By Olugbenga SalamiSenate has moved to investigate the alleged killings and imprisonment of over 250 Nigerians in Ethiopia. This followed a motion, titled: “Urgent need to investigate the unlawful killings and incarceration of over 250 Nigerians in Ethiopia.”sponsored by the Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Simon Mwadkwon, (PDP Plateau North), and Senator Victor Umeh (YPP Anambra Central). Presenting the motion, Senator Mwadkwon urged the Senate to direct the Committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs, to work with the federal government to immediately constitute a committee to visit the Republic of Ethiopia with a view to investigating what is happening to Nigerians in the foreign land. He also called on the federal government to immediately direct the Ethiopian Embassy to collaborate with the delegation of the Senate Committees on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs to find a lasting solution to problems being faced and or encountered by Nigerians who are held in Ethiopia. According to him, “the video clip being circulated in the social media, indicates that Nigerians are held captives in the maximum prison of Ethiopia and are in serious peril which calls for urgent intervention and thorough probe into the heinous activities.”He lamented that this was happening despite the clarion call for unity among nations of the world.

A European Union Commissioner has met with Ethiopian government officials and pledged millions of dollars in a step toward normalizing relations between the two. European Union Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen met with Ethiopian government officials during a visit Tuesday that included an announcement of $680 million in support from the EU. The commissioner also met with Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The EU suspended all budgetary support to Ethiopia three years ago, following the start of open conflict in the country’s Tigray region. Asked about the relationship between the EU and Ethiopia, the commissioner said money was part of a gradual process.

Nissan’s long-standing Algerian partner, Groupe Hasnaoui, has signed a renewed distributor agreement extending its history with the Japanese OEM, which dates back to 1993. It is a brand-new beginning, says Nissan Africa President Joni Paiva, in a very important market which was previously one of the top three automotive markets in Africa and is now ramping-up. The all new built-of-more Nissan Navara, which is produced in Rosslyn, has been specifically designed for the African markets. It is wonderful to have a partner such as Groupe Hasnaoui in a strategically important market such as Algeria. This agreement symbolises our collective commitment to sustained growth and prosperity in the Algerian automotive landscape.”The Hasnaoui Group is one of the pioneers of industry, services and distribution in Algeria.

By Andualem Sisay Gessesse (Bujumbura, Burundi) – Linking and merging Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) with the East African Commodity Exchange (EAX), African countries are advised to introduce a single regional agricultural commodity exchange. He stated that Africa specifically the east Africa region has significant and various agricultural commodities which can be traded on a regional commodity exchange. Somalia, Comoros, Burundi, and Ethiopia are the top 4 countries in the region with a high share of agriculture in GDP. “The approach of merging all existing national commodity exchanges is aligned with the structure of most existing international commodity exchanges and will be cost efficient,” he said. Government interferenceOne of the most important governance conditions for a successful commodity exchange is the level of government interference in setting commodity market prices, according to Professor Issouf Soumare.

The EU aid package was initially worth 1 billion euros (USD 1.04 billion) and was due to be given to Ethiopia from 2021 to 2027, but it was suspended in late 2020 after fighting broke out in the northern Tigray region. The Tigray war killed unknown thousands and was characterized by massacres, mass rape and allegations of enforced starvation. The EU has long insisted it would not normalize relations with Ethiopia until there was accountability for these crimes. The EU's aid pledge to Ethiopia came a day before the deadline for renewing the mandate for the investigation at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Last week Human Rights Watch said the EU should submit a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling for continued investigations into atrocities.

The commission’s experts all but pleaded on Tuesday with the council to extend the investigation, warning that atrocities continue in Tigray, Ethiopia’s war-battered northernmost province. European countries had previously supported the probe as a means of ensuring accountability for war crimes committed during the two-year civil war in Tigray. The commission was established in December 2021 after a joint report by the U.N. and Ethiopia’s state human rights commission recommended further independent investigations into abuses. It concluded that all sides committed abuses during the Tigray war, some of them amounting to war crimes. The U.N. probe was the last major independent investigation into the Tigray war, which killed hundreds of thousands and was marked by massacres, mass rape and torture.

