Designer Dresses Look Ethiopian, Infuriate Ethiopia

Mathew Williamson, who according to this article is a “clothing designer to the stars”, recently unveiled a collection of dresses that includes two outfits based on traditional Ethiopian design. This caught the attention of the Ethiopian government, who has expressed a desire to keep Mr. Williamson’s hands off their cultural heritage. Ethiopia has claimed that [...]

Odd Juxtaposition Leads Ethiopa to Point of Pride Within Worrisome Report

By Isaac Rauch
According to this article Ethiopia ranks 169th out of 177 countries in the United Nations’ Human Development index. This isn’t the point of pride, the point of pride is the box in the lower half of the article that proudly (and with some intended irony) claims “Don’t blame Ethiopia for climate change”. The [...]

Security Council Calls on Ethiopia and Eritrea to Resolve Boundary Dispute

by Nick Freundlich
The Security Council of the United Nations recently urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to settle the dispute over their common border peacefully, referring to a 2002 delimitation decision by the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commissioni and to the Algiers Agreement which ended the war between them. Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, declared that [...]

At least 50 Somalis killed in 24 hours in Mogadishu (Lena Bell)

War has once again intensified in the Horn of Africa, but the conflicting sides are not clearly defined. Fighting appears to be taking place between Ethiopian troops supporting the unstable Somali government and Islamic insurgents. Fighting in the past twenty four hours, killing fifty people, has been the bloodiest since April, when over 1600 people [...]

Eritrea and Ethiopia on the brink of a war over border

by Ann Noling 
           
The International Crisis Group warned Monday that the long-standing border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritreais in serious risk of once again developing into war. The two countries fought a war over the border between 1998 and 2000, during which an estimated 80,000 people were killed. Although a border was set in 2002, [...]

Coffee + Condoms = Safe Sex in Ethiopia

There’s nothing really educational about this article, but I find the idea of condoms flavored according to regional tastes intriguing.  In order to promote safer sex, you can now buy coffee flavored condoms in Ethiopia. 
Technorati Tags: ethiopia, coffee

Ethiopian Press Says That Ethiopian Press is Muzzled and Intimidated

By Isaac Rauch
My title is slightly disingenuous: this article actually links to, and quotes verbatim, an article that appeared on Voice of America that talks about the Committee to Protect Journalists, and its ruling on Ethiopia. Apparently, Peter Woodward’s claim that that the current Ethiopian government is “somewhat cavalier in its approach to critics” was [...]

Battles rock Mogadishu for second day (Eve)

Fighting in the Mogadishu, the Somalian capital, has continued on for a second day.  The Ethiopian forces are one of many apparent rebel groups that have attacked the capital city, and already there are 15 known to be dead and many more missing.  Citizens are hiding in their houses or attempting to flee the city, and [...]

The Ogaden Crisis Getting Attention from the United Nations

By Isaac Rauch
In a previous post, Bram wrote that he was wondering  “why there has been so much  media attention on Darfur and  basically nothing on Ogaden” . Well,  Ethiopian newspapers are picking up the story. The story talks about the aid being sent to the region on behalf of both the United Nations and [...]

“Your Love’s Got Me Going so Crazy Right Now”: Beyonce Visits Ethiopia, Loves It, Makes People Crazy

By Isaac Rauch
Beyonce started her world tour in Ethiopia, partly to celebrate Ethiopia’s version of the new millennium (the country abides by an ancient calender that is just now reaching year 2000), and partly for no particular reason at all. As the AP notes (and nazret does not), most people in Ethiopia, including Beyonce’s target [...]