International: [U.S. Africa base could cause stigma for host state] - [China to increase imports from Africa] - [Khodorkovsky Says Kremlin Wants Him Held] - [U.S.-Iranian Tensions and an Abduction in Baghdad] - [Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet Found in Rome] and more of today's top stories!
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____________________________________________Foreign media and observers to be banned from Ethiopia’s future elections
ETP - A bill introduced by the ruling party EPRDF aims to bar foreign observers and foreign media from the country’s elections unless and otherwise specifically invited by the government.
The bill also makes it illegal for domestic journalists to state their opinions regarding Election Day outcomes until an official result has been made available.
Under this bill, all types of Election Projections are strictly prohibited and perpetrators could be fined, or spend up to a year in Jail. The bill is almost certainly guaranteed to be law since EPRDF sponsored bills in Ethiopia’s parliament have never failed to pass in the past.
Most see this bill as a disturbing continuation of the government’s trend in taking Ethiopia towards total one-party despotism.
Waves of explosions kill civilians in Mogadishu
At least three people have been killed and ten others were wounded in separate explosions that rocked the Somalia capital on Wednesday night – as there has been wide spread of insecurity in Mogadishu with killings and kidnapping seem rising.
Several series of explosions could be heard in parts of Mogadishu carried out by unknown militiamen.
Two civilians have been killed and three others were injured in Al-Baraka village of Hodan neighborhood in southwest Mogadishu after a mortar round has slammed in their house. All the victims are in one family. The dead and the injured include young children. (More...)
Also see:
-More violence in Somalia
-Deadly nighttime attacks terrify Mogadishu residents
Ethiopian PM Meles to pay first visit to Turkey
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will be in Turkey between Feb. 8-10 to sign cooperative agreements in agriculture and tourism. The first visit by an Ethiopean leader to Turkey at the prime ministerial level, Zenawi will also explore areas of partnership with Turkish businessmen in Istanbul.
Zenawi will be received by both Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan in Ankara, where they will discuss regional and international developments. Bilateral relations with Ethiopia have accelerated since Erdoðan's visit to Addis Ababa in 2001. Ethiopia, which closed down its embassy in Ankara in 1984 due to financial difficulties, reopened the mission in 2006.(More...)
U.N. says 50,000 Somalis have crossed to Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Around 50,000 Somalis have crossed into neighbouring Ethiopia in the past six months of instability in their homeland, and most are living without humanitarian aid, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said a majority of the would-be refugees were women and children fleeing fighting in Somalia where an Islamist movement took control of most of the south in June but fell over the New Year.
"Most of these people are being taken care of by family and clan members in Ethiopia, with no assistance from humanitarian agencies thus far," the UNHCR statement said. (More....)
Today's Top Stories
-Somalia's PM demotes his deputy-U.S. Africa base could cause stigma for host state
-China to increase imports from Africa
-U.S helicopter crash near Baghdad kills 7
-Khodorkovsky Says Kremlin Wants Him Held
-U.S.-Iranian Tensions and an Abduction in Baghdad
-Austria smashes global child porn operation
-Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet Found in Rome
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