Ethiopian Israelis marched by the thousands in Jerusalem Wednesday in the late afternoon from the Knesset Parliament to the city’s center against a blazing setting sun. In one of the largest demonstrations for immigrant equality to date, young Ethiopian Israelis, chanted and held signs that read “I’m black and proud,” “Black and Whites: We’re all Equal,” and “Let’s Stop This Here and Now.”

Jerusalem’s city center streets were closed off for several hours as police stopped and redirected traffic to allow the protestors to walk safely through the streets. Yoni, a married father from Netanya, explained that he had joined the protest for the sake of his children’s future.” Thank God, I have a good job, and I can provide for my family,” said Yoni. I feel I’ve settled in well into Israel but I want to ensure that my children have equal opportunities here in the future,” he explains. Read the rest of this entry »

Ethiopia’s Olympic champions Bekele and Dibaba are among 35 athletes banned after a row over training

Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia’s Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion, is among 35 athletes banned from competition by their national federation in a row over training.

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Bahir Dar, Ethiopia – Two Ethiopian sisters who lived in Perth, Australia were among the 43 passengers killed in a fiery bus crash in Ethiopia on Tuesday.

Seble and Maza Getachew had lived in Perth for a number of years and studied at Curtin University as international students before recently relocating to Melbourne.

The pair, who were not Australian citizens, was believed to have travelled over with a 32-year-old Melbourne man, who was returning to his native country to take part in religious celebrations, according to his neighbours.

The Getachew sisters, aged in their 20s, were originally from the Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa but it is not yet known whether they were related to the Melbourne man, who was a permanent resident in Australia. Read the rest of this entry »

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Fekadu Petros, 24, moved to Addis Abeba from his native Wolayta, 390km south of the capital following the death of his father, who was survived by seven children and his wife. The short and skinny young man has worked in the city for the past four years, sending whatever money he can save to his mother and siblings.He is attached to a scrap metal store in Menallesh Terra, Merkato, which pays him 250 Br a month. But, he also carries stuff for a lot of people visiting Merkato to do their shopping. On good days he can make as much as 60 Br from these people, he says.The money may seem significant, but living on a day-to-day basis, people like Fekadu hardly think of their incomes on a monthly basis. They pay 10 Br just for a sleeping space on a mat. For 300 Br a month, they could get a better place, but they do not have enough money at any given to pay for it upfront. They live on a daily basis.A proper meal costs about 15 Br in that part of Merkato. Many of these people, including day labourers, shoeshine boys, snack vendors, and beggars, eat gursha, handfuls of restaurant leftovers served from plastic bags.Gursha, under normal circumstances, is a small roll of enjera and stew that one person puts into the mouth of another as an act of intimacy or hospitality, a tradition in Ethiopia. Sometimes the roll of food may be somewhat big with some of it falling into the palm of the person who is being fed, who keeps his hand just under his mouth expecting some spill over.

Al-Shabab said its forces were surrounding the town after making what it called a planned withdrawal.Eyewitnesses said armoured vehicles and heavy artillery were used in the attack, which Ethiopia said was made at the request of the Somali government.Somalia’s prime minister meanwhile announced an operation “to liberate the tyranny of… al-Shabab from Somalia”.”Early this morning, the Somali National Army recaptured some al-Shabab-occupied territories engaging the enemies in Hiiraan and other regions of the country,” said Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, head of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG)