Refugees in Ethiopia are to benefit from a US $1.7 million donation from the US government to help make up food shortages. The move follows appeals by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) which warned it may be forced to cut rations to thousands of refugees because of a shortfall. WFP said the drop in calories would have hit refugee women and children hardest. The pledge is part of a US $12.4 million donation to the World Food Programme to “fill critical gaps” in refugee feeding across Africa.

Ten people have been infected with anthrax following a fresh outbreak of the disease in eastern Ethiopia, officials told IRIN last Friday.

Melese Shine, editor-in-chief of the weekly "Ethiop", was released on bail of 12,000 birr (approx. US$1,440) on 25 June 2002. He had been detained since 19 March when he was charged with publishing and disseminating an article defaming the head of government, and publishing an interview with an alleged member of an illegal group. Gizaw Taye, the editor-in-chief of the "Lamrot" newspaper, was also released on bail on 24 June. He had been held since 15 March on press charges. It is estimated that there are at least 80 such cases waiting to go to trial involving journalists. Lubaba Said, the former editor-in-chief of the "Tarik" newspaper, continues to serve her one-year sentence handed down on 3 April for "fabricating news that could have a negative psychological effect on members of the armed forces and disturb the minds of the people".

Refugees in Ethiopia are to benefit from a US $1.7 million donation from the US government to help make up food shortages.

Since 1996, Save the Children Canada and UK have been jointly implementing a capacity building project with the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) of the Government of Ethiopia, to strengthen disaster management capacity. The Project Manager is responsible for overall leadership and management of the project, including project design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

About 500,000 people have been displaced in Afar and are migrating to neighboring regions as an imminent drought is just around the corner due to the failure of rains for the past two years.

The rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) last Friday denied claims by the Ethiopian army that it had "completely annihilated" separatist forces in the west of the country. "This is not the first time the Ethiopians have claimed total victory against our forces," OLF spokesman Lencho Bati told IRIN. "Our forces are intact." He admitted that OLF troops had sustained casualties in the fighting which has been raging in the Gambela region for the past two months when the OLF launched an offensive in the area.

The Ethiopian wolf - one of the rarest animals in the world - is being threatened by farmers using poisons to protect their livestock, campaigners told IRIN on Monday. It is the first time that the wolves, listed by the World Conservation Union as "critically endangered", have been killed as a result of poisoning. Conservationists blame poison for wiping out most other wildlife in the country, such as lions.

The United States has donated US $25,000 to restore one of Ethiopia’s most important religious temples. The restoring the sandstone shrine to its former glory might lead to a boost in tourism for the area. The pre-Christian temple, which dates back to 5th century BC, is now in ruins, but is the only remains of the former capital, which is close to Axum – Ethiopia’s holiest city.

Vultures circle overhead, waiting for new prey. In the blistering 40-degree heat and bone-dry conditions, it does not take long before another cow slumps dying to the ground. This is Lady - a tiny village in eastern Ethiopia and scene of a looming crisis. In the last 10 months the area has not seen a drop of rain. Cattle are dying, and the effects are now starting to hit the thousands of families in the area.

Most of Ethiopia's 65 million people are at "high risk" from HIV/AIDS, the world's most far-reaching-ever sexual survey has established. According to the study, most Ethiopians still fail to take precautions against contracting the disease which is devastating their country.

Ethiopia and Eritrea are to meet at a key summit which should "set the pace" for the peace process, the United Nations said last Friday. The two countries, which fought a bitter two-year war, are due to meet in The Hague later this month where the crucial border ruling over their disputed boundary was first announced.

Like most children in her village, Gechawa Gandesha laughs when she is asked why she will not go on to senior school. "It would take me almost a week to walk there," said the 14-year-old, who already walks more than four kilometres to her current school. Gechawa is at the top of her primary class, and longs to become a doctor. Her headmaster says she is more than capable of achieving that. But she lives in one of the remotest corners of Ethiopia, and schools are few and far between.

Bekele Sakuma is now hoping for calm and peace. Just four weeks ago he identified the body of his 17-year-old son, shot dead during clashes with security forces in the southern Ethiopian town of Awasa. "The hardest thing a father can do is pick his son out of a line of bodies," said Bekele, a 55-year-old security guard who lives in the nearby village of Loke. The village was where some 7,000 protesters gathered on 24 May before marching towards Awasa to demonstrate against a change in the town's status. Like many Sidamas - the ethnic group whose heartland surrounds Awasa - he believed that he might lose his land with impending political changes.

Women must seize the opportunity of equality and fight for their rights, the Ethiopian government urged on Monday. Without their full participation in society the country could never attain rapid and sustained development, the information ministry declared in a statement.

Stuart Williams is a leading British conservationist spearheading the fight to save two of Ethiopia's rarest animals, the Ethiopian Wolf and the Grevy Zebra, both of which face imminent extinction. Williams, who lives in the Bale Mountains, speaks of the importance of Ethiopia's wildlife, the role of its national and protected parks, and how sustainable development within the country is intertwined with conservation efforts.

An Ethiopian health official has disclosed that about 250,000 Ethiopian children are living with the HIV/AIDS due to mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of the virus.

Almost half of Africans have no access to clean running water, an international conference in Addis Ababa heard last week. Some 300 million people on the continent also have no access to sanitation facilities, a conference held by the Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) was told. It means that millions of people are at risk from serious diseases and infections such as cholera and dysentery.

More than 300 hundred Ethiopian doctors are reported to have left their country during the last 10 years, seeking better job opportunities in developed countries.

Ethiopia is aiming to extend an education programme for millions of children to ensure it meets the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.