Podcasts about Ogaden

“Growing up in Ogaden, I was surrounded by war - there was massacres and abuses. At a young age, I recall seeing looting and dead bodies everywhere. At the age of 12, I was arrested by government troops and imprisoned along with my whole family.”Ogaden, or the Somali region, is a remote area of Ethiopia – little known by much of the world. But in 1970s, Ethiopia and Somalia fought a war over it, and at the start of this century a conflict was waged between rebels from the Ogaden National Liberation Front and the central government . A peace agreement was finally reached in 2018 with the ONLF agreeing to give up their arms and the government pledging to allow them pursue their aims politically. But the ONLF now says it's reassessing the peace agreement, because the government hasn't fulfilled its side of the bargain. Today on Africa Daily, Alan gets the thoughts of a former rebel who set up a support group for her fellow female fighters, and from an academic who lays out why this dispute has proved so difficult to resolve. Producer: Mohamed Gabobe.

Content warning for discussion of genocide, torture, mutilation, rape, and slavery Hey, Hi, Hello, this is the History Wizard and welcome back for Day 15 of Have a Day w/ The History Wizard. Thank you to everyone who tuned in for Day 14 last week, and especially thank you to everyone who rated and/or reviewed the podcast. I hope you all learned something last week and I hope the same for this week. This week marks the 6th part of our mini series of currently ongoing genocides and humanitarian crises. Episode 2 was on Palestine, Episode 11 was on Congo, episode 12 was on Sudan, episode 13 was on Xinjiang, episode 14 was on Rakhine State, and today's episode will cover the genocide that is ongoing in Tigray in Ethiopia. Let's see what the Alchemist's Table has in store for us this time. Today's libation is called Memories of Summer. Muddle some mint and strawberries in the bottom of your shaker, add .5 oz of simple syrup, 2 oz of gunpowder gin, stir well for about 30 seconds before double straining over ice and topping with lemonade. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and enjoy. Now it's time for everyone's favorite part, it's time for the historical context. Tigray is both the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia, as well as an ethnicity. Tigray is known as the birthplace of Ethiopian civilization and their motto is “There is no mountain we would not climb.” That's fucking badass. When the Scramble for Africa began at the end of the 19th century CE barely 10% of africa was under EUropean colonial control, and by the time World War 1 broke out more than 90% of the country had been colonized, with only Liberia and Ethiopia remaining free states. While Ethiopia remained under its own sovereign control, this was in large part because they willingly allied themselves with Great Britain. In fact many Ethiopian troops fought on the side of Britain during the Mahdist War in Sudan that we discussed on Day 12. Part of Ethiopia's independence also came from their alliances with Italy. King Menelik II of Ethiopia signed the Treaty of Wuchale with Italy in 1889. This treaty guaranteed Ethiopian sovereignty as long as Italy could control areas north of Ethiopia's currently held territory (in areas that are now the nation of Eritrea) and in return Ethiopia would receive arms and munitions and Menelik would have Italian support as emperor. Menelik would remain emperor from 1889 until his death in 1913. Though, it is worth noting that Etiopia was only able to maintain its sovereignty because of their victory during the Italo-Ethiopian War that ran from January 1895 until October 1896. The beginning of Menelik's rule was marked by severe tragedy though as it coincided with the 1890s African rinderpest epizootic. Which is a very fancy way of saying that disease killed 90% of Ethiopia's cattle and that this, combined with a drought caused by reduced rainfall killed about 1/3rd of the country's population. The virus, known as Rinderpest, is potentially thought to have been introduced into Eritrea in 1887 by Indian cattle brought by the Italians for their campaign against Somalia. Lack of rainfall from as early as 16 November 1888 led to famine in all but southernmost provinces; locusts and caterpillar infestations destroy crops in Akele Guzay, Begemder, Shewa, and around Harar. Conditions worsened with a typhus epidemic, a major smallpox epidemic (1889–90), and cholera outbreaks (1889–92). Making the beginning of Melenik's rule really fucking bad. Near the end of his life Melenik was filled with with concern over issues of succession. He hadn't yet picked an heir and if he died without one his nation would descend into civil war and would become ripe for the picking for European colonial powers. He would eventually settle on one of his grandchildren Lij Iyasu, as his heir. Iyasu would only reign for about 3 years before being deposed on charges of converting to Islam. Ethiopia had been a Christian kingdom