Addis Ababa, June 22, 2018 (FBC) -The United States is encouraged by the progress that Ethiopia and Eritrea have made to resolve longstanding disputes and normalize relations, the US State Department said yesterday.

“Over the past 20 years, the frozen conflict between these states has hindered stability and economic growth in the vital Red Sea region,” said Statement by the Press Secretary
“A durable peace will yield greater prosperity and security not only for the citizens of Ethiopia and Eritrea, but also for their neighbors, the United States, and the world.
The United States commended Ethiopia’s statement on June 5, 2018 announcing that Ethiopia fully accepts the 2000 Algiers Agreement, issued in the context of positive political and economic reforms.
It also welcomed Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki’s June 20, 2018 commitment to send a delegation to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to advance the peace process.
“Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Isaias Afwerki have demonstrated courageous leadership by taking these steps toward peace,” the statement added.
“Ethiopia and Eritrea have a critical role in promoting stability and prosperity in the Horn of Africa,” it said adding, "the US looks forward to a full normalization of relations and the realization of our shared aspirations for both countries to enjoy enduring peace and development." 
As a witness to the Algiers Agreement, the United States stands ready to facilitate progress toward this goal, the statement added.
Posted by Amare Asrat

Addis Ababa, June 21, 2018 (FBC) -Leaders of IGAD memeber states are arriving in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to take part at the 32nd Extra-Ordinary Summit of IGAD scheduled to take place today.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and President of Djibouti, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, have arrived in Addis this afternoon.
Upon arrival, both presidents were welcomed by Ethiopian Prime Minister and current Chairperson of IGAD, Dr Abiy Ahmed.
The 32nd Extra-Ordinary Summit of IGAD will take place in Addis Ababa today.
South Sudan will be on the agenda.
The IGAD Council of Ministers also held its 63rd Extra-Ordinary Session this morning.

Addis Ababa, June 21, 2018 (FBC) –The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the positive steps taken recently by Ethiopia and Eritrea to resolve the outstanding issues regarding the normalization of relations between the two countries.

The Secretary-General commended the efforts of the leaders of both countries to achieve sustainable peace and good neighborly relations which, in turn, will have positive repercussions in the entire Horn of Africa region.
The Secretary-General also expressed his readiness to provide all support that may contribute to advancing and consolidating the process of engagement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Posted by Amare Asrat

Addis Ababa, June 21, 2018 (FBC) - Iraq's Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a manual recount of May 12 parliamentary elections that resulted in a shock victory for Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr.

The court found on Thursday that the decision by parliament to order a manual recount in response to allegations of electoral fraud does not violate the constitution, court President Medhat al-Mahmud told a news conference on Thursday.
The verdict is final and not subject to appeal.
The country's outgoing 328-seat parliament voted on June 6 in favor of the manual recount of all the 11 million ballots after allegations of irregularities in the electronic voting system.
MPs had also sacked a nine-member Iraq's Independent High Elections Commission that oversaw the process and replaced the body with judges.
The recount process began shortly after the judges took over leadership of the commission.
The court was tasked with ruling on the matter after the law amendment was challenged by Iraq's president, the election commission chief, and a Kurdish party.
The court decision also ruled that the annulment of some results such as overseas and displaced votes was unconstitutional.
These votes will again be counted towards the final election result unless evidence of fraud is submitted.
Source: Aljazeera
Posted by Amare Asrat

Addis Ababa, June 21, 2018 (FBC) - The IGAD Council of Ministers during its 63rd Extra-Ordinary Session held this morning submitted its final compromise report of the bridging proposal before it is deliberated by the IGAD Assembly this afternoon.

Chairperson of the IGAD Council of Ministers and Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu said the proposal would address the outstanding issues among the parties to the conflict in South Sudan particularly on responsibility sharing and security arrangement mechanisms.
The final bridging document was prepared pursuant to the decision of the 62nd IGAD Extra Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers.
The decision in that meeting authorized the convening of one more round of Intensive Interlinked Consultation (IIC) with the parties to identify possible compromises and build consensus on the bridging proposal.
Dr. Workneh finally urged the parties to effectively use the bridging proposal once and for all to put the lingering misery of the people of South Sudan to its closure.
The bridging proposal comprises issues like creation of a third Vice President position; expansion of the Cabinet to 42 Ministries and 15 Deputy Ministers, among others.

Posted by Amare Asrat

(ኤፍ.ቢ.ሲ)- በሃውዜን የተጨፈጨፉ ሰመዓታት የሚታሰቡበት የሰመዓታት ቀን በትግራይ ክልል እየታሰበ ይገኛል። የሰማዕታት ቀኑ በትግራይ ክልል የሚታሰበው ሰኔ 15 1980 በአየር ጥቃት የተሰው 2 ሺህ 500 ዜጎችን ለማሰብ ነው። የመታሰቢያው ቀን በዛሬው ዕለት በተለያዩ ስነ ስርዓቶ በትግራይ ክልል እየተሳበ ይገኛል። በመቀሌ ከተማም እየተካሄደ ባለ ታላቅ ሰልፍ እለቱ እየታሰበ ይገኛል። ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ዶክተር አብይ አህመድም የሰማዓታት በዓልን […]

(EBC)- የሀውዜን ሰማዕታት የማንነታችን እና የነጻነታችን መሰረቶችን ናቸው ሲሉ የኢፌድሪ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ዶክተር አቢይ አህመድ የሃውዚን ሰማዕታት መታሰቢያ ቀንን መሰረት በማድረግ ባስተላለፈት መልእክት ገለፁ፡፡ ጠቅላይ ሚንስትሩ በሀውዜን ለተፈጸመው ጭፍጨፋ መታሰብያ አስመልክተው መልእክት አስተላልፈዋል። የመልእክቱ ሙሉ ይዘት በምስራቃዊ ትግራይ ትንሽ ከተማ በሀውዜን እንደሁሌውም የነጋችው የእለተ ረቡእ ጀምበር እንደሁልጊዜው ሆና አላለፈችም፡፡ ሰኔ 15 ቀን 1980 ዓ.ም ከረፋዱ […]

(EBC)- የኢፌዲሪ ጠቅላይ ሚንስትርና የጦር ኃይሎች ጠቅላይ አዛዥ ዶክተር አብይ አህመድ ለሶስት ጀነራሎች ሹመት ሰጡ። በዚህም መሰረት ጀነራል ብርሀኑ ጁላ ገለልቻ የጦር ኃይሎች ምክትል ጠቅላይ ኤታማዦር ሹም ለኦፕሬሽን፣ ብርጋዴር ጀነራል ይልማ መርዳሳ ኛጳ የአየር ኃይል ዋና አዛዥና ሌቴናል ጀነራል ሞላ ኃይለማርያ:ም የመከላከያ ሎጅስቲክስ ዘርፍ አስተባባሪ በማድረግ ሾመዋል።