Somali opposition leaders unite against Ethiopia

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- Today's Top HEADLINES
- INTERNATIONAL news
- Picture of the Day - (millennium edition featuring Faces of Ethiopia)
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PRESS RELEASE

The Citizens Charter Group is pleased to release the millennium edition of the "Citizens Charter for a Democratic Ethiopia". An Amharic translation is provided for the first time, and translations in other major Ethiopian languages shall follow soon.

[CLICK HERE TO READ]
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ASMARA, Sept 6, 2007 - Somali opposition figures, including top Islamist leaders, opened a 10-day congress in Eritrea Thursday with a call for a swift withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from their war-torn country.

Some 400 delegates gathered in the Eritrean capital for the meeting, which came exactly a week after the close of a clan reconciliation conference sponsored by the interim government and the international community in Mogadishu.

(Picture - Militant Somali Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys (C) attends opening of a meeting of Somali opposition figures in Asmara September 6, 2007)


[CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO REPORT]

Sheikh Hassan Aweys, the overall leader of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) that briefly controlled large swathes of Somalia before being ousted earlier this year by Ethiopian-backed government forces, was present at the gathering.

The Islamist movement's other top leader, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, urged Ethiopia to pull its troops out of Somalia and criticised its US ally in his opening speech. "We hold this conference to establish a political organisation that liberates the country and ends the violence and chaotic situation," he said.

"We call upon Ethiopia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Somalia and stop its imperialistic adventure on our territory," the senior ICU leader added.(More...)

Today's Top HEADLINES

-U.N. team RETURNS from troubled OGADEN
-AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION ALERT - ETHIOPIA
-Ethiopian opposition leader takes fight abroad
-BULCHA DEMEKSA: 107 DETAINED IN THE PAST 2 MONTHS
-Ethiopia's Distinctive Religious Heritage (Donald N. Levine)
-TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK (The Week in Review)

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Dr. Yacob donates money to heart disease patients

Dr. Yacob H/mariam donated 4000 birr to heart disease patients in Ethiopia by selling gifts he received from supporters and friends after his release from prison.(More...)

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INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES

-Fears as DR Congo fighting flares
-France to Host U.N. Africa Summit
-German police hunt for terror plot 'back-up team'
-Syria says Israeli jets bomb territory
-Bush Meets with China's President in Australia
-Republican Fred Thompson joins presidential race
-Luciano Pavarotti dead at 71

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Nigeria reach Under-17 World Cup final

Nigeria will meet Spain in the final of the U-17 World Cup after the West Africans team beat Germany 3-1 in Thursday's semi-final. Striker Macaulay Christanus took his tournament tally to seven goal when he opened the scoring for Nigeria in the 10th minute.(More..)

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PICTURE OF THE DAY - FACES OF ETHIOPIA^{Millennium edition}

(Turmi, Ethiopia - Hamer man)

(The Hammere are a tribal people in southwestern Ethiopia. They live in a fertile part of the Omo River valley. They are largely pastoralists, so their culture places a high value on cattle. According to the CSA census of 1994, there were 42,838 Hammer language speakers, and 42,448 self-identified Hammer people of a total population of about 53 million, representing approximately 0.1% of the population.)

For more beautiful pictures of the Hamer- Click here




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Ethiopia Rights Group says Government has Detained Activists

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- Today's Top HEADLINES
- INTERNATIONAL news
- Picture of the Day - (millennium edition featuring Faces of Ethiopia)
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AUDIO - International Ethiopian Women Organization (IEWO) September 2 Program (Millennium wishes)
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A human rights organisation in Ethiopia said Wednesday that the government has been holding three of its members without charge for more than two weeks in the west of the country.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) said three members of its branch in Nekemte, 220 kilometres (135 miles) west of Addis Ababa, were detained on August 23 after police came to search their homes.

"Three of our members in Nekemte have been detained without an arrest warrant for 16 days," Tesfaye Desalegn, the group's public relations officer, told AFP.

