Africa
Pipeline intrigues behind South Sudan fighting
South Sudan says Khartoum is fomenting rebellion in Jonglei state in a bid to block the South’s plans to build an oil pipeline through Ethiopia to a port in Djibouti.
Tag: Ethiopia
Palestine
Israel: attack on Ethiopian Jews’ reproductive rights
A report on an Israeli TV news program charges that coercive contraception is behind a 50% decline in the Ethiopian birth rate in Israel over the past decade.
Africa
Somalia: who controls Kismayo?
A string of bombings rocked Somalia’s port of Kismayo—five days after the city was taken from al-Shabaab rebels by a Kenyan-led force following a lengthy siege.
Africa
War criminal Meles Zenawi dies a free man
Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi died without having to answer for his war crimes—he remained in the good graces of the West to the end, getting a free ride from the world media.
Africa
MAMA
Following peace talks hosted by Eritrea, the government of Ethiopia announced a peace deal with the Oromo Liberation Front rebels. The deal guarantees rebel leaders the right to participate in Ethiopia's political process in exchange for laying down arms. The OLF has long been backed by Eritrea, and the pact comes one month after a formal end was declared to the two-decade state of war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, with Ethiopia ceding its claim to the contested border town of Badme. This points to a softening of positions under Ethiopia's new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed. The Badme deal was also said to have been quietly brokered by the United Arab Emirates, which has emerged as politically isolated Eritrea's most significant foreign patron, part of an apparent design to encircle Yemen. (Photo: Yassin Juma)
Africa
Zapatista women at La Garrucha
Oromo activists in Ethiopia launched a "fuel blockade," occupying roadways to halt shipment of oil through the country. The action was called following a massacre at the village of Moyale, near the Kenyan border. Troops gunned down nine unarmed residents, apparently mistaking them for militants of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Nearly 5,000 have fled across the border to Kenya—some having directly run from gunfire. Ethiopia last year imposed a state of emergency in response to mounting Oromo protests. Roadblocks are reported from several points around the country, so far without violence. (Photo via UNPO)