Abiy Ahmed: a Machiavellian and unwarranted winner of Prize
Berhane Kahsay 12-12-19 - It was unbelievable to witness the despot Ethiopian Prime Minister receiving a Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, for allegedly ending the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea. This is a fallacy and very far from the facts on the ground.No peace accord has been signed between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and their armies are still facing each other...

With Many Dents to Its Image, Nobel Peace Prize Is Hit With a Few More
(nytimes) - The Nobel Peace Prize has long been contentious, beginning with its origins in the will of Alfred Nobel, the 19th-century inventor of dynamite. But it is extraordinary that two winners are almost simultaneously battling accusations of behavior that is widely regarded as antithetical to the spirit and purpose of the award, first given in 1901.And on Tuesday, the 2019 winner, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, facing accusations of a heavy-handed crackdown on political protests, skipped a news conference after his acceptance speech.

IMF Reaches Staff-Level Agreement on a US$2.9 Billion Financing Package with Ethiopia
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team led by Ms. Sonali Jain-Chandra visited Addis Ababa from October 29 to November 8, 2019 to hold discussions on the 2019 Article IV Consultation for Ethiopia
For the first time, Ethiopia has signed its future to the IMF. The IMF and its instruments will undoubtedly strangle the economy going forward. Abiy or the government after him will be severely handicapped to do anything outside the IMF and World Bank. Oh, how much we miss the late PM Meles who fought tooth to nail to keep Ethiopia independent!!

Nigeria and Ethiopia jail activist-journalists amid crackdown on free expression
Similar to Nigeria, CPJ research indicates old tools of censorship have re-emerged across Ethiopia to silence dissenting voices, despite the reforms made under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The arrest and detention of activist-journalists in Ethiopia may be less widely publicized, but they are equally alarming.

How the chicken crossed the Red Sea
The discarded bone of a chicken leg, still etched with teeth marks from a dinner thousands of years ago, provides some of the oldest known physical evidence for the introduction of domesticated chickens to the continent of Africa, research from Washington University in St. Louis has confirmed.



The Norwegians are at it again!
Yared Huluf 12-10-19 - The Chairperson of the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee stood on her feet today10th December, 2019, for well over 40 minutes fighting and gasping to resurrect the credibility and transparency the institution she leads after repeated ill-conceived awards that were dished out fro characters they least deserve. The Nobel Prize was setup n 1985, ...



Lost Ethiopian town comes from an ancient empire that rivalled Rome
Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient buried town in Ethiopia that was inhabited for 1400 years. The town was part of a powerful civilization called Aksum that dominated East Africa for centuries and traded with other great powers like the Roman Empire."This is one of the most important ancient civilizations, but people [in the Western world] don't know it," says Michael Harrower of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Nobel Peace Prize winner accused: Civilians are murdered and tortured
Ethiopias Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed recieves the Nobel Peace Prize tomorrow in Oslo. But at the same time the security forces of this year's Nobel Peace laureate are being accused of quietly killing and torturing people from the Mursi, Bodi and Suri tribes in southern Ethiopia. Expressen's reporter Torbjörn Selander travelled undercover to the region...

How Black Friday is giving Africa's economy a lift
Josephine Wawira December 10, 2019 - It is quite phenomenal how in recent years, both ecommerce players and retailers have used Black Friday to sweep thrifty shoppers off their feet. So much that the shopping event is no longer restricted to a single-day shopping spree but has rather taken over the entire month to become Black November.

The Bastions of Academia Stormed: Politicization of Higher Education in Ethiopia.
Yohannes Aberra, PhD 12-9-19 - Based on the invitation of Gondar University I traveled to Gondar City to teach a group of Ph.D. students. As soon as I arrived at the airport I was alarmed by the news, from the driver assigned to pick me up from the airport, that building was burning in the University’s main campus. When I entered the campus the next morning the gate was strongly manned by regional troops...

Making Ethiopia green again
Northern Ethiopia lies in one of the semi-arid regions which it's feared will bear some of the worst effects of climate change.The land there has lost most of its trees, making it vulnerable to longer droughts and intense bursts of rain.But now the people there have restored woodland to one and a half million hectares-.

U.N. expert urges Ethiopia to stop shutting down internet
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - A United Nations expert on the freedom of expression said he has urged Ethiopian officials to stop shutting down the internet.David Kaye, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, told reporters in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, that he is concerned with the frequent internet shutdowns carried out by the government.

The Final Push of Egypt to Secure Zero-Sum Water Share Agreement with a "Destabilized Ethiopia"!
Ermias Hailu December 6, 2019 - After Egypt's failure to integrate Eritrea to its territories by the end of the second world war, due to Emperor Haile Selassie's superior diplomatic skills, the then Egyptian Pan -Arab nationalistic President Nasser's government turned to ethnic and religious subversion against Ethiopia. In 1955 Egypt began working for the instigation of an "Arab" revolution in the then autonomous Ethiopian province Eritrea...

Ethiopian Group CEO Named 'Airline Executive of the Year' by CAPA
Addis Ababa, 07 December 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam has been recognized as 'irline Executive of the Year' at the annual Global Aviation Awards for Excellence organized by Centre for Aviation (CAPA) in Malta on 5th December 2019. Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam won the title for his commendable individual influence on the aviation industry...



Why Ethiopia's Possible Economic 'Take off' is Off
Haile Kebret 12-7-19 - According to an old (Rostow 1960) stages of growth theory, economies pass through some identifiable stages of economic development. Regardless of one’s faith in the strict sequence and parameters of the theory, I argue that Ethiopia was approaching or at least putting the pre-requisites for what Rostow then called an economic take-off.

The Lonely Anocrat
Aesop 12-06-19 - There's a movie titled "Catch me if you can". It is based on a true story about a career con artist who finally ends up becoming an FBI agent (in real life). The chances of a con artist becoming part of law enforcement are very rare. But it happens-only after the criminal goes to jail, confesses his crime, and agrees to cooperate. Nobody wants to befriend a career con-artist-unless one happens to be a better catcher. So much for the ice breaker.

Wolaytta's Quest for Democracy, Self-determination and Statehood
Makonnen Tesfaye; December 3, 2019 - Wolaytta with its capital Wolaytta Sodo is one of the fifteen Zones in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), the seventh biggest nationality in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) with a population, projectedon the 2007 CSA Census, of 2,473,190 in 2017. Other "estimates" are much higher. The "official" demographic data of the nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia needs to be read with a great deal of caveat...

Abiy's Western Orchestrated "Fake It Till You Make It" Political Crusade and Ethiopia's Disintegration
Yene Gasha 12-3-19 - It's official. EPRDF has been destroyed and Ethiopia is now for sale. Three of the four EPRDF parties have supposedly voted to merge under the Prosperity Party (PP). The old curmudgeon (TPFL), on the other hand, has rejected the union and has red-flagged EPRDF's dissolution as illegal. And, it appears, TPLF is not alone. Some high-level officials within PM Abiy's own OPD itself (like Lemma Megersa and TeybaHassen) are opposed to this unholy union.

Characterizing Neoliberalism: A Bird's Eye View on Ethiopia's Predicaments
Mogos Abraham, PhD Centre for Middle Eastern Studies 03 Dec. 2019 - Egotism, National Treason, and Ignorance: a Mix of Dangerous Behavioral Elements Egotism is dangerous. It is revealed through the practice of talking and thinking about oneself excessively, because of an undue sense of self-importance. If he is not fettered immediately, egoistic personality, treasonous behavior, ignorance, and illegal acts of...