"They were looking for arms and papers they claimed were used to incite violence, but even though nothing was found, they haven't released or tried them yet," he added.Regional security officials have not responded to appeals, he added.

In a statement, the group urged the government to either release the three or press charges against them.Nekemte lies in the Oromo region, where rebels have been battling the government for years.(Source)

Also see:
-EHRCO: Release or Prosecute those Detained in Nekemte

Today's Top HEADLINES

-BULCHA DEMEKSA: GOVT. DETAINED 107 IN THE PAST 2 MONTHS
-Humanitarian crisis hits Ethiopia
-Britain to boost healthcare in poor countries, Ethiopia
-World Bank commits record US$5.8b to Africa
-CPJ: threats force press freedom activist in Somalia into hiding
-30 Somali journalists flee into neighbouring countries
-Nine killed in Mogadishu as Islamists prepare for talks
-Namibia/Ethiopia: Warriors Take on Ethiopia
-TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK (The Week in Review)

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ETHIOPIA FINISHES FOURTH AT IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ethiopia finished in the fourth spot of the general medal standings of the 11th World Championships of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that concluded on Sunday in Osaka, Japan, with the participation of athletes from 203 countries. A total of 4 medals (3 gold and 1 silver) guaranteed Ethiopia’s position to finish at the top of the table. Taking the first place was the United States (14-4-8), Kenya came in second (5-3-5) and Russia third (4-9-3).

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INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES

-Germany foils 'massive' attack on US citizens
-Darfur: UN chief promises renewed push
-Israel decides against military action in Gaza
-China's Hu tests power at Communist congress
-Mrs Sarkozy defends Libya visit
-Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god

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RUSSIAN MAYOR BANS PHRASE 'I DON'T KNOW'

The mayor of a Siberian oil town has ordered his bureaucrats to stop using expressions such as "I don't know" and "I can't." Or look for another job. Alexander Kuzmin, the 33-year-old mayor of Megion, has banned these and 25 other phrases as a way to make his administration more efficient, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.(More..)

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PICTURE OF THE DAY - FACES OF ETHIOPIA^{Millennium edition}

(Chencha, Southern Ethiopia - Dorze Man)

(The Dorze are a small ethnic group in Ethiopia who speak a language in the Omotic family. Numbering approximately 28,000, they live primarily in the southern region of the country. Many Dorze live in villages near the cities of Chencha and Arba Minch)

For more beautiful pictures from Southern Ethiopia- Click here




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Mud Pies: Haitian Staple Food

This is dinner in Cité Soleil, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Do you remember playing in the mud as a child, making scrumptious mud pies? All that playing would make you hungry, so you'd go inside for lunch. Well, in Haiti, the mud pies are lunch.

People eat the mud pies, known as teh, to help quiet their excrutiating hunger pangs. You can watch a one-minute video of the mud pies being made here, although there seems to be some misinterpretation - the commentator opines it is a craving for something in the mud, not hunger, that drives people to eat it. But John Carrol, a doctor working in Haiti, says starvation is the main cause, although Pica, which occurs sometimes with iron deficiency anemia, may also be present.

You can read more about the mud pies on John Carrol's blog, Dying in Haiti or listen to this podcast (around 12 minutes), where Darren Ell interviews him about health in Haiti.

Something else that is very disturbing is the high rate of maternal mortality - 523 women die for every 100,000 who give birth. Most women give birth without a doctor or midwife, many completely alone.



Haiti's history is terribly sad. Christopher Columbus "discovered" it in 1492, and soon after, Europeans completely killed the indigenous population, in one of the worst genocides ever. Then it was repopulated, primarily by African slaves. Most Haitians are descendants of those slaves, who overthrew their French masters in the Haitian Revolution in 1804. Unfortunately this did not end colonial intervention. I recommend A People's History of the United States for more background.

The election of Jean-Bertrand Aristide offered a ray of hope for the poorest in Haiti, that sadly did not last, due to the US-backed coup and kidnapping of Aristide. Canada, too, was and is involved. Haiti continues to experience extreme poverty and repression. You can read about Canada's role here, or check out Znet's Haiti Watch.