since King Ezana of the Aksumite Empire adopted Christianity as the official religion in the 4th century CE. There's no definitive proof that Iyasu converted to Islam at any point in his life, but there was enough “proof” that everyone felt comfortable stipping him of authority and giving it to Haile Selassie. He served as the Regent for Empress Zedwditu from 1916 until her death in 1930, and after her death served as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 until he was deposed in 1974 by the Derg following the 1973 oil crisis. Derg or Dergue is Amharic (a Semitic language descended from Ge'ez, which is the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It translates as committee or council. Now, Ethiopia would fall under partial Italian control during the 1930s as part of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War between Fascist Italy and Ethiopia, and while Italy would have some successes during this war, they'd never attain full control over Ethiopia, making Ethiopia the only African nation to not ever fall under colonial control. Some would argue that Liberia would fall under that umbrella as well, but considering that Liberia, as a nation, was artificially created by the US as a place for freed slaves to return to, I don't think it qualifies. Haile Selassie as the emperor of Ethiopia would be one of the founding members of the United Nations. Haile Selassie's rule ended on 12 September 1974, when he was deposed by the Derg, a committee made up of military and police officers. After the execution of 60 former government and military officials, the new Provisional Military Administrative Council abolished the monarchy in March 1975 and established Ethiopia as a Marxist-Leninist state. The abolition of feudalism, increased literacy, nationalization, and sweeping land reform including the resettlement and villagization from the Ethiopian Highlands became priorities. Mengistu Haile Mariam would become the ruler of Ethiopia following the fall of Haile Selassie until in May 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) forces advanced on Addis Ababa from all sides, and Mengistu fled the country with 50 family and Derg members. He was granted asylum in Zimbabwe as an official guest of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Now the period of Derg rule is also known as the Ethiopian Civil War. It lasted from 1974 until 1991. The Derg in its attempt to introduce full-fledged socialist ideals, fulfilled its main slogan of "Land to the Tiller", by redistributing land in Ethiopia that once belonged to landlords to the peasants tilling the land. Although this was made to seem like a fair and just redistribution, the mismanagement, corruption, and general hostility to the Derg's violent and harsh rule coupled with the draining effects of constant warfare, separatist guerrilla movements in Eritrea and Tigray, resulted in a drastic decline in general productivity of food and cash crops. Although Ethiopia is often prone to chronic droughts, no one was prepared for the scale of drought and the 1983–1985 famine that struck the country in the mid-1980s, in which 400,000–590,000 people are estimated to have died.  Hundreds of thousands fled economic misery, conscription and political repression, and went to live in neighboring countries and all over the Western world, creating an Ethiopian diaspora community for the first time in its history. Insurrections against the Derg's rule sprang up with ferocity, particularly in the northern regions of Tigray and Eritrea which sought independence and in some regions in the Ogaden. The Ethiopian Civil War left at least 1.4 million people dead, with 1 million related to famine and the remainder from violence and conflicts, which is one third of population.  In July 1991, the EPRDF convened a National Conference to establish the Transitional Government of Ethiopia composed of an 87-member Council of Representatives and guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution. In 1994, a new constitution was written that established a parliamentary republic with a bicameral legislature and a judicial system. Mengistu's authoritarian military regime faced organized opposition for all of its fourteen years of rule. Opposition groups including the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP), a rival Marxist–Leninist group, and the Tigray-based Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, a coalition of ethnic democratic forces, led armed resistance to the Derg in a conflict known as the Ethiopian Civil War. The Derg used violence, commonly enacted through military campaigns, to suppress dissidents. In 1976, the Derg instigated the Qey Shibir (Ethiopian Red Terror), a violent political repression campaign targeting the EPRP.  Under Mengistu's leadership, the Derg did not only rely on state personnel to carry out the Qey Shibir; it also armed militias and civilian supporters and granted "genuine revolutionaries and patriots" impunity, further localizing state violence.  The Qey Shibir resulted in 50,000 fatalities.  