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Aurora Sentinel

By RACHEL SAPIN

AURORA | The card game is called “Five Tricks.” There is no talking allowed and each team gets a different set of rules to play by. After a few minutes, some members switch to the other team, not even knowing the rules the other team has been told to follow.

Sound impossible? It’s supposed to be, said Karlyn Shorb, the executive director of Aurora Sister Cities.

Shorb was part of a group who took part in the card game as a communication-building exercise at Aurora city hall to prepare for a trip to Adama, Ethiopia — Aurora’s first partner sister city in nearly a decade.

“A lot of this first trip is to formalize the relationship,” Shorb said as one of 20 people who left for Ethiopia Feb. 12 for a six-day tour of Adama. “We’re doing a number of tours so we can get to know the city, their needs, and things we can help them with and work together on.”

Last August, delegates from Adama, which included the city’s mayor, visited Aurora and took part in Global Fest at the Aurora Municipal Center, a celebration of Aurora’s sizable and growing international community.

Read more »
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Pictures: At Global Fest 2014 Aurora, Colorado Welcomes Adama (Nazret) as Sister City

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Bloomberg

By Paul Richardson

Ethiopia and Djibouti accused Eritrea of sabotaging regional stability, a charge denied by the Horn of Africa nation which has fought with both neighbors.

Eritrea’s government has a “continuous destabilization policy” and the international community should tighten sanctions, the leaders of Ethiopia and Djibouti said in a statement following a week of talks that ended on Feb. 9. They didn’t give further details on the accusations. The United Nations in 2009 imposed sanctions on Eritrea after allegations it supported insurgents in Somalia.

The UN Security Council in December 2009 voted to ban the travel and freeze the assets of selected Eritrean government and army leaders accused of being allied with al-Qaeda-linked militants attempting to topple the government in Somalia. The measure imposed an arms embargo on Eritrea and authorized inspection of cargo going to or from the country on the Red Sea.

The UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea said in a report submitted to the Security Council in October that it had found no evidence of Eritrean support for al-Shabaab.

Read more at Bloomberg News »
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Siblings spat as Djibouti, Ethiopia accuse Eritrea of sabotaging Horn of Africa

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Global News

By Richard Dooley and Emily Baron Cadloff

FREDERICTON – A body discovered in the attic of a Fredericton apartment building by firefighters Sunday night may have been in the crawlspace for nearly five years.

Friends of the dead man have identified him as Selamneh Techane, a former Ethiopian taxi driver who sometimes worked with families adopting Ethiopian orphans.

He came to New Brunswick in 2008 and his friends say he lived in the province for two years.

“He was the kindest, hardest working man, for sure. He was a sweet man, and we’re obviously sad to hear that news,” said Louise Reid.

Read more »

Questions surround disappearance of Selamneh Techane in Fredericton, Canada (Video) http://t.co/uhMQXBNjiW

— Tadias Magazine (@TadiasNews) February 12, 2015

Related:
Canada: Body Found in Fredericton Fire IDed as Ethiopian Man (CBC News)

By Shaun Waters

The body discovered in a suspicious house fire in Fredericton over the weekend has been identified as a man from Ethiopia, who seemed to disappear about five years ago, according to a friend.

Jennifer Zilliac, of Oakland, Calif., says she was shocked and heartbroken to learn the body found in the attic of a house on Aberdeen Street on Sunday evening was that of Selamneh Techane.

Zilliac says she received a call from the New Brunswick coroner’s office on Monday after identification was discovered on the body. Officials are still using DNA and medical records to confirm the identity, she said.

Fredericton Police Cpl. Sean Clark has said the body was unrelated to the fire and that foul play was not suspected in the person’s death.

Zilliac had put up a Facebook site dedicated to finding Techane after he seemed to disappear five years ago. She says he was instrumental in helping her adopt a daughter from Ethiopia in 2005.

‘He was loved by so many’

“He was a taxi driver in [Ethiopia’s capital city] Addis Ababa and he was connected with people who were adopting children from Ethiopia and connected to everybody,” she told CBC News in a telephone interview from her home in Oakland.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever gone to a foreign country and not spoken the language and not known the culture and needed to rely on somebody to help you with that. Selamneh was that person for me and for a lot of people.”

Zilliac says Techane would translate for people and help them find family members in Ethiopia. She spent two months with him as he took her from home to home and to the embassy, helping pave the way for the adoption of her daughter.

Read more at CBC News »
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Ynetnews

By Omri Efraim

Among hundreds of excited cadets at an officer training course graduation ceremony on Wednesday stood one soldier who felt that his presence there was a victory against all odds. Worku Abiy, 23, a lone soldier and orphan from Ethiopia who arrived in Israel at the age of 15, never imagined he would one day wear an IDF uniform.

“If someone would have told me a decade ago, when I was a lonely orphan in Ethiopia, that I would stand here one day with this uniform and these ranks, I would not believe it,” says Abiy

Abiy underwent a long journey to get to where he is today. When he was 3 years-old, his mother died and he lived with his father until the age of 14 – when his father passed away too. Without any parents, Abiy wandered between the houses of various distant family members until 2007. At the time, Abiy was living with his cousin and his family who decided that they were moving to Israel and took Abiy with them.

When they arrived in Israel, Abiy and his relatives were transferred to an absorption center in Afula in northern Israel. Two years later, when Abiy’s relatives left the absorption center, Abiy began to study at the Yemin Orde boarding school near Zikhron Ya’akov.

Read more at Ynetnews »
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Reuters

By Edmund Blair

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian banks and microfinance firms are launching mobile money services, helping reach swathes of the population that now have little access to branches or services, the mobile technology providers and banks said.

The launch of the services, which allow customers to make payments or receive money via a mobile that is linked to a bank account, mirrors technology used in other African nations that has drawn millions of people into the financial system.

Netherlands-based BelCash is offering a technology called helloCash, while MOSS ICT, mainly owned by an Ireland-based firm, is rolling out M-Birr in the nation of 96 million people.

In both cases, Ethiopian banks and institutions will offer the service to customers and hold the cash deposited, in line with government policy that bars foreign firms or banks from investing in the financial sector or the telecoms industry.

“One of the things that the government wants to do is ensure there is financial inclusion,” said MOSS ICT deputy general manager Kidist Negeye, adding M-Birr would help reach rural areas. “Another aspect is the mobilization of domestic savings. The government wants to increase the number of deposits.”

Read more at Reuters.com »
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Buffalo News

By Emma Sapong

Zelalem Gemmeda arrived in Buffalo in 2005 as a refugee from Ethiopia. The mother of two had to slowly rebuild her life, eventually opening Abyssinia Ethiopian Cuisine in the West Side Bazaar two years ago.

That business, its growth and Gemmeda’s overall resilience have earned her the inaugural entrepreneur of the year award from the Westminster Economic Development Initiative. She will be honored Friday during the organization’s annual Winterfest fundraiser at Foundry Hotel and Banquet on Elmwood Avenue.

The award, sponsored by Rich Products, includes a certificate and a $500 prize.

“I’m very excited to be honored for my hard work and success,” said Gemmeda, who is receiving assistance from WEDI to open her own restaurant.

Rich Products and WEDI selected Gemmeda because of her business that adds diversity to the community’s food choices, her drive to succeed and overcome obstacles and improve her condition. Gemmeda has emerged as a leader among vendors in the West Side Bazaar on Grant Street, WEDI’s international incubator, which houses food and retail booths. She’s also advocating for the bazaar to open seven days a week, instead of five, and incorporating more of the business owners’ culture into the incubator’s decor.

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BBC News

Emails raise query over Islington ‘terrorist’ held by Ethiopia

1 February 2015

The Ethiopian authorities have broadcast a video of a man from Islington in London, who they have been holding in secret since he was kidnapped in Yemen in June.

Ethiopia claims Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsige is a terrorist and sentenced him to death in absentia.

But a series of internal emails from the UK’s Foreign Office has now raised questions about the British government’s involvement in the case, according to his family and legal representatives.

BBC London’s Ayshea Buksh spoke to Mr Tisge’s partner Yemi Hailemariam, the strategic director of Reprieve, Maya Foa. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, also appears.

Read more and watch the video at BBC News »

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Related:
UK Diplomats Clash Over Andargachew Tsege
British MPs to Visit Ethiopia in Bid to Secure Release of Andy Tsege

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Associated Press

BY ELIAS MESERET

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — The U.N. secretary-general Friday urged African leaders not to cling to power.

Ban Ki-moon said undemocratic constitutional changes and legal loopholes should never be used by leaders to stay in power.

Speaking at the summit of the 54-nation African Union, Ban urged African leaders to listen to their people saying that modern leaders cannot ignore the wishes of those they represent.

Some African leaders have been in power for decades after altering their countries’ constitutions to extend their tenures in office. Recently Congo passed a law that requiring a national census before elections could be held. The law sparked off violent protests in which dozens were killed as critics accused President Joseph Kabila, who has been president since 2001, of attempting to prolong his stay in office.

Burkina Faso’s president of 27 years, Blaise Compaore, stepped down in October amid mounting opposition to his bid to seek yet another term in office.

Other African countries where leaders are suspected to be planning changes to their constitutions to extend their times in power include Congo Brazzaville, Benin, Uganda and Rwanda.

The African Union’s new chairman, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, 90, has been in power since 1980 and has altered the country’s constitution and has been re-elected in polls widely criticized for rigging and violence.
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Reuters

BY MAGGIE FICK AND YUSRI MOHAMED

Fri Jan 30, 2015

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi cut short a visit to Ethiopia for an African Union summit on Friday after Islamic State’s Egyptian wing claimed the killing of at least 30 soldiers and police officers in the Sinai Peninsula.

