Somali Islamists test rockets

Also in the news: CUD TRIAL UPDATE - ADDIS ABEBA (under 'today's top stories' section), Imprisoned leaders in Kality hunger strike to commemorate Nov.1, Ethiopian activists end 3-day vigil & hunger strike in London, Ethiopian watchdog urges intl probe on religious violences, Ogaden Online:Zenawi’s Tattletales, Chinese media to live broadcast opening ceremony of Beijing Summit

International: Darfur militias 'kill children': peacekeepers, Fierce Fighting Continues In Northern Gaza, and more of today's top stories

Hunger strike to commemorate Nov.1 [Imprisoned leaders]

(More...)

Also read: Ethiopia: November 1st, 2005 - Remembering the events of that day

Somali Islamists test rockets

Nov 3, 2006 — MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali Islamists test fired rockets on Friday and prepared for war with the government as the United States warned of possible suicide attacks against neighboring countries.

Tension has mounted rapidly in recent weeks and rose another notch after this week's failure to bring together the Islamists, who control the capital and most of southern Somalia, and the weak, Western-backed interim government for peace talks.

Both sides' fighters are now facing off just 30 km (19 miles) from the administration's sole outpost, Baidoa town. The Islamists say they are also facing thousands of Ethiopian troops who had invaded to prop up government forces.

"The onus is on us to start the fight. We will be the first to strike," one senior Islamist commander, Maalim Hashi Ahmed, told Reuters by telephone.(More...)

Ethiopian activists end 3-day vigil & hunger strike in London

The hunger strike and vigil of Ethiopians against the brutality perpetrated by the regime in Ethiopia, the continued detention of the CUDP, leaders, journalists, NGOs and members of the civic societies and against the silence of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Government, that started on 30 October 2006 at Downing Street came to an end on 01 November 2006, at 8:00 pm with prayers, supplications and vows to continue the struggle.

Regardless of the harsh windy November weather, the hunger strikers held the three-day challenge to the last minute with defiance. It was as if God had co-operated with the cause of Ethiopia, because though it had been so cold and windy, there was no rain at all, unlike the previous years.

In the three days of protest, enough had been done by those determined to continuously to man the post. Leaflets had been distributed and briefings had been given out to the interested members of the public, journalists, human rights activists and tourists. An interesting moment have been when some members of CSKA Moscow football team approached the protestors and offered solidarity with Ethiopians.(More...)

Chinese media to live broadcast opening ceremony of Beijing Summit

The Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-African Cooperation (FOCAC) will open at 10:00 a.m. (BeijingTime) Saturday at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital, with major Chinese TV and radio networks and websites live broadcasting the ceremony.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, leaders and representatives of 48 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China including Prime Minister of Ethiopia, the FOCAC's co-chair country, Alpha Oumar Konare, chairman of the Commission of the African Union and representatives from regional and international organizations are expected to attend the ceremony.

China National Radio, China Radio International and China Central Television (CCTV) will live broadcast the opening ceremony.

The event will also be covered by www.xinhuanet.com, www.people.com.cn and www.china.org.cn

Ogaden Online: No basis for Zenawi’s Tattletales about Somalia

....The stories about ‘Alqaeda’, about ‘foreign fighters’ and ‘Jihadists’ being part of the UIC are ones made up by Zenawi to further his own interest of garnering both moral and military support from the world community in the name of fighting ‘terror’. Zenawi is also employing scarecrow tactics to convince the US to get funding for his myriad militias who have not been paid for months. Further as discussed in detail in many of our earlier editorials, Zenawi is exploiting the Somali situation to stir up Ethiopian nationalist sentiments in order to lull his own people from realizing the abject failure of Zenawi’s military escapades in Ogaden, and in Eritrea for example.

There is no basis for Zenawi’s tattletales about Somalia and the UIC. The objective of the renewed publicity stunts employed by the head of the autocracy in Addis Ababa through public releases and open invitations for interview is to discourage the TFG from attending the Khartoum conference slated for the end of this month. The intention is to create a poisonous environment that does not allow both the TFG and the UIC to make the necessary concessions required to resolve the Somali situation. The world community especially the United States should neither authorize nor fund Ethiopia’s military adventure in Somalia.(More...)

Today's Top Stories

-**CUD TRIAL UPDATE - ADDIS ABEBA**
-Ethiopian watchdog urges intl probe on religious violences
-Darfur militias 'kill children': peacekeepers
-Looking back on Botha's South Africa
-Fierce Fighting Continues In Northern Gaza
-Iran fires missiles into Gulf
-Cruise cuts deal to run UA
-Prison inmate in Austria delivered to freedom

(11.02.06) Recommends:

The artwork of Tom Stack.

