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Ethiopian police release French journalist after a week, employer says

Ethiopian police release French journalist after a week, employer says

FRENCH journalist Antoine Galindo was released by Ethiopian police on Thursday after a week, his employer said. He was arrested last Thursday while on assignment in the country's capital Addis Ababa on charges of "conspiracy to create chaos". Galindo has left for France and is due to arrive on Friday, the publisher of Africa Intelligence, Quentin Botbol, said in an emailed statement. Human rights activists have repeatedly criticized Ethiopia's restrictions on press freedom, particularly in response to critical coverage of conflicts and security crises. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least eight Ethiopian journalists have been detained since August.…
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Ethiopian police arrest French journalist, employer says

Ethiopian police arrest French journalist, employer says

ETHIOPIAN police have arrested a French journalist on suspicion of "conspiracy to create chaos", his employer said. Antoine Galindo was arrested last Thursday while on assignment in the capital Addis Ababa, the Africa Intelligence publication said in a statement. It said a judge on Saturday prolonged Galindo's detention until March 1. Africa Intelligence said Galindo "has been suspected of 'conspiracy to create chaos in Ethiopia' and was brought before a judge on 24 February." The publication said its lawyer attended the hearing and was told about the charges. "Africa Intelligence condemns the unjustified arrest ... and calls for his immediate…
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Ethiopians celebrate “Timket” festival that marks Jesus’ baptism

Ethiopians celebrate “Timket” festival that marks Jesus’ baptism

THOUSANDS of Ethiopian Orthodox followers gathered in the capital Addis Ababa on Friday and Saturday to celebrate Epiphany, also called Timket, a religious festival commemorating Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River. The annual festival is recognised by UNESCO as an important intangible cultural heritage. Followers marched from churches to Jan Meda, an open field in the capital, while priests carried tents called tabots, replicas of the Ark of the Covenant that is sacred in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, one of the world's oldest churches. Students sang hymns as youth ran ahead of the tabots to cover a street with red…
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Addis Ababa faces growing climate change risks like heat, drought and floods, study warns

Addis Ababa faces growing climate change risks like heat, drought and floods, study warns

ADDIS Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, will likely face increased heatwaves, droughts and severe flooding over the next 67 years. These changes will pose risks to public health and infrastructure. They’ll also be felt most acutely by the city’s most vulnerable residents: those living in informal settlements. ABAY YIMERE, Postdoctoral Scholar in International Environment and Resource Policy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University Addis Ababa is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa, and its current metropolitan population of about 5.4 million is projected to reach close to 9 million by 2035. This increase in the city’s population will be absorbed by…
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Ethiopians savour first night of annual ‘Addis Jazz Festival’

Ethiopians savour first night of annual ‘Addis Jazz Festival’

YOUNG Ethiopians packed into the compound of the Swedish embassy in Addis Ababa to savour an "Ethio Jazz" performance, an annual festival that celebrates Ethiopia's love for the musical genre. On a neon-lit stage in the country's capital, artists played various Ethiopian jazz music pieces as hundreds of revellers danced, mimed and quaffed beer to celebrate the second edition of the so-called Addis Jazz Festival (AJF). AJF debuted in 2019 and was conceived as a platform to promote Ethiopian jazz as well as to bring international jazz to Ethiopia. The event is the brainchild of Muzikawi, an Ethiopian music and…
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Addis Ababa yet to meet the needs of residents: what has to change

Addis Ababa yet to meet the needs of residents: what has to change

WITH an estimated population of more than 3.7 million people, Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is home to about a quarter of Ethiopia’s urban population. The city generates well above 29% of Ethiopia’s urban GDP and 20% of national urban employment. Author EZANA WELDEGHEBRAEL, Research Fellow, University of Manchester Over the last two decades, Addis Ababa has witnessed rapid socio-economic changes and a drastic physical transformation. This was propelled by a development-oriented government and the private sector. However, the city faces challenges around housing, transport, infrastructure, services, youth unemployment and displacement. I’m part of the African Cities Research Consortium,…
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Youths block Djibouti, Addis Ababa road, rail link

Youths block Djibouti, Addis Ababa road, rail link

GIULIA PARAVICINI and MAGGIE FICK ETHIOPIA’S Somali region has revealed that a vital road and rail trade artery linking the landlocked capital of Addis Ababa to the sea port of Djibouti was blocked by youths angered by a deadly militia attack on their region. Around 95% of imports into the nation of around 110 million people are transported via that corridor, according to a 2018 study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Reuters could not independently verify the reported blockage. The Ethiopian prime minister's office and authorities in Djibouti could not immediately be reached for comment. Somali…
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From street kid to mentor: surviving childhood labour in Ethiopia

From street kid to mentor: surviving childhood labour in Ethiopia

FORMER child-labourer Teklu Haimelo, 41, is on a mission to help Ethiopian children on the outskirts of Addis Ababa who weave traditional clothes get an education. This is Teklu's story as told to Ethiopia correspondent EMELINE WUILBERCQ When I was six, I had to go to my village to help my grandparents take care of their cattle. There was no education and children were treated by their relatives as workers. It was hell in the village. Life was very hard. I did not have proper clothes. There was no water to wash our hands before eating and no basic infrastructure.…
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Two killed in blast in Ethiopian capital blamed on hand grenade

Two killed in blast in Ethiopian capital blamed on hand grenade

TWO people died and a third was critically injured in an explosion in Ethiopia's capital on yesterday, Addis Ababa's police said. The police blamed the explosion on a hand grenade that went off in the Lidetta area of the city in the afternoon and said they were investigating. Ethiopia sent its troops to the northern region of Tigray in early November to fight against the Tigray People's Liberation Front, then the regional ruling party, which had attacked army bases in the region. The TPLF withdrew from the regional capital Mekelle before the end of the month, and the Ethiopian government…
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Ethiopian doctor warns of oxygen shortages

Ethiopian doctor warns of oxygen shortages

EMELINE WUILBERCQ ETHIOPIA rolling out its first COVID-19 vaccines among frontline health workers, but the vast country of 110 million people still faces an uphill struggle to beat the pandemic, according to a senior doctor in Addis Ababa. The mass vaccination drive began on Saturday, exactly a year after a Japanese man in the capital became the Horn of Africa nation's first confirmed coronavirus case. Natnael Bekuretsion, the 28-year-old medical director of Eka Kotebe General Hospital, was not among the first group of healthcare employees to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, but he said the arrival of the doses was "light…
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