The four separate attacks on security forces in North Sinai on Thursday night were among the bloodiest in years and the first significant assault in the region since the most active Sinai militant group swore allegiance to IS in November.

Militant attacks in Sinai, while far from Cairo and tourist attractions, has crimped government efforts to project an image of stability to woo back foreign investors and tourists driven away by frequent political violence since a popular uprising four years ago that overthrew veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Sisi left Addis Ababa after meeting with the Ethiopian premier following the AU summit’s opening session, an Egyptian official there told Reuters.

Read more at Reuters.com »
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PRI

By Reporter Dalia Mortada

January 30, 2015

Things always get lost in translation. Sometimes, words or phrases just cannot be converted word-for-word from one language to the next. But in most places, the date and the time works pretty much the same all over the world.

Not in Ethiopia. There, it’s currently the end of the fifth month of 2007. It isn’t so strange for countries to have different calendars — Israel officially works according to the Jewish calendar and Saudi Arabia has an Isalmic calendar. But, what about having your own time? That’s the case in Ethiopia.

In the back of a cab in Addis Ababa, a colleague and I ask our driver for the time. The time on my phone, which is set to the correct time zone, reads 8:30 p.m. But that’s not what the cabbie tells us. “It’s two o’clock, 30 minutes,” he replies. He chuckles and adds, “In Ethiopia.”

That’s because in Ethiopia, there are two ways to tell the time.

Because Ethiopia is close to the Equator, daylight is pretty consistent throughout the year. So many Ethiopians use a 12-hour clock, with one cycle of 1 to 12 — from dawn to dusk — and the other cycle from dusk to dawn.

Most countries start the day at midnight. So 7:00 a.m. in East Africa Time, Ethiopia’s time zone, is 1:00 in daylight hours in local Ethiopian time. At 7:00 p.m., East Africa Time, Ethiopians start over again, so it’s 1:00 on their 12-hour clock.

If you think this is confusing to read about, imagine trying to do business in In Ethiopia.

Kemal Oznoyan was baffled.

He helped open a factory in Addis Ababa for the Turkish textile company, Ayka, seven years ago. He laughs remembering the headaches Ethiopian time caused. “When we organize meeting, they were talking about Ethiopian time, but we were talking about European time,” he recalls.

Once, for example, he and his colleagues set up a meeting for 6 o’clock. Oznoyan thought, “6 p.m., no problem.” But a bit after noon he got a call from the guy he was meeting. “He calls, ‘Where are you? I’m waiting in the downstairs.’” Oznayan says. “[I ask him] ‘Why?’”

It turns out, Oznayan’s colleague meant 6:00 in Ethiopian time, which is noon by Oznoyan’s clock.

It’s not a problem for him anymore. In fact, he finds it pretty impressive that Ethiopians have stuck to it. As Addis Ababa booms, welcoming international businesses and organizations from all over the world, one would think that international standards would take over and locals would start telling time the way the rest of the world does.

But Oznoyan says, not so fast. “I’m also feeling that, why they have to do it?” In fact, he says, Ethiopians should be proud of their unique ways. For one thing, they’re one of only two African nations never to be colonized.

Also, Professor Wudu Tafete says, the Ethiopian way of telling time is practical. He explains that because Ethiopia’s daylight hours stay consistent throughout the year, it makes sense to start the day at 1, when the sun comes up. “The day is 12 hours, because Ethiopia is three degrees north of the Equator,” he explains.

In Europe, he goes on, winter days are really short and the nights are really long, and in the summer it’s the opposite: days are long and nights are short. In Ethiopia, people have chosen to stick with what’s simple — 12 and 12. He says it only makes sense.

Sure, he says, it can be confusing for foreigners at first. But he says they all get it eventually. It’s just a matter of time.
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Bloomberg

By William Davison

Addis Ababa — Ethiopian bloggers accused of plotting acts of terrorism will probably enter pleas next week after a court accepted amended charges from the prosecution.

The Federal High Court accepted most of the charges against 10 bloggers and journalists, Ameha Mekonnen, a defense lawyer for the writers, said on Wednesday from Addis Ababa, the capital. The defendants will enter pleas on Feb. 3, he said by phone.

Nine of the accused were detained in April and charged under a 2009 anti-terrorism law that the U.S. and United Nations said criminalizes legitimate dissent. The prosecution has said that the group participated in the planning of a plot with the U.S.-based Ginbot 7, which is classified as a terrorist organization in Ethiopia.

In November, the court rejected earlier charges and asked prosecutors to present more specific and clear accusations.

“They’ve said now it’s sufficiently clear but for us it’s not yet clear at all,” Mekonnen said.
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Zone 9 Trial Resumes in Ethiopia: Court Accepts Most Charges Against Bloggers

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The Daily Journalist

By Betre Yacob

Police brutally attacked and dispersed peaceful demonstrators in the capital Addis Ababa on Sunday as they try to protest against the ongoing government repression on opposition political parties and dissents in run-up to the countries general election..

Political activists say the Sunday’s attack against the peaceful demonstrators is further evidence of the authorities’ determination to clamp down the activities of opposition political parties ahead the election.

In this latest brutal attack against peaceful protesters, dozens of members and supporters of Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) were seriously injured. The incident is the most blatant and massive case of lethal police brutality in Ethiopia.

According to reports, demonstrators were brutally beaten with baton, stick and iron rod in the head, face, hands, and legs. One of the victims is said to have been a pregnant woman. Reports show the victims were taken to hospital right away, and some of them are still receiving medical treatment.

Among seriously injured was Sileshi Hagose, the member of the general assembly of the party and editor in chief of a weekly newspaper. Recently released photographs show that he was wounded in the face and head, and his both hands were seriously broken.

UDJ is the main opposition political party struggling in the narrowing political landscape in Ethiopia and is one of the few parties working at national level with an inclusive structure by bringing different ethnic groups all together.

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The Guardian

William Davison in Addis Ababa

Tuesday 27 January 2015

Tejnesh Leweg’neh, a 15-year-old from Ethiopia’s mountainous northern Shoa region, was abducted by three men on her way to market in October. They tried to force her to agree to marry one of them. She refused, and, a day later, they pushed her off a cliff. Now Tejnesh is paralysed from the waist down.

That same month, 16-year-old Hanna Lalango, from Ethiopia’s cosmopolitan capital, Addis Ababa, was abducted by a group of men from a minibus on the outskirts of the city. She was raped over several days and died in hospital about a month later from her injuries. Five men have been convicted and are awaiting sentence for the attack. Hanna reportedly identified her assailants before she died.

Both these crimes were brought to light by an energised network of mostly female Ethiopian activists trying to advance women’s rights and reduce sexual harassment in the Horn of Africa country.

“What united us is we believe this is our problem, it’s our responsibility to change this,” says one of them, Selam Mussie. “We all are Hannas – this could have been any of us.”

ussie, an administrator at the International Community School in Addis Ababa, is part of the Justice for Hanna campaign.

Activists view these violent attacks as a consequence of a culture that places women in subordinate positions to men, which often manifests itself in the form of the frequent petty harassment they endure on the capital’s streets.

“There are certain places that most of us are terrified of passing through because there are tens of men sitting around to purposely make a woman passerby uncomfortable,” says Mussie, 24. “It starts from common catcalls, to dissing, to a physical level where they could follow to grab or touch private parts.”

We believe this is our problem, it’s our responsibility to change it. We all are Hannas – this could have been any of us
Selam Mussie, Justice for Hanna campaign

Liya Hailemariam, a 24-year-old activist who works in PR, says she frequently suffers attention on public transport. “And it’s not just words – people somehow just slide in their hands,” she says. “We sort of consider it normal, we pass it off as this stupid guy, this pervert.”

Read more »
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VOA News

January 27, 2015

A massive winter storm dropped up to 60 centimeters of snow in some parts of the northeastern U.S. Monday and Tuesday, but fell short of forecasters’ worst predictions.

Massachusetts and Connecticut saw some of the heaviest snow. Blizzard warnings remained in effect in Massachusetts Tuesday afternoon, as well as coastal areas of Maine and Rhode Island.

High winds, snow

Snow was not the only danger from the storm, which also carried powerful winds. The highest reported winds reached 126 kilometers per hour on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket. Power outages and flooding were also reported in the state.

In New York and New Jersey, it was a different story, as officials and forecasters were forced to defend their strong warnings after the storm produced less snow than anticipated.

The governors of New York and New Jersey began lifting travel bans after dawn Tuesday, while the National Weather Service canceled its blizzard warning for New York City.

“This is nothing like we feared it would be,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN. De Blasio had earlier warned the storm could be one of the worst the city has ever faced.

The New York Stock Exchange was operating normally Tuesday, and subways, trains and buses began moving again. But United Nations headquarters and many schools and businesses across the northeast were closed.

Travel across the region also remained crippled Tuesday, with more than 4,500 flights canceled, according to FlightAware.com.

The only reported death in the storm occurred on New York’s Long Island, which was hit much harder than Manhattan. The victim was a teenager who crashed into a light post while snow tubing.

Washington escapes blizzard

The brunt of the storm missed the nation’s capital, which saw only light snow mixed with rain, but federal offices and public schools in the city opened two hours late Tuesday to give people extra travel time.

On social media, Americans waiting out the snowstorm posted photos and videos of their cities blanketed in white. Hashtags such as #blizzardof2015 and #Snowmageddon2015 quickly gained traction.

As officials and residents prepared for the worst, Broadway theater productions in Manhattan went dark Monday night, New York-area NBA (National Basketball Association) teams postponed games and store shelves cleared out quickly as people scrambled to pick up supplies. Drivers largely heeded orders to stay off the streets in both New York and Boston overnight.