In addition, many victims of the Qey Shibir were subjected to torture, exile, and sexual assault. The Qey Shibir and the 1983-1985 famine, an event partly created and exacerbated by the government's military policies, increased popular support for the EPRDF, which successfully overthrew Mengistu's regime in 1991. As we entered the 21st century ethnic tensions began to increase between the people of northern Ethiopia, specifically in the Tigray region and the rest of the nation.  Data from the Minorities at Risk (MAR) project were used by Charles E. Riddle to study the degrees of discrimination by the dominant Amharas against the non-dominant ethnic groups in Ethiopia from 1950 to 1992, during the later reign of Emperor Haile Selassie and that of Mengistu Haile Mariam of the Derg. Amharas dominated during the Haile Selassie epoch.  Systematic discrimination against Afars occurred throughout the period. Tigrayans were initially culturally assimilated with the Amharas, speaking Amharic, and suffered little discrimination. Under the Haile Selassie government, the Oromo language was legally banned from education, public speaking and use in administration. During the Haile Selassie regime, the Harari people were persecuted. The imperial forces ordered the confiscation of Harari property and mass arrests of Harari men, as a result an estimated 10,000 Hararis fled their homeland in 1948. The Derg culturally rejected the Tigrayans, who decreased their usage of Amharic, reverting to Tigrinya, and discrimination against the Tigrayans became strong. Eritreans, treated by MAR and Riddle as an ethnic group, and Somalis were strongly discriminated against throughout the period. The Oromos were initially strongly discriminated against, but adopted Amharic as their official language when the Derg came to power, and discrimination against them dropped. Both the Haile Selassie and the Derg governments relocated numerous Amharas into southern Ethiopia where they served in government administration, courts, church and even in school, where Oromo texts were eliminated and replaced by Amharic. In the aftermath of the Ogaden War during the 70s, Hararis, Somalis and Oromo Muslims were targeted by the Derg Government. This leads us to needing to talk about the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front. The Tigray People's Liberation Front, also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist, paramilitary group, and the former ruling party of Ethiopia. The TPLF was in charge of Ethiopia from the time the Derg was overthrown in 1991 until 2018. Now it's finally time to get to the beginnings of the Tigray Wart and the Tigray genocide. To do that we need to discuss the 2020 Tigray regional election. As we stated previously, Tigray is a regional state of Ethiopia, and in 2020 Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia postponed the 2020 general election over concerns of COVID 19. Tigray decided to hold their elections anyway, regardless of the proclamation made by Ahmed. Their election was considered illegal by the Ethiopian federal government. The TPLF won 98.2 percent of the vote. After years of increased tensions and hostilities between the TPLF and the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea, fighting began when TPLF forces attacked the Northern Command headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), alongside a number of other bases in Tigray. The ENDF counterattacked from the south – while Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) began launching attacks from the north – which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described as a "law enforcement operation". The war officially ended in November 2022. On 2 November 2022, the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leaders signed a peace accord, with the African Union as a mediator, and agreed on "orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament". The agreement was made effective the next day on 3 November, marking the two-year anniversary of the war. As part of this process, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed TPLF's Getachew Reda as head of the Interim Regional Administration of Tigray, and the Ethiopian parliament removed the TPLF from its terrorism list. But where does the Tigray Genocide come into play? Why are we talking about this civil war in this podcast? Let's get into it. Issued on Tuesday, June 4th  by the United States-based New Lines Institute, aa 120-page draft quotes multiple, widespread and credible independent reports that Ethiopian forces and their allies carried out “acts constituting the crime of genocide” during the conflict, which ran between 2020-22. The authors call for Ethiopia to be brought before the International Court of Justice. In a report issued in September 2023, the United Nations said war crimes and crimes against humanity were still being committed nearly a year after government and Tigrayan regional forces agreed to end the fighting. It says