Tag Archives: Ethiopia

MNA International Desk: Ethiopia found itself in the global spotlight for all the right reasons after Abiy Ahmed, its young, dynamic prime minister was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Awarded since 1901 for outstanding contributions to peace, the 2019 prize recognised Abiy’s “efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea”, announced the Norwegian Nobel Committee. At the same time, Amnesty International’s secretary-general Kumi Naidoo said the award reflected the “critical work Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has done to initiate human rights reforms in Ethiopia after decades ...

MNA Feature Desk: Ethiopia has planted more than 350 million trees in a day, officials say, in what they believe is a world record. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is leading the project, which aims to counter the effects of deforestation and climate change in the drought-prone country. Some public offices have been shut down to allow civil servants to take part. The UN says Ethiopia’s forest coverage declined from 35 per cent of total land in the early 20th Century to a little above 4.0 per cent in the 2000s. Mr Abiy launched the tree-planting exercise as part of his ...

MNA International Desk: Ethiopia has pardoned more than 13,000 people in the past six months who had been charged with or convicted of treason or terrorism, state-affiliated media said on Tuesday. The previous government had said around 30,000 people including students, opposition leaders, journalists and bloggers were in detention following widespread protests that broke out in 2015. After the reformist Abiy Ahmed became prime minister in April and began defusing long-standing tension with neighbouring Eritrea, a six-month amnesty was introduced for those held under provisions of an anti-terrorism law that critics say has criminalised dissent. “A total of 13,200 people ...

MNA International Desk: At least 30 people were killed and dozens more hurt in a giant landslide at Ethiopia’s largest rubbish dump on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa. The tragedy on Saturday saw dozens of homes of squatters living in the dump leveled after a part of the largest pile of rubbish at the Koshe landfill collapsed, reported news agency. Construction materials, wooden sticks and plastic sheeting could be seen in the wreckage. According to local residents, some 50 houses with about seven people living in each of them were built on the trash. People had built the ...