According to a new index developed by Oxford University and the UN, Ethiopia under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is ranked the second poorest country on earth. The new measurement known as the Multidimensional Poverty Index, or MPI, will replace the Human Poverty Index in the United Nations’ annual Human Development Report. The new report says Ethiopia has the second highest percentage of people... 

Addis Ababa – Ethiopia said on Wednesday that it would send its troops back into Somalia in the unlikely event it was called on to evacuate African peacekeepers in the nation battling Islamist insurgents. Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006 to topple the Islamist movement that gave birth to the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shebaab movement that today controls about 80 percent of the country. It pulled its... 

STATUS OF SEIZED VESSELS AND CREWS IN SOMALIA, THE GULF OF ADEN AND THE INDIAN OCEAN (ecoterra – 29. July 2010) STATUS-SUMMARY: Today, 29. July2010, 08h00 UTC, still at least 22 foreign vessels plus one barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners, while at least 397 seafarers – including an elderly British yachting couple – plus the lorry drivers from Somaliland... 

UK OFFICE Press Release Statement We have listened with bewilderment the shocking speech of President Yeweri Museveni of Uganda, which he delivered in front of African Head of States on the occasion of AU Summit, opened today in Kampala, Uganda.  Mr. Museveni’s opening speech has not only offended the Somali people, but wittingly insulted the people of the entire Asian continent and Middle East... 

For the past 20 years, Ethiopia has been heavily involved in the Somali conflict…. By Afyare Abdi Elmi The US and its main ally in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, are pursuing contradictory policies when it comes to dealing with Somalia’s Islamist movements. While Addis Ababa is pursuing its traditional unaccommodationist and at times hostile policy towards these groups, Washington is... 

Forced Return Contravenes UN Refugee Guidelines JULY 22, 2010 (Amsterdam) – The Dutch government should immediately halt all plans to return Somalis to war-torn Somalia, Human Rights Watch said today. The Dutch authorities have announced their intention to deport, between now and October 2010, at least eight Somalis whose claims for asylum have been rejected. The first deportation could... 

More and more Mayan and Tzotzil people in the Mexican state Chiapas are becoming Muslims. It’s fifteen years since the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas and the region has undergone some profound changes. One of them is the emergence of Islam as a new religion in the state. The Muslim community, dominated by converted Mayans and Tzotzils , is slowly gaining ground. By Jan-Albert Hootsen Molino de... 

This article was published by Uganda’s New Vision news paper on Thursday, 15th July, 2010,  By Jerry Okungu MY heartfelt condolences must go to those families in Uganda that have lost their loved ones through that senseless killing of innocent Ugandans and other foreigners on a day they were supposed to enjoy a good game of soccer. Some deranged terrorist in his twisted mind decided to take... 

By Abukar Arman (Somalia’s special envoy to the US.) If I could think of any tactfully discreet and diplomatically clear way to describe the outcome of the 15th Extraordinary Session of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government on Somalia without compromising the essence of my message, I would have simply chosen that approach. Therefore, going crude is the appropriate way: As a patched... 

The Lie: The navies act under valid UN Security Council Resolutions. The Reality: The navies have according to international and Somali national law no right whatsoever to enter the 200nm territorial waters of Somalia. The UN Security Council Resolutions, to which repeatedly the navies refer, are explicitly stating that they would be only valid and applicable with the consent of the Somali Government,... 

A key military ally of the U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government in Somalia is accusing the government of negotiating in bad faith, describing a recent political agreement between the two sides as “broken.” The statement comes amid an offensive by al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants in the capital. A leader of the Sufi Islamic militia, Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama’a, says his group is... 

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN (AP) – HARGEISA, Somalia — An opposition candidate won the presidential vote held in the self-declared republic of Somaliland last weekend, election officials said Thursday. Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo has said he hopes the presidential election will help win Somaliland international recognition. The National Electoral Commission of Somaliland declared Silanyo the winner with 49.6... 