the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), alongside the allied Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) and assorted regional militia “possessed the intent to destroy Tigrayans as an ethnic group”. At least four acts constituting the crime of genocide are noted in the report: killing Tigrayans, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life upon Tigrayans calculated to bring about their destruction, and imposing measures intended to prevent births among Tigrayans. Additionally, the finger is pointed at social media posts made by “certain individuals” that constitute public incitement to genocide. Ethiopia, which has been accused of seeking to prevent international scrutiny, has repeatedly denied that its forces carried out war crimes during the conflict. Eritrea has claimed such accusations against it are defamatory. However, the new report, which took two years to compile and features the contribution of dozens of legal experts, backs up the findings of the UN by stating that there is “reasonable basis to believe” that the countries are responsible for war crimes and/or crimes against humanity. In conclusion, the authors call on the international community to put pressure on Ethiopia via bilateral relations, as well as bringing the country before the ICJ. The war had a devastating impact on the healthcare system of Tigray; of the 853 health facilities in the region, 86% were at least partially damaged; 232 of them were left "completely unusable", and 28 were destroyed entirely. It also led to a higher rate of maternal and infant mortality in the Tigray Region. In a study funded by UNFPA Ethiopia and UNICEF Ethiopia, it was estimated that maternal mortality rates had increased from 186 deaths per 100,000 people pre-war to 840 deaths per 100,000 people post-war. According to Tigrayan health official Tsegay Gidey, 81% of mothers in the Seharti Samre woreda had birth defects, and 32 newborn infants had died between January–June 2023. Although the war largely came to a halt after the peace agreement was signed, Eritrea continues to occupy parts of Tigray as of mid-2023. The EDF has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in northern Ethiopia since November 2022; from 17 to 25 November alone, Eritrea was reported to have destroyed 241 houses and killed at least 111 people. by 30 December, it was estimated that Eritrean and Amhara forces killed 3,700 since the signing of the peace deal. The Tigray Health Bureau noted that 852 cases of rape and sexual assault were reported between November and December 2022; according to aid workers and interviews with survivors, most of these were committed by Eritrean forces. As of January 2023, over half of Irob district was occupied by Eritrea. Irob advocacy groups and former residents have described it as a "de-facto annexation" of the area. A religious Irob leader told The Guardian in August 2023 that Eritrea was blocking off international aid to the area, and lamented that "there has been no improvement for us since the peace."  In January 2024, Human Rights Watch reported that authorities and regional forces were still forcibly expelling Tigrayans from their homes in the Western Tigray Zone, which is largely inaccessible to humanitarian agencies. Additionally, nearly 40% of the Tigrayan population is suffering from extreme food shortages, a situation made worse by the World Food Program's suspension of aid deliveries in May 2023. All the available evidence points to a continued genocide against the Tigray people from the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea as they as systematically denied food, water and access to medical care.  The Tigray Genocide is often described as “The War The World Forgot”, and based on the West's general attitude towards Africa this feels right. Especially when I account for the fact that I, a genocide studies scholar didn't even know about the Tigray Genocide until 2024. I account this a failure on my part, but also on the part of the global mainstream media that this never even came across any of the news websites I frequent, nor the social media websites I, more often, get reputable news from. That's it for this week folks. No new reviews, so let's get right into the outro. Have a Day! w/ The History Wizard is brought to you by me, The History Wizard. If you want to see/hear more of me you can find me on Tiktok @thehistorywizard or on Instagram @the_history_wizard. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe to Have a Day! On your pod catcher of choice. The more you do, the more people will be able to listen and learn along with you. Thank you  for sticking around until the end and, as always, Have a Day, and Free Tigray.          

Diving deeper into the larger story of his time in the Ogaden region of the Ethiopian desert, Nik shares one of the most miraculous encounters he's ever experienced. "Are you the one? Have you come?" Nik asks this question of listeners who might need spiritual motivation to be the one who offers hope and truth in the darkest times of peoples lives.

