Food crisis: Ethiopia appeals for urgent aid after crop failure

August 14, 2015 Ethiopia

A boy shivers in a short burst of much-needed rain as villagers carry sacks of maize received from the Red Cross in the Volayta region of southern Ethiopia. Photograph: Radu Sigheti/Reuters

(The Guardian) — Ethiopia has appealed for $325m (£167m) in food and other humanitarian aid after drought and crop failure more than doubled the number of people needing emergency assistance to 4.6 million.

Poor rains have affected much of southern and south-eastern Ethiopia since last year, significantly cutting harvests. The shortage of local cereals has sent prices soaring, while the cost of imported food has also risen sharply due to the global food crisis and increased fuel prices.

Aid agencies said hundreds of thousands of the country’s poorest families can no longer afford to buy enough food to sustain them. According to the UN, which issued the appeal to donors yesterday together with Ethiopia’s disaster prevention and preparedness agency, 75,000 children are already suffering from acute malnutrition and illness.

“The urgency of this launch cannot be overstated,” said John Holmes, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator. “Humanitarian agencies are already on the ground helping the government of Ethiopia respond to the emergency, but limited resources are hampering the efforts of both the government and its humanitarian partners to help those in need.”

Ethiopia: Hacking Team Lax on Evidence of Abuse

August 15, 2015 Human Rights

Leaked Documents Show Need to Regulate Surveillance Sales

(New York, August 13, 2015) – The Italian spyware firm Hacking Team took no effective action to investigate or stop reported abuses of its technology by the Ethiopian government against dissidents, Human Rights Watch said today. A comprehensive review of internal company emails leaked in July 2015 reveals that the company continued to train Ethiopian intelligence agents to hack into computers and negotiated additional contracts despite multiple reports that its services were being used to repress government critics and other independent voices.

The Italian government should investigate Hacking Team practices in Ethiopia and elsewhere with a view toward restricting sales of surveillance technology likely to facilitate human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said.

“The Hacking Team emails show that the company’s training and technology in Ethiopia directly contributed to human rights violations,” said Cynthia Wong, senior Internetresearcher at Human Rights Watch. “Despite multiple red flags, Hacking Team showed a striking lack of concern about how its business could damage dissenting and independent voices.”

On July 5, 400 gigabytes (GB) of Hacking Team’s internal emails, documents, and source code that had been hacked were leaked online. The leaked emails confirm that the company had sold surveillance systems, training, and support and maintenance services to the Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency (INSA) as early as 2011, with contracts worth US$1 million in 2012. On November 5, 2012 Hacking Team congratulated INSA on infecting its first target.

Leaked Hacking Team emails showed that it reviewed independent reports published in 2014 and 2015 that presented findings that the government was targeting Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) employees based in the United States using Hacking Team technology. Yet the company’s internal emails show only a superficial effort to investigate these findings and end the abuse.

Obbo Olbaanaa Leellisaa Mana hidhaa Qaallittii keessatti garmalee dhukkubsataa jiru

August 15, 2015 Home

(OMN) — Oromummaa isaaniitiin yakkamuun mana hidhaa Qaallitiitti kan darbataman Obbo Olbaanaa Leellisaa, dawaa gahaa ta’e dhabanii dhukkuba garagaraatiin dararamaa akka jiran himamame.

Mootummaan Itoophiyaatiin hidhamee mana hidhaatti gidiraa olaanaa argaa jiraachuun kan himame Obbo Olbaanan, wal’aansa gahaa ta’e akka argataniif Oromoon bakka jirutti dhiibbaa akka godhuufi maatiisaanii rakkina garagaraatiif saaxilameef birmachuudhaan aantummaasaa mul’isuun akka irraa eegamu ibsameera.

Qabsoo karaa nagaa gaggeessaa turanii fi Oromummaa isaaniitiin qofa Mootummaa Itoophiyaatiin ragaan dharaa itti lakkaawamee dhimma shororkeessummaatiin yakkamanii bara 2011 irraa eegalee mana hidhaa Qaalittiitti kan darbatamaniifi waggaa 11 kan itti murtaa’ee Obbo Olbaanaa Leellisaa, dararaa mana hidhaa keessatti irratti raawwatamaa jiruun dhibee tiruutiif saaxilamanii wal’aansa gahaa ta’e dhabuudhaan gidiraa argaa akka jiran Obbo Dajanee Xaafaa, Itti’aanaa barreessaa paartii Kongresii Federaalawa Oromoo, Oromiyaa Miidiyaa Networkitti himan.

Obbo Olbaanaa Leellisaa, qabsoo Oromoo karaa nagaa godhamu keessatti shoora olaanaa qabaachaa turuusaanii kan dubbatan Obbo Dajaneen, qabsoon Oromoo biyya keessaa kallattii har’a jirurra akka gahuuf gumaacha olaanaa raawwachaa akka turan himanii, dhimma ummataa dursanii socho’aa turuusaaniitiin qofa Qaallittiitti darbatamuusaanii eeruudhaan, sana dura al jaha gidiraa mana hidhaa argaa turuusaanii himaniiru.

Dhimma Magaalaa guddittii Oromiyaa, Finfinneerraa maqsuuf yaalamaa ture waliin walqabatee labsii mootummaan Itoophiyaa armaan dura baasee ture dura dhaabachaa akka turan akkasumas wayita barattoonni yuniversitii Finfinnee heddumminaan barnootarraa haqaman, nama mootummaa dura dhaabatanii mormiisaanii dhiheessan akka ta’an Obbo Dajaneen eeranii, sababa kanaafi kanneen birootiin xiyyeeffannaa mootummaa Itoophiyaa keessa akka galaniifi bara 2011tti dhaabbata mirga namoomaatiif falmu Amnesty International waajjirasaaniitiin simachuusaaniitiin shorkeessummaan yakkamuusaanii dubbatan.