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There’s a reason why “may you live in interesting times” is a curse. The eras we call a “Terror” — Stalin’s Russia, Robespierre‘s France, Pol Pot’s Cambodia — are pretty interesting. Ethiopia in the mid-1970’s was one of the most interesting places in the world. After the Derg, a shadowy committee of leftist officers, toppled the monarchy in 1974, factional violence between Ethiopia’s two main Marxist parties soon came to the fore. Long story short, All-Ethiopian Socialist Movement (MEISON) backed the Derg — while its rival the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP) denounced it as fascistic. And when Mengistu assumed...

The incident occurred outside the international stadium in the heart of the city, where prayers were scheduled to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of the Muslim holy month. Addis Ababa police issued a statement saying “a riot” had been caused by a “few individuals” and led to property damage, but order had now been restored. “[The] police are calling on the community to remain calm,” it said. Stone-throwing demonstrators also smashed windows at a national museum on Meskel Square before calm was restored, reports said. The Addis Ababa official told AFP that Eid al-Fitr prayers had taken...

Just as Ethiopian government forces appear to have turned the tide in the country’s so-called civil war, the Biden administration is pushing for US citizens in Ethiopia to leave and is providing relocation assistance to those who can’t afford to buy a plane ticket. Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has visited Addis Ababa and has made it clear that China backs Ethiopia’s government fully. This, in contrast to the United States which has imposed sanctions on Ethiopia, but not on the rebellious Tigray. As Bloomberg reports: The US last month suspended duty-free access to its exports “because of gross...

A major fire has resulted in significant damage to the upper fuselage of an Ethiopian Airlines 777F in Shanghai (PVG). The six-year-old aircraft had arrived from Brussels (BRU). According to the airline, the fire occurred while cargo was being loaded. The 777F was about to fly to Sao Paulo (GRU) and Santiago (SCL) via Addis Ababa (ADD). There were no injuries. Photos and videos on Chinese social media show the fire burning through the fuselage skin in several locations. In a statement, Ethiopian said it had worked with the authorities to contain the fire, and that the cause of the...

From article: A witness to the Ethiopian Airlines crash says smoke was coming from the rear of the plane before it hit the ground, killing 157 people on board. Tamrat Abera tells The Associated Press the plane rotated twice before crashing and exploding. Smoke rose high into the sky.

The Boeing 737 MAX, the type of plane involved in a deadly crash in Ethiopia over the weekend, is still airworthy and the Federal Aviation Administration plans to issue a notice to the international aviation community later Monday, a person familiar with the matter said. "The FAA continuously assesses and oversees the safety performance of U.S. commercial aircraft," the FAA said in a statement. "If we identify an issue that affects safety, the FAA will take immediate and appropriate action." Aviation officials in China and Indonesia ordered domestic airlines to ground their fleets of the popular Boeing single-aisle planes after...

A man has revealed how running two minutes late for the doomed Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines flight saved his life. The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed six minutes after departing Addi Ababa, Ethiopia on Sunday morning killing all 157 people on board.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s aviation regulator said on Monday it had ordered Chinese airlines to suspend their Boeing Co 737 MAX aircraft operations by 6 p.m. (5.00 a.m. ET) following a deadly crash of a 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines. An Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 bound for Nairobi crashed minutes after take-off on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board. It was the second crash of the 737 MAX, the latest version of Boeing’s workhorse narrowbody jet that first entered service in 2017. In October, a 737 MAX flown by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air flying from...

The Boeing 737 MAX 8, a brand new plane only registered in November, disappeared from the radar six minutes into the flight. Immediate comparisons have been drawn with Lion Air flight 610, which crashed just over four months ago, killing 189 people. Flight data showed erratic climbs and descents before the plane, also a MAX 8, came down 12 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta. More than 300 Boeing 737-MAX planes are in operation and more than 5,000 have been ordered worldwide since 2017. It is the latest iteration of the 737, the world’s bestselling plane, ever more capable of flying...

An Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia's capital on Sunday morning, killing all 157 on board, authorities said, as grieving families rushed to airports in Addis Ababa and the destination, Nairobi. More than 30 nationalities are among the dead. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash of the Boeing 737-8 MAX plane, which was new and had been delivered to the airline in November. The pilot sent out a distress call and was given clearance to return, the airline's CEO told reporters. The state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, widely considered the best-managed airline in Africa, calls itself...

