Islamist cleric elected Somali president

31 January, 2009

DJIBOUTI (AFP) – Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Saturday was elected Somalia's president, leaving him in charge of a fragile peace process aimed at ending 18 years of civil conflict. more >>

Ethiopia: Drop in numbers needing food aid

30 January, 2009

ADDIS ABABA (IRIN) - The number of Ethiopians who will require humanitarian assistance in the next six months has dropped, mainly due to recent food harvests, an official said. more >>

Zimbabwe opposition will join government

30 January, 2009

HARARE (AFP) – Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Friday he will join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe, almost a year after disputed polls that plunged the country into crisis. more >>

EU grants 250 million euros to Ethiopia

30 January, 2009

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – The European Union has given Ethiopia 251 million euros (322 million dollars) in aid to boost development projects across the Horn of Africa nation, the government said Friday. more >>

Google sets up online broadband testing lab

29 January, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) — Google Inc. and two nonprofit partners Wednesday launched a Web site that lets consumers test their Internet connections to reveal possible interference and traffic management by service providers. more >>

Zimbabwe government to deal in foreign currencies

29 January, 2009

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)– Zimbabwe's government admitted defeat Thursday in a fight against dizzying inflation, allowing business to be done in U.S. dollars and bank notes of neighboring countries. more >>

South Africa opens new embassy building in Ethiopia

29 January, 2009

Addis Ababa (BuaNews) - South Africa has opened a state-of-the-art embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia which will be the new location for its embassy staff. more >>

Obama tells Arabic network US is 'not your enemy'

27 January, 2009

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) – President Barack Obama chose an Arabic satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, part of a concerted effort to repair relations with the Muslim world that were damaged under the previous administration. more >>

California woman makes history with healthy octuplets

27 January, 2009

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – In only the second time in US medical history, a woman in California has given birth to eight babies, who remain in intensive care but are in a stable condition. more >>

Somali Islamists to rule by sharia law in Baidoa

27 January, 2009

BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline Islamist insurgent group al Shabaab introduced sharia law in Baidoa on Tuesday, a day after taking the town that had been a government stronghold and seat of parliament. more >>

Ethiopia Journalist flees persecution

25 January, 2009

Reporter - Teshome Niku, who was a reporter for the Amharic Reporter, fled the country because of repeated threats from men he did not know. more >>

Ethiopia completes Somali pullout

25 January, 2009

BBC NEWS - Ethiopia says it has completed the withdrawal of its troops from Somalia, two years after entering the country to fight Islamist insurgents. more >>

Seattle shows little love for Lucy fossil exhibit

25 January, 2009

SEATTLE (AP) – Who loves Lucy? Far fewer people than a Seattle science center hoped when officials paid millions to show the fossil remains of one of the earliest known human ancestors. more >>

IMF Executive Board Approves US$50 Million to Ethiopia

25 January, 2009

Press Release - The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved today a disbursement in an amount equivalent to SDR 33.425 million (about US$50 million) to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia under the rapid-access component of the Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF). more >>

Obama retakes oath of office after Roberts' mistake

22 January, 2009

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama retook his oath of office Wednesday after Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed while delivering it at Tuesday's inauguration. more >>

Dreamliner delay puts damper on Ethiopian’s Canada connection

22 January, 2009

CapitalEthiopia - Delay of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft delivery has caused Ethiopian Airlines to slow down negotiations it started to fly to Canada, Girma Wake, CEO of the flag carrier, told Capital. more >>

Ethiopian Main Cereal, Pulse Harvests Increased 9.5%

22 January, 2009

(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopian produced 9.5 percent more cereals and pulses during last year’s main harvest as improved rains, increased fertilizer use and fewer pests boosted output, two United Nations food agencies said. more >>

Obama becomes first black U.S. president

20 January, 2009

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama became the first black U.S. president on Tuesday, making history before a sea of people and declaring the United States in the midst of a crisis that can be defeated with a united sense of purpose. more >>

Ethiopian Government Minister Reacts to U.S. Senators' Criticism

20 January, 2009

VOA News - A senior Ethiopian official says his government has a responsibility to maintain law and order and would not be swayed by outside criticism. more >>

Eve of Epiphany in Addis Ababa January 18, 2009

19 January, 2009

Members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church participate in celebrations for the Eve of Epiphany in Addis Ababa January 18, 2009. more >>

Barack Obama: "I'll Have Trouble Sleeping the Night Before" Inauguration

17 January, 2009

Usmagazine.com - President-elect Barack Obama admits that he's a bit nervous about his first day on the job. more >>

Somali Islamists step in to Mogadishu vacuum

16 January, 2009

MOGADISHU (AFP) – "Our forces have taken control of areas deserted by the Ethiopians in order to maintain security," said Ise Ado, a spokesman for the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), at a press conference. The ICU is an Islamist movement which briefly controlled large parts of Somalia in 2006 before Ethiopian forces invaded and ousted them from power. more >>

