Free Republic

American Jewish liberals can congratulate themselves – finally, the boycott of Israel has gone mainstream with Montgomery County, MD, deciding to drop its “Sister City” agreement with the Israeli town of Beth Shemesh. The reason for this unprecedented decision to stick it to a poor Jewish township within the “green line” has to do not with the Palestinians, but with the internal affairs of the Jewish state – namely, the recent spate of ugly attacks against women by some members of a local ultra-Orthodox sect. Celebrating this “brave” decision by his hometown, Marc Tracy pointed out in “Tablet” that Montgomery...

Ethiopia says Eritrea-trained gunmen killed touristsTue, Jan 17 2012By Aaron MaashoADDIS ABABA | Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:10am EST ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Two Germans, two Hungarians and an Austrian were killed by gunmen in an attack on tourists in the remote Afar region of northern Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government said on Wednesday.Government spokesman Bereket Simon said a Hungarian and an Italian were wounded while two Germans and two Ethiopians had been kidnapped in the Tuesday attack, that happened in an area prone to banditry and where separatist rebels have operated.

The AU wants Africa to manufacture and export finished products to its trading partners rather than just selling them the raw materials as it does now. She cited China, India, the EU and US and other rising stars in trade with the continent, including Turkey and Latin America, and said the AU had held talks on the new breed of partnerships with some of them. The AU also wants Africa to have a veto-wielding seat on the UN Security Council, and a place at the G20 negotiating table, Ali said. The peace and security that have eluded Africa for decades...

The Obama administration yesterday announced that it will increase assistance of arms and funds to Somalia’s government, as it tries to beat back a terrorist insurgency that includes an international who’s-who of jihadists, including Al-Qaeda. It does not exaggerate the stakes in Somalia to say that for the first time in its history, Al-Qaeda is about to have rule over an entire country. The Al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based affiliate of the group, assassinated the country’s national security minister on June 18 and currently controls the entire south and large portions of the central parts of the nation, along with parts of...

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (Worthy News)– More than 500 Muslim students assisted by Muslim police burned down a church in the village of Qoto Baloso, Ethiopia, on Nov. 29. The students screamed "Allahu Akbar" as they set fire to St. Arsema Orthodox Church, which was built on land used by the Christian community for more than 60 years. According to Inspector Mustefa Bashir of Silte Province, police had already ruined the roof after a court ruled that the church was built without a permit, but as for the razing of the church by students, we are investigating to determine those responsible.

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote today (Monday) on whether to impose sanctions against Eritrea. A UN report earlier this year accused Asmara of plotting to bomb an African Union summit in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. The UN said most of those arrested in the plot received training and orders from Eritrean officers. The UN also says its Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea has documented evidence of Eritrean payments to individuals linked to the Islamic radical al-Shabab rebels in Somalia... The Security Council refused to delay today's planned vote after Eritrea asked for an extension to...

(Reuters) - New convoys of heavily-armed Ethiopian troops have crossed into Somalia and are heading for central areas, residents said Sunday, days after Addis Ababa said it planned to send troops to help Somali and Kenya forces fighting Islamist insurgents. Ethiopia, which intervened in Somalia between 2006 and 2009, said Friday that it would deploy troops inside Somalia again for a "brief period. An Ethiopian government official also acknowledged Friday that a small force was already there on a reconnaissance mission. Ethiopia had previously denied scores of military trucks and armoured vehicles had entered Somalia on November 19 and 20....

Ethiopia is being sucked back into Somalia to open another front against Islamist rebels battling Kenyan forces but even a military victory is unlikely to end two decades of anarchy unless the country's feuding politicians and clans want peace. A small Ethiopian contingent rolled across the border on November 19 and 20, although Addis Ababa has publicly denied its troops are there. They have revived bases used during its ill-fated 2006-2009 campaign to rid the anarchic country of hardline Islamist rebels. Regional leaders were meeting in the Ethiopian capital on Friday to discuss ways of supporting Kenya's campaign. Mogadishu has...