Originally, up to 90 centimeters of snow was expected to fall in some regions of the Northeast, accompanied by near hurricane-force winds and coastal flooding.
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Related:
New York City Is Spared Worst Effects of Snowstorm (The New York Times)

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The Daily Mail

By Ian Birrell

An explosive row has erupted between diplomats and Ministers over their reluctance to help a British man on death row in Ethiopia.

A series of extraordinary emails, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, reveal officials’ increasing frustration at political inaction over Andargachew Tsege.

Tsege, 59, a father-of-three from London, was snatched at an airport in Yemen last June and illegally rendered to Ethiopia. There are concerns he may have been tortured.

Yet Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he could not ‘find time’ for a phone call to raise the issue and did not want to send a ‘negative’ letter.

In one email, an exasperated official asks: ‘Don’t we need to do more than give them a stern talking to?’

Read more at The Daily Mail »
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British MPs to Visit Ethiopia in Bid to Secure Release of Andy Tsege

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The Guardian

By Simon Allison

It’s not easy being a journalist in Ethiopia. In fact, it’s nearly impossible, according to a new 76-page Human Rights Watch report that documents the scale of the state’s censorship apparatus. As a journalist, it makes for highly disturbing reading.

“Ethiopia’s government has systematically assaulted the country’s independent voices, treating the media as a threat rather than a valued source of information and analysis,” says Leslie Lefkow, the organisation’s deputy Africa director.

“Ethiopia’s media should be playing a crucial role in the May elections, but instead many journalists fear that their next article could get them thrown in jail.”

The authors of the report spoke to 70 Ethiopian journalists, many in exile, who painted a dismal picture of the state of Ethiopian media. The government exerts control in many different ways – some subtle, some quite the opposite.

Read more »

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Related:
HRW Accuses Ethiopia of Journalist Crackdown Ahead of Elections (VOA News)
Ethiopia Media Being Decimated: Reforms Crucial Prior to May Elections (HRW)
African Elections in 2015: A Year of Promise and Peril (U.S. Congress)

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World Running

Jan. 23, 2015

Lemi Berhanu was the unexpected winner of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, which produced another slew of super-fast times on Friday (23).

With former three-time champion and ex-world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie on duty as part of the commentary team for international TV coverage, Berhanu – the winner of the Zurich Marathon last year in 2:10:40 – left some of the biggest names in marathon-running trailing in his wake.

In fine but relatively warm conditions, the 20-year-old clocked a world-leading time of 2:05:28. Lelisa Desisa, who won this race on his debut two years ago, took second in 2:05:52 while Deribe Robi completed an all-Ethiopian podium with a time of 2:06:06.

In contrast, Bekele lost contact with the leading group around the 28km mark and dropped out a few kilometres later. The world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder was hoping to improve his lifetime best of 2:05:04 which he set on his marathon debut in Paris last April.

“Kenenisa suffered hamstring problems in both legs,” explained his coach Renato Canova. “But I think the real problem is in his right Achilles tendon. At the end of November he had to reduce training because of this. But then it got better and actually his final training sessions looked encouraging. A world record was never a realistic target, but a 2:04 time seemed realistic.

“However when I saw him running today he did not look relaxed; he looked tight. And I think this is the reason why he developed hamstring problems. Something must have happened in the final few days before the race. We now have to solve this tendon problem. But for his future marathon career I remain very confident. I think he will do really well,” added Canova, whose charge is due to run in the London Marathon on 26 April.

With Bekele out of contention, Desisa and Berhanu duelled for the title and with one kilometre remaining, the relatively inexperienced marathon exponent Berhanu forged a decisive gap on the former winner of the Boston and Dubai Marathons.

“I would never have thought that I could win this race. It was my dream to do this in Dubai one day, but not this year! With around one kilometre to go I sensed that I could succeed,” said Berhanu, who won some $200,000 for his efforts.

“I never thought about the money,” said Berhanu, who is hoping to represent Ethiopia at the IAAF World Championships in August. “I really don’t know what I will do with it.”

Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia. (IAAF)

Aselefech Mergia secures hat-trick on marathon return

Contesting her first marathon in nearly three years, Aselefech Mergia returned to the top-table of women’s marathon-running with her third victory in the Dubai Marathon.

Mergia, who represented Ethiopia at the 2012 Olympics, has largely been absent from the international circuit since then through injury and childbirth but the Ethiopian looked back to her best as she became the first woman to win three titles in the Dubai Marathon.

Read more »
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Aplus.com

By ISAAC SAUL

In the Omo Valley of Ethiopia, a community of stylish men and women caught the attention of a photographer.

Alex Franco was struck by the Hamer, Mursi, Banna and Bodi ethnic groups, all of which have what the BBC World Service described as a “hipster cool” kind of style. They dress in elaborate colors, stand in graceful poses, and alter their hair.

“Resilient local traditions are combined with Western fashion in an original, quirky way,” the BBC told A+ in an email.

Check out Franco’s pictures and hear him talk about his experience in the short video.

Alex Franco is a Spanish-born fashion photographer and filmmaker.

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Related:
People of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley Inspire Dolce & Gabbana 2015 Collection

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Human Rights Watch

JANUARY 22, 2015

(Nairobi) – The Ethiopian government’s systematic repression of independent media has created a bleak landscape for free expression ahead of the May 2015 general elections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. In the past year, six privately owned publications closed after government harassment; at least 22 journalists, bloggers, and publishers were criminally charged, and more than 30 journalists fled the country in fear of being arrested under repressive laws.

The 76-page report, “‘Journalism is Not a Crime’: Violations of Media Freedom in Ethiopia,” details how the Ethiopian government has curtailed independent reporting since 2010. Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 70 current and exiled journalists between May 2013 and December 2014, and found patterns of government abuses against journalists that resulted in 19 being imprisoned for exercising their right to free expression, and that have forced at least 60 others into exile since 2010.

“Ethiopia’s government has systematically assaulted the country’s independent voices, treating the media as a threat rather than a valued source of information and analysis,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director. “Ethiopia’s media should be playing a crucial role in the May elections, but instead many journalists fear that their next article could get them thrown in jail.”

Most of Ethiopia’s print, television, and radio outlets are state-controlled, and the few private print media often self-censor their coverage of politically sensitive issues for fear of being shut down.

The six independent print publications that closed in 2014 did so after a lengthy campaign of intimidation that included documentaries on state-run television that alleged the publications were linked to terrorist groups. The intimidation also included harassment and threats against staff, pressure on printers and distributors, regulatory delays, and eventually criminal charges against the editors. Dozens of staff members went into exile. Three of the owners were convicted under the criminal code and sentenced in absentia to more than three years in prison. The evidence the prosecution presented against them consisted of articles that criticized government policies.

Read more at HRW »

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NBC News

By Aliyah Frumin

In front of the new, Republican-controlled Congress, a forceful and determined President Obama used his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night to push for a program of “middle class economics.” With his pitch, also came a slew of zingers – some scripted and some ad-libbed – that received applause, laughter and some GOP scowls. Here’s a look at his five best lines.

1. “I know because I won both of them.” Towards the end of his speech, Obama called for Republicans and Democrats to work together, acknowledging “I have no more campaigns to run.” But when Republicans began to clap, the commander-in-chief shot back, off-the-cuff: “I know because I won both of them” he said, to applause and laughter from Democrats.

Read more at MSNBC »

Video: Obama’s biggest zinger of the 2015 State of the Union (USA Today)

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Related:
Gloom Lifts And Obama Goes All Out (The New York Times)
Why History Will Be Very Kind to President Obama (New York Magazine)

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VOA News

By Marthe van der Wolf

January 21, 2015

ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia’s coffee has been ranked as the best in the world by an international group of coffee connoisseurs. Not surprisingly, coffee is a top export for the country. But at home it is a source of pride.

International coffee experts travel the world to find the best tasting cup. They keep coming back to Ethiopia, where importers like Morton Wennersgaard say the climate produces quality coffee beans.

“You have different ancient varieties referred to as Ethiopian heirdom. They are grown in places with perfect soil, perfect altitude, and micro climates that are really suitable for coffee processing, such as drying and things like that,” he explains.

Finding the best beans is a matter of taste, literally. The intense process is known as cupping – tasting and comparing coffee from different roasted beans, grading and then pricing them.

Coffee labs

But before international experts come to taste, coffee beans go through analysis in small coffee labs, where Helen Assefa describes the process.

“When the coffee comes to the lab, we assess the coffee quality first by recording the details. Then we weigh the moisture level and we screen the beans for analysis. After that we grind the coffee beans and taste the samples. At the end we check for defective beans,” Assefa explains.

And that screening is a very difficult and lengthy process, says lab worker Mubarik Abaoli.

“We sort out the defects manually, by hand. And we sort out the defect according to the defect types. The types are immature, paste damage, foxy, black – all has to be sorted out according to the severity of the defects,” Mubarik Abaoli says.

Cashing in abroad

Nevertheless, Ethiopia is cashing in on its coffee reputation with consumers in more than 120 countries and a yearly export revenue of more than $840 million.

But not all the best coffee leaves Ethiopia. With 40 percent of the coffee production consumed at home, it remains an important part of everyday life at work, at home and at ceremonies just to celebrate that special cup.

Video: How Experts Decide Ethiopia Has the Best Coffee

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The Huffington Post

By Sasha Chavkin

01/20/2015

The World Bank repeatedly violated its own rules while funding a development initiative in Ethiopia that has been dogged by complaints that it sponsored forced evictions of thousands of indigenous people, according to a leaked report by a watchdog panel at the bank.

The report, which was obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, examines a health and education initiative that was buoyed by nearly $2 billion in World Bank funding over the last decade. Members of the indigenous Anuak people in Ethiopia’s Gambella province charged that Ethiopian authorities used some of the bank’s money to support a massive forced relocation program and that soldiers beat, raped and killed Anuak who refused to abandon their homes. The bank continued funding the health and education initiative for years after the allegations emerged.

