Be informed. Be challenged. Be inspired.

US suspends food aid to Ethiopia, says it is not reaching needy

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits a UN Logistics Center Warehouse accompanied by USAID Ethiopia Mission Director Sean Jones and Ethiopian Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 15th March , 2023.

Nairobi, Kenya Reuters The US Agency for International Development said on Thursday it was suspending food aid to Ethiopia because its donations were being diverted from people in need.  A spokesperson said USAID had determined, in coordination with the Ethiopian Government, that a “widespread and coordinated campaign is diverting food assistance from the people of […]

Ethiopia scraps bid to end UN-ordered Tigray abuses probe early – sources

Cows walk past a tank damaged in fighting between Ethiopian government and Tigray forces, near the town of Humera, Ethiopia, on 3rd March, 2021.

Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Ethiopia has dropped a draft motion that sought to bring an early end to a UN mandated investigative probe into the Tigray war, diplomats and observers told Reuters, after pressure from Western countries. The International Commission on Ethiopia, the only independent probe into the two-year conflict which pitted Ethiopia’s army against forces […]

Looting, forced removals plague Ethiopia’s Tigray despite truce – witnesses

Ethiopia Afar tank

Nairobi, Kenya Reuters Ethiopia’s allies are looting towns, arresting and killing civilians and relocating thousands of people from a disputed part of Tigray despite a truce between the government and local forces, witnesses and aid workers in the northern region say.  The violence raises fresh concerns about whether the ceasefire signed on 2nd November by […]

Ethiopian and Tigray forces launch hotline as new peace talks begin

South Africa Ethiopia Tigray talks

Nairobi, Kenya Reuters The Ethiopian Government and Tigrayan forces have established a telephone hotline to help maintain a ceasefire struck last week, and both sides met in Kenya on Monday for a new round of talks on implementing the truce. Ethiopia’s government and regional forces from Tigray agreed last Wednesday to cease hostilities after talks […]

Ethiopian Government accused of deadly air strikes on Oromiya region

Nairobi, KenyaReuters Two organisations from Ethiopia’s Oromiya region have accused the army of conducting air strikes there in recent days which they said had killed hundreds of civilians, just as peace talks on the separate Tigray conflict were about to start. Government and army spokespersons did not respond on Thursday to requests for comment on […]

First peace talks on Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict to start in South Africa

Ethiopia Afar region Kasagita

Pretoria, South Africa Reuters Negotiators for the Ethiopian Government and regional forces from Tigray were due to meet in the South African capital Pretoria for the first formal peace talks since war broke out two years ago. The talks come after the Ethiopian military and their allies, who include troops from neighbouring Eritrea, captured several […]

Shadow of war hangs over Ethiopia’s Meskel festival celebrations

Ethiopia Addis Ababa Meskel festival celebration

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Reuters The shadow of war hung over Ethiopia’s Meskel festival in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, with high security, low turnout and Orthodox Christian priests calling for peace and forgiveness in their sermons. The event – usually a joyous affair where huge crowds gather around bonfires – marks the moment when the 4th […]