Ethiopian troops packing up to leave Somalia

31 December, 2008

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Ethiopian troops who have been propping up Somalia's government for the past two years were packing up to leave Wednesday amid fears their departure will allow a strengthening Islamic insurgency to take over. more >>

Ethiopian Police Re-Arrest Opposition Leader Birtukan Mideksa

30 December, 2008

(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopian federal police re-arrested opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa a year after she was released on a pardon following her arrest during the country’s disputed 2005 elections. more >>

Israel warns Gaza blitz could last weeks

30 December, 2008

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israel bombed Gaza for a fourth day on Tuesday, warning the blitz that has killed at least 360 people could last for weeks, as Hamas fired back with deadly rockets landing deep inside the Jewish state. more >>

Somali President Yusuf resigns, appoints speaker

29 December, 2008

BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) – Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf resigned on Monday, ending a deadlock at the top of the interim government and paving the way for a new administration in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation. more >>

NGOs in Ethiopia hit out at new aid agency bill

27 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Aid agencies in Ethiopia hit out Wednesday at planned legislation that would impose heavy restrictions on foreign-funded humanitarian groups, saying the regulations would hamstring their work. more >>

Over 5,000 Sudanese repatriated from Ethiopia in 2008

26 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – The United Nations refugee agency has repatriated more than 5,000 Sudanese refugees from Ethiopia this year, a government body said on Thursday. more >>

Somalis held in Ethiopia capital

26 December, 2008

Hundreds of young Somalis have been arrested in the past few days in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. more >>

Somali president decides to resign

24 December, 2008

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf has decided to resign, his spokesman said on Wednesday, in a move the African Union said would be positive for the peace process in the Horn of Africa nation. more >>

Somalia: To Move Beyond the Failed State - International Crisis Group

24 December, 2008

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Since 1991 Somalia has been the archetypal failed state. Several attempts to create a transitional set-up have failed, and the current one is on the brink of collapse, overtaken yet again by an Islamist insurgency, despite the support of an Ethiopian military intervention since December 2006. more >>

Largest China-foreign joint school to founded in Ethiopia

24 December, 2008

BEIJING (Xinhua) -- China and Ethiopia will join together in early 2009 to establish a vocational school for Ethiopians, the two ministries of education said Wednesday. more >>

Tamrat Layne Says Enjoys Freedom, Becomes Deeply Religious

23 December, 2008

Addis Fortune - When marching to Addis Abeba in 1991, alongside his comrade-in-battle, Tamrat Layne, prime minister during the transitional government in the early 1990s, did not need to have his own home, as he did not have one when he left to join the armed struggle against the Derg in the late 1970s. more >>

Ethiopian clerics seek constitutional ban on homosexuality

23 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Religious leaders in Ethiopia on Monday urged lawmakers to amend the country's constitution to ban homosexuality in a move they argue could further strengthen existing codes. more >>

Toyota sees first operating loss as sales slump

22 December, 2008

NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp forecast a first-ever annual operating loss, blaming a relentless sales slide and a crippling rise in the yen in what it said was an emergency unprecedented in its 70-year history. more >>

Tiny tribe claim Ethiopian allegiance in border row with Eritrea

22 December, 2008

DOHAN, Ethiopia (AFP) — “The Irob people have their own culture and language, it is a proper ethnic group inside the regional government of Tigray and by history this area has always been within Ethiopian boundaries,” more >>

Al-Amoudi to settle Midroc Construction's 174mln birr debt

21 December, 2008

Reporter - After government intervention, Sheik Mohamed Hussein Al-Amoudi is to sign a binding agreement with the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia to settle Midroc Construction’s non-performing loan amounting to 174 million birr. more >>

Encouraging communities in Ethiopia to plant more Bamboo trees

20 December, 2008

(Reuters) - Over 2 billion people in the world depend on bamboo everyday. In Ethiopia communities are being encouraged to plant more bamboo trees and cash in on a growing trade. more >>

Ethiopia readies to pull troops from Somalia

20 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia said on Saturday it has begun preparations to withdraw troops from Somalia, with the planned pullout raising fears of further chaos in the conflict-torn country. more >>