The report by the World Bank’s internal Inspection Panel found that there was an “operational link” between the World Bank-funded program and the Ethiopian government’s relocation push, which was known as “villagization.” By failing to acknowledge this link and take action to protect affected communities, the bank violated its own policies on project appraisal, risk assessment, financial analysis and protection of indigenous peoples, the panel’s report concludes.

“The bank has enabled the forcible transfer of tens of thousands of indigenous people from their ancestral lands,” said David Pred, director of Inclusive Development International, a nonprofit that filed the complaint on behalf of 26 Anuak refugees.

Read more at The Huffington Post »
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PRESS RELEASE

The world bank

January 20, 2015

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Agricultural growth was the main driver of poverty reduction in Ethiopia since 2000, according to the World Bank Group’s latest Poverty Assessment. Poverty in Ethiopia fell from 44 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2011, which translated to a 33 percent reduction in the share of people living in poverty. This decline was underpinned by high and consistent economic growth.

Since 2005, agricultural growth has been responsible for a reduction in poverty of 4 percent a year, suggesting that the agricultural growth strategy pursued by the Government of Ethiopia has paid off. High food prices and good weather ensured that increased use of fertilizer was translated into higher incomes for poor farmers with access to markets. Government spending on basic services and effective rural safety nets has also helped the least well-off in Ethiopia. The Productive Safety Net Program alone has pushed 1.5 million people out of poverty.

“Although Ethiopia started from a low base, its investment in pro-poor sectors and agriculture has paid-off and led to tremendous achievements in economic growth and poverty reduction, which in turn have helped improve the economic prospects of its citizens,” says Guang Zhe Chen, World Bank Group Country Director for Ethiopia.

The pace of poverty reduction in Ethiopia has been impressive, especially when compared with other African countries; only Uganda has had higher annual poverty reduction during the same period. Health, education, and living standards have also improved, with undernourishment down from 75 percent to 35 percent since 1990 and infant and child mortality rates falling considerably since 2000. Ethiopia is one of the most equal countries in the world, and has remained so during this period of economic development and poverty reduction.

A number of challenges remain, and 37 million Ethiopians remain either poor or vulnerable to falling into poverty in the wake of a shock. In addition, the very poorest in Ethiopia have become even poorer. The high food prices that improve incomes for many poor farmers make buying food more challenging for the poorest. Moreover, the majority of Ethiopians still live in rural areas and work in agriculture; enabling mobility across sectors and locations needs to be one of the main areas of focus going forward to continue the country’s movement toward ending poverty. As urban centers grow, policies to address poverty in these areas will become increasingly important.

“Ethiopia is often unfairly seen as emblematic of poverty and deprivation—but the progress it has seen over the past decade should help change that,” says Ana Revenga, Senior Director for Poverty at the World Bank Group. “If this progress continues over the next decade, Ethiopia can propel itself and most importantly, its people into a new era of prosperity.”

The report indicates that while Ethiopia should continue focusing on agricultural growth and investments in basic services, the potential of migration and non-agricultural growth has been largely missed. Alongside ongoing efforts to support self-employment, encouraging the entry and growth of firms and helping households overcome constraints to urban migration could also further help Ethiopia to reduce poverty and promote prosperity for all of is people. Poverty reduction has been fastest in the regions where poverty was highest a decade and a half ago, and the remaining poor live in every district across the country. Safety net programs, which have been effective, will need to adapt to the changing landscape of poverty in Ethiopia.
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Homestrings.com

The hybrid plant adjusts itself to a variety of weather conditions, utilizing both solar energy and biofuels.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy had entered an agreement with an Israeli solar-hybrid power company to provide “power solutions” in rural Ethiopia.

The Israeli developers, AORA, promise “significant social and economic impact on off-grid communities, helping to provide power to schools and medical facilities, refrigeration for food processing and post-harvest storage, groundwater pumping, and much more,” according to Tazpit News Agency.

Ethiopia often suffers from blackouts; two-thirds of the country’s citizens do not have electricity.

Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Alemayehu Tegenu, said the deal transforms “the Green Economy Strategy into action”, referring to a 2011 initiative that aims to turn Ethiopia into a middle-income, green economy nation by 2025. “AORA’s unique solar-hybrid technology is… well suited to provide both energy and heat to support local economic development in Ethiopia,” Tegenu added.

AORA’s technology combines solar radiation, gaseous and liquid fuels including biodiesel and natural gas, enabling a flexible variety of operational modes which adjust themselves to all weather conditions, 24 hours a day.

Construction of the first plant is expected to begin by mid-2015.
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Israeli solar power technology to light up Ethiopia (Ynet News)

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Houston Chronicle

By Dale Robertson

Yebrgual Arage’s personal-best time a year ago in the Chevron Houston Marathon gained her a second-place finish. This time, another personal best won her the race and later – pay attention, breaking news! – Arage credited her affinity for fast times on the city’s streets to the delightfully temperate climate.

The air in Ethiopia, she said through a translator, “is very heavy. It’s much nicer here.”

The nearly 25,000 local runners, a vast majority of whom were still huffing and puffing on the course when she donned her new champion’s cowboy hat and met with the media, would have all fainted hearing that. We only thought Houston was the king of humidity. Maybe if Arage returned in July…

It was indeed a perfect Sunday morning, at least for the world-class athletes in the field. None were still running when the temperature finally nudged above 50 degrees and the finishing times showed it. Although no records fell, Arage missed by a mere nine seconds and Birhanu Gedefa, claiming victory in the men’s race, shaved nearly 3½ minutes off his previous fastest time.

Gedefa, 30, crossed in 2:08:03 and Arage, 24, in 2:08:03 to extend Ethiopia’s reign for another year. From 1972 through 2007, no Houston runner had cracked 2:10, but four did it this day alone. The runner-up, Gebo Burka (2:08:12), and third-place finisher Debebe Tolossa (2:09:07) also established personal bests.

Also, going back to 2007, only one athlete of another nationality – David Cheruiyot of neighboring Kenya in 2008 – has triumphed in either the men’s or women’s race. With Arage and Gedefa now in the winner’s circle as well a seventh woman and a sixth man will be declaring Stetsons when they go through customs back in the Horn of Africa.

Read more »

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VOA News

January 19, 2015

Americans across the country are pausing Monday to observe the federal holiday marking the birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

King first rose to prominence in 1955 when he led a successful boycott of the public buses in the southern city of Montgomery, Alabama, forcing the city to end its practice of segregating black passengers. He became the central figure of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ’60s, inspiring millions with his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington.

He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, the same year a landmark civil rights bill was signed by President Lyndon Johnson.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had traveled to assist striking black garbage workers who were seeking equal pay.

The holiday was created in 1983 when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill designating the third Monday in January to honor King, who was born on January 15, 1929. Congress designated the King holiday as a national day of service in 1994, a move aimed at encouraging Americans to take part in community projects.

In honor of Dr. King, cable television’s MTV is airing its programming Monday in black and white for twelve hours to encourage viewers to have conversations with their friends and family about race. The monochrome broadcast is a first in the youth-oriented channel’s 34-year history.

MTV programming on Monday will include reflections on race from entertainers and public officials.

Editors of the root are featuring a quote from the iconic civil rights leader in honor of today’s MLK
Day. Read about an effort to portray Martin Luther King Jr. authentically on-screen here.

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Associated Press

Jan 15, 2015

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — An Ethiopian radio station says a court has sentenced two British nationals and a Somali man to between four and seven years imprisonment for terrorism related charges.

Fana Broadcasting Corporate, a state affiliated media house, reported Thursday the three were charged with attempting to establish an Islamic state in Ethiopia and were found recruiting, taking part in military trainings and conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks in the country.

According to the broadcaster the three men who were convicted are Ali Adros Mohammad, Mohammad Sharif Ahmed, and Mohammad Ahmed. The first two reportedly have lived in London and the third is from Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa.

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Ethiopia jails Britons and Somali in ‘terror plot’ (BBC News)

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BBC News

15 January 2015

Two African newspapers have apologised for publishing Charlie Hebdo’s cover depicting the Prophet Muhammad, after an outcry from Muslim readers.

Kenya’s The Star and South Africa’s The Citizen said they regretted any offence caused to Muslims.

Kenya’s media regulator has summoned The Star’s owner after accusing it of breaching decency. It did not single out the cartoon.

In Senegal, the government has banned Charlie Hebdo’s distribution.

A second Kenyan newspaper, Business Daily, has also published the French satirical magazine’s cover.

In its Thursday morning edition, the Star said many Muslim readers had complained over a “small reproduction” of Charlie Hebdo’s cover on Wednesday.

Apologising, the paper, Kenya’s third biggest, said it “sincerely regrets any offence and pain caused by the picture”.

Apology published by Kenya’s The Star on 15 January 2015

Read more at BBC News »

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Buyers Rush to Snag New ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Issue (VOA News)

By Al Pessin, Lisa Bryant

January 14, 2015

PARIS— There were long lines at Paris newsstands that had copies of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which lost eight staff members in a militant Islamist attack on its offices last week.

The latest edition, published Wednesday, features a caricature of a weeping Muslim Prophet Muhammed holding a sign that reads “I am Charlie” under a headline reading “All is forgiven.”

All across the city, copies of the magazine sold out within minutes.

One kiosk near the Champs Elysees, open at 6 a.m. (0500 UTC), was sold out by 6:05. Another, near Saint-Lazar, reported fisticuffs among customers.

“Distributing Charlie Hebdo, it warms my heart because we say to ourselves that he is still here, he’s never left,” said Jean-Baptiste Saidi, a van driver delivering copies well before dawn on Wednesday.