Ordinary measures are not warranted anymore for I have overcome for you and in Me you reside in the heavenlies. So cast off your flesh when it distracts you from My Will of virtue and Righteousness and "Remain" in "MY" Loyalty for I AM all you need to KNOW! John 15:9 (AMP) 9I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [[a]continue in His love with Me]. Acts 17:28 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his...

Ethiopian troops have crossed the border into Somalia in significant numbers, eyewitnesses say. They say they saw at least 20 vehicles carrying Ethiopian troops. A few hundred soldiers were seen in Gurel town in Galgudud region and there were other sightings around Beledweyne. Ethiopian authorities have denied the incursion. Their soldiers have not been in Somalia in large numbers since 2009 when they withdrew after a controversial three-year presence. These reports come as Kenyan troops continue their efforts to defeat fighters of the Islamist group al-Shabab in the south of Somalia.

Binyam Mohamed is back in the news. You may remember him as the al-Qaeda operative who was slated to help would-be “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla conduct a second wave of post-9/11 attacks, targeting American cities. You also may not remember him. After all, the Obama administration quietly released him without charges. Well, there’s a new chapter in this sordid tale. Mohamed is living large — taxpayer-funded large — in Great Britain. For that, we can thank the Lawyer Left’s stubborn insistence that enemy war criminals are really run-of-the-mill defendants. Actually, make that run-of-the-mill plaintiffs. Unlike Padilla, who actually got into...

The United States acknowledged Friday it was flying drones out of Ethiopia under a counter-terrorism campaign in the Horn of Africa but said the aircraft were unarmed and not carrying out raids. "The US has unarmed and unmanned aircraft at a facility there to be used only for surveillance as part of a broad, sustained integrated campaign to counter terrorism," Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby told AFP. "These unmanned aircraft are being used only for surveillance and not conducting strike missions." The Pentagon, the White House and the State Department confirmed the drone flights out of the airfield in Arba...

A new camp has been opened in western Ethiopia as deadly fighting continues to displace tens of thousands of people in Sudan's Blue Nile, which lies on the border with the newly-independent nation of South Sudan, the United Nations said on Saturday. The new camp is located in the town of Tongo, from the border areas of Kurmuk, Bamza and Almahal. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Adrian Edwards said 533 refugees have already been moved to the new camp. The camp has a capacity for 3,000 people and has the possibility of being expanded if necessary. Over...

I Am going to move My sphere of authority into place now upon My Foundation and "TRUTH" shall be its Robe ! Zechariah 4:9 9The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house; his hands shall also finish it. Then you shall know (recognize and understand) that the Lord of hosts has sent me [His messenger] to you. The unction of My Spirit is something to be followed not ignored ! My blessings flow through My Spirit and Guiding counselor of My very Heart ! So understand this ; To reject My Spirit is to deny Me ,...

Someone please help me solve a mystery. Several news reports, including the one at the link below, contained this paragraph regarding the walkout at Ahmadinejad's UN speech on Thursday. "The two U.S. diplomats, who specialize in the Middle East, were followed out of the chamber by diplomats from more than 30 countries. They included the 27 European Union members, Australia, New Zealand, Somalia, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and Macedonia, a U.N. diplomat said. Israel boycotted the speech." It seems very strange that Somalia, a Muslim country, would walk -- the only one to do so. I've googled until my eyes...

Explanation: Yes, but how many dark clouds have a multicolored lining? Pictured, behind this darker cloud, is a pileus iridescent cloud, a group of water droplets that have a uniformly similar size and so together diffract different colors of sunlight by different amounts. The above image was taken just after the picturesque sight was noticed by chance by a photographer in Ethiopia. A more detailed picture of the same cloud shows not only many colors, but unusual dark and wavy bands whose origins are thought related to wave disturbances in the cloud.

Many Of Ola's Driving School Customers Are From Somalia, Ethiopia. More than 1,100 people must retake their driving test after the Colorado Department of Revenue shut down a driving school. ... an investigation continues into whether he accepted cash in exchange for certifying driving tests.