Ethiopia to free ex-premier Tamerat Layne after 12 years in jail

19 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia's former prime minister Tamerat Layne will be released from prison on Friday after spending 12 years behind bars, state-media said. more >>

Q&A: Somali Pirate Explains How To Steal Ships

19 December, 2008

The Evil Solution

Young and desperate, Somali pirates aren't afraid to commit heinous acts of destruction, says one of their leaders. more >>

Rwanda genocide mastermind jailed to life in prison

18 December, 2008

BBC NEWS - Former senior defence official Theoneste Bagosora has been convicted of instigating Rwanda's 1994 genocide and sentenced to life in prison. more >>

Ethiopian peacekeepers begin to arrive in West Darfur

18 December, 2008

EL-FASHER (ST) - The long time announced Ethiopian troops begun to arrive today to the troubled western Sudan region of Darfur. more >>

Eritrean refugees resettle to United States

18 December, 2008

MEKELLE, Ethiopia — A first round of 81 Eritrean refugees from Shimelba refuge camp of Tigray region last week left to the United States as part of the ongoing resettlement operation. more >>

Barack Obama is TIME's Person of the Year 2008

18 December, 2008

For having the confidence to sketch an ambitious future in a gloomy hour, and for showing the competence that makes Americans hopeful he might pull it off, the President-elect is TIME's Person of the Year. more >>

UN council allows Somali anti-piracy fight on land

17 December, 2008

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday authorized countries fighting piracy off the Somali coast to take action also on Somalia's territory and in its airspace, subject to approval by the country's government. more >>

Ethiopia could see $190 mln leather sales in '09

17 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's leather sector expects export earnings to rise to $190 million in 2009 but a prolonged crisis in the global economy could cut that forecast by 5-10 percent, an industry official said on Wednesday. more >>

Ten university students die in a tragic car accident

17 December, 2008

MEKELLE (ST) - A car accident in the Northern Ethiopia’s Mekelle town late on Friday left a lecturer and other 10 university students dead. more >>

Book signed by former Emperor of Ethiopia in auction

15 December, 2008

A rare visitors' book signed by former Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie could sell for up to £1,500 at auction. more >>

Shoes hurled at President Bush during his farewell trip to Iraq

15 December, 2008

A surprise visit by US President George Bush to Iraq has been overshadowed by an incident in which two shoes were thrown at him during a news conference. more >>

Ethiopian flag-bearing vessel MV Gibe was under fire by pirates

14 December, 2008

NEW DELHI (AFP) – The Indian navy said it has captured 23 Somali and Yemeni pirates who attacked a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday. more >>

Somalia president says has fired PM

14 December, 2008

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Somalia's president fired the prime minister Sunday, saying he failed to bring security to a nation struggling with a violent insurgency and political turmoil. more >>

Djibouti port fees will fuel inflation: Ethiopia

13 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The revival of a plan by Djibouti to charge Ethiopia an extra $22.5 million a year in port tariffs will push up inflation in the land-locked country, a senior Ethiopian business leader said on Friday. more >>

OiLibya Starts Pumping Oil in Ethiopia

13 December, 2008

After 60 years of presence in the country, Shell Ethiopia has totally moved out of the Ethiopian market as of 14 November 2008, after Libya Oil Holding (OiLibya) finalised the purchase and sale agreement it entered with Shell. more >>

Iran Deploys Troops, Ballistic Missiles To Eritrea

12 December, 2008

Iranian ships and submarines have deployed an undisclosed number of Iranian troops and weapons at the Eritrean port town of Assab. more >>

Ethiopia's PM Declares 'Mission Accomplished' in Somalia

12 December, 2008

Addis Ababa (VOA) - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has declared "mission accomplished" in Somalia, and told parliament Ethiopian troops will be home from their controversial two-year military mission within weeks. more >>

More online journalists than print journalists behind bars

12 December, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — In a reflection of the digital age, more online journalists are jailed around the world than journalists from any other medium, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported on Thursday. more >>

Ethiopian Israeli success stories struggle to find jobs

11 December, 2008

KIBBUTZ SHFAIM, Israel (JTA) -- Asaf Negat, 29, made his way to Israel from Ethiopia as an 11-year-old boy, and worked hard to find his way in a new land and speaking a new language. more >>