Additional copies ordered

The printers promised an initial run 3 million copies, compared to their normal print run of about 60,000, but they’re only delivering half a million a day. According to a spokesman for Charlie Hebdo’s distributor, high demand Wednesday, prompted an additional 2 million copy print order.

“It’s essential to buy it, to support them. And it’s of interest to me what’s in the paper,” a retired psychotherapist told VOA.

“It’s a great gesture, but we expect much more. Most important is that Charlie continues to exist,” said Philippe, a train driver.

David Sullo, standing at the end of a queue of two dozen people at a kiosk in central Paris, said, “I’ve never bought it before, it’s not quite my political stripes, but it’s important for me to buy it today and support freedom of expression.”

Emilienne, an administrative secretary, had the future in mind as she stood in line to buy the magazine.

“To keep it for my grandchildren,” she explained. “One day I will be able to say to them ‘See, this happened when you were young. I tell you so that it never happens again.’ ”

Inside the station, as travelers poured off the morning trains, they found signs telling them “Charlie Hebdo is sold out.”

Bookstore manager Magalie saved one copy for herself.

“We opened at 6 a.m. There were already people in line outside. In less than an hour, all 125 copies we had were gone,” she said.

Simon, a kiosk owner in Paris, said he wrote down names of at least 100 people who are expected to line up outside his kiosk early on Thursday to purchase what some are calling the “survivors issue.”

All proceeds from the sale of this week’s edition will go directly to Charlie Hebdo, after distributors decided to waive their fee. The cover price was three euros ($4).

At a news briefing on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said: “We absolutely support the right of Charlie Hebdo to publish things like this. Again, that’s what happens in a democracy. Period.”

History of lampooning religions

Charlie Hebdo had angered Muslims in the past by printing cartoons lampooning the prophet and Islam.

The latest issue of Charlie Hebdo has maintained the intentionally offensive tone that made the newspaper famous in France, although global news organizations have differed in their decisions to run images of the cover.

For Wednesday’s issue, staff members defiantly put a caricature of the Prophet Muhammed on the front page. Inside, they published some of the last editorial cartoons drawn by their colleagues who were killed.

The new issue has already caused controversy within the Islamic world, raising fears of a repeat of the violent 2006 protests over the cartoons of Mohammed printed in Danish daily Jyllands-Posten.

The drawings “stir up hatred” and “do not serve the peaceful coexistence between peoples and hinders the integration of Muslims into European and Western societies,” the Cairo-based Al-Azhar’s Islamic research center said in a statement, reported by the French news agency AFP.

In Turkey, police guarded the offices of secular newspaper Cumhuriyet Wednesday, after it included a four-page pullout section featuring some of the cartoons and editorials featured in the new Charlie Hebdo edition.

According to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News, police on Wednesday raided the Cumhuriyet printing press as it prepared to release the excerpts. Authorities allowed distribution of an abbreviated edition after verifying no cartoons of Mohammad were included.

Iran reaction

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif said on Wednesday serious dialogue with the West would be easier if it respected Muslim sensitivities, ruffled by the latest Charlie Hebdo cartoons, as he began nuclear talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva.

In explaining why Iranians are dismayed by the cover of magazine’s latest issue, Zarif said, “We believe that sanctities need to be respected and unless we learn to respect one another, it will be very difficult.

“In a world of different views and differing cultures and civilizations we won’t be able to engage in a serious dialogue if we start disrespecting each other’s values and sanctities. I think we would have a much safer, much more prudent world if we were to engage in serious dialogues, serious debate about our differences and then we will find out that what binds us together is far greater than what divides us,” he said shortly before meeting with Kerry.

“We are now faced with very serious problems of extremism, not only in the Middle East but unfortunately in Europe. You’ve seen demonstrations here in Europe which are extremely dangerous and we need to be able to deal with that,” Zarif added.

Conviction vs fundamentalism

Editor-in-Chief Gerard Biard said the magazine has not only spoofed Islam, but all kinds of religious fundamentalism.

Biard said the newspaper respects personal religious convictions, but not religion that becomes politicized. “That’s what revolts us,” he said, “that’s what we’re mocking.”

Turkish journalist Defne Gursoy is a regular Charlie Hebdo reader. She said she loves what she calls its “out of limits humor.” And Gursoy approves of the new Mohammed cover.

“It’s probably the best cover to do … continuing this anarchic kind of disturbance of everything that’s taboo. There’s no other way out. You can’t be complacent,” Gursoy said.

But the cover has angered some Muslims, both overseas and in France.

M’hammed Henniche, secretary general of UAM93, a Muslim association in the Saint Denis region outside Paris, said leaders like himself have told Muslims to stay calm and not to react.

Henniche described the Muhammed cartoons as an irresponsible act by Charlie Hebdo, given the tense national climate. It’s not considered free expression in France to mock the Holocaust, he said, nor should it be to mock the Muslim prophet.

People looking to buy the magazine Wednesday didn’t necessarily agree with Charlie Hebdo’s views, but said buying this issue was a form of protest.

“A magazine like Charlie Hebdo belongs to a tradition of laughter, derision and seeing the truth in things,” noted Christian Delporte, a history professor and expert on political cartoons at the University of Versailles.

“Everyone also recognizes that these cartoonists are deeply attached to freedom,” Delporte added.

Vow to press on

And the attack survivors have made clear they will continue with their brand of satire, whose overriding message of freedom of expression is close to the hearts of millions of French people.

“In the end, it’s a matter of tolerance. If you don’t want to read Charlie Hebdo, don’t buy it,” Delporte said.

If Wednesday was any indication, millions of people will be buying it, at least for a while.

Pamela Dockins contributed to this report from Geneva. Some information for this report came from Reuters, AFP and AP.

Video:French Magazine Charlie Hebdo’s New Prophet Muhammad Cartoon Reignites Debate

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Related:
In France Citizens Flock to Buy Charlie Hebdo in Support of Free Speech
French Police Kill 3 Gunmen to End Hostage Crises

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The New York Times

By David Carr

For people who are supporters of not just free speech but newspapers, too, the images of Parisians queued up at dawn Wednesday to get their hands on a printed artifact was heartening. The French distributors of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo said the latest issue’s initial printing of three million copies had been increased to perhaps five million, and there were reports that the now-precious editions were being auctioned on eBay for hundreds of dollars.

The image on the cover was of a weeping Prophet Muhammad, framed by two thoughts: “I am Charlie” and “All is forgiven.” But the sentiment that drove the sales probably had less to do with those messages and more to do with the impulse to preserve a world in which the speech of the many cannot be held hostage by a few.

The overwhelming response to the special issue of the newspaper, which normally has a print run of 60,000, is a sign that the citizens buying it wanted more than just a totem memorializing the fallen journalists; they were making an affirmative, political act, a vote in support of free speech. Just last month, consumers had responded in large numbers to the opportunity to stream “The Interview,” the Sony film that had been withdrawn from theaters after the studio was hacked by forces supported by the government of North Korea.

Read more at NYT »

Buyers Rush to Snag New ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Issue (VOA News)

By Al Pessin, Lisa Bryant

January 14, 2015

PARIS— There were long lines at Paris newsstands that had copies of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which lost eight staff members in a militant Islamist attack on its offices last week.

The latest edition, published Wednesday, features a caricature of a weeping Muslim Prophet Muhammed holding a sign that reads “I am Charlie” under a headline reading “All is forgiven.”

All across the city, copies of the magazine sold out within minutes.

One kiosk near the Champs Elysees, open at 6 a.m. (0500 UTC), was sold out by 6:05. Another, near Saint-Lazar, reported fisticuffs among customers.

“Distributing Charlie Hebdo, it warms my heart because we say to ourselves that he is still here, he’s never left,” said Jean-Baptiste Saidi, a van driver delivering copies well before dawn on Wednesday.

Additional copies ordered

The printers promised an initial run 3 million copies, compared to their normal print run of about 60,000, but they’re only delivering half a million a day. According to a spokesman for Charlie Hebdo’s distributor, high demand Wednesday, prompted an additional 2 million copy print order.

“It’s essential to buy it, to support them. And it’s of interest to me what’s in the paper,” a retired psychotherapist told VOA.

“It’s a great gesture, but we expect much more. Most important is that Charlie continues to exist,” said Philippe, a train driver.

David Sullo, standing at the end of a queue of two dozen people at a kiosk in central Paris, said, “I’ve never bought it before, it’s not quite my political stripes, but it’s important for me to buy it today and support freedom of expression.”

Emilienne, an administrative secretary, had the future in mind as she stood in line to buy the magazine.

“To keep it for my grandchildren,” she explained. “One day I will be able to say to them ‘See, this happened when you were young. I tell you so that it never happens again.’ ”

Inside the station, as travelers poured off the morning trains, they found signs telling them “Charlie Hebdo is sold out.”

Bookstore manager Magalie saved one copy for herself.

“We opened at 6 a.m. There were already people in line outside. In less than an hour, all 125 copies we had were gone,” she said.

Simon, a kiosk owner in Paris, said he wrote down names of at least 100 people who are expected to line up outside his kiosk early on Thursday to purchase what some are calling the “survivors issue.”

All proceeds from the sale of this week’s edition will go directly to Charlie Hebdo, after distributors decided to waive their fee. The cover price was three euros ($4).

At a news briefing on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said: “We absolutely support the right of Charlie Hebdo to publish things like this. Again, that’s what happens in a democracy. Period.”

History of lampooning religions

Charlie Hebdo had angered Muslims in the past by printing cartoons lampooning the prophet and Islam.

The latest issue of Charlie Hebdo has maintained the intentionally offensive tone that made the newspaper famous in France, although global news organizations have differed in their decisions to run images of the cover.