A preliminary five-year plan to improve Ethiopia's educational system was released today by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The draft Statement of Work (SOW) outlines what the agency expects to accomplish via the Reading for Ethiopia’s Achievement Developed (READ) project, which seeks to improve the reading and writing skills of elementary school students. According to the draft SOW: "The overall program will have four components: curriculum improvement, pedagogical techniques, appropriate technology and teaching aids, and co�curricular activity and community outreach. In addition, an evaluation project is expected to conduct mid�term and final evaluations of the complete READ program...

Spokesperson Ambassador Dina Mufti told WIC today that the deployment was launched following an agreement reached between the North and South Sudan leaders to demilitarize the disputed region of Abyei and allow Ethiopian peacekeeping forces monitor the peace. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) late last month unanimously approved the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian peacekeeping forces. The new UN peacekeeping force called the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) is mandated to monitor peace for the coming six months. Ambassador Dina said the country began the deployment of peacekeeping force last week. "I am confident that the...

An Al-Qaeda leader of Algerian nationality was among 20 militants killed in southern Mauritania during a clash with military forces.Mauritanian forces on Tuesday reportedly responded to an attack on a military base in Bassiknou on the border with Mali by launching a counter-offensive against forces from The Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM the terror network's North African branch. The firefight lasted around 45 minutes and afterward Mauritanian forces chased the militants into Mali. Ten insurgents were captured during the standoff.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, says there are unprecedented levels of malnutrition among children fleeing Somalia to escape the severe drought in East Africa. Oxfam, Save the Children and the Red Cross are all launching emergency appeals. Rains have failed for the past three seasons, and aid agencies say more than 12 million people across large parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya are facing dire shortages of food, shelter and health services. The BBC's Ben Brown reports from the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya.

An Ethiopian court has sentenced 558 people to jail terms ranging from six months to 25 years for attacks on Christians that displaced thousands and led 69 churches to be burned to the ground. More than 4,000 members of local Protestant denominations were forced to flee near the town of Asendabo, some 300 kilometres (186 miles) west of the capital, in March during a rare bout of religious violence. Mobs of Muslim youths carried out week-long attacks on Protestants after rumours that desecrated pages from the Koran had been found at a church construction site. Authorities reported a single death...

Sources told ABC News a backpack in Melaku's possession contained a package labeled ammonium nitrate as well as spent firearm ammunition. Ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer, can be used in explosives. The FBI later said despite the label, the backpack presented no immediate threat. A search of Melaku's nearby car also found no potential devices. Law enforcement sources said Melaku does not appear to have known ties to any terror organization. In addition to his arrest today, Melaku already faces pending charges in Loudoun County, Virginia, for a rash of vehicle break-ins, police said.

An ancient settlement has been discovered in the Ethiopian highlands using non invasive geophysical surveys... a suspected settlement in the north-western Ethiopian highland region of Tigray, home to the town of Yeha which was believed to be a major centre of the Diamat Kingdom established around 700 BCE... In 2008, Ethiopian archaeologists made the astonishing discovery of a perfectly preserved sacrificial altar in neighbouring Meqaber Ga'ewa, a previously unknown location near the city of Wuqro. The altar bore a remarkable royal inscription in Old South Arabian bearing the name Yeha. In 2008, Ethiopian archaeologists made the astonishing discovery of a...

Ethiopia buys Ukrainian tanks Published: June 9, 2011 at 3:37 PM KIEV, Ukraine, June 9 (UPI) -- Ethiopia is in discussions with Ukraine to buy more than 200 T-72 tanks. The deal is projected to be worth more than $100 million, Ukrinform news agency reported Thursday. Ukrspecexport SC, the Ukrainian state-controlled arms exporter, stated that its deal with Ethiopia's Defense Ministry for 200 T-72 tanks is one of its largest contracts since the company's establishment in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991. The T-72 tank was originally produced in the Soviet Union in the...

