• EVs are starting to overtake gas-powered cars in a surprising place
• Ethiopia's honey forest: People and wildlife living in sweet harmony
• Ethiopia's speed schools give child labourers a second chance

• Ethiopia: Celebrating the fulfilment of the Invincible Africa tour
• Ethiopia: Educators learn about Consciousness-Based Education
• Ethiopia: Government, business leaders learn about Maharishi's programmes

• How the west's wellness industry is driving Ethiopia's frankincense trees towards extinction
• Ethiopia set a world record for displacements in a single year: 5.1 million in 2021
• More than 100,000 children in Ethiopia's Tigray could die of hunger - UNICEF

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

EVs are starting to overtake gas-powered cars in a surprising place
17 September 2024 - There are around 100,000 EVs in Ethiopia so far. The Ethiopian government estimates that number will more than quadruple by 2032. That's largely because the national government took the extraordinary step earlier this year of banning the import of all gas-powered passenger vehicles -- becoming the first nation in the world to do so. (more)

Ethiopia's honey forest: People and wildlife living in sweet harmony
22 October 2022 - The Gura Ferda forest in southwest Ethiopia is a beautiful example of a forest and local people living in harmony, says biodiversity and protected area specialist Julian Bayliss. ''Community activity inside the forest mainly revolves around its use for honey with locals hanging hives in the trees. In doing so they protect the forest, they do not cut the trees,'' explains Bayliss. (more)

Ethiopia's speed schools give child labourers a second chance
15 February 2022 - An accelerated schooling program is helping Ethiopian children resume studies cut short by conflict, child labor, and poverty. (more)

Ethiopian paper bag firm helps wean country off plastic bags while empowering the deaf
16 April 2020 - With almost a million handmade paper bags sold, [Teki Paper bags, an Ethiopian enterprise developed by deaf women] is slowly weaning the country's bustling capital, Addis Ababa, off plastic bags while simultaneously empowering the deaf community. (more)

In bid for healthier cities, Ethiopia aims to boost urban green
11 October 2018 - For the past few years, several regions and cities in Ethiopia have been planting trees and increasing green spaces to improve the lives of their residents. Now the Ministry of Forestry, Environment and Climate Change (MoFEC) wants to build an integrated approach among local, regional and federal government institutions to spread the benefits of urban greening to even the most congested cities. Those benefits can include a cooler and shadier environment; less noise pollution as trees muffle the sounds of traffic, loud music and factories -- and fewer climate changing emissions in the atmosphere. (more)

Ethiopia plans to export natural gas in 3 to 5 years
2 October 2015 - A government official in Ethiopia says his country will begin exporting natural gas in three to five years following the discovery of huge reserves in the country's Somali region. (more)

Ethiopia touts ancient churches, dramatic landscape in tourism drive
24 October 2014 - When Scottish explorer James Bruce published a five-volume work in 1790 about his search in Ethiopia for the source of the Nile, European readers dismissed his account of ancient churches and castles: surely no such things existed in the heart of Africa. Visitor numbers have risen 12 per cent a year in the past decade. Ethiopia's goal is to boost tourist revenues to $3 billion next year from $2 billion in 2013 and, if it achieves that, it will start challenging the dominance of regional rivals on Africa's eastern seaboard, such as Kenya and Tanzania. But instead of beach holidays and safaris, land-locked Ethiopia is promoting the below ground 13th century churches of Lalibela, hewn from solid rock, and the hill castles of Gondar, as well as its mountainous and majestic topography. (more)

Ethiopia: Over 5.6 billion tree seedlings being planted
18 June 2014 - The Ethiopian Ministry of Environment and Forestry told the participants of the International Environmental Protection Day that over 5.6 billion tree seedlings are prepared to be planted across the country during this rainy season to restore the natural resources of the country. Planting has already started in some localities, he said. (more)

Ethiopia shoots for the stars and galaxies as it aims to become space science hub
6 June 2014 - High up in the eucalyptus-strewn Entoto Mountains, which overlook the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, work is nearly complete on the country's first observatory. Studying the stars and the galaxies will be vital for this Horn of Africa nation's development and will hopefully also go a long way to developing brotherly love, say scientists who are part of the project. (more)

