At least ten men drowned after the boat they were traveling capsized in Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia, Monday evening. The crowded boat went down about a mile off from Baher Dar, while heading to the village of Gorgora, when waves started coming over the stern of the boat.The villagers were returning after [...]

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Poetry will have a place at the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity, the precursor to today's African Union. Award-winning Ethiopian-British performance poet and playwright Lemn Sissay is in town and he will be performing at different venues in Addis Ababa for the for the celebration of the Golden Jubilee. [...]

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Ethiopian security forces arrested two sons of prominent opposition figure and internet activist Assegid Gebre Selassie in the northern town of Mekele, hauling them off to a remote location without showing a warrant, he told local magazine. "My two sons are incarcerated at different prisons, one at illegal solitary confinement called 06, which is not [...]

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A panel discussion to explore Emperor Haile Selassie's role and Ethiopia's contribution to the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), a precursor to the AU, was abruptly cancelled. The panel, planned to quell a controversy over a lack of credit by the ruling party for the Emperor, was to have been held at [...]

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Patriarch Abune Mathias has officially joined the microblogging website Twitter, securing the account @EOTCPatriarch. His first tweet dated on March 10 says, Good morning from Addis Ababa! My brethren, pray for the unity of our Holy Orthodox Church and each other as we enter the Great Holy Lent. The Patriarch's desire to connect with citizens [...]

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Ethiopian police in Addis Ababa questioned an editor for several hours yesterday in connection with a story published in October about the widow of the late Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi, according to news reports. Officers in the Ethiopian Federal Police Crime Investigation Department interrogated Ferew Abebe, the former editor-in-chief of the private Amharic-language weekly Sendek, [...]

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A new book chronicling the use of photography as communication and propaganda medium in Emperor Menelik II's palace is set to launch next week here in Addis Ababa. The book entirely written in French and entitled, 'Le Roi des rois et la photographie. Politique de l'image et pouvoir royal en Ethiopie sous le règne de [...]

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This Sunday, Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrate Fasika, (Easter). After a long fast of eight weeks they feast on meat and alcoholic drinks and exchange greetings of well-wishing with their neighbors and relatives. On Easter Eve, Ethiopian Christians participate in an hours-long church service that ends around 3 a.m., after which they break their fast and [...]

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An Ethiopian court on Thursday dismissed the appeal of blogger Eskinder Nega and opposition leader Andualem Arage who were jailed last year for terror-related offences. "The sentencing is still correct so there is no reduction," said Supreme Court judge Dagne Melaku, confirming Eskinder's jail term of 18 years and Andualem's life sentence. One of the [...]

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Ethiopia is coffee's birthplace, it is said and Ethiopians take their coffee seriously. From the elaborate "coffee ceremony" in towns and villages up and down the country, to the sipping a macchiato with the Sunday papers in one of the capital's many cafes, coffee is ever present. Many of Addis residents have favorite haunts - [...]

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