Ethiopia Ups Defense Budget by 15 Percent

Ethiopia to purchase 18 SU-30K Fighter Jets from Russia similar to seen above

July 4, 2013 (AP) — The Ethiopian government is set to increase defense spending by more than 15 percent, a rise that comes amid tensions with Egypt over the building of a new dam on the Nile River.

Cairo says the Ethiopian dam project, set to become Africa’s largest, could diminish its share of Nile River waters, which provides almost all of the desert nation’s water needs.

Ethiopia’s parliament on Wednesday debated the proposed budget, which would increase defense spending to $400 million, up from about $350 million. The parliament is scheduled to approve the budget on Thursday.

Getachew Reda, a spokesman for Hailemariam, insists the defense increase has nothing to do with the recent disputes with Egypt. Getachew told The Associated Press the increase corresponds to the country’s growing economy.

President Obama in Africa: Light Up Africa

by John Campbell 

July 2, 2013

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the University of Cape Town, June 30, 2013. (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters)

Important though President Barack Obama’s evocation of Nelson Mandela’s spiritual and political legacy has been, and powerful though his Africa trip’s symbolic references were–the Door of No Return at Gorée and Robben Island–many friends of Africa will most warmly welcome his Power Africa initiative. During his South Africa stop, he proposed to double access to power in Sub-Saharan Africa. Initially, Power Africa will partner with Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Tanzania. The U.S. government will look to securing some U.S. $7 billion in funding with an additional $9 billion from the private sector. Most of the public-related money will come from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation ($1.5 billion) , the U.S. Export-Import Bank ($5 billion in support of U.S. exports related to power), and the Millennium Challenge Corporation ($1 billion investment in African power systems). Congruent with the president’s emphasis on trade and investment rather than aid, only $285 million would come from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Atrocious Torture and Inhuman Treatment in Ethiopia…part 1 to 4

July 2, 2013

Severe Atrocious Torture and Inhuman Treatment in Ethiopia is continuing on innocent human kind.

This Video (with four parts) is a testimony of a person who was detained and tortured by the tyrannical regime in Ethiopia. He was government employee worker, and continuously detained and in three prison centers taken out from his room by government Federal security police at night without any legal letter. He was detained almost for 2 years and just simply released from prison without presenting him to the court.

His father who was a teacher was also killed by Ethiopian Federal security police at school some years back. This young man was arbitrarily detained with suspect as he is against government and may be terrorist. His only mother had no information where he is and was searching him for the last two years over the country.

Just listen from the witnessed young men here attached. Follow all the four part of the Vidio. Very historical.

May I am also a terrorist because i am writing this article too?????

You peoples who you are calling your self an Ethiopian,who so Ethiopia?????? Where is your Voice for Brutally tortured innocent peoples??? Is being an Ethiopian is golden without peoples freedom of life???

Source ayyaantuu

Egypt Journalist Interviews President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda on Nile river dispute with Egypt

- What do you think?

Obama faced protesters in South Africa

Protesters run away after police fired two warning shots to clear the street from a demonstration against the visit of United States President Barack Obama to the university building in Soweto, South Africa, June 29, 2013.

June 30, 2013, Johannesburg (IOL)- All things fade, even Barack Obama’s star. When the US president made it into the White House back in 2008, South Africa rejoiced. There were house parties, people wore Obama T-shirts and the US Embassy handed out commemorative coins.

Obama to unveil $7 bn Africa power plan

The United States will initially work with Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania to develop electric power generation, officials said. It will also cooperate with Uganda and Mozambique on oil and gas management.

U.S. President Barack Obama participates in a town hall-style meeting with young African leaders at the University of Johannesburg in Soweto June 29, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)

June 30, 2013 (Mail & Guardian) — President Barack Obama is due to announce on Sunday a $7-billion initiative over five years to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We see this as the next phase in our development strategy and a real focal point in the president’s agenda going forward,” deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters travelling with the president.

Obama is midway through a three-country tour of Africa and is due to give what aides bill as his fullest description of his vision for the US relationship with the continent on Sunday.

The president has chosen historically resonant locations for the address, and is due to speak at the University of Cape Town after touring the prison on Robben Island. Robert F Kennedy’s 1966 speech at the university linked the struggles against apartheid and the US civil rights movement and was seen as giving encouragement to the movement.

