Ethiopia’s main opposition coalition said on Friday it will not accept election results for 84 seats that may hold the balance of power in the 547-strong Parliament, increasing already high tensions as the nation awaits official results. Both opposition and ruling parties are claiming victory based on their own projections.
African Union officials discussed sending troops to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to forcibly disarm thousands of Rwandans linked to their country’s 1994 genocide. At a meeting, officials said they were considering three options for disarming an estimated 10 000 to 14 000 Rwandan rebels in the DRC.
No image available
/ 21 January 2005
India.Arie, Angelique Kidjo and the Marley family join a roster of international music stars in Addis Ababa next month to celebrate the 60th birthday of the late reggae legend Bob Marley — the first time the event has been held outside the singer’s native Jamaica. Hundreds of thousands are expected to participate in a month of festivities.
No image available
/ 19 December 2004
In Ethiopia’s plethora of street cafés, above the whistling of steam escaping from ancient cappuccino machines, the talk is of next year’s parliamentary elections. It is no surprise. In a country with a 2 000-year history, this will be only the fifth time that Ethiopians have gone to the polls. And, elections in 1992, 1995 and 2000 were marred by chaos and serious irregularities.
No image available
/ 11 November 2004
One of the world’s ancient alphabets could flash on the screen of cellphones in the third-most-populous nation in Africa, easing communications for millions who can only read and write the Ethiopic script. Ethiopian and United States-based scientists adapted the script, which dates back to the fourth century, for use in text messages.
No image available
/ 18 October 2004
Violent treatment of women in Ethiopia and denial of development opportunities for them ”is a national disgrace,” World Bank chief James Wolfensohn said Sunday. Ethiopian women often are victims of female genital mutilation and bear the brunt of poverty, poor health care and lack of education. More than 70% of marriages in the country are by abduction, the National Committee on Traditional Practices of Ethiopia says.
No image available
/ 11 October 2004
Africans gave their governments poor marks in a landmark scorecard on the way officials run 28 of the continent’s nations, a senior United Nations official said on Monday. Corruption, poor tax systems and dilapidated public services were the main complaints of about 50 000 African families and 2 000 experts polled.
No image available
/ 29 September 2004
Ethiopia and Eritrea — two of the world’s poorest countries — are paying ”a big price” for failing to resolve a simmering border dispute, a United Nations envoy said on Wednesday. Lloyd Axworthy, the UN Secretary General’s special envoy to Ethiopia and Eritrea, said his staff are trying to determine how much the ongoing dispute has cost the two countries.
No image available
/ 15 September 2004
Experts gathered in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Wednesday to draw up plans to eliminate landmines from sub-Saharan Africa, the most heavily mined region in the world. The three-day conference is expected to come up with a common stand on landmines that kill and cripple 15 000 people every year worldwide.
No image available
/ 19 October 1995
Eritrea reined in United Nations peacekeepers along its border with Ethiopia, leaving the force incapable of giving the world much warning if the Horn of Africa rivals were to clash again. Increasingly isolated, Eritrea also is seen as the main obstacle to restarting talks that may be the only way to avert a new and devastating war over territory between two of the poorest countries in the world.