Ethiopia: A giant basket that uses condensation to gather drinking water
28 March 2014 - Designer Arturo Vittori's stunning water towers stand nearly 30 feet tall and can collect over 25 gallons of potable water per day by harvesting atmospheric water vapour. Called WarkaWater towers, each pillar is comprised of two sections: a semi-rigid exoskeleton built by tying stalks of juncus or bamboo together and an internal plastic mesh, reminiscent of the bags oranges come in. The nylon and polypropylene fibers act as a scaffold for condensation, and as the droplets of dew form, they follow the mesh into a basin at the base of the structure. Vittori hopes to have two WarkaTowers erected in Ethiopia by 2015 and is looking for financial rainmakers who'd like to seed these tree-inspired structures across the country. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Ethiopia: Celebrating the fulfilment of the Invincible Africa tour
14 April 2012 - The Album of Events page of Global Good News is featuring a series of photos from Ethiopia highlighting the recent visit of Dr Bevan Morris, President of Maharishi University of Management, in one of the final venues on the historic Invincible Africa tour of 14 countries. The tour honoured 50 years of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's programmes and technologies of consciousness on the continent. Maharishi first came to Ethiopia in 1973, arriving in Addis Ababa with the goal of creating a peaceful and invincible Africa. (more)

Ethiopia: Educators learn about Consciousness-Based Education
14 April 2012 - One of the major focuses of Dr Bevan Morris's recent tour of the African continent has been on education. While in Ethiopia Dr Morris, President of Maharishi University of Management, met with educators at a university in Addis Ababa, presenting scientific research on the many benefits of Consciousness-Based Education seen at institutions around the world, and discussing opportunities for potential collaboration with MUM. (more)

Ethiopia: Government, business leaders learn about Maharishi's programmes
14 April 2012 - In Ethiopia recently, Dr Bevan Morris, President of Maharishi University of Management, spoke to a large group of business leaders. One audience member, a prominent businesswoman, asked Transcendental Meditation teacher Ms Kibre Dawit to give an introduction on the programme to an organization of women management professionals. About 100 came to the lecture, of whom 50-60 signed up to learn the technique. (more)

Students, education officials welcome Consciousness-Based Education to Ethiopia
19 February 2011 - On the final leg of his recent Africa tour, Dr Ashley Deans, Global Ambassador of Consciousness-Based Education, visited Ethiopia, where he inspired education officials, teachers, students, and the press about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's programmes for schools. (more)

Global Mother Divine Organization in Ethiopia presents achievements
12 January 2011 - Achievements of the Global Mother Divine Organization in Ethiopia in the past year were presented at a recent international conference in MERU, Holland. (more)

Offering Ethiopia a scientifically validated defence strategy
14 April 2010 - Invincible Defence Technology offers a scientifically validated means to achieve peace and security for every nation. (more)

Unfolding ideal education for Ethiopia's students
16 May 2009 - The Global Country of World Peace in Ethiopia is moving forward with projects in the field of education, implementing Consciousness-Based Education in already existing schools, as well as beginning construction for new educational institutions. (more)

Ethiopia: School being built according to Maharishi Vedic Architecture
2 March 2009 - Construction of two Maharishi Vedic Architecture school buildings has begun in Ethiopia. In addition, Consciousness-Based Education in existing schools is expanding. (more)

Presenting the worldwide achievements of the Global Mother Divine Organization - Part V: Ethiopia
9 August 2008 - The National Director for Ethiopia of the Global Mother Divine Organization reports on the Transcendental Meditation Club established in a school in Addis Ababa and land that is available for a Maharishi Invincibility School. (more)

Ethiopia warming up to Consciousness-Based Education
21 July 2007 - Dr Kibre Dawit, National Leader of the Global Country of World Peace in Ethiopia and Director of Consciousness-Based Education in that nation, reported on the introduction of CBE programmes there during the live global broadcast of Maharishi University of Enlightenment's commencement ceremonies on 19 July 2007. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

How the west's wellness industry is driving Ethiopia's frankincense trees towards extinction
16 September 2024 - Frankincense has been harvested in the Horn of Africa and across the Red Sea in the Arabian peninsula for millennia. ...Recently, however, this ancient resin has become a hot commodity globally as its alleged health benefits catch the attention of the wellness industry, a sector worth about $5.6tn a year. ...Supply chains are murky and fragmented, often marked by exploitation and violence, and dominated by middlemen, who skim off most of the raw resin's value. (more)

Ethiopia set a world record for displacements in a single year: 5.1 million in 2021
28 May 2022 - Conflict and violence triggered over 5.1 million displacements within Ethiopia in 2021 -- triple the number reported there in 2020 and the highest figure recorded for any country in a given year, according to a new report from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. An internal 'displacement' is defined as being forced to leave a place of residence but not crossing internationally recognized borders. The previous record was 3.5 million for Syria in 2013. (more)

