Ethiopian 'Baby Rute' To Undergo Life Saving Heart Treatment At Wolfson
August 10 2008 First Coast News

Doctors at Wolfson Children's Hospital are working to save the life of an infant girl from Ethiopia.  Baby 'Rute' arrived in Jacksonville Thursday night after a 17-hour flight from Africa into New York, followed by the flight to the First Coast. She was accompanied by Hilda Ettedgui, the wife of Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon Jose Ettedgui, and co-founder of the children's foundation, "Patrons of the Hearts."  FULL REPORT

JOLIE plans to build an AIDS clinic in Ethiopia
August 6 2008 PR Inside

Angelina Jolie plans to build an AIDS clinic in Ethiopia - so her daughter ZAHARA can manage it when she is older. The actress will make a trip to her adoptive daughter's native country to discuss building the medical centre as part of the work of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, a charity she set up with her partner Brad Pitt in 2006. FULL REPORT

An Ethiopian politican on the stump in Minnesota
August 5 2008 TCD

Bulcha Demeksa / Twin Cities Daily Planet

Freedom of speech is only one reason Demeksa likes to make political stump speeches in Minnesota. Even more important is that perhaps his wealthiest, most media savvy, and most politically influential constituency lives right here. Minnesota is home to around 20,000 immigrants from Ethiopia, more than live in any other state. FULL REPORT

Obama Team Hires Ethiopian-American Congressional Staffer
August 2 2008 Tadias

Selam Mulugeta Tadias.com

The presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama has hired Selam Mulugeta, an Ethiopian American, who formerly served as a Congressional Staffer and Special Assistant to Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), founder and Chair of the Congressional Ethiopia and Ethiopian American Caucus. “I will be a Field Organizer in the Northern Virginia region”, Mulugeta told Tadias Magazine. She joined the Obama for America campaign in Virginia. FULL REPORT

Guantanamo Brit: 'I Was Tortured'
July 29 2008 Sky News

Binyam Mohamed was detained in Pakistan

 He says the British government is refusing to release evidence that backs up his allegations that he was the victim of extraordinary rendition by the US. Mr Mohamed, who worked as a janitor in London, says he was taken to Afghanistan and later Morocco, where he was interrogated and his genitals slashed with razor blades. FULL REPORT

Why Is Autism Rate So High For Somalis In Minn.?
July 25 2008  WCCO

Shaimake Osman's at 18 months old  would bang his head all the time. He wouldn't sleep. He couldn't talk.  CBS

Out of 100 children in the Minneapolis Schools early childhood special education classroom program for autism, 25 percent of them are Somali. The district as a whole has only about 6 percent of students who speak or hear Somali language at home. FULL REPORT

Vogue Italia's Black Issue spurred by Obama
July 24 2008 Reuters

Liya Kebede

"America ... is ready for a black president, so why are we not ready for a black model?," Sozzani said in an interview with Reuters. "No girl really impressed me. The only one was Liya Kebede, she's so elegant, she's so chic," Sozzani added, referring to the Ethiopian-born model who is also a goodwill ambassador for the World Health Organization.
 FULL REPORT

From Oromia to Minnesota, with love and coffee
July 23 2008 TC Planet

Joe Riemann and Scott Patterson of Equal Exchange, the fair trade food cooperative, which recently started selling coffee labeled “Oromia” instead of “Ethiopia”   

Photo TC Daily Planet

Joe Riemann bestowed one simple name, and in return received overflowing blessings and a beautiful name for himself. The name he received from members of a grateful immigrant community in the Twin Cities is “Jalata,” meaning “One who loves.” As for the simple and single name that he bestowed, bear with me, this will sound implausible but it is absolutely true. FULL REPORT

Immigrant claims £8m for work-place  race ‘abuse’
July 23 2008 Metro News

Nardos Mulugeta / PHOTO Metro

An immigrant who twice tried to kill himself after alleged racial abuse at work is claiming a record £8million damages.  Nardos Mulugeta, who earned £20,000 a year at copier company Xerox, claims he was bullied by a British National Party supporter who wanted him to 'go home'.  FULL REPORT

Mother, son reunited after long immigration battle
July 22 2008 VICNews

Yohannes and his mom Selam Ayele at their home /  PHOTO: Sharon Tiffin/News staff

A Victoria mother has been reunited with her Ethiopian son after immigration delays kept an ocean between the two for more than nine years. “It’s like I’ve spent half my life just trying to live here,” said Ayele, who was 21 when she moved to Victoria, away from her son Yohannes Zewed who was three at the time. FULL STORY