For Wednesday’s issue, staff members defiantly put a caricature of the Prophet Muhammed on the front page. Inside, they published some of the last editorial cartoons drawn by their colleagues who were killed.

The new issue has already caused controversy within the Islamic world, raising fears of a repeat of the violent 2006 protests over the cartoons of Mohammed printed in Danish daily Jyllands-Posten.

The drawings “stir up hatred” and “do not serve the peaceful coexistence between peoples and hinders the integration of Muslims into European and Western societies,” the Cairo-based Al-Azhar’s Islamic research center said in a statement, reported by the French news agency AFP.

In Turkey, police guarded the offices of secular newspaper Cumhuriyet Wednesday, after it included a four-page pullout section featuring some of the cartoons and editorials featured in the new Charlie Hebdo edition.

According to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News, police on Wednesday raided the Cumhuriyet printing press as it prepared to release the excerpts. Authorities allowed distribution of an abbreviated edition after verifying no cartoons of Mohammad were included.

Iran reaction

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif said on Wednesday serious dialogue with the West would be easier if it respected Muslim sensitivities, ruffled by the latest Charlie Hebdo cartoons, as he began nuclear talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva.

In explaining why Iranians are dismayed by the cover of magazine’s latest issue, Zarif said, “We believe that sanctities need to be respected and unless we learn to respect one another, it will be very difficult.

“In a world of different views and differing cultures and civilizations we won’t be able to engage in a serious dialogue if we start disrespecting each other’s values and sanctities. I think we would have a much safer, much more prudent world if we were to engage in serious dialogues, serious debate about our differences and then we will find out that what binds us together is far greater than what divides us,” he said shortly before meeting with Kerry.

“We are now faced with very serious problems of extremism, not only in the Middle East but unfortunately in Europe. You’ve seen demonstrations here in Europe which are extremely dangerous and we need to be able to deal with that,” Zarif added.

Conviction vs fundamentalism

Editor-in-Chief Gerard Biard said the magazine has not only spoofed Islam, but all kinds of religious fundamentalism.

Biard said the newspaper respects personal religious convictions, but not religion that becomes politicized. “That’s what revolts us,” he said, “that’s what we’re mocking.”

Turkish journalist Defne Gursoy is a regular Charlie Hebdo reader. She said she loves what she calls its “out of limits humor.” And Gursoy approves of the new Mohammed cover.

“It’s probably the best cover to do … continuing this anarchic kind of disturbance of everything that’s taboo. There’s no other way out. You can’t be complacent,” Gursoy said.

But the cover has angered some Muslims, both overseas and in France.

M’hammed Henniche, secretary general of UAM93, a Muslim association in the Saint Denis region outside Paris, said leaders like himself have told Muslims to stay calm and not to react.

Henniche described the Muhammed cartoons as an irresponsible act by Charlie Hebdo, given the tense national climate. It’s not considered free expression in France to mock the Holocaust, he said, nor should it be to mock the Muslim prophet.

People looking to buy the magazine Wednesday didn’t necessarily agree with Charlie Hebdo’s views, but said buying this issue was a form of protest.

“A magazine like Charlie Hebdo belongs to a tradition of laughter, derision and seeing the truth in things,” noted Christian Delporte, a history professor and expert on political cartoons at the University of Versailles.

“Everyone also recognizes that these cartoonists are deeply attached to freedom,” Delporte added.

Vow to press on

And the attack survivors have made clear they will continue with their brand of satire, whose overriding message of freedom of expression is close to the hearts of millions of French people.

“In the end, it’s a matter of tolerance. If you don’t want to read Charlie Hebdo, don’t buy it,” Delporte said.

If Wednesday was any indication, millions of people will be buying it, at least for a while.

Pamela Dockins contributed to this report from Geneva. Some information for this report came from Reuters, AFP and AP.

Video:French Magazine Charlie Hebdo’s New Prophet Muhammad Cartoon Reignites Debate

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Related:
French Police Kill 3 Gunmen to End Hostage Crises

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VOA News

January 12, 2015

The U.S. government said Cuba has released 53 of its political prisoners, complying with a promise made last month as the two countries announced efforts to normalize diplomatic ties.

A senior administration official said the Cuban government held some of the detainees for promoting political and social reform in Cuba. The United States shared the names of those prisoners with Cuban authorities after consulting with human rights groups and dissident activists in Cuba.

“We welcome this very positive development and are pleased that the Cuban government followed through on this commitment. Our Interests Section in Havana was able to verify these releases,” the U.S. official said.

Senior U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the release over the weekend of detainees was a milestone, but the officials said the United States would continue to press Havana to free more people it considers political prisoners.

Names kept secret

Intense secrecy surrounds the 53, whose names have been withheld by both countries.

Leading Cuban dissidents told Reuters that as of Sunday they had not received word that the prisoner release was complete and only knew of up to 35 people freed since Dec. 17, including a popular hip-hop artist.

“We have heard nothing new today,” said Elizardo Sanchez, president of the dissident Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, which monitors detentions. “We’ll see in the next few days if they complete the list.”

Washington and Havana simultaneously revealed in late 2014 that they were taking concrete actions to resume a diplomatic relationship after a decades-long political stand-off.

President Barack Obama could exercise executive powers “in a matter of days and weeks” to begin easing some business and travel restrictions, one U.S. official also told Reuters.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson begins high-level negotiations on issues ranging from investments to immigration in Havana Jan. 21-22.

Mutually beneficial relationship

U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in an appearance Monday on CBS This Morning that while he supports improving ties with Cuba, he said he’s worried that the Cubans are getting virtually everything they want from the United States for “these minimal changes.”

Rubio represents the state of Florida, which has the largest Cuban population in the country.

He said he wants to be certain that improved relations between Washington and Havana provides equal benefits to the U.S.

VOA’s Pamela Dockins contributed to this report. Some material for this report came from Reuters, AP and AFP.

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Mail & Guardian Africa

By SAMANTHA SPOONER

KALDI was an Ethiopian goat herder from Kaffa who is said to have “discovered” coffee after he noticed his goats dancing, unable to sleep at night and acting strange after they had eaten red berries from a certain tree.

Many believe the legend, thought to have taken place around 850AD, has elements of truth to it. After all, there is now a consensus amongst historians and botanists that coffee is indigenous to Ethiopia where it still continues to grow wild in the highlands where Kaldi lived. Having tried the beans himself, and feeling a novel elation, Kaldi shared his findings with a nearby monastery, believing it to have been a gift from the heavens. Slowly the discovery of the magic beans spread – but not inland, it spread across seas and oceans.

Trendy chain

Coffee culture is considered to be a novel phenomenon in Africa, recently brought back by Africans that have studied and worked abroad. The demand in coffee-producing countries and emerging markets is now expanding significantly and coffee consumption within households is on the rise, as are the number of cafes in major cities.

Cafe Neo, a trendy Nigerian chain, recently hit headlines as it hopes to conquer Africa’s major cities with 100% African coffee before the giants of the international coffee industry do.

Read more »
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Sahara Reporter

JAN 10, 2015

Eyewitness accounts say the plane skidded off the runway in the process of landing at about 10:00 am local time on Saturday.

All three crew members said to have been on board cargo plane flight no. ETEQV survived the incident and are currently receiving treatment at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.

Bad weather is thought to have contributed to the crash landing incident although Ghanaian authorities have not confirmed this.

Ethiopian Airlines is top rated in Africa and has one of the continent’s best airline accident records. As of January 2014, the Aviation Safety Network has recorded 60 accidents/incidents totalling 322 fatalities since 1965.

This incident has prompted members of the public to begin asking questions on safety standards at the Kotoka International Airport. In 2012, a Nigerian Cargo plane skidded off the tarmac and run into a passenger vehicle killing about ten passengers.

Read more »
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Winnipeg Free Press

By: Carol Sanders

An Ethiopian girl who went missing on her first day of school in Canada Monday was found safe and sound Tuesday after she took shelter from the deadly cold overnight in a vacant house in Elmwood.

Police took 17-year-old Bethelihem Zeleke Eliso home to her distraught parents early Tuesday evening to whoops of joy from her family and church members, who’d been holding a vigil at the family’s apartment on Talbot Avenue since she was reported missing Monday.

“She’s lucky to be alive,” said her exhausted, emotional and relieved father, Zeleke Tuloro.

It was the second tearful reunion for the family in less than a month. In December, he was reunited with his wife and three children for the first time in 12 years after having fled Ethiopia in 2002.

Monday morning, Tuloro drove Bethelihem and her 15-year-old brother, Nathanael, to school from their home in the 200 block of Talbot Avenue. Bethelihem was last seen Monday around 11:45 a.m. leaving Elmwood High School alone, her dad said. Later, she was spotted on a surveillance camera walking along Union Avenue several blocks away, he said. The petite 5-5 teen was wearing a red coat.

“I think she went to go home, and she missed the way,” said Tuloro, who’d been up all night and was driving around the area looking for his daughter Tuesday.

At the time she went missing, Environment Canada reported it was -33 with the wind chill.

Police on Tuesday asked Elmwood-area residents and businesses to check outdoor storage sheds, garages, vehicles, behind buildings and along any fence lines and treed areas where she might have sought shelter. Her mother, Zenebach, and older sister, Kalkidan, 22, were distraught and in tears. Her father calmly said he had faith Bethelihem was OK — that she’d found shelter or someone had taken her in out of the bitter cold.

He was right.

She found a vacant home without any furniture and spent the night inside, her dad said. The homeowner showed up Tuesday and found the Ethiopian girl, who spoke little English.

“The owner of the house said ‘What are you doing here?’ ” said Tuloro, recalling what the police told him.

