Category: Pencil
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Dam On The River Nile
The Horn of Africa region saw two weeks of hectic travels. And Eritrean officials travelled the most. If the leaders were enrolled in a travel-miles program they would have accumulated so many travel credit. On June 25, Isaias visited Sudan and met Abdelfattah AlBurhan, the Chairman of the Transitional Military Council. And on July 6,
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David Copperfield, Isaias, and Dahlan
For more than two weeks, Eritrean activists guessed and speculated about the whereabouts of Isaias Afwerki. The unelected ruler of Eritrea was not seen in public for a long time. But a few days ago, curiosity seemed to have come to an end when Isaias made a four-minute appearance in a recorded video. In the early
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Despite the Virus, Happy Birthday Ciham
The scientists baptized it Covid 19, but humanity couldn’t forget the original name with which the virus introduced itself: Corona. Let’s consider Covid 19 its nickname. Sometimes humanity is exposed to calamities that overshadow the previous one, or ones. The corona virus has paralyzed the social life of all people. It triggered a serious anxiety the like of which humanity
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Gloomy Clouds Over the Horn of Africa
Abdella Hamdouk: Last year, the Sudanese Sovereignty Council appointed Abdella Hamdouk as a prime minister. He was sworn in on 21 August 2019. Roughly seven months later, on Monday, March 9, 2020, Hamdouk survived an assassination attempt when an explosion in Khartoum went off and damaged his car as he drove to his office. The
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Eritrea’s Isaias and His Nervous Travels
The unclear, haphazard political maneuvering of Isaias Afwerki’s government continues to expose Eritrea to unnecessary and risky situations. Saudi Arabia On 13 January 2020, the Eritrean Ministry of Information criticized a Saudi Arabian official for stating his country’s “efforts to resolve differences between brothers in Africa” and asserted “the Kingdom has harnessed its pioneering Islamic role in
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Gold Coins and Necklaces–Congratulating PM Abiy
Last week Ethiopia went through eventful days. Among other things, on October 9, prime minister Abiy Ahmed inaugurated the 20 hectares Unity Park in the national palace grounds in Addis Ababa in the presence of invited officials and heads of state of the region. The unelected president of Eritrea didn’t attend because he has bestowed all
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PM Abiy Has “Innovative Projects” to Deport Asylum-Seekers
President Donald Trump could save millions of dollars by seeking advice from the Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed (who discovered an innovative way to deport migrants) instead of wasting money building a costly wall on the border with Mexico. Details are still scanty, but recently Abiy Ahmed suggested ways to help deport Eritrean asylum-seekers in Israel
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Egypt-Ethiopia: The Nile Water Crisis Resurfaces Again
The embattled Egyptian president AlSisi has resuscitated the Nile water crisis with Ethiopia. The differences over Ethiopia’s Great Renaissance Dam (GERD) that started in 2011, has sometimes bubbled and in other times erupted to the surface. When it did, it was often downplayed by occasional diplomatic niceties or escalated through media forays. But since the summer
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Abu Dhabi to Khartoum Line Through Asmara
Four days after returning from Abu Dhabi where he met Mohammed Bin Zaid of the UAE, on Monday, September 9, Isaias Afwerki traveled to Sudan for a two-day visit where he met General Al Burhan and other officials. In a statement issued after the visit, the Sudanese foreign minister said the two countries agreed to
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PFDJ Militia in Norway Exposed
In recent years, the number of Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in Europe has increased drastically. Most of them claim to have escaped from the harsh indefinite military service imposed on them by the, “Peoples’ Front for Democracy and Justice” (PFDJ), the Eritrean ruling party. The unelected PFDJ government has been in power since 1991;
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Sudan: Omar Al Bashir Faces The Natural Fate
Since the end of the colonization period, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa region has been a fertile ground for breeding dictators. Its countries seemed perpetually locked up in a competition on who produces the worst dictator. Surprisingly, the endless neck to neck race didn’t produce a single winner. They all won. Finally,
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PFDJ Troll Alliance: Facebook Removes Saudi-UAE-Egypt Accounts
August 1, 2019, Facebook announced it was “Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior in UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia” However, the news is no surprise to us since in March 27, 2018, Gedab, our news unit, has reported about the “Saudi, UAE, and Eritrean Internet Trolling Cooperation” with Eritrea. Gedab News was the first outlet to expose
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Sudan: The Kandaka Revolution
The current Sudanese protest is exceptionally significant due to women whose participation is unprecedented all over the world. For all intents and purposes, it could be dubbed the Womens’ Revolution—the Kandakas. In addition to burgeoning the numbers of the protesters, the Sudanese women have inspired many people in the region. But will they inspire a
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Ethiopia: Coup d’état redefined
Last Saturday, for a few hours the ancient city of Bahir-Dar, the Amhara state capital, became the most famous city in Ethiopia, then the relatively modern city of Addis Ababa, the national capital, stole the limelight. By early Sunday morning, the two seats of political powers finished in a tie and emerged as metaphors of
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PM Abiy Acknowledges Challenges in Dealing with Isaias
In an interview published on May 30, 2019, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the Voice of America, that the “Ethiopian opposition members who were based in Eritrea returned to Ethiopia, and Eritrean opposition members based in Ethiopia did not return to Eritrea.” This is the first time PM Abiy Ahmed mentions there are Eritrean
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Sudan: Dress Rehearsal for Change in Eritrea
The Horn of Africa is still in turmoil and the earth is moving under the feet of the incompetent regimes of the region. Alas, the rulers seem to be in a race to outdo each other on how fast they can turn their countries into rubble and sit on the heap. Somalia is painfully walking
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Calling Out PM Abiy’s Bluffs
Arguably, there are few people in the world who yearn for peace like Eritreans. However, peace has been always elusive. For centuries, the export of mayhem to the north, from parts of Ethiopia, had remained constant with adverse effects on Eritreans. Unfortunately, in that aspect, so far, Dr. Abiy hasn’t fared any better than his
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Eritreans in Ethiopia Could Pay a Price, Again
The EPRDF ruling party of Ethiopia, which was dominated by the TPLF and its allies, has been completely decimated except in name. The political chaos started as soon as PM Abiy launched a realignment of the EPRDF member parties and assembled a new coalition sidelining several parties, mainly the TPLF. Consequently, each of the ethnic-based
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Saudi Dissident Journalist Allegedly Murdered in Turkey
On a March 29,2018 editorial we speculated that if the Saudi heir apparent Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS, so baptized by Thomas Friedman), succeeds in disbanding the religious police, curtailing the power of the religious authority, and allowing women to drive, it would be a welcome change. However, we expressed skepticism that “ the top to
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Why Eritreans Must Support Berhane Abrehe
Recently we saw some books published, it’s a humble attempt to add to the efforts of reviving Eritrean literature, and uncovering history. That we consider a promising development. A few weeks ago, Mr. Semere Beyene, the SBS journalist launched a book entitled “Hulfet”, then Mr. Hailesellassie Woldu launched his much-awaited book, the historical biography of