'God, give my children ... The courage to help'
July 22 2008 OTTAWA CITIZEN

Bekele Geleta  /  PHOTO: Nazeret.com

His mother's simple daily prayer has guided Bekele through a life marked by stellar ascents and crushing setbacks, from Ethiopian executive to political prisoner, from humanitarian to refugee and Ottawa gas-bar clerk, and now secretary general of the IFRC.  FULL STORY

Medical team here removes facial tumor from Ethiopian man
July 22 2008 STLToday

St. John's Mercy Medical Center, where Beyene Tadesse was treated

Imagine watching helplessly as a facial tumor begins to form on the right side of your jaw and eventually takes over most of the right side of your face. You have trouble swallowing, the tumor is painful and every doctor and surgeon who has examined you has been unable to offer you relief or hope of removing it. FULL REPORT

Somali Refugee in Pictures
July 9 2008  BBC

“I ran away but later, that same night, they found my house and came to repeat their actions."

PHOTO: BBC

"I don't mind if you show my picture because then everybody will know what's happening in Somalia and do something about it."  VIEW IMAGES

As Ethiopia boils, Minnesota's Ethiopians feel the heat
July 9 2008 TC Daily Planet

Sultan Fowsi Mohamed Ali, an Amnesty International “prisoner of conscience,” disappeared from an Ethiopian prison last Saturday night.

  PHOTO: TC Daily Planet

As a result, this week in Minnesota hundreds of immigrants from the Ogaden region of Ethiopia are firing up Internet sites and spending hours on their cell phones every day, trying to learn the fate of a beloved leader. FULL REPORT

Somali Youth Decry Police Profiling, Harassment
July 4 2008  Mshale  Minneapolis, MN

Photo by Jeremy Stratton (The Bridge)

After three years at the University of Minnesota, where he studies Sociology of Law, Criminology and Deviance, Jumale learned that the university is far from the save haven he was looking for. FULL REPORT

Torture center celebrates U.N. day
July 2 2008 MN Daily

Birhanemeskel Segni

As a former Ethiopian high court judge and diplomat to the United Nations, Birhanemeskel Abebe Segni did not expect to campaign against the government he worked for. But as a research fellow who graduated in May at the Human Rights Center of University of Minnesota Law School , it's now a large part of his work. FULL REPORT

One of our oldest relatives to pay a visit
July 2 2008 The Vancouver Sun
Ethiopian woman Lucy's 3.2-million-year-old remains to be featured in exhibit

A young Ethiopian woman named Lucy, whose 3.2-million-year-old fossilized remains make her one of our oldest relatives, to come to Seattle this fall. Lucy is considered a "hominid," which includes all species on our side of the last common ancestor... FULL REPORT

Meron Abera from Ethiopia: Miss East Africa UK 2008
June 28 2008 UGPulse

Meron Abera / Photo: www.ugpulse.com

This is funny. I went to church and one of the girls I know came up to me and said she had a dream I was in a beauty contest, I laughed and thought that's bizarre, coz first I don't speak to her a lot, two, they really don't appeal to me, I found them a bit shallow. FULL REPORT

Kaffa Crossing Philadelphia, PA
June 28 2008  The Philadelphia Inquirer   By Craig LaBan / Inquirer Restaurant Critic

Coffee shop plus: A big thumbs up for this hands-on Ethiopian food, ringing with exotic homeland spices, a West Philly adventure-eating must.

Owner Yonas Kebede Photo: SARAH J. GLOVER /  Inquirer Staff Photographer

I didn't know what to expect from Kaffa Crossing. Like Almaz, this cheery space on the 4400 block of Chestnut Street looks and feels mostly like an all-purpose coffee shop - with an emphasis on fair-trade Arabica beans and African crafts. FULL REPORT

Éthiopiques: the hotel lounge sound of Africa
June 27 2008 Telegraph

Singers Mahmoud Ahmed and Alèmayèhu Eshèté will for the first time take to the stage together as part of the Barbican's Groove Nations series of concerts, showcasing the sounds of the "golden age of Ethio-jazz". FULL REPORT

Ethiopian official defects to U.S., decries Anuak genocide
June 25 2008  TC Daily
Obang Oman, who only three weeks ago visited Minneapolis as part of an official Ethiopian delegation, was scheduled to return to Ethiopia on Sunday, June 8. Instead, the night before, he fled his Washington, D.C. hotel, spent the entire evening in a 24-hour restaurant, and flew out early the next morning for Denver, Colorado. He has not announced his defection until today.  FULL REPORT

Late surgeon's help for young boy  London, UK
June 20 2008 Daily Mail

Photo: Daily Mail

Zerihun Muche, five, has undergone radical surgery to correct a condition which left him with his bladder on the outside of his body.  READ MORE