Read more »
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Teen From Ethiopia Goes Missing During First Day of School In Winnipeg, Canada

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Books Live

The £40,000 prize was initiated last year, unofficially as a more literary alternative to the Man Booker Prize.

Galgut has been nominated for Arctic Summer, Adhiambo Owuor for Dust and Mengestu for All Our Names.

In contrast, the longlist for the 2014 Booker Prize, although much shorter at 13 books, featured a complete absence of African authors.

The Folio Prize longlist comprises 80 books, and is open to any work of fiction published in the UK. The books are selected by the Folio Prize Academy’s 235 members, which include JM Coetzee, Teju Cole, NoViolet Bulawayo and Helon Habila. Bulawayo and Galgut are also Academy members, but are recused from this year’s prize.

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Houston Chronicle

By Dale Robertson

Bazu Worku will return to attempt a rare three-peat in the 43rd Chevron Houston Marathon, and Meb Keflezighi, the reigning Boston Marathon champion, will be seeking his third U.S. Half Marathon championship in the Aramco Half Marathon on Sunday, Jan. 18.

Keflezighi, a naturalized American citizen born in the East African country of Eritrea, won the Aramco this year and used the victory as a steppingstone to become the first U.S. runner to conquer Boston in 31 years…Worku, who is from Ethiopia, won a year ago with a time of 2:07:32, significantly faster than his first-place time of 2:10:17 in 2013. The only other runner to triumph in three consecutive races was Worku’s countryman, Stephen Ndungu, from 1998-2000.

The top woman in the field will be Ethiopia’s Fatuma Sado, who is making her Houston debut. Sado ran a personal-best 2:25:39 in winning the 2012 L.A. Marathon. Biruktait Degefa, last year’s fourth-place finisher with a personal-best 2:26:33, figures to contend as well. Defending women’s half marathon champion Serena Burla will be the fastest American in this year’s marathon field.

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VOA News

By Lisa Bryant

January 09, 2015

PARIS—French authorities say the two armed suspects in this week’s Charlie Hebdo attack have been killed and their hostage freed during a police raid northeast of Paris. A separate raid in the capital killed another gunman holding multiple hostages at a kosher supermarket in the capital, but police said three hostages died in that operation.

Explosions and gunfire sounded as police moved in Friday afternoon, almost simultaneously, on the supermarket in Paris and on the industrial town of Dammartin-en-Goele, near Charles DeGaulle international airport. Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, named as the principal suspects in Wednesday’s bloody attack on the satirical magazine in Paris, came out of hiding in a warehouse and began firing as police moved in. They were cut down in return gunfire from a large force of police on the scene.

In the Paris shootout, security forces stormed the supermarket near the Porte de Vincennes neighborhood. They killed gunman Amedy Coulibaly, who had stormed into the market hours earlier and held customers and staff hostage. Authorities said that there had been “at least five” hostages and that three were killed, but it was not clear who killed them and when.

Brothers Chérif Kouachi, left, and Said Kouachi, right, appear in photos released by police in Paris..

French police released these images of suspects Hayat Boumeddiene, left, and Amedy Coulibaly, on Jan. 9, 2015.

French President Francois Hollande called Friday’s violence a “horrible anti-Semitic attack.” He said France will not give in to any pressure or fears.

Hollande thanked the security personnel who ended the standoffs and neutralized the terrorists. He urged the French people to show vigilance and unity, which he called the country’s best weapon to fight against terrorism, racism and anti-Semitism.

U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking from Knoxville, Tennessee, said the United States stands with France in supporting liberty and subverting extremism.

He congratulated French law enforcement for ending the standoffs and said the spirit of solidarity “will endure forever, long after the scourge of terrorism has vanished from this world.”

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve thanked police for their efforts to end the standoffs. He did not offer specifics about the police raids, but he vowed that France will remain mobilized to ensure security.

A police official said the gunman in the supermarket attack, 32-year-old Coulabaly, is believed to be the same man who shot and killed a policewoman south of Paris on Thursday.

Authorities also are seeking a woman described as his accomplice, Hayet Boumeddiene. Initial reports from teh scene said she may have escaped in the confusion as other shoppers fled the store.

Police sources have linked Coulibaly to the Kouachi brothers, who were shown in a video of the Charlie Hebdo attack carrying high-powered weapons. They killed a dozen people – 10 members of the magazine’s staff and two policemen – in what the French news agency AFP described as “the bloodiest attack on French soil in half a century.”

The brothers and Coulibaly apparently knew each other through a common network to recruit jihadists.

Ready for martyrdom

Before gunshots and explosions erupted Friday afternoon in Dammartin-en-Goele, French security forces said they were in contact with the Kouachis. The brothers reportedly told police negotiators they were prepared to die as martyrs.

A third suspect, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, surrendered to police on Wednesday. His relationship to the Kouachis remains unclear.

Before Friday’s events, nine people had been taken into custody for questioning about their possible knowledge of the Charlie Hebdo attack. The satirical magazine, known for making fun of all religions, including Islam, has announced it will resume publication Wednesday, despite the loss of its director and leading cartoonists.

Massive manhunt

More than 88,000 police and security forces had been searching for the brothers.

In Thursday’s shooting, a policewoman was gunned down while responding to a traffic accident in the Montrouge area just south of the capital.

As a precaution, police on Friday also ordered the closing of all shops in central Paris’ famed Jewish Marais neighborhood. It’s about a kilometer from the Charlie Hedbo offices and farther from the now-resolved hostage situations. As The Associated Press reported, the district’s Rosiers Street usually teems with tourists and with French Jews in the hours before the Sabbath.

Radical Islamist ties

Both Kouachi brothers had links with radical Islam. Said, 34, received terrorist training in Yemen in 2011, The New York Times reported. Cherif, 32, was a former rapper who served prison time for his involvement in a Paris terrorist cell.

Hundreds of French nationals have headed to Iraq and Syria to join jihadist fighters.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the ultra-right National Front party, on Friday insisted the country must fight Islamic fundamentalism.

According to The Associated Press, she said Hollande had “assured me that a profound debate on the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in our country will take place and that all the political parties will be listened to” regarding steps “to ensure the security of the country and our people.”

The brothers appear to have been radicalized for some time, unlike other recent French jihadists, according to Franck Fregosi, a political scientist and expert on Islam.

Fregosi said the brothers’ radicalization reflects a new trend, a sort of family event in which brothers and sisters may jointly turn to radical Islam.

Charlie Hebdo continues

Also Friday, the French newspaper Liberation made room for the surviving Charlie Hebdo journalists to prepare the satirical weekly’s next edition. The newspaper plans to print 1 million copies, 30 times its regular run.

Charlie Hebdo journalists and cartoonists have returned under heavy police protection, Reuters said.

“Since a long time, Charlie Hebdo and Liberation are seen, are like brothers. It’s like a fraternity,” Liberation editor Pierre Fraidenraich said. His paper had welcomed Charlie Hebdo staff after the newspaper was fire-bombed in 2011.

Fraidenraich said his newspaper would host the Charlie Hebdo team for “all the time they want.”

Grieving for victims

Meanwhile, mourning continues for those killed at the satirical magazine known for making fun of all religions, including Islam – and for two policemen who were among the dead.

Parisians stood in silence in a chilly rain Thursday, holding up pens and pencils as a sign of the right to free speech. The lights of the Eiffel Tower dimmed Thursday night to honor the victims.

The U.N. Security Council held a moment of silence before Thursday’s meeting.

President Barack Obama signed a book of condolence at the French embassy in Washington. He called the killings cowardly and evil.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters. VOA’s Peter Vaselopulos contributed to this report from near Dammartin-en-Goële.

Video: American Satirists Speak Out Against Terror Shooting at French Publication

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Sun News Network

By KRISTIN ANNABLE | QMI AGENCY

WINNIPEG – Police are looking for a 17-year-old girl, newly arrived to Canada from Ethiopia, who failed to return home from her first day at a new school.

Police say Bethelihem Zeleke Eliso moved to Winnipeg last month and was last seen leaving school for the lunch hour Monday.

Const. Eric Hofley said police are concerned for her well-being because she’s new to the city and doesn’t know many people.

Hofley said teen runaways often leave to be with friends or other family members.

But in this case, Eliso didn’t seem to have those options, he said.

“Sometimes it is just miscommunication, but in this case, with being so new to the country, that is less likely.”

Eliso is 5-foot-5, with a thin build and medium-length black hair.

She was wearing a pink jacket, red pants, and pink gloves.
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Tadias Magazine
News Update

Monday, January 5th, 2015

New York (TADIAS) — The trial of the Zone 9 Bloggers and journalists in Ethiopia has been adjourned for the 15th time. The next court date is set for January 14th, 2015.

The trialtrackerblog.org, which publishes an up-to-date information on the legal status of the Zone9ers, reports that there were more people in the courtroom on Monday than at previous hearings. “Families and friends of the detained stood in line waiting to get inside of the court room,” the blog states. “Today, it was more crowded than usual outside of the court. Many people had gathered to follow the rape case of Hanna, which was held in the same place.”

The website adds: “Having several court hearings in the same court room and on the same day makes the court too crowded. Also, the session was delayed with the result that detainees, loved ones and people following the case online needed to wait for a long time for the session to begin. Furthermore, the space for families and friends in the court room was (as always) very limited. Just a few of them could attend.”

The report notes that “during earlier sessions an amendment of the terrorism charges were ordered (read more below). The amended charges were presented today, but according to the judges some details had not been amended. However, the court accepted the amended charge regarding planning of terrorism acts. The court ordered further amendment on other details. The situation in the court room became intense after the attendants were asked not to make eye contact with the bloggers.”

