By Luc van Kemenade, Addis Ababa It costs a small fortune to get a second hand vehicle from Europe through the port of Djibouti into landlocked Ethiopia. Although taxes on second hand imports have been reduced recently, one of those supposedly cheap cars can still cost double its price once it has gone through customs. A twenty-year-old Toyota Corolla, for example, can easily cost up to 12,500 euros. Cheap... 

By Muluken Yewondwossen Capital A new directive to ban the import of outdated second hand cars to Ethiopia is to be ratified shortly after the Ethiopian New Year. The government thereby seeks to reduce the number of fuel consuming and polluting vehicles in the country. The ban will be passed by the Ministry of Transport and Communication (MoTC) and has been under study for more than two years now.... 

The total number of Eritrean refugees who have crossed to Ethiopia through August 31, 2010 is 51,718 and those remaining in the country are now located in five refugee camps: three in Tigray and two in Afar Region. On average, 1,800 cross the border from Eritrea each month. About 45% have been ex-Eritrean soldiers. The relocation of Eritrean refugees to 3rd countries is still continuing. According... 

On Thursday, Japanese police arrested six people who were allegedly part of a multi-million dollar scam. $27.2 million was illegally transferred from the National Bank of Ethiopia account at Citibank in 2008. The arrested suspects were three Nigerians, two Japanese and one from Ghana. Sources say the six are suspected of money laundering approximately $6.5 million of the funds wired from the $27.2... 

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia on Thursday rejected criticism of its massive hydropower dam projects and vowed to push ahead with plans to boost its power generating ability from 2,000 MW to 10,000 MW within five years. The Horn of Africa nation’s ambitious dam building programme has drawn fire from human rights groups as well as from Egypt and other Nile River countries. “We have... 

Four bridges collapsed in different parts of the country last week due to flash floods sparked by torrential rains in the highlands. The huge body of water created enormous pressure on the bridges that collapse. Three of the bridges are in the Afar Regional State near Mile Town, 531 kilometers northeast of Addis Ababa, namely the Mile River Bridge, the Wuhama River Bridge and the Bruser River Bridge.... 

Ethiopian Airlines has made an overwhelming insurance claim from the state owned Ethiopian Insurance Corporation (EIC) for the crash of one of its aircraft off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon in January this year. The Ethiopian Insurance Corporation has reported a 1.5 billion birr insurance claim by Ethiopian Airlines in its recently concluded fiscal year report. According to Yewondesen Etafa, managing... 

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle ADDIS ABABA — The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a rebel group who had been fighting for the independence of eastern Somali region confirmed that it will sign final peace agreement with Ethiopia – despite a rebuff by a splinted official in Doha. Foreign Bureau of the rebel group, in a statement sent to Sudan Tribune said that “the Somali people in the Ogaden... 

  ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian high court passed jail terms ranging between 16-19 years behind bars against 30 defendants who were found guilty of perpetrating terrorism acts. According to the state-run Ethiopian television, four of the defendants are sentenced each to 19 years of rigorous jail while the remaining 25 are sentenced to 16 years each and a 5-year ban from any of their constitutional rights. The... 

RIYADH — Five Ethiopians died in a crowded Saudi centre for deporting illegal immigrants, the Arab News reported Monday. The five died in the deportation centre in the southern Red Sea port of Jizan of “asphyxiation due to overcrowding,” according to a local police official, the newspaper said. Ethiopia’s consul in Jeddah Tekleab Kebede said he could not confirm the deaths, which...