Addis International Catering begins providing service to several airlines

11 December, 2008

Addis Ababa (WIC) - Addis International Catering, MIDROC’s sister company has launched providing catering service to flights coming to Addis Abeba Bole International Airport. more >>

US leads UN push to hunt, punish Somali pirates on land

11 December, 2008

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The United States sought international authorization Wednesday to hunt Somali pirates on land with the cooperation of Somalia's weak U.N.-backed government in one of the Bush administration's last major foreign policy initiatives. more >>

African Union insists on UN peacekeepers in Somalia

11 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – The head of the African Union, whose soldiers are engaged in increasingly dangerous peacekeeping duties in war-torn Somalia, issued a fresh appeal Wednesday for a UN military presence there. more >>

Coffee with condoms on the side

10 December, 2008

A former beauty queen in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa is promoting safe sex by serving coffee orders at her café with a side-order of free condoms. more >>

Obama wants to 'reboot America's image'

10 December, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Barack Obama says he will try to "reboot America's image" among the world's Muslims and will follow tradition by using his entire name — Barack Hussein Obama — in his swearing-in ceremony. more >>

World Bank forecasts deeper economic gloom

10 December, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The World Bank offered a grim forecast for global growth next year as new data from Japan on Wednesday confirmed that the situation in the world's second-largest economy is rapidly getting worse. more >>

Somali pirates fail to hijack US cruise liner

09 December, 2008

NAIROBI, Kenya – Pirates near Somalia chased and shot at a U.S. cruise liner with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel, a maritime official said Tuesday. more >>

Ethiopia opens dwindling elephant herd to tourists

08 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia began inviting tourists to visit its dwindling elephant herd Monday as part of efforts to boost income from tourism. more >>

Jimma University Puts up 230m Br Referral Hospital

08 December, 2008

Addis Fortune Jimma University is constructing a referral hospital comparable to Black Lion Specialized Hospital at a cost of 230 million Br. more >>

Ethiopia's biggest pop star Teddy Afro jailed for hit-and-run

05 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters Life!) - Ethiopia's best-known pop star, Teddy Afro, was sentenced to six years in jail on Friday for killing a homeless man when driving his BMW in the capital Addis Ababa. more >>

Ethiopia population soars to near 77 million: census

05 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Ethiopia's population has risen by a staggering 23.4 million people over the past 14 years, to its current 76.9 million, according to a census approved by parliament Thursday. more >>

How do you pay a pirate's ransom?

04 December, 2008

There are conflicting reports about how much they want for the Saudi oil tanker they seized last month, the Sirius Star, and its cargo of two million barrels of oil, but how do you negotiate and deliver a pirate ransom in the 21st Century? more >>

Landlocked Ethiopia's ship earnings rise 34 pct

03 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Landlocked Ethiopia's nine state-operated freight vessels, operating from Djibouti to the Far East, will produce a 34 percent rise in revenues to $258 million in 2008, an official said on Wednesday. more >>

Ethiopia sets up a high-tech system to trade coffee on a national exchange

02 December, 2008

Ethiopia, Africa's largest coffee producer, has started trading the crop on a national commodity exchange. more >>

Ethiopian star guilty over death

02 December, 2008

Ethiopian pop star Teddy Afro has been convicted of the manslaughter of a homeless man killed in a hit-and-run incident in Addis Ababa in 2006. more >>

Ethiopia seen doubling '08 flower export income

01 December, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Income from Ethiopia's flower exports will more than double to $150 million this year, but future expansion may be hit by the global financial crisis, the head of a private industry body said on Monday. more >>

Travel across Addis Abeba City Easier with 2nd Map

01 December, 2008

Addis Fortune - Addis Abeba last week got its second map, three months after the first one was prepared by the Ethiopian Mapping Agency (EMA) in September this year. more >>

Obama formally names Clinton secretary of state

01 December, 2008

CHICAGO (AFP) – Barack Obama on Monday nominated his erstwhile political foe Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, as he rolled out a muscular national security team rich in global political star power. more >>