Media Watchdog Criticizes Ethiopia's Press Freedom

Check back with ETP for more news throughout the day

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Also:
- Today's Top HEADLINES
- INTERNATIONAL news
- Picture of the Day
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Response to Gary Klein of DLA Piper
(Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam)
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International media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, has criticized the Ethiopian government for its inconsistent approach to press freedom. On Saturday, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi conditionally pardoned four journalists who had previously been given long prison sentences.

As Malcolm Webb reports from Nairobi, the media watchdog say that the journalists' release does not suggest a move toward more press freedom in Ethiopia.

[Click here for AUDIO report]

The Paris-based group says it welcomes the release of the four Ethiopian journalists. The journalists had been convicted in July of crimes relating to their coverage of the post-election unrest in 2005. They were given prison sentences ranging from four to 15 years after waiving their defense and pleading guilty, in anticipation of being granted a pardon.

But the group says it is regrettable that they were freed because of what the group believes was the prime minister's wish, not because of the outcome of a fair trial. A senior researcher at Reporters Without Borders, Vincent Brossel, said the Ethiopian government's inconsistent actions are destroying the credibility of the country's justice system, and that their release does not signify any move toward press freedom.(More...)

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GLOBAL WARMING MAY EXACERBATE WATER CONFLICTS

(Washington Post) - "The potential for conflict is more than theoretical. Turkey, Syria and Iraq bristle over the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt trade threats over the Nile. The United Nations has said water scarcity is behind the bloody wars in Sudan’s Darfur region. In Somalia, drought has spawned warlords and armies."(More...)

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Today's Top HEADLINES

-Study says Ethiopian volcano killed 5, displaced 2,000
-Amnesty criticises Czech weapons sales to Ethiopia and others
-World IT Forum opens in Ethiopia
-Cisco to Replace ETC's Poor Broadband Connection
-Ethiopian Jews situation draws look from federation reps
-Missing link fossil extends family tree (A team of scientists in Ethiopia have uncovered fossil evidence for a new species of great ape)
-Puntland, Somali Government Rift Grows over Oil Resources
-TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK (The Week in review)

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STOCKHOLM: CELEBRATION OF THE ETHIOPIAN MILLENNIUM EVENT SCHEDULE

Democratic Uncertainty in Ethiopia (Report/Study by Lahra Smith, professor at Georgetown University, for The United States Institute of Peace, USIP)
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

-Some 10,000 flee Congo to Uganda
-Iraq Prime Minister Rebuffs U.S. Criticism
-Olmert bans mobiles in meetings
-Venezuela Congress OKs Chavez's Reforms
-Democracy Rally Held in Myanmar (Burma)
-Myanmar (Burma) arrests dissidents, squashes fuel protests
-Georgia says Russia again violates airspace
-Paging Mr. Indiana Jones

Picture of the Day

Yes, we here at ETP can't get enough of the ‘Awra Amba’ story. This is because it offers a glimpse into what Ethiopians are capable of and could contribute to the world, if given half the chance. Ethiopia’s untapped reservoir of history, knowledge, culture and natural resources have the potential to benefit not only its citizens but also the entire world. The purging of guns from Ethiopia's political system is what the country primarily needs to really blossom.

(Picture - Awra Amba Kids MOTO) Kids in Awra Amba are well educated in ethics and morality. The above roughly translates to: " MOTTO: We, kids, will not touch other peoples money. If we find it on the ground, we will return it to the owner. By working together with unity and compassion, we will be productive. Our peaceful lives will nourish.")

-More pictures from AWRA AMBA
-AWRA AMBA: ONE MAN'S MODEL FOR A JUST SOCIETY
-Ahmed Teshome's single - 'AWRA AMBA' (Music)





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Media Watchdog Criticizes Ethiopia's Press Freedom

Check back with ETP for more news throughout the day

____________________

Also:
- Today's Top HEADLINES
- INTERNATIONAL news
- Picture of the Day
____________________

Response to Gary Klein of DLA Piper
(Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam)
____________________

International media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, has criticized the Ethiopian government for its inconsistent approach to press freedom. On Saturday, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi conditionally pardoned four journalists who had previously been given long prison sentences.

As Malcolm Webb reports from Nairobi, the media watchdog say that the journalists' release does not suggest a move toward more press freedom in Ethiopia.

[Click here for AUDIO report]

The Paris-based group says it welcomes the release of the four Ethiopian journalists. The journalists had been convicted in July of crimes relating to their coverage of the post-election unrest in 2005. They were given prison sentences ranging from four to 15 years after waiving their defense and pleading guilty, in anticipation of being granted a pardon.

But the group says it is regrettable that they were freed because of what the group believes was the prime minister's wish, not because of the outcome of a fair trial. A senior researcher at Reporters Without Borders, Vincent Brossel, said the Ethiopian government's inconsistent actions are destroying the credibility of the country's justice system, and that their release does not signify any move toward press freedom.(More...)

____________________

GLOBAL WARMING MAY EXACERBATE WATER CONFLICTS

(Washington Post) - "The potential for conflict is more than theoretical. Turkey, Syria and Iraq bristle over the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt trade threats over the Nile. The United Nations has said water scarcity is behind the bloody wars in Sudan’s Darfur region. In Somalia, drought has spawned warlords and armies."(More...)