NAIROBI (Reuters) - An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet to Nairobi crashed early on Sunday with 149 passengers and eight crew members aboard, the airline said, and there were no survivors, according to the state broadcaster. The flight left Bole airport in Addis Ababa at 8.38 am local time, before losing contact with the control tower just a few minutes later at 8.44 am. “There are no survivors onboard the flight, which carried passengers from 33 countries,” said state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, quoting an unidentified source at the airline. Flight ET 302 crashed near the town of Bishoftu, 62...

Meskel Square Intersection Never complain about traffic again. Here's a day in the life of one of the most ridiculous intersections in the world - Meskel Square, Addis Abeba, the capital of Ethiopia.

Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya leader Mostafa Hamza, detained for terrorist activity and attempt on Hosni Mubarak's life, released Tuesday by President Morsi's pardon Egypt's security authorities released, Tuesday, Mostafa Hamza, a prominent radical Sheikh charged with attempting to assassinate former president Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia in1995. Hamza, a leading member of Islamic organisation Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, was extradited to Egypt from Iran in 2004. He was detained following terrorism-related charges that included being a member of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. SNIP(The wire services are ignoring this news. We learned about it via FrontPageMag which highlighted that Hamza was behind the Luxor massacre. FPM excerpted...

AN AIRCRAFT that crashed minutes after taking off in a thunderstorm, killing all 90 people on board, is thought to have been struck by lightning. The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 had just left Beirut in Lebanon for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa when it burst into a "ball of fire" and plunged into the Mediterranean. There were two Britons among the 83 passengers on board. One of them was named as haulage firm owner Afif Krisht, 56, who had dual British-Lebanese nationality, and whose former wife lives in Plymouth. Flight ET-409 crashed into the sea two miles offshore. It disappeared...

An Ethiopian Airliner with 92 passengers and crew on board has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from Beirut airport in Lebanon. Aviation sources said flight 409 was heading for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa when it crashed at 2:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) on Monday. According to Lebanon's Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi, the Boeing 737-800 disappeared from radar screens only five minutes after takeoff amid heavy rains and storms, and crashed into the sea about 12km (7 miles) south of the Rafiq Hariri airport. Witnesses who live near the coast have reported seeing a ball of fire as...

BEIRUT, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Rescue workers have located the crash site of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that went down just off the Lebanese coast on Monday, Lebanon's Transport Minister Ghazi al-Aridi said. "(The crash) site has been identified three-and-a-half km (two miles) west of the (coastal) village of Na'ameh," Aridi told reporters at Beirut international airport. He said search and rescue operations were under way but refused to give any further details. He also said it was too early to say what caused the crash but confirmed the plane took off from Beirut international airport in stormy weather

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The U.S. State Department says one of its diplomats has been found dead in his home in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. A State Department official, who asked not to be identified, said 25-year-old Brian Adkins was found dead Saturday. The official says U.S. diplomatic security is investigating the death as a suspected homicide. The State Department has not officially released details of Adkins' death. Adkins was a foreign service officer in the consular section of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa. He was on his first diplomatic assignment."

The Ethiopian ex-dictator Mengistu condemned to the prison with life for genocide Addis Ababa - the ex-dictator Ethiopian Marxist Mengistu Hailé Mariam, found guilty of genocide during “red Terror”, was condemned to the prison with life by contumacy Thursday by the federal high court of Ethiopia, brought back a journalist of AFP. “The Court decided to condemn the culprit number one to the prison with life”, declared judge Nur Mohamed in connection with Mengistu Hailé Mariam. Colonel Mengistu, which lives in exile in Zimbabwe since its mode was reversed in 1991, had been recognized guilty on December 12 by...

Warden Message: Extremist Threats from Somalia Consular Affairs Bulletins Report Sub-Saharan Africa - Kenya October 31 2006 The U.S. Embassy Nairobi issued the following Warden Message on October 31, 2006: The US Embassy in Nairobi wishes to alert American citizens living and traveling in Kenya to reports of terrorist threats emanating from extremist elements within Somalia which target Kenya, Ethiopia, and other surrounding countries. These threats specifically mention the execution of suicide explosions in prominent landmarks within Kenya and Ethiopia. American citizens are advised to remain vigilant and to use extreme caution when frequenting prominent public places. American citizens...