The BBC news reports that fighting has broken out in Somalia. Somalia shares a border with Ethiopia. The weak Somalia government is being attacked by Islamic extremists. The Somalia government is being supported by the Ethiopian military who do not wish the Islamists to move from Somalia into Ethiopia.

From the BBC News

Wednesday, 20 December 2006, 14:06 GMT Heavy fighting erupts in Somalia

Heavy fighting has broken out close to the base of the weak Somali interim government in Baidoa. A deadline from Islamists for Ethiopia to withdraw troops from Somalia or face "major attacks" expired on Tuesday.

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I just got the following email from the company where I get my Ethiopia calling cards

Happy holidays from www.AfricanPrepaid.Com!

Great news! From 22nd Dec 2006 until 26th December 2006, you are eligible for the Christmas Holiday Sales described below!

Buy $40 or More and Get $4.25 Discount.
Buy $30 or More and Get $3.00 Discount.
Buy $25 or More and Get $2.25 Discount.

--
AFRICANPREPAID.COM
Promotions Division
http://www.africanprepaid.com

Here are this weeks' news stories for you. Please note that the links to the complete stories do expire after about a month, unless you happen to subscribe to that news service and have access to their archives.

Ethiopia: Airline Foundation Donates Books to Orphans

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa) December 18, 2006

The Emirate Airline Foundation, a non profit humanitarian organization, on Friday donated 4300 books to the Kidane Mehiret school library in Addis Ababa. The donation which includes eight PCs with email and internet access was... more

Here's a notice for any Seattle-area readers. ______________________

PENNY LEGATE'S 1/2 hour documentary, called SEATTLE TO ETHIOPIA: BRIDGES OF HOPE, will air on Tuesday, December 19th at 9:30pm on KIRO Channel 7. This documentary includes a story on THE AHOPE ORPHANAGE, a model program in Africa. Please watch!

Seattle to Ethiopia: Bridges of Hope Dec. 19, 2006 9:30 PM KIRO 7 __________________________________

For those of you outside of the Seattle area interested in seeing AHope, check out this post at Fly... more

While searching for information about Christmas in Ethiopia, I happened across an interesting travel story written in 2003 by a woman who traveled to Ethiopia to evaluate a Women-In-Agriculture project. Sections of the story particularly interesting to me included this bit about the Hilton Hotel at Christmas time.

We had the choice of two five-star hotels in Addis, the Hilton and the Sheraton.... more

Look at this sweet new Ethiopian doll! Makeda, the Queen of Sheba™, was an African princess of unusual grace, wisdom and power. Her extraordinary beauty allowed her to win the heart of Solomon.
She'll set you back a little - she costs $139.00. But, wow, isn't she lovely?

If you're like me, you've probably wondered about Christmas in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia Christmas is called Ganna and is celebrated around January 6th or January 7th, following the ancient calendar. Pat Rollin, an American living in Ethiopia during 2005 had this to say about preparations for the holiday.

Christmas in Addis has gotten very commercial. The Friendship grocery store has two of the Santa Claus that greet you as you walk in. All the other stores have put up at least Christmas trees if not lights and other decorations. In the Piazza they have stores selling lights, trees and decorations for them. Jim... more

I've decided to do a new feature to point you towards any adoptive parents currently picking up their children and blogging about their experiences while in Addis.

Today I have two bloggers for you. AddisAbaby is the first one. Kent and his wife Julia are there getting a baby girl, and are adopting through CHSFS. Especially don't miss this post: “I’d lend you a blanket, but it probably has ringworm.” And Our Adoption Story is written by Dave, who just yesterday got home from Addis... more

I wanted to briefly mention a website that someone shared with me. Ethiopia Reads is a grassroots non profit/non government organization geared toward bringing literacy and books to Ethiopian children. Right now if you order anything from Amazon.com going through their website, a portion of the sale will go to provide children in Ethiopia with books. You can see some of their specially featured titles right here. So if you've got a little more shopping to do, you might think about buying via this site.

Ethiopia: Over 80 Percent of Urban Population Dwells in 'Slums', New Study Reveals

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa) December 8, 2006

A new research that assessed policies and practices of the right to housing in four urban areas, namely Addis Ababa, Adama, Bahir Dar and Awassa, found out that the majority of urban dwellers in Ethiopia, estimated at over 80 per cent, are living in "woeful conditions" in slums and squatter houses. http://allafrica.com/stories/200612081032.html

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Ethiopia:... more