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Tigrayan rebels announced on Sunday that they have captured the northern Ethiopian town of Kombolcha, making it a rapid advance by the Tigray People's Liberation Front as federal forces begin a battle to recapture the strategic city of Dessie.
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
[East African] Ethiopian authorities on Thursday warned of a possible \"terror attack\" in the capital Addis Abba.
[Addis Standard] Addis Abeba -- In corresponding statements, the United States States department and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) complained of the worsening humanitarian situation in Tigray, blamed the delay in delivery of assistance on the Federal government and called for end of hostilities and unhindered, unfettered access to population in need.
[Nation] Legendary Ethiopian singer Alemayehu Eshete, 80, died in Addis Ababa on Thursday.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed replaced his army chief, the head of intelligence and the foreign minister as the military continued a five-day old offensive in the restive Tigray region.
[VOA] Hawzen -- Shops remained shuttered, some government workers hadn't been paid and the town's main hospital was laid to waste. But the Tigrayan fighters still claimed victory, swaggering through the streets of Hawzen with their guns.
May 28: Field hospital on Addis outshirts
\tEthiopia will soon have a COVID-19 field hospital on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa.
Total confirmed cases = 731 (new cases = 30)
Total recoveries = 181
Total deaths = 6
Active cases = 544
\tFigures valid as of close of day May 27, 2020
\t
May 24: 193 cases in 5 days as tally hits 582
\tEthiopia has recorded back-to-back one-day spikes, record 61 new cases on Saturday and a further 81 on Sunday toppling the Saturday record.
Ethiopia’s tally has therefore jumped by 193 new cases in a space of five days.
Total confirmed cases = 582 (new cases = 88)
Total recoveries = 152 (new recoveries = 8)
Total deaths = 5
Active cases = 423
\tTrajectory of infections between May 20 – 24
\tMay 20: 389 (24 new cases)
May 21: 398 (9 new cases)
May 22: 399 (10 new cases)
May 22: 433 (34 new cases)
May 23: 494 (61 new cases)
May 24: 582 (88 new cases)
May 19: 365 cases with 60 new cases in three days
\tTotal confirmed cases = 365 (new cases between May 17 – 19 = 60)
Total recoveries = 120 (new recoveries = 8)
Active cases = 238
\tEthiopia’s case count spiked on Monday by 35 new cases (a daily record) whiles 14 new cases were recorded today.
Major African stats: May 19 at 6:00 GMT:
\t\tConfirmed cases = 88,264
\t\tNumber of deaths = 2,832
\t\tRecoveries = 33,898
\t\tActive cases = 51,534
Only 30 per cent of Ethiopian migrants seeking to find work in Saudi Arabia are aware that Yemen - the one country they must cross --is in its sixth year of conflict, while less than 50 per cent know of the dangers of boats capsizing at sea.
The research found that many of the young Ethiopian migrants on the Eastern Route to the Middle East remained unaware of the risks of the journey.
The study is based on interviews with over 2,000 young Ethiopian youth in Obock, Djibouti, trying to reach Saudi Arabia.
Fifty per cent of migrants reported making about USD 61 per month back home, while the median expected monthly income in Saudi Arabia would be USD 453.
Many migrants are aware of families within their communities who have improved their living standards with remittances from Saudi Arabia.
Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister, Gedu Andargachew has rejected Egypt’s call to refer the dispute over Addis Ababa’s construction of the giant Nile dam to the United Nations Security Council.
The $4.6 billion project, on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia, would create the most powerful hydroelectric dam in Africa.
“The issue with the dam can be solved right here instead of taking it to the UN Security Council.
Truth be told, if they are thinking like that their issue is not with Blue Nile (dam), it is with a country called Ethiopia.
Unless this is a longing for war, the dam in fact encourages development, brotherhood, and creating ties”, the Ethiopian foreign minister added.
National name: Jumhouriyya Djibouti
Current government officials
Languages: French and Arabic (both official), Somali, Afar
Ethnicity/race: Somali 60%, Afar 35%, other 5% (includes French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian)
National Holiday: Independence Day, June 27
Religions: Islam 94%, Christian 6%
Literacy rate: 67.9% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $2.505 billion; per capita $2,700. Real growth rate: 5%. Inflation: 2.5%. Unemployment: 59% in urban areas, 80% in rural areas (2007 est.). Arable land: 0.09%. Agriculture: fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides. Labor force: 294,600 (2012). Industries: construction, agricultural processing, salt. Natural resources: geothermal areas, gold, clay, granite, limestone, marble, salt, diatomite, gypsum, pumice, petroleum. Exports: $90.8 million (2013 est.): reexports, hides and skins, coffee (in transit). Imports: $593.3 million (2013): foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products. Major trading partners: Somalia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, India, China, Indonesia, UAE (2012).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 18,000 (2012); mobile cellular: 209,000 (2012). Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001). Broadcast media: state-owned Radiodiffusion-Television de Djibouti (RTD) operates the sole terrestrial TV station as well as the only 2 domestic radio networks; no private TV or radio stations; transmissions of several international broadcasters are available (2007). Internet hosts: 215 (2012). Internet users: 25,900 (2009).
