Ethiopia plane crash: relatives wait for remains of loved ones – video

Warning: viewers may find some scenes distressing.

Distraught relatives of passengers and crew members killed in the Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crash have gathered at hotels in Addis Ababa to await news of their loved ones. The airline said relatives must wait at least five days before they begin to receive some victims' remains, while the identification of others is expected to take longer. The plane was on its way to Nairobi in Kenya from the Ethiopian capital when it crashed six minutes after takeoff early on Sunday. The cause has not yet been determined.

Who were the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash?

Continue reading...

Boeing and US under pressure to ground 737 Max as further bans brought in

Federal Aviation Administration increasingly isolated in maintaining plane is safe as EU countries halt flights

Boeing and the US aviation authorities have come under increasing pressure to ground the 737 Max despite repeated reassurances as the European Union and numerous other countries halted flights and Donald Trump weighed in following a second fatal crash involving the plane in less than five months.

US regulators, airlines and the manufacturer have become increasingly isolated in maintaining that the plane is safe.

Continue reading...

Ethiopia plane crash: what we know about the disaster so far – video

Investigations are under way after Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crashed shortly after taking off. The incident killed all 149 passengers and eight crew members onboard. The plane was on its way to Nairobi from Addis Ababa when it crashed six minutes after takeoff early on Sunday. The cause has not yet been determined

Continue reading...

Ethiopia plane crash: search operation continues at crash site – video

A search and rescue operation is in progress after the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 crashed, killing 149 passengers and eight crew members. The plane was on its way to Nairobi from Addis Ababa when it crashed six minutes after takeoff early on Sunday. The cause has not yet been determined

Continue reading...

Ethiopian Airlines crash: China grounds Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in wake of disaster

Chinese aviation regulator suspends operation of aircraft after second tragedy involving the new plane in four months

China’s aviation authorities have ordered the country’s airlines to ground their Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after a crash in Ethiopia killed 157 people.

The disaster was the second involving the new aircraft in the last four months. In October, a Lion Air plane crashed into the sea off the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, killing all 189 onboard.

Continue reading...

Ethiopian flight 302: second new Boeing 737 to crash in four months

Confidence that a newer plane inevitably means a safer plane in danger of being shaken

The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi is a tragedy that threatens to leave fresh questions hanging over the aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

Few details about the crash are yet available, but according to Ethiopian Airlines the pilot, who was experienced with an excellent flying record, reported difficulties and asked to turn back.

Continue reading...

Ethiopian Airlines Nairobi flight crashes with 157 onboard

Airline cannot confirm number of casualties after Boeing 737-800 MAX crashes 40 miles from Addis Ababa

An Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi crashed early on Sunday with 149 passengers and eight crew members aboard, a spokesman for the airline has said.

Flight ET 302 crashed near the town of Bishoftu, 40 miles south-east of the capital, Addis Ababa, the airline said, confirming the plane was a Boeing 737-800 MAX.

Continue reading...

UK museum agrees to return Ethiopian emperor’s hair

National Army Museum says it has agreed to a formal request for two locks of hair of Tewodros II

A British museum has agreed to repatriate to Ethiopia two locks of hair taken from the head of the 19th-century emperor Tewodros II.

The National Army Museum on Monday said it had agreed to a formal request for the return of objects “considered to be of cultural sensitivity to Ethiopian citizens”.

Continue reading...

‘We can’t end FGM without talking to men’ – in pictures

More than 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation and about 3 million more are at risk every year. Africa has the highest numbers, but its young people are fighting back

Photographs by the Girl Generation

Continue reading...

Why Africa’s ageing leaders are keeping a close watch on DRC power struggle

The long-awaited and controversial election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could set the tone for the rest of the continent, with fears that democracy may be the loser

After a tumultous week, the streets of the cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are likely to be quiet on Sunday as congregations file into churches to hear priests and preachers call for the Lord’s blessing on a troubled land.

