Archive for the ‘General News’ Category

The Beta Israeli Sigd festival falls on the 29th of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan. It is the 50th day, starting with Yom Kippur (analogous to counting 50 days from Pesach to Shavuos), and is a festival unique to the Beta Israel community. For their forebears in Ethiopia, the Sigd was a religious holiday renewing their covenant with ... Full story

WASHINGTON DC (VOA Editorial) — The United States is committed to helping people in need all over the world, and it takes this mission very seriously. With billions of dollars spent on humanitarian, economic and other forms of assistance every year, the U.S. wants to be sure that the aid is properly and effectively distributed. So it is that U.S. officials are concerned about recent ... Full story

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), an Ethiopian rebel group that is operating in eastern Ethiopia, is reporting more Woyanne regime casualties in a renewed offensive that took place since November 10. The following is a military communique: Military operations related to the 10 November 2009 offensive have concluded in Ogaden. In total, 6 military vehicles belonging to the regime have been destroyed thus far ... Full story

By Messay Kebede Articles fulminating against Hailu Shawel’s signing of the code of conduct proliferate on Ethiopian websites. For these articles, the unilateral and hasty agreement with Meles while other opposition groups, such as Medrek, are still in contention about some important issues, constitutes nothing less than betrayal on Hailu’s part. This act of sabotage suggests, according to some articles, a prior agreement with the Meles ... Full story

Freweini Hadera, a construction management graduate student from Ethiopia, is crowned as Miss International at the Oklahoma State University International Student Organization’s annual Mr. and Miss International pageant. By Danielle Davis Oklahoma, USA (OSU) — It was a full house for the International Student Organization’s annual Mr. and Miss International pageant Wednesday night. Students, families and friends gathered in ... Full story

Ian Kelly, U.S. Department of States Spokesman QUESTION: I have a couple of Ethiopia questions. MR. KELLY: Ethiopia questions. QUESTION: Yeah. Has the State Department or USAID investigated claims by the country’s opposition, including a former president and defense minister that some of the $850 million in food and anti-poverty aid from the U.S. is being distributed on the basis of political favoritism by the current prime minister’s ... Full story

(Haaretz.com) — Intermarriage between between Jews from different ethnic backgrounds has increased steadily over the past several decades, and people say that this is solving the socioeconomic gaps that existed between Ashkenazim and Sephardim in Israeli society. However, Ethiopian Israelis seem to be exempt from the trend, so far. According to a Central Bureau of Statistics report published on, about 90 percent of Ethiopians – 93 ... Full story

Economist reports how “once the toys of rich yuppies, mobile phones have evolved in a few short years to become tools of economic empowerment for the world’s poorest people. These phones compensate for inadequate infrastructure, such as bad roads and slow postal services, allowing information to move more freely, making markets more efficient and unleashing entrepreneurship.” This focuses on three trends: the spread of mobile phones ... Full story

BEIJING (CNN) — Large African communities are forming in China, from Guangzhou to Beijing. Many of the migrants are traders and entrepreneurs hoping to make a profit by sending China's cheap manufactured goods back home. Ethiopian David Bekele is searching for space to open a new restaurant in Beijing. "Almost every African country has an embassy here in Beijing," says Bekele. "There's a huge number of ... Full story

By Obang Metho Addressed to Senator John Kerry, Chairman, The Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate. As an esteemed member of the Senate, as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as an advocate for human rights and democracy, we in the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia (SMNE) and on behalf of many like-minded Ethiopians, want to call into question the current United ... Full story