Transportation: Railways: total: 100 km (Djibouti segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad) (2008). Highways: total: 3,065 km (2000 est.). Waterways: none. Ports and harbors: Djibouti. Airports: 13 (2013).
International disputes: Djibouti maintains economic ties and border accords with Somaliland leadership while maintaining some political ties to various factions in Somalia; Kuwait is chief investor in the 2008 restoration and upgrade of the Ethiopian-Djibouti rail
[Nation] Negotiations among Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt over the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) resumed Monday afternoon, the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy announced.
June 24: Tigray ‘warned’ against holding polls
The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has said it lacks the capacity to oversee regional elections in the northern Tigray regional state. The body said the state’s council had officially notified them of plans to delayed elections.
In an official statement, the board reiterated that it will not conduct election in any part of the country until a re-assessment of COVID-19 pandemic.
Keenly awaited national and regional polls slated for May were postponed over the virus as federal government imposed a fine-month state of emergency.
Tigray requested for necessary support to conduct its elections: but NEBE responded that: “it has no legal ground to deploy manpower and provide logistics and other materials support for the election”.
The body led by Birtukan Mideksa also approved a recommendation by lawmakers weeks ago that the general elections be held within 9 months to a year after the pandemic is no longer a threat to public health.
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June 12: Tigray ‘rejects’ HoF mandate extension, vows to hold polls
Tigray regional state has all but rejected the regional parliament’s mandate extension granted by the House of Federation earlier this week.
The regional council has subsequently announced today that it planned to go ahead with regional elections, Getachew Reda, Executive Member of the governing Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, confirmed to privately-owned Addis Standard portal.
The council’s decision this morning followed earlier decision both by TPLF’s Executive Committee (EC), and its Central Committee (CC) to hold the election, the portal further reported. The exact role of the elections body in the process has yet to be known.
The council also extended regional COVID-19 State of Emergency by two-and-half months. This is despite there being a similar federal virus containment measure with a five-month duration starting April 10.
The details of the regional election indicate that it will be held before September 11 or latest before the end of the Ethiopian year. Mandates from 2015 polls expire in October but polls were delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
TPLF leadership have repeatedly insisted that irrespective of federal directives, it was going ahead with polls in what analysts say could signal a confrontation with the federal government led by PM Abiy Ahmed.
A number of opposition parties in Oromia and Somali regions have denounced the manner and scope of the mandate extension. A key pro-democracy activist turned politician Jawar Mohammed said the government was exploiting the virus outbreak to extend its stay in power indefinitely.
June 10: MPs back extending Abiy’s term amid election delay
Ethiopia’s upper parliamentary chamber, House of Federation (HoF), has appro
[ENA] Addis Ababa -- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen has called on all Ethiopians to stand firm and join hands with the view to ensuring solidarity through combined efforts in a bid to realize a self-reliant and prosperous nation.
In June 2006, an Islamist militia seized control of the capital of neighboring Somalia and established control in much of that countrys south. Ethiopia, which has clashed in the past with Somalias Islamists and considers them a threat to regional security, began amassing troops on Somalias border, in support of Somalias weak transitional government, led by President Abdullah. In mid-December, Ethiopia launched air strikes against the Islamists, and in a matter of days Ethiopian ground troops and Somali soldiers regained of Mogadishu. A week later most of the Islamists had been forced to flee the country. Ethiopia announced that its troops would remain in Somalia until stability was assured and a functional central government had been established. Battles between the insurgents and Somali and Ethiopian troops intensified in March, leaving 300 civilians dead in what has been called the worst fighting in 15 years. Amid a growing threat from militant Islamists, Ethiopia began withdrawing troops from Somalia in January 2009. At this point, Somalia was far from stable. Indeed, Ethiopias presence in Somalia sparked increased guerrilla warfare and even further weakened the transitional government. Many feared that the withdrawal, along with Somalias political instability, would provide Islamists an opportunity to fill the power vacuum.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawis Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front won parliamentary elections by a wide margin in May 2010. The U.S. and the European Union said the vote failed to meet international standards, and the opposition refused to recognize the results. Nevertheless, parliament elected Zenawi to a fourth term.
[Nation] The African Union (AU) has launched an inquiry into human rights violations in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, becoming the first continental effort to investigate the conflict that began in November 4 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military offensive against its regional forces.
[ENA] Addis Ababa -- A new round of tripartite negotiation between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will resume today, according to Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Energy.
[Ethiopian Herald] ADDIS ABABA - The House of Peoples' Representatives yesterday approved a resolution of the Council of Ministers submitted proposing Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and \"Shene\" to be designated as terrorist groups.