"Democracy is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequal alike" Plato (BC 427 - 374BC). Open rigging and clinging brazenly to power have become common features of emerging democracies in the world today especially in Africa. Many Countries in Africa have become accustomed to "sit-tight dictators" or military style of leadership, with democracy being propelled by the West for their replacement. This is at the centre of the on-going conflict in many emerging democratic nations. Democratization of the world today as being championed by United States of...

A day before its second summit with African leaders, India Monday accused the West of trying to conjure up an arena of rivalry between New Delhi and Beijing in Africa and sought to distinguish its development-centric approach revolving around trade, training and capacity building. 'Africa has tremendous economic potential. It's a continent on the move. For us, it's an opportunity and for the rest of the world also it is an opportunity,' Indian officials accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Ethiopia said. 'There is enough space for India and what it is good at - skill development, training, capacity building,'...

The Somaliland Press claims that Kenya is preparing to recognize Somaliland's independence, which would create another new country in the horn of Africa. "Kenyan Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Richard Onyonka said during an event held in Nairobi to commemorate Somaliland's 20th anniversary of Independence that his country will support Somaliland as an independent state" reported Somaliland Press and Iran's Press TV. Kenyans who have called for their government to recognize Hargeisa argue that Somaliland would help stabilize the region and stop Somalia's expansionism dreams into Kenya and into Ethiopia's eastern regions with Somali ethnic populations. Since Somaliland's ally Ethiopia...

...the first thing that I learned that these Nile issues, debate on distribution of The Nile issue, was really a bogus issue. It was really a bogus issue because if you were to treat the Nile basin -- and the most sensitive part of the Nile basin is the so-called eastern Nile, the Nile that goes from Ethiopia to Sudan and Egypt -- because 85% of the water that goes to Aswan comes from Ethiopia. This part of the water, Nile, which is supposed to have shortage of water, doesn't have shortage of water; it only has shortage of money....

An Eritrean exile group has held simultaneous rallies in Addis Ababa and refugee camps in northern Ethiopia demanding the ouster of Eritrea's government. The demonstrations coincide with Ethiopia's recent switch to a more hardline approach toward its northern rival. More than 600 Eritrean refugees met at an Addis Ababa hotel Wednesday, all wearing identical paper visors with the word "Enough" printed on the side. "Enough" of what they repeatedly called the dictatorial regime of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. Organizers said they were in touch by phone with at least five refugee camps in Ethiopia's Tigray and Afar regions where similar...

A family of 12 asylum-seekers is being put up in a vast house costing taxpayers nearly £1,500 a week... The Ethiopian couple and their ten children are receiving a staggering £1,460 a week in housing benefit alone. The jobless couple will also be eligible for other handouts such as unemployment and child benefits, which could potentially add up to an additional £1,300 a week. Council officials, who refused to give further details of the case, found the family a mini mansion after they arrived in London from Africa in the past few weeks. It was not revealed whether the family...

Some 5,500 Ethiopian immigrants will celebrate the seder together in 16 absorption centers throughout Israel. About 1,000 of the new Ethiopian immigrants have arrived in recent months and will celebrate their first Passover in Israel, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel. The large seders are organized by the Jewish Agency and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. At a model seder on Thursday, some of the new immigrants will learn about Passover holiday customs and practice the holiday songs at a model seder at the Jewish Agency`s Mevasseret Zion Absorption Center. They will be joined by Natan Sharansky,...

Not only does last week’s jihadist rampage against Ethiopia’s Christians highlight the travails Christians encounter wherever Islam has a sizable population, but it offers several insights, including some which should concern faraway, secular nations with Muslim minorities...

Not only does last week’s jihadist rampage against Ethiopia’s Christians highlight the travails Christians encounter wherever Islam has a sizable population, but it offers several insights, including some which should concern faraway, secular nations with Muslim minorities...

