ethiopia is and has been for both governments to respect commitments in the Algiers Agreements, comply with relevant Resolutions of the UNSC, and engage directly to implement the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s (EEBC) delimitation decision and address issues that divide them. more >>

Highway linking Sudan, Ethiopia inaugurated

07 December, 2007

A continental highway linking Sudan and Ethiopia was inaugurated on Thursday by Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in eastern Sudan. more >>

Ethiopian-American wins Guardian First Book Award

Sarah Crown - Guardian Unlimited

06 December, 2007

A novel that tackles fraught questions of identity, dislocation and loneliness through the life of an Ethiopian émigré in the US has taken this year's Guardian First Book Award. more >>

Tension grows, again, between Ethiopia and Eritrea

Economist.com

06 December, 2007

The likelihood of conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea is at its highest level in seven years. Eritrea is in the weaker position, politically and economically. more >>

Jailed Eritrean wins media prize

06 December, 2007

A jailed Eritrean reporter has been named journalist of the year by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. Seyoum Tsehaye has not been allowed a visit from his family or lawyer during his six years in prison, RWB says. more >>

Rice's visit to Ethiopia puts focus on ally accused of human rights abuses

By Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Newspapers

05 December, 2007

NAIROBI, Kenya — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Ethiopia this week puts a spotlight on the tight but troubled relationship between the United States and the volatile Horn of Africa nation. more >>

House passed decisions on number of seats for Addis Ababa city, Dire Dawa Town Administrative councils

05 December, 2007

Addis Ababa - The House of Peoples Representatives (HPR) on Tuesday deliberated and passed decisions on the number of Seats for the Addis Ababa City and the Dire Dawa Town Administrative Councils. more >>

Ethiopia Telecommunications (ETC) to release 3G services

Highway Africa News Agency

04 December, 2007

The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) is finalizing preparations to launch 3G (Third Generation) mobile services in fifty selected areas to corporate customers and its professionals. more >>

HR 2003 violates Ethiopian constitution: Meles

By Andualem Sisay - Capital

03 December, 2007

HR 2003, the bill in the US Senate on Ethiopia formulated to with advancing human rights and democracy in the country, violates the Ethiopian Federal Constitution, said Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. more >>

Starbucks to buy aprons from Almeda to promote Ethiopia garments

01 December, 2007

Executives of the US coffee company Starbucks are negotiating with Almeda Textile Factory to manufacture its black aprons here in Ethiopia. more >>

Asmara, the magnet for opponents

Weblog Ethiopia

01 December, 2007

A small country with big ambitions, Eritrea has become the headquarters of opponents from all over the Horn of Africa. Asmara uses them against Ethiopia or as bargaining counters to make its presence felt on the regional diplomatic scene. But its aid is not without obligations, as many of its “guests” have found out to their cost. more >>

Sheraton project manager placed under police custody

01 December, 2007

The police recently apprehended here in Addis Ababa the manager of the Sheraton and Nani building projects, being undertaken by Midroc Construction, in connection with allegedly stolen goods estimated worth 2.5 million birr, sources told The Reporter. more >>