Irrigation and water ministers from the three Nile basin countries will meet via videoconference.
[Addis Standard] Addis Abeba -- In a statement it issued on February 04, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) said its efforts so far to help settle internal split within the leadership of the opposition Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) were to no avail and asked the party to convene general assembly aimed at reaching consensus to bridge the party's split.
May 30: Cases pass 1,000 mark; total tests top 100,000
\tEthiopia’s confirmed cases passed the 1,000 mark after today’s tallies were released.
Health Minister Dr Lia Tadesse confirmed at the meeting that 67% of the country’s total confirmed cases are from the capital Addis Ababa.
Addis Ababa was the last imperial capital of Ethiopia and serves as the capital of the modern state of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa came into existence in 1886 as a mineral springs resort for Ethiopias royal family and nobility. In 1892, Emperor Menilek II (r. 1889-1913) made it the capital when he constructed his palace there. By 1896, members of the nobility began to build permanent homes in the new capital. Neighborhoods bearing the names of these nobles provided housing for their followers along with districts for the imperial employees. Foreigners, artisans, and merchants also flocked to the city. The city’s previously uncertain future was established in 1907 with the granting of land charters and, in 1917 when the railroad arrived from Djibouti.
By 1917, Ras Tafari Makonnen, later Haile Selassie (r. 1930-74), had become one of the most powerful people in Addis Ababa. He recognized the future importance of the city and redistributed much of his recently acquired wealth to gain the support of the emerging class of urban Ethiopians. In 1918, a series of popular demonstrations in Addis Ababa catapulted Tafari to the head of a regency council.
Addis Ababa experienced an economic boom between 1926 and 1927, fueled by the lucrative processing of coffee and hides just before export. Aided by this new wealth, the bourgeoisie of the city began to construct new, stone houses filled with imported European furniture and the richest amongst them drove automobiles. At this time, a rudimentary banking system began to develop in the city.
In 1930, Tafari was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie in a spectacular week-long celebration. The extravaganza was preceded by a wave of city-wide improvements including street paving, the installation of power lines and telephones, and the erection of several monuments throughout Addis Ababa. However, after a string of defeats by the Italians, who had invaded in 1935, the Emperor was forced to leave Addis Ababa and the country in 1936. This triggered a riot in the capital which was only quelled
(Photo by Eric BARADAT / AFP) (Photo by ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House approved a bill Friday to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, saying Congress has both the moral obligation and constitutional authority to ensure that the city’s 700,000 residents are allowed full voting rights, no longer subject to “taxation without representation.”
Holmes Norton held a news conference to discuss “efforts to protect D.C.’s local laws during the FY2019 appropriations process, including gun safety, anti-discrimination, labor, marijuana and abortion.Ó (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
D.C.’s population is larger than those of Wyoming and Vermont, and the new state would be one of seven with populations under one million, she said.
Opponents, mostly Republicans, called the bill a power grab for the firmly Democratic city, and said the nation’s founding fathers intended the capital to be separate from the other states.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The bill also would reduce the size of the federal district to a tourist-friendly area that includes the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, federal monuments and the federal executive, legislative and judicial office buildings adjacent to the National Mall and the Capitol.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser invoked Douglass as she hailed the “historic vote” bringing the city closer than ever to becoming the 51st state.
On Sept. 12, 1974, Haile Selassie was deposed, the constitution suspended, and Ethiopia proclaimed a Socialist state under a collective military dictatorship called the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), also known as the Derg. U.S. aid stopped, and Cuban and Soviet aid began. Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam became head of state in 1977. During this period Ethiopia fought against Eritrean secessionists as well as Somali rebels, and the government fought against its own people in a campaign called the “red terror.” Thousands of political opponents were killed. Mengistu remained leader until 1991, when his greatest supporter, the Soviet Union, dismantled itself. In May 2008, Ethiopia’s Supreme Court sentenced Mengistu to death in absentia. He had lived in Zimbabwe since 1991.
A group called the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front seized the capital in 1991, and in May a separatist guerrilla organization, the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front, took control of the province of Eritrea. The two groups agreed that Eritrea would have an internationally supervised referendum on independence. This election took place in April 1993 with almost unanimous support for Eritrean independence. Ethiopia accepted and recognized Eritrea as an independent state within a few days. Sixty-eight leaders of the former military government were put on trial in April 1996 on charges that included genocide and crimes against humanity.
The rebels had advanced into Afar and Amhara regions in early July and vowed to march onto the capital, after rejecting a ceasefire offer by Addis Ababa. In both areas, they have been accused of committing massacres
[Ethiopian Herald] Lake Tana and its wetlands provide an invaluable habitat for the truly spectacular and unique birdlife that flourishes around the lake. Located in the Horn of Africa, it is a key location for birds migrating between Europe, Asia and Africa. More than 300 bird species have been recorded around Lake Tana, many of which are a must-see for an intrepid bird enthusiast.