Making Peace Visible is a show about how the media covers peace and conflict. One of the major reasons we make it is because peace gets so little coverage in the news media. When we do hear news about peace, it's usually focused on signing an agreement. When that's done, the cameras, and the world's attention move on.  But that handshake moment is just a fragment in a peace process. It often takes years of building trust and openness between warring parties to get to an agreement. And then more years after, to transition from violent conflict towards a political process; and see if peace can stick, and whether the grievances that led to war in the first place are being addressed.  The slow speed and complexity of these processes may not lend themselves to mainstream news formats. But they are happening, and we're missing out on valuable lessons in reconciliation that can be adapted to other conflicts around the world.  That's why we invited Jonathan Cohen, executive director of the peacebuilding organization Conciliation Resources, or CR. In this episode, he shares stories from two ongoing peace processes: In Ethiopia, an ethnic Somali state called Ogaden. And on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, a new autonomous region called Bangsamoro.  You'll also hear about CR's work in Nagorno-Karabakh, where journalists from both sides – Armenian and Azeri – collaborated to make documentaries about that conflict. And we'll discuss why this kind of storytelling still matters, even after most of the region's Armenians were displaced during an Azerbaijani offensive in September 2023.LEARN MOREParts of a Circle: Nagorny Karabakh conflict documentary series (Scroll to bottom to watch 2019 Summary Film)Ethiopia: persisting with peace – short film about Ogaden peace processSouthern Philippines: Making Peace Stick in the Bangsamoro – May 2023 Crisis Group reportMusic in this episode by Bill Vortex ABOUT THE SHOWMaking Peace Visible is a project of War Stories Peace Stories. Making Peace Visible is hosted by Jamil Simon and produced by Andrea Muraskin, with help from Faith McClure. Learn more at warstoriespeacestories.org. Support this show and the War Stories Peace Stories project

NAPOLI (ITALPRESS) - Cerimonia di avvicendamento al Comando Interregionale Carabinieri “Ogaden”: al Generale di Corpo d'Armata, Andrea Rispoli, subentra il Generale Antonio De Vita, proveniente dal Comando della Legione Lazio. Il passaggio di consegne è avvenuto a Napoli, nella sede del Comando Legione Campania, alla presenza del Comandante Generale dell'Arma, Generale di Corpo d'Armata, Teo Luzi. xc9/pc/gsl

Jacopo Storni"Fratelli"Viaggio al termine dell'AfricaCastelvecchi Editorehttp://www.castelvecchieditore.com/Giunto in Etiopia per testimoniare i massacri dell'esercito nella regione dell'Ogaden, Jacopo Storni viene arrestato senz'accuse dai militari. Una prigionia condivisa con Mohamed, il ragazzo etiope di etnia somala che l'aveva accompagnato come interprete.Sono giorni tra la vita e la morte. I due coetanei, uno nato in Africa e l'altro nel benessere occidentale, esorcizzano la paura parlando dei loro mondi agli antipodi. Ne nascono riflessioni sul senso della vita, in un confronto perpetuo tra Africa e Occidente. Poi la liberazione.Ma dieci anni dopo, per caso, Storni scopre la verità: Mohamed non è mai stato liberato. Attanagliato dai sensi di colpa e spinto dal desiderio di riabbracciare il suo compagno di cella, inizia una disperata ricerca. Con un sogno: cambiare la vita di Mohamed.Jacopo StorniGiornalista, scrive sul «Corriere della Sera» e su «Redattore Sociale». Nell'ambito delle sue inchieste giornalistiche, ha scoperto il caporalato nel Chianti, e rivelato il respingimento dei migranti tra Italia, Francia e Austria, e lo sfruttamento del lavoro nelle fabbriche toscane che producono per i marchi della moda. Ha fondato l'associazione Global Friends ed è direttore del blog «Storie di Firenze». Autore di libri sul tema dell'immigrazione, con Castelvecchi ha pubblicato L'Italia siamo noi (2016) e Siamo tutti terroristi (2018).IL POSTO DELLE PAROLEascoltare fa pensarehttps://ilpostodelleparole.it/

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://eagleeyelens.blog/2022/03/23/american-company-to-assess-estimate-and-certify-ogaden-oil-gas-reserves/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/eagleeyelens/message

Somali freelance journalist Mohamed joins this episode for a critical focus on Somaliahttp://halganmedia.net/https://twitter.com/Free_SomaliweynCan you explain your take on the anti-colonial history of Somalis against various colonial power and how that shaped Somali nationalism from then to now?How do you feel about the influence of Saudi Arabia and sponsorship of the Whabbist/Salafist line in Somalia as a counter against Somalia nationalists aligned with egalitarian or socialist Islam tendencies?What is your view on the history of Ogaden and the Somali region in Ethiopia?How do you view Turkish/NATO presence in Somalia?How do you view the question of Somaliland and the current efforts to instigate tension by London/Washington via Taiwan vs China?Can you explain the events that led to rise of the ICU to crush warlords in Somalia prior 2007?Why do you feel Eritrean and Somalis are closer when recognizing the danger of Abyssinia Fundamentalism?How do you feel about federalism vs centralized state in Somalia and the role of Melez Zenawi to create that 4-1 clan system of model?Your view of the TPLF role in the 90s era in prolonging anarchy and war lorsDo you feel Somalia is ignored by the left in media spaces in comparison to Ethiopia? Both Somalia and Eritrea were sanctioned the last 18 years but we didnt see that focus but now Ethiopia is the focus.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/horn-of-africa-leftists/donations

