Ethiopia: Houses Demolished to Make Way for Gotera Spaghetti Junction

The Reporter (Addis Ababa)

November 11, 2006

Property owners who will be relocated due to the demolishing of resident houses and businesses to make way for the construction of the new Gotera spaghetti junction have voiced their concern over the compensation scheme and its implementation.

The construction of the new road junction around the grain silo, usually known as "confusion square", will require over 200 houses and businesses in the Nefasilk/Lafto and Kirkos sub-cities... more

Ethiopia: Toning Down a Jittery Economy The Reporter (Addis Ababa) EDITORIAL November 4, 2006

Ethiopia's economy is jumpy. It is easily affected when a single rainy season does not turn out to be good; agricultural output plummets and this retards economic growth. (Continue reading here)

~~~~~~~~

Ethiopia: Going to the Rescue of Six Million Orphans The Reporter (Addis Ababa) November 4, 2006

During the Official Launching of a Groundbreaking campaign for Ethiopia's orphans on Thursday, President Girma Wolde-Giorgis,... more

Ethiopia: Meles Speaks On Economy, Somalia, Eritrea The Reporter (Addis Ababa)- October 29, 2006

Speaking on the government's stand last week on the speech delivered by President Girma Wolde-Giorgis at the opening of parliament, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi explained several issues and responded to questions raised by parliamentarians.

The first issue he addressed was the high cost of living, especially in urban centers. He said there was no doubt about the increasing cost of living. There was also scarcity in major commodities. (Continue reading... more

Africa begins malaria vaccine trial Fergus Walsh - BBC News - October 13, 2006

Malaria kills more children in Africa than any other disease so an effective vaccine could have huge potential.

But scientists have tried and failed in the past to create a vaccine against the parasitic infection which is spread by mosquitoes.

Fergus Walsh has been to central Ghana and witnessed one of the trials first hand. The malaria vaccine being trialled in Ghana and five other African countries is the most advanced attempt yet at creating a jab against the... more

Here are your weekly links to the latest news happening in Ethiopia and in Africa.

*****

NPR October 9, 2006 Wars Hamper Social Progress Across Africa

Over the last two decades, the number of Africans living in extreme poverty has nearly doubled.

HIV continues to spread. Agricultural production on the continent has stagnated. Millions of African children still lack access to clean water, basic health care and primary education.

The continent risks being left behind even by the rest of the Third World. War has been one of the biggest... more

Ethiopia: Country Blames Eritrea's Inability to Behave Like a Normal State

The Reporter (Addis Ababa) September 30, 2006

Ethiopia told the U.N. General Assembly it wants to normalize relations with Eritrea because it needs durable peace, but it accused Eritrea of refusing to "behave like a normal state."(continue reading here)

********

Ethiopia: France Extends Support for Nutrition Initiative The Reporter... more

I'm beginning a weekly (I hope) feature where I'll share some recent news articles out of Ethiopia. I thought I'd stick the title and the first couple sentences of the story here so you can decide if you are interested in reading further on that topic, and then I'll end with a link to the story for those of you interested enough to read further.

Ethiopia: Restaurants Faced with a Pricing Dilemma Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa) September 24, 2006 Everyone in town seems to be feeling the pain of recent price increases, with the petrol price adjustment... more

You don't often see news stories about tourism in Ethiopia. Most news stories focus so completely on illness, poverty, or instability in the region that it is difficult for the average person to imagine visiting the region. Ethiopia Opens Its Doors, Slowly (featured on Sept 17th) was a rare exception.

The journalist,Joshua Hammer, visited Ethiopia in 1993 and then 13 years later in 2006. He writes about the history of tourism in Ethiopia.

For decades, access to the historic sites, and to Ethiopia in general, has been subject to the vagaries of politics and war. In the 1970’s and 1980’s,... more

People in Ethiopia have been experiencing some of the worst levels of flooding in recent history. Ethiopia is now in the heart of the rainy season, and the news has been filled with reports of disaster after disaster. Here is what one Ethiopian student name Binian had to say about flooding in Dire Dawa. (BBC news report, August 7th)

"There was water everywhere. It was as though the river was running backwards, it was coming towards us and we, and everyone around us, were running. Everyone was running. A lot of people were injured. Many were taken down.

So many people were taken.

I was so... more

On Thursday the BBC new reported Ethiopian troops on Somali soil. More than 100 Ethiopian military trucks were seen crossing into Somalia at Baidoa, the base of the weak interim government.(Scroll down for map of conflict area). It is reported that they have made this move to protect the weak interim government in Somalia from being taken over by the Islamist faction.

"We have seen Ethiopian soldiers in a convoy," Baidoa resident Shukri Abdirahman told AFP news agency.

"This is the first time that Ethiopian troops have been openly seen in Baidoa," another resident said. Witnesses... more