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