On this day in 44 B.C.E., Julius Caesar was assassinated. / On this day in 1978, the last of significant unit of Somali troops withdrew from Ogaden. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Although Idriss is from Kenya, his roots are Somali. Through the course of research for this episode, I learned that Somali people occupy all of Somalia, Somaliland, the northern part of Djibouti, north-western Kenya, and the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. Somalis practice Islam which has been an integral part of society for 14 centuries. It is a major influence in their daily lives as you will hear from Idriss' story.I love how I never know where my conversations will go with each of my guests. Although I have questions prepared ahead of time, I love staying open to the flow of conversation that happens organically. That was definitely the case during my time with Idriss. In today's episode, Idriss explains in detail the religious education children in his community received. He speaks with such appreciation and adoration of this training that I gained a new admiration for something I previously knew nothing about. We also tackle the importance of education and being kind to strangers. I love seeing the world through Idriss' eyes.We could have talked for hours. Actually, we did, but we only recorded a small sample of our time together. It was such a delight to get to know this wise young man and to listen to his perspectives on everything from politics to soccer and slavery to MLK jr.  My most valuable lesson came when Idriss said he was most thankful for his mother. I was stunned, it was not the answer I was expecting. It was apparent that the absence of his mother in his life from the age of 8 onward left a gaping void. Yet the paradox is that it also enabled the family to have greater upward mobility. I can't imagine how that sacrifice felt for his mother. Yet, Iat that tender age, Idriss already had eyes to see that out of something bad, something good can arise. He chose thankfulness for his mother's immense sacrifice. He didn't blame her because he knew it was for the greater good. He is passionate, teachable, wise, and eager to help and learn. It became apparent to me early on that Idriss truly lives as Rumi, the 13th century theologian declares so poetically, "Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor." From his contagious smile, out-going personality, alacrity to help where needed, ability to express himself and be a voice for the voiceless, and his immense gratitude for life, I am a better person for having met Idriss and learned from how he lives his life. May we all choose to live as though life was rigged in our favor.Idriss' quote:  Patience is more bitter than absinthe oil, but when it pays it is sweeter than honey.Idriss' Published Article: https://www.greeleytribune.com/2019/08/13/idriss-siyat-we-have-a-white-supremacy-gun-problem/Article featuring Idriss: https://www.greeleytribune.com/2020/07/11/immigrant-and-refugee-center-and-high-plains-library-district-recognized-for-work-during-pandemic/Article featuring Idriss: https://www.greeleytribune.com/2020/03/16/census-participation-vital-for-immigrant-refugee-communities/Somali People: https://theculturetrip.com/africa/articles/an-introduction-to-the-somali-people/Somaliahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia and Islam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia

Image: Painting by Najma Ahmed, founder of Nujuum Arts. Based in Mogadishu and Hargaisa. Somalia/ somaliland. More information available here: https://web.marcelforart.com/nujuum_hashi/about The geopolitical conditions within which Somalia was born cannot be divorced from the conditions that institutionalized themselves in 1884/85 at what has come to be called the Scramble for Africa at the conference convened in Berlin, the Congo Conference. During the Conference where European white supremacist decided it was their right to divide the lands to which they had no affinity other than economic motives, the geographical region of Somalia was divided into three parts: British & Italian Somalia [gaining independence 1960—immediately untied, forming greater Somalia], and French Somalia [gaining independence in 1977, becoming Djibouti]. Other historical influences that produced current Somalia, are located in the conditions that surround the periods when the Ethiopian Empire took over [Ogaden] and Kenya took over [Northern Frontier District] regions. These historical conditions bolstered by exacerbating and fomenting divisions among the various groups of people who live in the region are important to understand as they directly impact the environments within which the people live today. To erroneously label Somalia as a fail state, instead of a collapsed state, distorts the how and why the region is in a state of intentional conflict accelerated at the behest of Western foreign capitalist interest that have historical roots in the many attempts to control the region; that is the wars between European cultural groups and the sociopolitical, cultural ‘Others' they created as their ‘enemies'. To be clear, upon closer analysis the real threat of the region is the fact that the people of Somalia are really showing that the nation state is not the only system upon which peoples can organize themselves. What do I mean, the people in the region have been functioning against