Thousands of Christians have been forced to flee their homes in Western Ethiopia after Muslim extremists set fire to roughly 50 churches and dozens of Christian homes. At least one Christian has been killed, many more have been injured and anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 have been displaced in the attacks that began March 2 after a Christian in the community of Asendabo was accused of desecrating the Koran. The violence escalated to the point that federal police forces sent to the area two weeks ago were initially overwhelmed by the mobs. Government spokesman Shimelis Kemal told Voice of America...

Drug Travels From Africa To Indianapolis In 48 Hours. Most residents of Indianapolis, including many in the law enforcement community, have never heard of the drug called khat...over the past three years, hundreds of pounds of the drug have been sold on the streets of Indianapolis, mostly to people of African descent... Khat is a plant that grows plentifully in east Africa, specifically in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Users chew the leaves of the plant to release a compound called cathinone, which is considered a "schedule 1" amphetamine and hallucinogen under U.S. law... traffickers used cell phones and sophisticated code...

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi blamed a little-known local Muslim group of preaching religious intolerance in an area where Christian churches were burnt last week, killing one person. Authorities have said up to 50 churches have been burnt and around 3,000 Christians displaced since March 2 when Muslim youths attacked the community around Asendabo, some 360 km (215 miles) west of the capital Addis Ababa. Meles told a news conference late on Saturday that "elements of the Kawarja sect and other extremists" had been preaching religious intolerance in the area. ... Kawarja, about whom little is known, aimed to set...

There is a general agreement among academics, journalists and policy makers that piracy cannot be defeated at sea. It has to be fought on land. Since the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is too weak to do so, many point to regional states as potential partners of the international community. Especially Puntland seems to be a good candidate, given that many pirates operate from its territory. However, some experts claim that the Puntland authorities are in fact involved in piracy... Puntland was established in 1998 as an autonomous state in Somalia. Local politicians, civil society and clan leaders had decided not...

in the past two days, thousands of Muslims have razed five churches and the homes of two evangelists in Asendabo, Ethiopia. Christian leaders are asking for protection after the Muslim attackers continued burning churches even after the federal police were sent to the town. Christian leaders expressed their fear that Muslims will start killing the Christians unless the government sends more security forces to contain the Muslim attackers. At the time of the writing of this report, none of the Muslim attackers have been arrested... Ethiopia is a Christian majority country and was one of the first nations to accept...

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that in the past two days, thousands of Muslims have razed five churches and the homes of two evangelists in Asendabo, Ethiopia. Christian leaders are asking for protection after the Muslim attackers continued burning churches even after the federal police were sent to the town. The Muslims started the attacks yesterday after falsely accusing the Christians of desecrating the Qur’an. More than ten thousand Muslims shouted “Allah Akbar” (Allah is great) as they burned down five evangelical churches. The government sent the federal police force to protect the Christians after the Muslims burned down...

The small town of Lalibela in Ethiopia is home to one of the world's most astounding sacred sites: eleven rock-hewn churches, each carved entirely out of a single block of granite with its roof at ground level. Bet Giorgis (St. George) Were it not for these extraordinary churches, Lalibela would almost certainly be well off the tourist radar. A dusty rural town nestled into rolling countryside, Lalibela only recently received electricity. It has few motorized vehicles, no gas stations and no paved streets. Isolated from the modern world, the town goes about its business much as it has for several...

Medieval Houses of God, or Ancient Fortresses? Volume 57 Number 6, November/December 2004 by David Keys Cambridge archaeologist has redated the church of the archangel Gabriel, previously believed to have been carved from the rock at Lalibela, Ethiopia, around A.D. 1200, to between A.D. 600 and 800. The church may originally have been built as a fortress. (Courtesy Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, Cambridge) Investigations in Lalibela, Ethiopia, are revealing that Africa's most important historical Christian site is much older than previously thought. Up until now, scholars have regarded the spectacular complex of 11 rock-cut churches as dating from around...

