International Criminal Court has ruled that four leading political figures must answer charges related to the political and ethnic violence.
Photo: ICC
Deputy prime minister of Kenya Uhuru Kenyata (back row l) and Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Muthaura, (front row r) at a hearing in The Hauge.
Syria crisis: UN Security Council mulls Assad measures
Written by BBC NEWS
January 28th, 2012
The UN Security Council has met to consider a draft resolution against Syria's government.Activists and the Arab League urged the UN to take stronger action after an upsurge in violence this week in which dozens of people have died.
Syria’s bloody turmoil sees 64 killed in two days, including children
Written by Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam Associated Press
January 28th, 2012
Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar Assad after Friday prayers in Baba Amro near Homs. Reports out of the city say dozens have been killed in the past two days, including children. REUTERS
Ethiopian Court Jails Journalists, Opposition Leader
Written by Naharnet Newsdesk
January 26th, 2012
An Ethiopian court on Thursday handed out heavy jail sentences to five people on terrorism charges, including three journalists and an opposition leader, with one receiving a life term."The court sentenced every one of them, from 14 years to life in prison," one of the case's public prosecutors told Agence France Presse, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
A report by Global Financial Integrity shows that Ethiopia has lost $11.7-billion to outflows of illicit funds in the last decade. In 2009 alone, the figure was $3.26-billion, exceeding both the value of its total annual exports and the total development aid it received that year. And it is on the increase. The report painted the outflows of illegal fund in a more plain language noting:
Egypt rallies mark anti-Mubarak uprising anniversary
Written by BBC NEWS
January 25th, 2012
Thousands of Egyptians are holding a rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square marking the first anniversary of the uprising which toppled President Hosni Mubarak
.Some are celebrating the success of Islamist parties in the first post-Mubarak elections, while others are calling for further political reforms.The decades-old state of emergency law has been partially lifted to mark the anniversary.Mr Mubarak is on trial accused of ordering the killing of demonstrators.He denies the charges.Hundreds of people who had been sentenced to jail by military courts were due to be released on Wednesday as a concession to the protesters.
Reporters Without Borders has just visited Ethiopia, where two Swedish journalists, Kontinent news agency reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson, were sentenced to 11 years in prison on 29 December on charges of entering the country illegally and supporting terrorism.During the visit, from 9 to 12 January, the two Swedish journalists decided to request a presidential pardon instead of appealing against their conviction. “In Ethiopia, there is a long tradition of pardons and we have chosen to leave it to this tradition,” they said, announcing their decision on 10 January in Addis Ababa’s Kality prison.
On Monday (16.01.2012) our forces killed 16 Ethiopian soldiers and wounded a dozen of them in a battle when the Ethiopian forces opened fire on our patrolling unit near the Arta-Ale Volcano in a place called Xoxom. It was in this battle that the 5 European nationals were killed. We regret the death of those innocent civilians. ARDUF would like to convey its sincere condolence and sympathy to the families and relatives of dead peaceful tourists.
German hostages in 'good health': Ethiopia rebels
Written by AFP
ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian rebels said German tourists they seized last week were safe and blamed the government for the incident in which five Europeans were also killed on the slopes of a famed volcano.
Addis Ababa had blamed the region's worst attack on tourists in years on gunmen armed by arch-foe Eritrea but a rebel group claiming to fight for the Afar region and its people said the bloodshed occurred when government soldiers attacked one of its patrols.