The Zone9 bloggers and three journalists trial adjourned for Jan 14 for 15th time. #Ethiopia #FreeZone9Bloggers

— Jomanex (@jomanex) January 5, 2015

Updates: For detailed updates and the situation in the court stay tuned and please visit http://t.co/zLzrlbgakB

— endalk2006 (@endalk2006) January 5, 2015

Some of the details of charges not amended acc to judges so ordered another chance for amendment to prosecution. #FreeZone9Bloggers

— Jomanex (@jomanex) January 5, 2015

#Zone9Bloggers :3 points the court accepted including "Terrorism" charge and asked to amend 4 issues & re-adjourned for Jan 14, 2014

— Ethio Daily Post (@EthioDailyPost) January 5, 2015

the next hearing on Jan 14th will be the final adjournment for the amendment of charges. #FreeZone9Bloggers

— Soli #FreeZone9ners (@Soli_GM) January 5, 2015

Zone 9 Bloggers and journalists arrive at the Lideta High Court, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – January 5, 2015 http://t.co/WeYXWjvm18

— Daniel Tadesse (@danieltad23) January 5, 2015

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Related:
Court Adjourns Ethiopian Bloggers’ Trial for 15th Time (VOA News)

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BBC News

Pope Francis has named 20 new cardinals, including churchmen from Tonga, Ethiopia and Myanmar.

Fifteen of the new appointees are under 80, making them eligible to enter a conclave to elect the Pope’s successor.

Pope Francis said the appointment of cardinals from 14 countries from every continent in the world showed the Vatican’s “inseparable link” with Catholic Churches around the world.

They will be formally installed on 14 February.

Pope Francis also announced on Sunday that he would lead of meeting of all cardinals to discuss reform of the Roman Curia, the Vatican’s administrative body, on 12 and 13 February.

The College of Cardinals is made up of the Church’s most senior officials who are usually ordained bishops.

Read more at BBC News »
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The Wall Street Journal

Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson , 44, owns four New York restaurants, with a fifth—Streetbird Rotisserie—opening in the spring. He is author of “Marcus Off Duty: The Recipes I Cook at Home” ( Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ), which features 150 dishes inspired by his travels and background. He spoke with Marc Myers.

I was born in Ethiopia but grew up in Sweden, which wasn’t as big a culture shock as you’d imagine. I was 3 when my older sister and I were adopted by a couple from Göteborg who taught me to fish, cook and prioritize my life—lessons that remain with me today.

I don’t recall much from my earliest years in Meki, Ethiopia. I was too young. My mother had died from tuberculosis during an epidemic and my father was a priest and couldn’t take care of us. The hospital where my mother had died was affiliated with Sweden, which is how my sister and I came to be adopted by Ann Marie and Lennart Samuelsson.

Marcus Samuelsson and his sister Anna, in undated photo, make Christmas cookies in their childhood home in Sweden.

Göteborg is a major city on the southwestern coast of Sweden, but we lived in a residential area with many two-story homes. My father was a geologist and my mother was a homemaker. When they brought my sister and me home, they already had another daughter who was 8 and also adopted, but we all got along perfectly from the start.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal »

Video: Tadias Interview With Marcus Samuelsson About His Latest Book “Marcus Off Duty”

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USA Today

By NATE SCOTT

On Tuesday morning American soccer fans got very excited indeed when the Washington Post’s Steve Goff broke that Gedion Zelalem had gotten his United States citizenship and would be declaring his intent to play international soccer for America. President of U.S. Soccer Sunil Gulati then sent out a tweet confirming it, and USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann welcomed him as well.

Great news about Gedion. He's a very promising young talent and we hope to have him on board soon.

— Jürgen Klinsmann (@J_Klinsmann) December 30, 2014

Let us now answer your questions.

So who is Gedion Zelalem?

Zelalem is a 17-year-old midfielder who currently plays for Arsenal’s reserve team. Arsenal has a pretty decent track record of developing young talent, so if they think that Zelalem is worthy of a spot on their reserve team, he’s someone that soccer fans are understandably going to be excited about.

And he’s going to play his international soccer for the U.S., which is a good thing.

How did he become a United States citizen?

Zelalem was born in Germany, and his father is from Ethiopia, so he could have potentially played for either of those countries. As a child, though, Zelalem moved with his family to Maryland and started playing soccer for club teams in the area. At a Dallas Cup match, an Arsenal scout spotted Zelalem and the club flew him over to London for a trial, and he’s been there more-or-less since.

With his family having a strong base in the States, he was able to apply for and receive citizenship. He received his passport this week.

Read more at USA Today »

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Arsenal’s Gedion Zelalem is a U.S. citizen (The Washington Post)

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World Bulletin / Turkey

The Ethiopian government on Friday denied reports about the defection of four Air Force pilots to neighboring Kenya.

“This report is a baseless fabrication,” Ewnetu Blata, State Minister of Government Communication Affairs Office, told The Anadolu Agency.

“I can confirm that the report is untrue,” Ewnetu said.

Media reports alleged that four pilots in an airbase in eastern Ethiopia had defected to Kenya.

Read more »
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Related:
Foreign Ministry Denies 70 Ethiopian Migrants Died in Yemen Boating Accident
Ethiopian Pilot Hijacks Military Helicopter, Lands in Eritrea (AP)

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VOA News

About 2.4 million low-paid workers in the United States are getting a pay raise on New Year’s Day as new minimum wage laws take effect.

In the United States, the minimum pay is $7.25 an hour, which translates to a yearly salary of $15,080.

But 20 of the country’s 50 states and the national capital of Washington passed new laws in recent months or had already imposed requirements that now will boost wages above the national level, to an average of $8 an hour, or $16,640 annually.

The wage increases are expected to pump about $1.5 billion annually into the accelerating U.S. economy, the world’s largest, because low-wage workers tend to spend most of their paychecks.

President Barack Obama last year called for a federal minimum wage of $10.10 an hour, but encountered stiff opposition from Republican opponents in Congress and the proposal failed.

Numerous new state laws also took effect Thursday in the United States, including one in California that requires college students to give affirmative consent to their partners before engaging in sex. In Michigan, the sale of cough and cold medicines for the purpose of making the drug methamphetamine is now banned, while New York is requiring its residents to recycle old computers and televisions rather than throwing them in the trash.
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Some information for this report came from AP.

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The Guardian

By William Davison

Gambella, Ethiopia — As dusk envelops the grasslands of Gambella in western Ethiopia, a weary Jakob Pouch sits on a jerry can, resting his chest against a wooden staff. The 45-year-old evangelical preacher from the Nuer community has just made the three-hour walk from the banks of the Baro river, where he tends to his large family’s small plot of corn. His daughters are preparing cabbage and cobs to be cooked on an open fire.

In the opposite direction, across the asphalt road that leads to South Sudan, lies the farm of BHO Bioproducts, an Anglo-Indian company growing rice and cotton on the 27,000 hectares (67,000 acres) it has leased.

Pouch says the company doesn’t care about the people of his village, Wath-Gach. Grazing land has been lost, and BHO has built a wooden cage around a water pump to prevent locals using it. “From the beginning we did not have a good relationship,” he says. “It was given without consultation. There has been lots of negative impact.” The company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Jakob Pouch says his community in Gambella hasn’t benefited from a nearby commercial farm. (Photograph: William Davison)

Read more at theguardian.com »
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World Bulletin / Turkey

Ethiopian authorities have denied media reports about the drowning of around 70 Ethiopian migrants off Yemen’s coast.

“Media reports that 70 people died, mostly Ethiopians, while being ferried to Yemen is baseless,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dina Mufti told The Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

Media reports earlier said that around 70 Ethiopian migrants had drowned off southwest Yemen’s coast earlier this month.

Mufti said that the Ethiopian embassy in Yemen mustered support from the Yemeni 17th Brigade and “conducted extensive search on a perimeter of 250– 300-km at coastal areas such as Bab-el Mendab, Dubab and Muha”

“[It] proved that no boat capsized or sunk and no life lost,” he said.

Read more »
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Related:
Seventy Ethiopian migrants drown off Red Sea coast of Yemen (Reuters)

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VOA News

Updated: December 30, 2014

Some of President Barack Obama’s loudest critics on foreign policy will have new powers as chairmen of various Senate committees when Republicans assume control of both houses of Congress in January. VOA Senate correspondent Michael Bowman reports, from Ukraine to the Middle East, the Obama administration can expect enhanced scrutiny of its outreach to the world.

Video: Foreign Policy Battles Loom Between Obama, Republican-led Congress

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CPJ

By Nicole Schilit/Journalist Assistance Associate

A sharp increase in the number of Ethiopian journalists fleeing into exile has been recorded by the Committee to Protect Journalists in the past 12 months. More than 30–twice the number of exiles CPJ documented in 2012 and 2013 combined–were forced to leave after the government began a campaign of arrests. In October, Nicole Schilit of CPJ’s Journalist Assistance program and Martial Tourneur of partner group Reporters Without Borders traveled to Nairobi in Kenya to meet some of those forced to flee.

The group of reporters, photographers, and editors we met had all been forced to make a tough decision that has affected them and their families–a life in exile or prison. All of the journalists spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, out of concern for their safety. During meetings to discuss their cases, one of them told us: “I hope one day I can bring my family. Maybe in the future. I want to secure myself first. Now is not secure.”

Since July, a large number of Ethiopian journalists have left behind their families, homes, and a steady income to seek safety. The reason for this sharp increase is a government crackdown on the independent media. In January, the state-controlled Ethiopian Press Agency and Ethiopian News Agency carried out a study to “assess the role of [seven] magazines in the nation’s peace, democracy and development.” The results were illustrated in two charts that claimed the magazines were promoting terrorism and damaging the economy.

Read more at cpj.org »
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Related:
2014 Census: Ethiopia Again Ranks Among the Worst Jailers of Journalists in the World

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