Plane crashes in NYC river after bird cuts engines

16 January, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) – A US Airways plane crashed into the frigid Hudson River on Thursday afternoon after striking a bird that disabled two engines, sending 150 on board scrambling onto rescue boats, authorities say. more >>

Ethiopian troops quit bases in Mogadishu

13 January, 2009

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia's Western-backed government quit four of their main bases in Mogadishu Tuesday, heralding an uncertain new chapter for the anarchic Horn of Africa nation. more >>

Ethiopia's Top Opposition Politician Ends Prison Hunger Strike

12 January, 2009

(VOA News) - A leading Ethiopian opposition politician, who was imprisoned for life last month after a dispute with the government, has ended a hunger strike and told relatives she wants to begin legal proceedings to win her freedom. more >>

Ethiopia seeks to double coffee output by 2014

12 January, 2009

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's coffee growers' association predicted on Monday a near-doubling of annual output to 600,000 tonnes by 2014 thanks to new investment for plantations in Africa's largest producer of the bean. more >>

Ethiopian B757 makes emergency landing in Malta

11 January, 2009

(timesofmalta) - An Ethiopian Boeing 757 airliner made an emergency landing at Malta International Airport this morning after one of its two engines failed, sources said. more >>

Somali Islamists clash as Ethiopians withdraw

11 January, 2009

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Fighting between rival Somali Islamist groups and hardline insurgents on Washington's foreign terrorist list killed dozens of people north of the capital Mogadishu on Sunday, witnesses said. more >>

5 Somali pirates drown with ransom share

10 January, 2009

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Five of the Somali pirates who released a hijacked oil-laden Saudi supertanker drowned with their share of a reported $3 million ransom after their small boat capsized, a pirate and port town resident said Saturday. more >>

Jailed Ethiopian Opposition Leader Mideksa on Hunger Strike

09 January, 2009

(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia’s leading opposition politician is in her 10th day of a hunger strike after she was jailed for life on Dec. 29 following a dispute with the government, according to her mother. more >>

US warns Ethiopia new law could curtail aid

09 January, 2009

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – The United States, Ethiopia's main donor, warned Friday that a new law adopted by Addis Ababa restricting foreign-funded aid groups may curtail its assistance. more >>

Somali pirates say they have released Saudi supertanker

09 January, 2009

NAIROBI (AFP) – Somali pirates said Friday they had freed a Saudi-owned supertanker, whose capture nearly two months ago caused panic in international shipping and spurred the world into tougher anti-piracy action. more >>

Ethiopia clamps down on khat dens

08 January, 2009

A crackdown has been launched in the Ethiopian capital on unlicensed parlours where boys and young men chew khat, a narcotic green leaf. more >>

Donkey libraries help Ethiopians learn to read

08 January, 2009

In a bamboo and matting shelter on the edge of the town of Awassa, rows of tiny children are struggling with Ethiopia's fiendishly complicated Amharic alphabet. more >>

Ethiopian government has revoked a pardon granted

06 January, 2009

afrol News - Ethiopian government has revoked a pardon granted to a prominent opposition official, Bertukan Midekssa, after she failed to refute the foreign media reports that she never pleaded for a pardon. more >>

Ethiopian Law Curbs Promotion of Rights, Critics Say

06 January, 2009

(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia’s parliament ratified a law that critics say will prevent groups from promoting human rights and democracy in the Horn of Africa country, strengthening the government’s hand to crack down on dissent. more >>

Ethiopia adopts controversial aid agency bill

06 January, 2009

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Ethiopia's parliament on Tuesday adopted a controversial bill imposing heavy restrictions on foreign-funded humanitarian groups operating in the war- and famine-ravaged country. more >>

Economic Slowdown Devastating for Night Businesses

05 January, 2009

Fortune - Ermias Zewde, 27, a blue-cab driver, works both day and night. Sometimes during the night he works as late as 3:00 to 4:00am since he started the job in the early months of 2001. more >>

Emirates Continues to Recruit Crews from Ethiopia

05 January, 2009

Fortune - Emirates Airline recruited nine cabin crewmembers on December 1, 2008 from Ethiopia and will conduct its next recruitment in Addis Abeba in February 2009. more >>

No power vacuum after Somalia pull out, Ethiopia pledges

03 January, 2009

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – The Ethiopian government on Saturday pledged not to leave a power vacuum when it completes its troop withdrawal from neighbouring Somalia in the coming days. more >>

Somali Islamists unbroken despite Ethiopia's US backing

02 January, 2009

BBC News - The Ethiopian army is preparing to leave Somalia almost two years after it invaded to oust Islamists who had taken control of large areas of the country. The Ethiopians are withdrawing without having broken the power of what Prime Minister Meles Zenawi described in 2006 as the leaders of the jihadist movement, responsible for "terrorist outrages". more >>

Ethiopia says approved $16 bln in investments in 2008

02 January, 2009

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia licensed $16 billion worth of new investments in 2008 compared with $11 billion in 2007, but only 20 percent of the investors began operations in the year, an investment official said on Friday. more >>