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Today's Top HEADLINES

-Study says Ethiopian volcano killed 5, displaced 2,000
-Amnesty criticises Czech weapons sales to Ethiopia and others
-World IT Forum opens in Ethiopia
-Cisco to Replace ETC's Poor Broadband Connection
-Ethiopian Jews situation draws look from federation reps
-Missing link fossil extends family tree (A team of scientists in Ethiopia have uncovered fossil evidence for a new species of great ape)
-Puntland, Somali Government Rift Grows over Oil Resources
-TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK (The Week in review)

____________________

STOCKHOLM: CELEBRATION OF THE ETHIOPIAN MILLENNIUM EVENT SCHEDULE

Democratic Uncertainty in Ethiopia (Report/Study by Lahra Smith, professor at Georgetown University, for The United States Institute of Peace, USIP)
____________________

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

-Some 10,000 flee Congo to Uganda
-Iraq Prime Minister Rebuffs U.S. Criticism
-Olmert bans mobiles in meetings
-Venezuela Congress OKs Chavez's Reforms
-Democracy Rally Held in Myanmar (Burma)
-Myanmar (Burma) arrests dissidents, squashes fuel protests
-Georgia says Russia again violates airspace
-Paging Mr. Indiana Jones

Picture of the Day

Yes, we here at ETP can't get enough of the ‘Awra Amba’ story. This is because it offers a glimpse into what Ethiopians are capable of and could contribute to the world, if given half the chance. Ethiopia’s untapped reservoir of history, knowledge, culture and natural resources have the potential to benefit not only its citizens but also the entire world. The purging of guns from Ethiopia's political system is what the country primarily needs to really blossom.

(Picture - Awra Amba Kids MOTO) Kids in Awra Amba are well educated in ethics and morality. The above roughly translates to: " MOTTO: We, kids, will not touch other peoples money. If we find it on the ground, we will return it to the owner. By working together with unity and compassion, we will be productive. Our peaceful lives will nourish.")

-More pictures from AWRA AMBA
-AWRA AMBA: ONE MAN'S MODEL FOR A JUST SOCIETY
-Ahmed Teshome's single - 'AWRA AMBA' (Music)





__________________________________________

AWRA AMBA: ONE MAN'S MODEL FOR A JUST SOCIETY

Check back with ETP for more news throughout the day

____________________

Also:
- Today's Top HEADLINES
- INTERNATIONAL news
- Picture of the Day
____________________

Democratic Uncertainty in Ethiopia (Report/Study by Lahra Smith, professor at Georgetown University, for The United States Institute of Peace, USIP)
____________________

AWRA AMBA, ETHIOPIA - He can't read or write, but Zumra Nuru created a society that would have made Karl Marx proud. The 60-year-old Ethiopian farmer founded and cochairs Awra Amba, a commune where men cook, women plow, and religion has no place.

His inspiration came from his childhood: He was sent to the fields instead of to school and beaten for eating meat at his Christian neighbor's home.His mother had to work much more than his father.

"It made me sad," says Mr. Nuru. "When I asked my parents about it ... they acted as if I were foolish."

In the 1980s, Nuru finally launched the egalitarian society he dreamed of with 19 other people who adopted his vision. Today Awra Amba has some 400 members and is lauded as a model to alleviate poverty and promote gender equality in a country where women generally hold a subservient status to men.

The experimental community first came to national awareness when Nuru gave an interview on national television a few years ago. Since then numerous camera crews have driven out to the northern village. They are not alone.(MORE...)

Also:
-Enjoy Ahmed Teshome's amharic single - 'AWRA AMBA' (Music)

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TWO ANTI POVERTY CAMPAIGNERS REMAIN IN ETHIOPIAN PRISON

Two civil society activists, Daniel Bekele, 40, of ActionAid Ethiopia and Netsanet Demissie, 29, of the Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia, remain in prison in Addis Ababa despite the release of 31 opposition supporters.(More...)

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Today's Top HEADLINES^Updated

-FREED ETHIOPIANS DESCRIBE THREATS (Washigton Post)
-Chancellor Merkel to visit Ethiopia (Capital)
-PM Meles’s Interview with Dimtse Woyane radio(ethiomedia)
-Statement on the Ogaden (Civic, media organizations)
-Preventable diseases kill 300000 children in Ethiopia (UNICEF)
-Expelled Eritreans seek damages from Ethiopia
-Eritrea says U.S. must change policy in Horn of Africa
-Mogadishu blast wounds four near peace talks venue
-Will AFRICOM be an Impetus for Changing US-Africa Trade Policies? (Analysis)
-TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK (The Week in review)

INTERNATIONAL NEWS^Updated

-Gaddafi son unveils reform plan
-Obama Calls for End of Cuba Embargo
-U.S. academic held in Iran freed on bail
-EU agrees to resume fuel supply to Gaza
-Anger At Plight Of 181 Miners In China
-Greatest Mysteries: Where is the Rest of the Universe?
-5,000-year-old piece of chewing gum discovered

Picture of the Day

(Asegedech Asefa, the First Ethiopian Woman pilot)
The First Ethiopian Woman pilot Asegedech Asefa, in an interview with Talk Show host Nigist Abate, shares incredible experiences from her fascinating life as a pioneer in the aviation field.

[Video] Asegedech: First Ethiopian Woman pilot




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