Church art in Axum depicts the Ark of the Covenant from King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem to Ethiopia.Photo: Courtesy   Nestled in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, ignored by most historians and unknown to most tourists to Africa, is the site of one of the ancient world's most powerful empires. The monuments to its former glory stand tall - 20 meters high, to be precise, in the form of dozens of stone obelisks - but the city that is their home is determinedly inauspicious, as authentically Ethiopian and undeveloped as any of Ethiopia's modest cities. Situated in the northern Ethiopian...

An 15th century Ethiopian icon of the infant Christ child sitting on his mother's knee was discovered after it was cleaned by a British charity.The central panel of the triptych had over the centuries become blackened with the sprinkling of perfume that the monks use as they worship. The hugely important and stunning painted wood panel is now visible in its original coloured glory, showing a pale-faced Jesus with black curly hair and rosy cheeks. His hand has three digits raised and two down as if blessing the person looking at him. He has a halo and is wearing a...

The ELCA is taking harsh actions against African immigrant Lutherans who oppose the ELCA’s new teaching and policy on marriage and same-sex sexual relationships. Two African immigrant congregations have been expelled from local ELCA congregations where they have worshiped at the direction of ELCA officials. “Oromo congregations in Houston, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, were asked by their mission directors and host church to leave the church premises without delay. The reason they were given was they are not in agreement with the August 2009 Churchwide Assembly resolution,” the January newsletter of the United Oromo Evangelical Churches reported. The 2009 ELCA...

Thousands of Ethiopian Jews started a hunger strike on Monday to appeal to the Israeli Government to end their suffering due to delayed repatriation to their dreamland. Jewish community coordinators told the Nation their members’ living conditions are inhumane and many died due to communicable diseases. Some 2,500 members started the hunger strike on Monday and the strike is to continue until the Israeli Government responds. Mr Tadesse Arefeayne, one of the strike coordinators, said the Israeli Government ignored their repeated plea after they moved to Addis Ababa from Gondar, their homeland in northern Ethiopia, 700 kilometres from Addis. Some...

The government voted Sunday to bring the last members of the Falash Mura in Ethiopia to Israel. Once the estimated 8,000 tribe members arrive, mass Aliyah (immigration) from Ethiopia will end... ...ver 80,000 Ethiopian citizens have made Aliyah since the founding of the Jewish state. Mass immigration began in the 1980s with Operation Moses. Immigration from Ethiopia has since been limited, due to what Immigration and Absorption officials say are the high costs of integrating Ethiopian immigrants. Many Ethiopian-Israelis have accused the government of moving too slowly on bringing the community to Israel. However, others have called to end the...

On Wednesday night, Senator John Kerry (D, MA) completed a six-day, six-nation trip that show-cased his growing role in helping the Obama administration negotiate potentially explosive situations. Kerry, who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, traveled to Khartoum and Addis Ababa to deliver a White House offer for better relations in exchange for concrete steps towards peace in Sudan, Africa's largest country. Then he spent time in Lebanon and Syria, where he tried to smooth mounting tensions over a UN tribunal. He ended his trip in Israel and the West Bank.

A Christian in Ethiopia’s southern town of Moyale has been languishing in jail for two months after his Muslim business partner accused him of writing “Jesus is Lord” in a copy of the Quran, local church leaders said. Tamirat Woldegorgis, a member of the Full Gospel Church in his early 30s, was arrested in early August after the Muslim co-worker in the clothes-making business the two operated out of a rented home discovered Woldegorgis had inscribed “Jesus is Lord” on some cloth, area Christians said. Woldegorgis returned from a break one morning to find that the inscribed words had been...

Twenty-five Muslims burned down ten Christian homes, leaving eighty Christians homeless in Ethiopia...They also set fire to their barns, killing their animals and destroying their harvest... The attackers then prevented the victims from leaving the village for 16 days. Finally, one of the Christians managed to escape and report the attacks to district officials after walking for 16 hours. The police temporarily arrested the person who led the attack and a local official. However, they were later released on bail. The Muslims have prevented the Christians from rebuilding their homes and the Christians now live under trees. ONGOING PERSECUTION This...