Ethiopia 

By Aweys Yusuf and Abdi Sheikh | March 4, 2008

 MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Hundreds of residents of a remote town in southern Somalia staged an anti-American demonstration on Tuesday after the United States launched an air strike against "a known al Qaeda terrorist" there.

 The town of Dobley was hit by two missiles on Monday in the fourth U.S. strike in 14 months against Somalia, where Washington says local Islamists are sheltering wanted al Qaeda leaders.

Demonstrators in the small town on the Somali-Kenyan border said 600 people took part.

"We don't want the Americans because they are against our religion and culture. Down with America," shouted Mohamed Deq, one of the protesters.

By Fatumata Kaba | March 4, 2008

 KHARTOUM, Sudan, March 4 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency and the government of Sudan have launched a joint registration operation for tens of thousands of mostly Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees living in eastern Sudan. The registration, due to last for  several months, started on Sunday and is expected to benefit more than 133,000 refugees.

 Out of these, 95,000 live in open camps in Kassala, Gaderef, Jezzira, Sinar and the Red Sea states of eastern and central Sudan, while about 38,000 live in urban and rural areas of these states. Khartoum, the capital, is said to be hosting close to 30,000 refugees, who also need to be verified and registered.

 The massive operation seeks to address the plight of refugees who, after decades in Sudan, are still relying on humanitarian assistance because of lack of access to employment, compounded by lack of proper identification documents.

 "This exercise will clearly allow us and the government of Sudan to determine the exact number of Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees who are still in Sudan," said Chris Ache, the UNHCR representative for Sudan.

By Elizabeth Blunt, BBC | March 3, 2008

ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopians will soon be getting their first chance to vote since the general election in 2005, which ended with violent protests and the jailing of most of the leaders of the opposition.

The opposition CUD coalition won far more seats than any opposition party had ever won before, but they were convinced that the true result should have been even more in their favour.

The CUD leaders were eventually pardoned and released from jail last year, and the government announced that their rights were being fully restored and they were free to vote and stand for office.

But their seats were declared vacant while they were in prison.

There will be by-elections for their old seats in April, and also elections for Addis Ababa city council, which the opposition won, but which has had an appointed caretaker administration since 2005.

But it now appears that none of the imprisoned party leadership will be standing for election again, or trying to get their old seats back.

By Maimire Mennasemay (Ph.D.) | February 29, 2008

On March 1st, 2008, Ethiopians commemorate the 112th anniversary of the Adwa victory. Adwa is one of those historical events that clears away the fog of politics and unveils a new horizon that reveals a people’s capability to become a master of their own destiny. But our rulers have reduced Adwa to a drum-and-trumpet event and emptied it of its liberating spirit. However, there is a living Adwa, critical of the mummified Adwa our rulers celebrate, which dwells in our history as an unfinished task that urges Ethiopians to complete the struggle for freedom their ancestors started in 1896. Openness to Adwa as a living experience could disclose a historical compass that could help the democratic opposition find its way out from its current disarray.