International: Sudan’s janjaweed accused of new Darfur killings, Thousands Attend Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Groundbreaking, McCain edges toward '08 presidential run, US-Educated Palestinian Academic Leading Candidate for PM, Georgia PM says Russia preparing for war and more of today's top stories
Ethiopian athlete Meseret Defar holds her 'Performance of the Year Award', Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006 during the 2006 World Athletics Gala in Monaco, organized by the International Athletic Foundation.(AP PHOTO/Lionel Cironneau) Review needed of the way Irish aid is channelled through Ethiopian regime
By John O’Shea, The Irish Times
Nov 13, 2006 — As Ethiopia marks the first anniversary of the massacre of 46 innocent protesters by government forces on the streets of Addis Ababa, one might find it hard to understand why the Irish Government continues its policy of channelling more taxpayers’ money through structures of the Meles Zenawi regime than any other African country.
Last November saw the second wave of post-election protests marked by excessive brutality, following June protests in which 36 demonstrators were killed in broad daylight. Major donors - which include the World Bank, the European Union and the UK - withheld direct budgetary support worth about $375 million (292 million) from Ethiopia following the government’s crackdown on opposition supporters. With the exception of a diplomatic wrist slap for the Ethiopian charge d’affaires, a proportional response from the Irish Government was notable in its absence.(More...)
The Artful Dodgers: Vickie Huddleston and the International Donor Community
Lewit
...I recently overheard another WFP field worker adamantly ‘officially’ reject the suggestion of economic sanctions in reponse to the mounting political oppression, only later to insist over dinner with friends that economic sanctions would, in fact, be the best way to necessarily oust the repressive EPRDF regime! I additionally witnessed this same person--whom I know to be personally “horrified by the current oppressive political climate and severe escalation of national human rights violations”--professionally offer only a feeble, “No comment” on the subject when approached by a member of the international press...(More)
URGE YOUR CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS/STAFFERS TO ATTEND BRIEFING
The Coalition for H.R. 5680
The Coalition for H.R. 5680 calls upon all Ethiopian Americans in the United States to contact the offices of their members of Congress and ask them to attend the Human Rights Briefing in the U.S. House of Representative on November 16th at 11:00 AM, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building.
Attendance by Congressional members and/or staffers is important because:
● Members/staffers need to educated on the scope and extent of human rights violations in Ethiopia;
● Members/staffers will have an opportunity to meet and interact with members of the Ethiopian judiciary and be informed on the travesty of justice and lack of due process in Ethiopian courts firsthand; and
● Members/staffers can gather first hand information on the brutality and of the Zenawi regime and the complete absence of the rule of law in Ethiopia;(More...)
ONLF requests Lundin to distance itself from Ethiopia’s oil
FROM: Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)
Our organization has been made aware of the signing of a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) between Lundin Petroleum and the Ethiopian government on November 7th 2006. The exploratory activities planned specifically by Lundin East Africa BV in designated areas of our homeland which you refer to as "blocks 2 & 6" are both unrealistic and unwelcome by the people of Ogaden.
While you may have been given security guarantees by the Ethiopian government it is imperative that you understand that the regime is not now nor has it ever been in effective control of the Ogaden. The Ogaden has been the scene of armed conflict for a number of decades between the central government of Ethiopia and ethnic Somalis. This conflict makes for an insecure environment for any mineral exploration to occur.(More...)
Thousands Attend Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Groundbreaking
It's not often you get to see George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey and Rev. Jesse Jackson on the same stage, but then again Martin Luther King Jr. always had a way of bringing people together.And those were just a few of the names and faces present Monday at a groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial to honour the civil rights leader.
Not far from where King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963, President Bush said the National Mall monument would preserve his legacy for generations to come.
In all, about 5,000 people braved light rain, cold winds and mud for the ceremonial groundbreaking."When Martin Luther King came to Washington in the summer 1963, he came to hold this nation to its own standards," Bush said. "... He stood not far from here ... with thousands gathered around him. His dream spread a message of hope." (More...)
Today's Top Stories
-In pictures: Flood help in Ethiopia-Sudan’s janjaweed accused of new Darfur killings
-McCain edges toward '08 presidential run
-UK seeks help of Iraq's neighbours
-US-Educated Palestinian Academic is Leading Candidate for PM
-Georgia PM says Russia preparing for war
-Air guitar T-shirt: cotton-picking?