Tom Stack is an artist out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I first stumbled upon his work by accident. A friend and I were at Amoeba Records and decided to play the time-honored game played in used record bins the word over. We both had to purchase an album based solely on cover art and...and I'm not sure exactly how the game is scored. Either the person who chooses the most listenable album or least listenable album "wins". Really, nobody wins, except for Amoeba, who gets to keep our money. Now that I think about it, maybe this game is actually only played in the US. Perhaps other countries would find this type of consumption disgraceful in light of the starving children of the world for whom a mere dollar a day would bring salvation. [Or, at least drive away those nasty flies. (Oh god, did I really just type that?)]

Or, nobody wins unless you discover a cool artist. And that's what happened here. The album I choose was by a band called .22. The album is called "Patriots." This Tom Stack fellow did the album artwork. Cool , right? Here's his website. As you can see his specialty is bird paintings. The paintings are very elegant; the lines very clean. (Note: I have no idea what that last sentence means. It sounds kinda art-fancy though, right?) As an added bonus, the names of his pictures sound like they could have been Guided By Voices song titles. "These Seagulls Are Insane Beasts." "Your Eyes Become A Shorebird." "The Observation. A Rediscovery Of The Third Dimension." Etc. You get the picture. Now go get the picture, literally. [These things are on sale (wakka wakka)].

Coalition for H.R.5680: Conference to discuss human rights Issues in Ethiopia November 4

Also in the news: Statement from the Crown Council, Interview: Creators of Black Gold, Book about Ethiopia: There Is No Me without You and more of today's top stories

Ethiopian athletics star Haile Gebrselassie (C) talks to orphans and vulnerable children at the launch of the 2006 Dream Campaign in Addis Ababa, November 2, 2006. The Dream campaign aims to raise 1 million birr (US$115,000) to fund projects for Ethiopia's 6 million orphans. The campaign is organised by UNICEF, Ministry of Women's Affairs and other members of Ethiopia's National Task Force on Orphans and Vulnerable Children. [Andrew Heavens/UNICEF]

Coalition for HR 5680: Conference to discuss the human rights situation in Ethiopia and the role HR5680 would play to improve the situation

The Human Rights Abuse in Ethiopia is going from Bad to Worse*: urgent need to pass H.R. 5680!

Saturday, November 4, 2006
2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
At the American University Washington College of Law
4801 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Room 101
Speakers:

Professor Charles Schaefer, Associate Professor of African History, Country Specialist, Ethiopia , Amnesty International
Mr. Gregory Simpkins, Professional Staff , U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa , Golobal Human Rights and International Operations
Mr. Ted Dagne, Africa Specialist, U.S. Congressional Research Service
Professor Alemayehu G/Mariam, Professor of Political Science, California State University, Defense Attorney in California, Coalition for H.R. 5680 (More...)

Statement Given by the Crown Council Regarding the Recent Conflict between Christian and Muslim Ethiopians

(Picture - The President of the Ethiopian Crown Council, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie)

It is with deep dismay that members of the Crown Council have followed recent reports of conflicts between Christian and Muslim Ethiopians in various parts of our country. Our heartfelt condolences are sent to all those who have lost loved ones. We Ethiopians have for centuries lived side by side in peace with mutual respect of all religions. Therefore it is disheartening to hear that certain misguided people have now been swayed by the current tide of intolerance and violence.(More...)

Also read:
-Ethiopian royal family to sell property in Jerusalem to foreign nationals

Exploitation of Ethiopian Coffee Farmers

Interview, Chicago public radio

"Everyone drinks coffee. But not everyone knows the harsh economic and political story behind their morning latte." Nick Francis and Mark Francis—Filmmakers, Creators of Black Gold discuss their film with Chicago public radio. [Listen here]

There Is No Me without You
currently in the top 10 on the Powell's Books Bestseller list

There Is No Me Without You is the story of Haregewoin Tefarra, a middle-aged Ethiopian woman of modest means whose home has become a refuge for hundreds of children orphaned by AIDS.

It is a story as much about the power of the bond between children and parents as about the epidemic that every year leaves millions of children, mostly healthy themselves, without family. Originally a middle-class woman with a happy family life, Haregewoin fell into a deep depression after the death of her recently married daughter. But then a priest brought her two children, AIDS orphans, with nowhere to go.(More...)

Scientists witness the birth of a new ocean

Fissures have opened in the Earth’s surface in Afar as the Arabian and Nubian tectonic plates pull apart. Scientists say the process is the same as that which created the Atlantic. Photograph: Xan Rice

This is how the Atlantic was formed, separating Africa and Eurasia from the Americas. And this is what scientists believe is happening in Afar as the Arabian and Nubian plates pull apart...."Some people think that extreme natural phenomena happened only in historical times," said Cindy Ebinger, an American geologist leading the research in Afar. "But here we can see them happening right now." (More...)

Humor
Meskerem Bekele

(Read)

Today's Top Stories

-Somali rivals reinforce front-line
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