Addis Ababa, June 7, 2018 (FBC) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is currently not planning to withdraw all of its troops from Syria.

Russia launched its operation in Syria in 2015, tipping the war in favor of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Putin last December announced a scale-down of the Russian military presence there.
Speaking during his annual call-in show on Thursday, Putin said Russia "is not planning to withdraw all of its troops at this point" and that they will stay in Syria "as long as it benefits Russia."
Moscow has sent an undisclosed number of military advisers, pilots, technical staff and military police to Syria.
Putin stressed that Russia's air base at Hemeimeem and the naval base in Tartous, which he said are important for helping the Syrian government, do not host any permanent facilities, which means the Russian military can be withdrawn quickly if necessary.
He further said it is a "joke" to suggest that the Kremlin may have interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to favor Donald Trump.
Asked about the best joke he heard recently, Putin said it was something he read in German media about Trump "pushing Europe into Putin's hands."
Putin also recalled reports of Russia's interference in the U.S. elections, saying that if the two statements were combined, it would be "funny."
Putin said both allegations are "complete nonsense and can only be called a joke."
Source: AP
Posted by Amare Asrat

Addis Ababa, June 7, 2018 (FBC) - French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia tomorrow for an official working visit.

The French Minister will meet Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen to discuss on bilateral and regional issues of mutual concern.
According to Spokesperson Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, French investment in Ethiopia is increasing from time to time.
About 121 French investment projects were licensed during the past years and 65 of them have started operation, the office said.
Addis Ababa hosted the 5th Ethio-French business forum in mid-March this year.
The two countries established diplomatic relation in 1890.

Translated and posted by Amare Asrat

Addis Ababa, June 7, 2018 (FBC) –Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed received the special envoy of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Kattan.

The two held discussion on issues of mutual concerns, according to office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
As part of his tour of the Middle East, the Ethiopian Premier visited Saudi Arabia last month.
During the visit, he met the Crown Prince to discuss on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual concern.
Following the Premier’s visit, Saudi Arabia released 1,000 Ethiopian prisoners.
It also paid 3 million Saudi riyals in compensation to parents of Ethiopian Mohammed Abdul Aziz Yahya, who was admitted to a hospital in Jeddah for a minor health problem in 2006 but paralyzed and remained in coma until now because of a botched medical operation.
Saudi Arabia is among the first countries which sent congratulatory messages to Dr Abiy on his election as Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
Posted by Amare Asrat

Addis Ababa, June 7, 2018 (FBC) -Iraq launched an air strike against an Islamic State target inside neighboring Syria on Thursday, the military said.

The F-16 fighter plane destroyed an area where members of the ultra-hardline Sunni group were operating, it said in a statement.
Islamic State, which once occupied a third of Iraq’s territory, has been largely defeated in the country but still poses a threat along its border with Syria.
The Iraqi air force has carried out several air strikes against Islamic State in Syria since last year, with the approval of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.
Iraq has good relations with Iran and Russia, Assad’s main backers in the Syrian civil war, while also enjoying strong support from the U.S.-led coalition.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over Islamic State in December but it still operates from pockets along the border with Syria and has continued to carry out ambushes, assassinations and bombings across Iraq.
Islamic State has resorted to guerrilla tactics since it abandoned its goal of holding territory and creating a self-sufficient caliphate that straddles Iraq and Syria.
Source: Reuters
Posted by Amare Asrat

Addis Ababa, June 7, 2018 (FBC) - Ethiopia's year-on-year inflation remained unchanged at 13.7 percent in May, said the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia.

The rate had dropped to 13.7 percent in April from 15.2 percent in March.
However, it stayed unchanged in May, according to a statement CSA sent to FBC today.
The prices of cereals, fruits and vegetables remained nearly unchanged as compared to last month, the statement added.
Meanwhile, the price of pepper whole continued to slightly decline though it is not returned back to its previous level, it noted.
The prices of meat, traditional butter, milk, cheese and eggs showed an increase during the month.
Non-food inflation increased by 12.2 percent in May mainly due to rise in the prices of clothing and footwear, housing repair and maintenance (especially, corrugated iron sheets and door set, cement) and energy (charcoal), and household goods and furnishings, health care and food and drinks.
However, the price of Khat (Chat) declined in the major producing and regions.
Posted by Amare Asrat

(ኢዘአ)- ቀዳማዊት እመቤት ዝናሽ ታያቸው በጎንደር ከተማ የልዩ ፍላጎት ትምህርት የሚሰጥባቸውን ሁለት ትምህርት ቤቶችን ትላነት ተዘዋውረው ጎበኙ። ጉብኝቱ በተካሄደባቸው የልዩ ፍላጎት መስጫ ትምህርት ቤቶች የሚገኙ መምህራንና ተማሪዎችም ለቀዳማዊት እመቤት ደማቅ አቀባበል አድርገውላቸዋል፡፡ ቀዳማዊት እመቤት ትላነት ተዘዋውረው ጉብኝት ያደረጉት በጻዲቁ ዮሐንስ እና በአጼ ፋሴል አንደኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤቶች ነው። ቀዳማዊ እመቤት እስከ 5ኛ ክፍል በተማሩበት የጻዲቁ […]

(ሪፖርተር)- ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ዓብይ አህመድ (ዶ/ር) ጄኔራል አደም መሐመድን የብሔራዊ መረጃና ደኅንነት አገልግሎት ዋና ዳይሬክተር አድርገው ሾሙ፡፡ ጄኔራል አደም አቶ ጌታቸው አሰፋን ይተካሉ፡፡

(ኢዜአ)- ጠቅላይ ኢታ ማዦር ሹም ጄኔራል ሳሞራ የኑስ የአገሪቷ እጅግ ከፍተኛ የኒሻን ሽልማት ተበረከተላቸው። ጄኔራል ሰሞራ ይህንን ከፍተኛ የክብር ሽልማቱን ከፕሬዝዳንት ዶክተር ሙላቱ ተሾመ እጅ ተቀብለዋል። የክብር ሽልማቱ የተበረከተላቸው ከተዋጊነት እስከ አዋጊነትና እስከ ጦር ኃይሎች ጠቅላይ ኢታ ማዦር ሹምነት ድረስ አገራቸውን በትጋትና በታታሪነት በማገልገላቸው መሆኑን ፕሬዝዳንቱ ገልጸዋል። ጎን ለጎንም በመከላከያ ሰራዊት ግንባታ ባስገኙት ውጤት፣ “ባሳዩት […]