Addis Abeba – Despite repeated please from rights organizations worldwide, the deadline to submit a draft motion to extend the mandate of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) at the 54th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council passed today at 1:00 PM CEST today. “One of the Human Rights Council’s most important roles is to help prevent human rights violations and respond to human rights emergencies,” said commission member Radhika Coomaraswamy. “The situation in Ethiopia clearly merits such attention and it is vital that this continues.”1pm in Geneva, deadline for tabling #HRC54 resolutions just passed. @EU_UNGeneva went against all its stated principles by not tabling a draft to extend UN scrutiny over #Ethiopia situation. These crimes – including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity – are identified in the UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes.

If the shelter is forced to close its doors, the whole city will suffer. It makes no sense to earmark money for a future shelter while the current one closes. The city provided money for the shelter’s startup but is under no further obligation. Helping the shelter to identify grant sources is fine, but financial assistance is a bad idea . Killeen needs a homeless shelter, but it’s hard to say if the city should fund it.

The commission's experts all but pleaded on Tuesday with the council to extend the investigation, warning that atrocities continue in Tigray, Ethiopia's war-battered northernmost province. European countries had previously supported the probe as a means of ensuring accountability for war crimes committed during the two-year civil war in Tigray. The commission was established in December 2021 after a joint report by the UN and Ethiopia's state human rights commission recommended further independent investigations into abuses. It concluded that all sides committed abuses during the Tigray war, some of them amounting to war crimes. The UN probe was the last major independent investigation into the Tigray war, which killed hundreds of thousands and was marked by massacres, mass rape and torture.

In a recent Today segment, Tucci demonstrated this love for his motherland and its cuisine by showing the hosts how to cook pasta e fagioli, a vegan-friendly dish. If you’ve got a craving for Tucci’s favorite, here’s how you can make it with vegan ingredients only. To help you find your favorite (and vegan) version of pasta e fagioli, we’ve compiled a few variations of the dish below. Get the recipeForks Over Knives2 Pasta Fagioli With Whole Wheat PastaPasta isn’t an unhealthy food, but some types are certainly more nutritious than others. The thicker sauce comes from cashew cream, but the rest of the ingredients are fairly standard for a fagioli recipe: cannellini beans, vegetable stock, garlic, and more.

A U.N.-mandated investigation into continuing atrocities in Ethiopia faces closure after a U.N. website on Wednesday showed that no motion has been received to renew it. Both sides accused each other of atrocities, including massacres, rape and arbitrary detentions, but each denied responsibility for systemic abuses. The International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, created by the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2021 after a motion submitted by the European Union, said last month that war crimes and crimes against humanity were still being committed in Ethiopia. "Having no resolution is scandalous in the face of the report of the experts that was just published," said Lucy McKernan from Human Rights Watch, responsible for advocacy work at the Human Rights Council and other UN human rights mechanisms. Ethiopia, which denies committing widespread abuses, has strongly opposed the probe and tried to cut its work short.

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has revealed that over 270 Nigerian inmates are serving various prison terms in Ethiopia, adding most were imprisoned for drug-related offences. The ministry said this in reaction to a viral video by one Dr Paul Ezike, making the rounds on social media on the alleged plight of Nigerian inmates in the Kaliti Prison in Ethiopia. She added, “Over 270 Nigerian nationals are serving various prison terms in Ethiopia. “The Ethiopian authorities, on the other hand, have always maintained that Nigerian inmates are not treated differently from other inmates, Ethiopian inmates inclusive. When finalised, this will enable Nigerian inmates to complete their jail terms in Nigeria, where their family members could complement the government’s efforts towards their maintenance in prison.

The EU aid package was initially worth 1 billion euros ($1.04 billion) and was due to be given to Ethiopia from 2021 to 2027, but it was suspended in late 2020 after fighting broke out in the northern Tigray region. The Tigray war killed unknown thousands and was characterized by massacres, mass rape and allegations of enforced starvation. Ethiopia has tried to block a U.N. probe from investigating the atrocities and has launched its own transitional justice process, which human rights experts say is flawed. The EU’s aid pledge to Ethiopia came a day before the deadline for renewing the mandate for the investigation at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Last week Human Rights Watch said the EU should submit a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council calling for continued investigations into atrocities.