the imposition of foreign structures that have cause internal conflict for over 30+ years. If left to organize themselves on the trajectory they were ancestrally on before the intentional and aggressive efforts of Western nations to destabilize the region for its own economic and geopolitical ends, Somalia as we know it would be what it once was erroneously labelled, the Switzerland of Africa. The reason I say erroneously labeled [but still useful to highlight the point]; the model of peaceful sociopolitical organization should not be limited to a European nation. This label, also, dismisses the deep logics and sociopolitical histories of African peoples who organized themselves into civilizations before the creation of the nation state. These histories and logics are in the ancestral membrane of the people. And the peoples of Somalia, despite the distorted narrative and images are exemplar to this fact [https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2016/10/somalia-forgotten-story-161027115655140.html]. Today, AWNP's, Mwiza Munthali is in conversation with, Mr. Abukar Arman. Abukar Arman is a former diplomat, once serving as Somalia's Special Envoy to the US. As a Somali political analyst, he is widely published on issues related to foreign policy, Islam, the Horn of Africa, and extremism among other topics. Our show was produced today in solidarity with the Native/Indigenous, African, and Afro Descendant communities at Standing Rock; Venezuela; Cooperation Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi; Brazil; the Avalon Village in Detroit; Colombia; Kenya; Palestine; South Africa; and Ghana and other places who are fighting for the protection of our land for the benefit of all peoples!

Why the World Health Organization Deserves Our Distrust Richard Gale & Gary Null PhD Progressive Radio Network, May 8, 2020   Many more questions are being raised than there are answers being discovered concerning the recent strains of coronavirus. Where and how did it originate? Was it the result of human engineering and manipulation or is it a strain that mutated naturally?  What are the best tests to determine exposure and infection? Why are so many infected individuals asymptomatic? Are all elderly people equally susceptible to infection and how much do co-morbidities determine outcomes? These are just several of the important questions that still require definitive answers. The ultimate international authority for infectious diseases is the World Health Organization (WHO). Because of its acceptance by the world's national governments, it has been extremely successful in its mission. The WHO is the final word in determining whether the spread of a serious pathogen is ruled as a pandemic or not. For the majority of the medical community, the media and the average person, the WHO is the front line command post for medical prevention (i.e., vaccination) and treatment.  Consequently it's rulings are often regarded as the gold standard by which many nations design their health policies and intervening protocols to protect their citizens.  On matters of global health, the WHO holds dominance. We are currently being told by the Director General of the WHO that the solutions for curtailing the COVID-19 pandemic are self-isolation, distancing, masks, and, for those in acute stages of infection, ventilation. To date there is no drug that has been found to be universally safe and effective. Therefore, all efforts, with massive funding, are being devoted to rapidly get a coronavirus vaccine on the market.  And in this effort, the WHO is a close ally and advocate in the US's federal health system, notably the CDC and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci. Most people assume the WHO acts independently from private commercial and national government interests for the welfare of the world's population. However, at best this is an assumption. Moreover, the very legitimacy of the WHO as a gold standard of health is questionable. The organization has been accused of conflicts of interests with private pharmaceutical companies and mega-philanthropic organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as being riddled with political alliances, ideologies, and profiteering motives.  An article in the National Review called the WHO "scandal plagued" with "wasteful spending, utter disregard for transparency, pervasive incompetence, and failure to adhere to even basic democratic standards." We would also add that its level of incompetence has resulted in serious misinformation about the medical risks of vaccines and other health-threatening chemicals.  For example, during the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the organization reported it could not find any evidence of human transmission. Now we know it is perhaps the most transmittable respiratory viral infection encountered in modern medical history. Given the halls of power within the WHO, we are outlining some of the more salient reasons why the organization's declarations about infectious diseases, pandemics and vaccination should not entirely be trusted. Vaccine Promotional Misconduct Very few will know that for a long time, the WHO's recommendations for certain vaccines were kept secret. Writing in a 2006 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Marc Girard uncovered "scientific incompetence, misconduct or even criminal malfeasance" over the intentional inflation of vaccines' benefits while undermining toxicity and adverse effects. Dr. Girard was called upon as a medical expert by the French courts in a criminal trial against the WHO after French health officials obliged the organization to launch its universal Hepatitis B vaccine campaign. The campaign resulted in the deaths of French children.  