Few doubt that the DRC is at a critical moment. The long-delayed elections that were finally held on 30 December could still be a turning point, leading the resource-rich nation to a better future. Or they could send the vast central African country, which has not known a peaceful transfer of power since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960, back into anarchy.

Continue reading...

The Guardian view on Ethiopia: change is welcome, but must be secured | Editorial

Though Abiy Ahmed’s record to date is impressive, the developments he has set in train need a proper political roadmap and institutional backing

Ethiopians could be forgiven for their scepticism when their new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, promised sweeping reforms last spring. The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition which appointed him toyed with change in 2005 – only to revert to its usual autocratic form. Now wariness has been replaced by genuine enthusiasm; the transformation is happening at dizzying speed. But the obstacles and perils are also clearer.

Mr Abiy, 42, has followed symbolic shifts with more substantive action. His president, chief justice and half of his ministers are female. He freed thousands of political prisoners and journalists, before arresting senior officials for human rights abuses and corruption. He overturned bans on opposition groups and invited an exiled dissident home to head the election board. The next polls are scheduled for 2020. Last time, not one opposition MP was elected. Mr Abiy’s overtures to Eritrea led to the end of a long-running conflict. He oversaw the meeting of South Sudanese leaders that produced a fragile but desperately needed peace deal. This – along with Eritrea’s ensuing rapprochement with Somalia and Djibouti – led the UN secretary general António Guterres to speak of “a wind of hope blowing in the Horn of Africa”.

Continue reading...

Homeless children struggle to survive on the streets of Ethiopia’s capital

Driven from their rural homes by family problems and lack of opportunity, more and more children are making for Addis Ababa. Alone and vulnerable, they receive no state support

Behind Addis Ababa’s most iconic public space, Meskel Square, down a cobblestone alleyway in the shadow of half-finished high-rises, lies a small corner of the Ethiopian capital known by locals as “DC”.

Nestled between cramped brothels and dimly lit bars, it consists of low-slung, tin-roofed dwellings containing rows of bunk beds. Each night, hundreds of homeless children come looking for a place to sleep, sometimes two to a mattress.

Continue reading...

Ethiopia’s reforming prime minister runs into a roadblock of…

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Fresh off a successful U.S. tour and string of daring political reforms at home, Ethiopia's youthful new prime minister is riding a wave of popularity in this strategic East African nation, the continent's second-largest. At the same time, however, the country has been racked by new outbreaks of ethnic unrest, with aid agencies reporting more than a million people driven from their homes just this year, mostly by violent conflict.

Ethiopia’s Peaceful Revolution

The uniquely African Empire of Ethiopia has seen itself launched into a peaceful revolution that promises to transform one of the planets poorest countries into a modern peoples democracy. Being that I have spent my entire life living by the principle of "political power grows from the barrel of a gun", or as Marx said, "Force is the midwife of change" to see a peaceful revolution next door in Ethiopia is almost to much to grasp hold of.

Goldstar Air, Ethiopian Airlines sign agreement for strategic partnership

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest aviation group in Africa and Goldstar Air, multiple award winner and wholly owned Ghanaian airline have signed an agreement for strategic partnership to use Ethiopian"s Maintenance Repair Organization . The MRO of Ethiopian Airlines has over 1,800 fully qualified technical staff and state of the art maintenance hangar and paint hangar facility certified by competent regulatory bodies like Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority , Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency .

Goldstar Air, Ethiopian Airlines sign agreement

Goldstar Air, a wholly Ghanaian owned airline is working to have its own Maintenance Repair Organization and Training School in Tamale soon. In the interim, the airline and Ethiopian Airlines have signed an agreement for it to use Ethiopian Airline's MRO to assist Goldstar Air.

A Moment of Significance and Opportunity for Ethiopia

Since November 2015 unprecedented protests have been taking place in Ethiopia: angry and frustrated at the widespread abuse of human rights and the centralization of power in the hands of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front tens of thousands have taken to the streets. The ruling party's response to this democratic outpouring has been consistently violent; hundreds have been killed and beaten by security forces, tens of thousands arrested and imprisoned.