More than 100,000 children in Ethiopia's Tigray could die of hunger - UNICEF
30 July 2021 - The United Nations children's agency said on Friday [30 July] that more than 100,000 children in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray could suffer life-threatening malnutrition in the next 12 months, a 10-fold increase to normal numbers. ... Spokespeople for the Prime Minister and a government task force on Tigray -- where fighting between rebellious regional and federal forces have continued since November -- did not immediately respond to requests for comment on UNICEF's statement. ... The U.N. says that around 400,000 people are living in famine conditions in Tigray, and more than 90% of the population needs emergency food aid. (more)

The mystery sickness bringing death and dismay to eastern Ethiopia
23 February 2020 - As villagers in Somali region fall ill in unexplained circumstances, some locals fear gas exploration has tainted the local water supply. (more)

Ethiopian farmers struggle to scratch a living in warming highlands
12 April 2019 - As the climate shifts and population grows, land in the Choke Mountain watershed is becoming degraded, causing problems here and further downstream on the Nile. The climate of the Choke Mountain watershed in the Upper Blue Nile Highlands is changing as the planet warms. Studies by Debre Markos University show the area also faces severe land degradation due to human settlement, overgrazing, deforestation, and unsustainable agricultural practices. At an elevation of 4,000 metres (13,120 ft), the Choke Mountain range has a tropical alpine ecosystem and is home to more than 150,000 people living in six districts. (more)

Thousands are arrested in Ethiopia after ethnic violence
24 September 2018 - The Ethiopian government has arrested thousands of people around the capital, Addis Ababa, over the last week and sent many of them to military camps for 'rehabilitation,' the authorities said on Monday (24 September), as the government sought to respond to mounting criticism from Ethiopians who say it has done little as ethnic violence has flared. (more)

Ethiopia PM accuses Eritrea of kidnappings
17 April 2012 - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi accused Eritrea on Tuesday of abducting dozens of Ethiopian miners from the country's northwest, in a potential escalation of tension between the arch-enemies. Ethiopian troops crossed into the Red Sea state last month and attacked what they said were military bases used by rebels to stage raids, including a January attack that killed five Western tourists in Ethiopia's remote Afar region. These attacks were the first on Eritrean soil that Ethiopia has admitted to since the end of a devastating 1998-2000 border war, sparking concern that their unresolved frontier spat could escalate into a full-scale war. 'They (Eritrean government) recently kidnapped more than 100 young miners who were mining gold in our country's northwest. And in the northeast, they killed some tourists and kidnapped others,' Meles said, the latter referring to the January raid. (more)

Ethiopia again attacks rebel targets in Eritrea
17 March 2012 - Ethiopian troops carried out more attacks on rebels inside Eritrea on Saturday, a government source said, a day after its neighbour called for UN action over a similar incursion earlier in the week. The attacks are the first on Eritrean soil that Ethiopia has admitted to since the end of a 1998-2000 war that killed 70,000 people and left a border dispute unresolved. Eritrea says there have been others. A spokesman for Ban Ki-moon said the U.N. chief urged both sides to exercise 'maximum restraint' and 'respect each other's territorial integrity.' The British government expressed concern about the earlier incursion into Eritrea, saying it risked undermining efforts to develop security and stability across the Horn of Africa. A vicious row over the position of Eritrea and Ethiopia's shared border was not resolved at the end of the war. (more)

Ethiopia rebel group alleges mass killing by Government
19 May 2011 - An Ethiopian rebel group said Thursday that the army and a police unit killed at least three dozen civilians in a crackdown in an ethnically Somali region of Ethiopia. A government official called the allegations baseless. Accounts of the killings could not be independently confirmed, but human rights groups have repeatedly accused the Addis Ababa government of human rights violations in Ogaden, and of denying aid groups free access to the region. Journalists are prohibited from traveling freely in the region. In its 2010 report on human rights in Ethiopia, the US State Department said there were 'credible reports of involvement of security forces in the killings and other abuses of civilians' in the Somali region of Ethiopia. (more)

Tylenol tied to childhood wheezing and allergies
13 August 2010 - A pair of studies suggests that the common painkiller acetaminophen -- better known as Tylenol in the US -- may be fuelling a worldwide increase in asthma. While no one knows if the drug causes asthma by itself, another report -- published along with the first study -- shows for the first time that many toddlers took Tylenol before they developed asthma symptoms such as wheezing. The researchers estimate that Tylenol could potentially be responsible for up to four in 10 of all asthma symptoms in teens, including severe ones such as waking up gasping for air once a week or more. In a study, based on more than 320,000 teens from 50 countries, 11 per cent of children had breathing trouble. Teens who took Tylenol at least once a month -- one third overall, and more than four in 10 Americans -- doubled their odds of wheezing. (more)