Four youngsters aged between 16 and 26 are behind bars for allegedly accepting cash and tik bribes to kill Somali shopkeepers. The Bloekombos quartet are accused of taking money from jealous local businessmen who want the rival Somali store owners out of their area. The young men were allegedly given guns, money and drugs to kill the Somali shopkeepers and burn their shops. Monica Fritz, 55, said her... 

A BBC World Service journalist working in Somalia was due to collect an award from parliament this month for courageous journalism but was denied entry to the UK. Somali journalist Mohamed Olad Hassan was expected in the UK to receive the Speaker Abbot award from the Speaker of the House of Commons on 14 June (2010) in recognition of his reporting from Mogadishu, but his application for a visa to enter... 

Sunday, 13th June, 2010 ONE of the two UPDF peacekeepers killed recently in Somalia was buried over the weekend at his ancestral home in Kibula, Luwero district. Private Eriya Kabuye, 33, was killed by militants in the Mogadishu capital on June 3. He had been attached to the Somali State House as one of the official presidential drivers. Kabuye, who left a wife and three children, joined the army in... 

Human Rights Council holds Panel Discussion on Adverse Effects of Moving Toxic Waste on Enjoyment of Human Rights. Read the Case Study presented by Bashir Mohamed Hussein at Geneva 8 June 2010… MORE….  Read More →

At UN, Somalia Post Handed from Ould Abdallah to Mahiga On June 9, before the confirmation, Inner City Press asked Ban’s Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq if the UN had consulted with the Transitional Federal Government about Mahiga. Haq said yes — but we’ll have more on this. Several sources say that Mahiga is “so pro American, he’ll make it all about counter –... 

Ahmed Hussen, National Post · Tuesday, Jun. 8, 2010 Later this month, leaders from Ethiopia and Malawi will be in Toronto as invited guests of the G20. While it is to be expected that the Malawian President would be invited in his capacity as the Chair of the African Union, it is more surprising to see an invitation extended to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia. Mr. Zenawi has been a disappointment... 

A claim made by Ethiopian Prime Minister, Melez Zenawi at his most recent press conference that his regime will “soon sign an agreement” with the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has no basis in reality and is intended to mislead the international community in general and foreign oil firms in particular. The ONLF wishes to make clear that we have not been, and currently are not,... 

WASHINGTON — The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents. The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American... 

PRESS STATEMENT (Date: May 24, 2010) Somalia Cause strongly condemns and denounces the Ethiopian government for sending its heavily armed forces with tanks to cross into Buuhodle, a peaceful northern Somali city. The local humanitarian organizations in the region reported that the Ethiopian troops engaged in slaying innocent civilians, unlawful arrests, and massive looting of privately owned properties. The... 

THE UN IS AT IT AGAIN The United Nations is managing Somalia without any apparent accountability mechanisms in place. Since the collapse of the governmental structures and the ensuing civil strife centered in Mogadishu, the UN has been providing humanitarian assistance to the suffering Somali people. The UN has been doing much more than the provision of food supplies to Somalia. Through its budgetary... 

  May 6, 2010   The ongoing conflict between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces and the opposition groups has caused heavy casualties and the displacement of thousands of civilians mainly women, children and the elderly. The government forces with the support from African Union Troops (AMISOM) on one side and the Al-Shabaab and Hizbu-Islam extremist forces on the other have shown little... 

Young man is 30th young Somali-Canadian murder victim in Alberta since 2005 Megan Ogilvie Ann Hui Staff Reporters (The Star) He was young. He was of Somali descent. He had grown up in Toronto, but had moved west for work and opportunity. His body was found Thursday in an apartment in Fort McMurray. Abdinasir Ali is the 30th young Somali-Canadian man killed in Alberta since 2005. His death is the latest... 

Former Seychelles President heads to New York to deliver lecture on piracy by eTN “The current Indian Ocean piracy issue will be the focal point of a lecture, which Seychelles former President James R. Mancham will deliver at Columbia University in New York City when he speaks there on Friday, April 23, 2010 on the theme, “A Global Citizen’s View on Soft Power and the Future of US Foreign Policy.”...