Mama Knows Best  Washington DC
June 16 2008  Washingtonian.com

Photo: Washingtonian.com

It’s a wry acknowledgment of the ways a spicy, robust cuisine has been made to please Western tastes. When Yared Tesfaye opened Etete—“mama” in Amharic—four years ago, he set the goal of winning the hearts and stomachs of his skeptical countrymen. READ MORE
Restaurant review of Etete

Chance meeting leads to face-saving surgery
June 16 2008 Star Tribune

National Public Radio

On the day of her surgery, Abdisa had arrived at St. Joseph's terrified and alone, a scarf clutched across her face. Two weeks later she was sitting up in bed, bare-headed, laughing with Fowzi Hassan, an interpreter whom she said was her new brother. READ MORE

Conservatives will ban khat
June 15 2008 Guardian
Khat is a popular drug among Britain's Somali community but it is far from harmless and should be banned

Guardian

The debate about khat (also known as qat) is new to the majority of people in Britain. Khat is a drug which is chewed in leaf form and has its origins in East Africa and parts of the Arabian peninsula. It is said to enhance social interaction and act as a stimulant to improve performance. Traditionally, khat use was an activity for men over a certain age, especially at the end of celebrations such as weddings. READ MORE

Éthiopiques: sounds of Ethiopia the generals could not crush
June 14 2008 TimesOnline

Éthiopiques

In the late 1960s, Ethiopia was home to some of the funkiest big bands on the continent, long before the country was pegged as a drought-stricken hell by Band Aid. Forty years on, a concert at the Barbican in London on June 27 brings together for the first time the era’s greatest stars: the singers Mahmoud Ahmed and Alè-mayèhu Eshèté, the saxophonist Gétatchèw Mèkurya and pianist Mulatu Astatqé. READ MORE

Meklit Hadero opens up to the world as soloist  San Francisco, CA
June 14 2008  San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle

A few years ago, Meklit Hadero was doing a 9-to-5 administrative gig at the Haas Foundation here and taking private vocal lessons on the side. The sweet-voiced, Ethiopian-born Yale graduate wasn't figuring on a singing career. But after an unforgettable night at the funky little Red Poppy Art House on Folsom Street, music became her life and the day job tapered away. READ MORE

Beer flows at the Blue Nile  Minneapolis, MN
June 14 2008  Star Tribune
The food is still spicy and the music hot, but don't overlook the cold ones at the Blue Nile.

 Star Tribune

As the beer gods would have it, the Twin Cities are now home to quite a few boutique beer bars -- places where a good brew is as coveted as a fine wine. But how did an Ethiopian restaurant end up with one of the best beer selections in town? Owner Fahmi Katabay points to one man: His bartender, Al. READ MORE

Failed London bomber's wife jailed for 15 years
June 13 2008  AFP

 Yeshi Girma AFP

The wife of one of the failed 2005 London suicide bombers was jailed for 15 years Thursday, after being found guilty of failing to tell the police about the terrorist plot. Yeshi Girma, 32, knew her husband Hussain Osman was planning to unleash carnage in the failed July 21, 2005 attacks and could have stopped the attempted bombings, England's Old Bailey central criminal court heard. READ MORE

War now off the agenda   Point Cook, Australia
June 10 2008 Leader

Photo: Maribyrnong Leader

It was 1997, and Mrs Bereded-Samuel, herself a refugee from Ethiopia, had been put in charge of a Maribyrnong Council "story-telling project" for women from the Horn of Africa. "A lot of people from my own community, the Ethiopian community, said, 'how dare you try to bring Ethiopians and Eritreans together'. READ MORE

Australia Oromos Call for Demonstration   Australia
June 9 2008

When: 10th of June 2008
Time: 11AM
Where: The Victorian Parliament House    visit website

'Given the opportunity' Portland, OR
June 6 2008 Vanguard

Student commencement speaker Tamam Waritu has overcome setbacks to provide motivation to others. "The only reason I am here is that I was given the opportunity," Waritu said.  READ MORE

Testimony of Zena T. Asfaw before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law
June 6 2008 In Forum News

ARRESTED, JAILED, and SEXUALLY ASSAULTED IN ETHIOPIA, SHE FLED TO THE U.S. where she was detained and abused all over again.  That is the story Zena Asfaw. READ MORE

Fargo police seize 600 pounds of khat at airport
June 5 2008 In Forum News

A drug bust earlier this year in which Fargo police seized 600 pounds of khat destined for Minneapolis is believed to be the largest seizure of the cocaine-like narcotic in Cass County, Sgt. Jeff Skuza said. READ MORE

Ethiopian troops arrive in Sudan

Somalia accuses general of taking bribes

Ethiopian forces kill Somali civilians, witnesses say

Egypt arrests 11 African migrants at Israel border

30 dead as Ethiopian troops fire on Somali buses

Restoring Ethiopia's great obelisk BBC

Restoring Ethiopia's great obelisk BBC