ESAT News (August 17, 2017) A white van crashed into a packed summer crowd this evening in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district. Barcelona police called it a terror attack. Officials said 13 people were killed and 50 injured, according to a report by the Telegraph of U.K. The driver was arrested around two and a half hours after the attack, ...

ESAT News (August 17, 2017) The United States conducted a series of three precision airstrikes against al-Shabaab militants on Wednesday and Thursday, killing seven fighters, the U.S. Africa Command said in statement. “Between August 16-17, the Department of Defense conducted a series of three (3) precision airstrikes against al-Shabaab militants, killing seven (7) fighters. The operation occurred in Jilib, Somalia, ...

ESAT News (August 16, 2017) The newly minted director general of the World Health Organization and the former foreign minister of Ethiopia denies his country is one of the leading jailers of journalists. In an interview with Foreign Affairs magazine, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , who was once a member of the inner circle of the TPLF, a regime that holds ...

ESAT News (August 16, 2017) The legal director of an international advocacy group has said that Ethiopia’s political prisoners like journalist Eskinder Nega and Andualem Aragie are not terrorists but victims of “kangaroo courts” and unjust laws designed to criminalize fundamental rights. Kate Barth, Legal Director of Freedom Now and international advocate for Eskinder Nega and Andualem Aragie, told ESAT ...

ESAT News (August 15, 2017) A travel ban has been imposed on high level TPLF officials, family members and accomplices suspected of embezzlement as part of the ongoing campaign against corruption in Ethiopia which critics say has so far targeted small-time scoundrels and left top TPLF officials who are widely accused of pocketing millions of dollars untouchable. ESAT has obtained ...

ESAT News (August 15, 2017) Ethiopia has so far lost about two million livestock due to severe drought especially in pastoralist areas aggravating the food crisis, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “Supporting herders to get back on their feet and preventing further livestock losses and suffering are crucial in drought-hit Ethiopia where hunger ...

ESAT News (August 14, 2017) Tensions remain high in Bahir Dar after a bomb exploded on Saturday injuring two people. Authorities say they have arrested the suspects. A woman was seriously injured. The explosion came amid growing tensions after small businesses and vendors called a strike last week opposing a new tax hike by the government. Authorities responded with arresting ...

ESAT News (August 14, 2017) Ethiopia called five ambassadors but its special envoy, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the United States, Girma Birru may not return home at a time when the regime is cracking down on corruption and arresting officials suspected of high level embezzlement, according to ESAT’s sources who allege that the ambassador has a stake in a ...

ESAT News (August 11, 2017) Strikes by small businesses and vendors spread further to towns in North Gondar, East Gojjam, Oromo and southern regions of the country opposing the new tax hikes despite threats by authorities who put notice of violation on a number of businesses. Over 150 businessmen were detained in Bahir Dar, according to information received by ESAT. ...

ESAT News (August 11, 2017) 160 Ethiopian migrants were violently forced into the sea off the coast of Yemen on Thursday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. Thursday’s tragedy came one day after the presumed death of 50 Ethiopian and Somali migrants during a similar incident, the Organization said. Both tragedies took place off the coast of ...