Oromos seek justice in Ethiopia

Why is the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia also one of the most persecuted?
On Tuesday, June 25 at 19:30 GMT on The Stream, Aljazeera TV 
In USA, Eastern time:   3:30 PM 

Ethiopians belonging to the Oromia ethnic pray for the souls of 63 young Oromo men who died at sea while trying to cross illegally from Libya to Italian Lampedusa island the week before, at the UAE (United Arab Emirates) Red Crescent refugee camp near the border crossing with Libya at Ras Jdir, Tunisia, 15 April 2011. EPA/AMEL PAIN

The Oromo people make up about 40 per cent of Ethiopia’s population, yet face widespread discrimination and have long been targeted by the government. So what should be done to stop the marginalization of the Oromos and end Ethiopia’s internal ethnic divide?

–Aljazeera

Global Peace Index 2013: Sub-Saharan Africa

By The Institute for Economics and Peace | June 24, 2013

This is the seventh edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks nations according to their level of peace.

It is composed of 22 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, which gauge three broad themes: the level of safety and security in society; the extent of domestic or international conflict; and the degree of militarisation.

The 2013 GPI has been expanded to rank 162 independent states and updated with the latest available figures and information. Here below is the overall 2013 GPI report for Sub-Saharan African countries. 

የእግር ኳስ ፌዴሬሽን ም/ፕሬዝዳንትና ዋና ፀሐፊ ተነሱ

by Daniel Berhane
የኢትዮጵያ እግር ኳስ ፌዴሬሽን ዛሬ በጠራው አስቸኳይ ስብሰባ የፌዴሬሽኑን ዋና ጸሀፊ አቶ አሸናፊ እጅጉ ከስልጣናቸው እንዲነሱ ወስኗል፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ ብሄራዊ እግር ኳስ ቡድን በብራዚሉ የ2014ቱ የዓለም ዋንጫ ማጣሪያ ላይ ከቦትስዋና ባደረገው ጨዋታ ላይ ሁለት ቢጫ እያለው በስህተት የተሰለፈውን ተጫዋች ምክንያት በማድረግ ሶስት ነጥብና ሶስት ጎል ተቀንሶበታል፡፡

ይህንንም ምክንያት በማድርግ የኢትዮጵያ እግር ኳስ ፌዴሬሽን በቅርቡ በሰጠው መግለጫ ችግሩን ለማጣራት እንደሚሰራ መግለጹን ተከትሎ በጠራው አስቸኳይ ስብሰባ ላይ የኢትዮጵያ ብሄራዊ እግር ኳስ ፌዴሬሽን ዋና ጸሀፊ አቶ አሸናፊ እጅጉን ከስልጣናቸው አንስቷል፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ እግር ኳስ ፌዴሬሽን ምክትል ፕሬዝዳንት አቶ ብርሃኑ ከበደ ከሃላፊነታቸው እንዲነሱ ያቀረቡት ጥያቄ ስራ አስፈጻሚው አጽድቆታል፡፡

ጠቅላላ ጉባዔው እንደቀጠለ ነው፡፡

***********

Source: ERTA – June 24, 2013, titled “የኢትዮጵያ እግር ኳስ ፌዴሬሽን ዋና ጸሀፊ ከስልጣናቸው ተነሱ”.

UNHCR moving Oromo refugees to a safer area within Cairo

Created on Sunday, 23 June 2013 19:03

(OPride) – UNHCR is planning to temporarily relocate Oromo refugees to a safer neighborhood within Cairo from their current residences, activists said. Oromo refugees in Egypt have been camping outside the UNHCR regional office for over two weeks demanding physical protection amid anti-Ethiopia backlash over the Nile dam stalemate.

“We need home...we need safety...we will remain on these streets until our voices are heard and our rights are respected,” a few dozen refugees sitting on streets outside the UNHCR office chanted on sunday marking the start of third week of their protests. 

Amid deteriorating camp conditions and health of the protesters, the UNHCR has secured about 70 housing units in a safer neighborhood, the activists said in an email message last night. Last week, Al Jazeera reported, the protesters were “sleeping on the grass outside...near leaking sewage from a surrounding apartment complex.”