Consequently, Girard gained access to confidential WHO documents. He notes that the WHO's "French figures about chronic liver diseases were simply extrapolated from the U.S. reports." He further accused the WHO serving "merely as a screen for commercial promotion, in particular via the Viral Hepatitis Prevention Board (VHPB), which was created, sponsored, and infiltrated by the manufacturers." Orchestration of Pandemic Panics Before the current COVID-19 pandemic, there was the H1N1 swine flu scare in 2009 that came and went as a church mouse. However, at the very start the WHO's fear mongering of a global contagion that could exceed the death counts of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was based on false assumptions.  The fabrications are believed to have originated from the WHO's senior consultant on viral outbreaks who happens to be one of the world's leading pandemic alarmists: Dr. Albert Osterhaus who carries the nickname "Dr. Flu." Osterhaus is head of the Department of Virology at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. At the time of the H1N1 pandemic, he was the president of the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza (ESWI), an organization funded by the major vaccine manufacturers including Baxter, MedImmune, Glaxo, Sanofi Pasteur and others. It is ESWI's agenda to vaccinate the entire world against the swine flu. It was also Osterhaus who transformed an otherwise potentially bad flu season into a global pandemic. The WHO has been criticized harshly in the media for changing the definition of a "pandemic" and in doing so has been charged with benefitting the pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, the British Medical Journal reported that the WHO failed to report conflicts of interest in its H1N1 advisory group. The journal's Editor-in-Chief Fiona Godlee wrote, "WHO must act now to restore its credibility, and Europe should legislate." According to a financial forecast published by JP Morgan, the collaboration between the WHO and Osterhaus's ESWI to orchestrate the pandemic would have profited the pharmaceutical industry up to $10 billion. The popular German magazine Der Spiegel reported: “The WHO and those in charge of public health, the virologists and the pharmaceutical laboratories....  created a whole system around the imminence of a pandemic. There is a lot of money at stake, as well as networks of influence, careers and whole institutions! And the minute one of the flu viruses mutates we'd see the whole machine roll into action.” Epidemic of Conflict of Interests According to former World Bank geopolitical analyst Peter Koenig, about half of the WHO's budget is derived from private sources -- primarily pharmaceutical companies but also other corporate sectors including the telecommunication and agro-chemical industries. It also receives large donations from large philanthropic organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is believed, according to Koenig, that the appointment of the WHO's current Director General, Dr. Tedro Adhanom, was due to Gates' influence. Tedros is the former Chairman of Gates funded GAVI Vaccine Alliance. GAVI's sole mission is to vaccinate every child in the world. The WHO and the US and British governments are the primary partners and the largest funder is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. There is in our opinion little doubt that the WHO is another one of Gates' bought off entities for furthering his personal agenda to promote vaccines, genetically modified seeds and chemical agriculture in the developing world. Barbara Loe Fisher at the National Vaccine Information Center estimates that "only about 10 percent of total funding provided by Gavi ($862M) was used to strengthen health systems in developing countries, such as improving sanitation and nutrition, while nearly 80 percent was used to purchase, deliver and promote vaccines." The WHO as America's Poodle According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's fact sheet for the US government and WHO, the US is the largest contributor to the global organization. The CDC also provides its technical support and has liaisons at the WHO's Geneva headquarters and regional offices. In summary, there is a strong rationale to suggest that the WHO, aside from its global health programs in other countries, is largely doing the bidding of the US government to advance corporate interests and American neoliberal hegemony. Vaccine Adverse Effects Monitoring System Needs Overhaul The WHO's Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety is the group responsible for administering vaccine programs in poorer, developing countries. It is also responsible for gathering data on incidents of vaccine injuries. Any deaths following vaccination campaigns are ignored and ruled as coincidental. This policy is based on the erroneous assumption that if no one died during a vaccine's clinical trials, then the vaccine should be regarded as automatically safe and unrelated to any deaths that might occur. Consequently, the WHO's monitoring system is seriously flawed and requires a major overhaul. One of the more controversial incidences is the WHO's collaboration with the Bill Gates funded GAVI Vaccine Alliance campaign to launch the pentavalent vaccine (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, HIP and Hepatitis B)  in Africa and later in South and Southeast Asia. In India, health officials recorded upwards to 8,190 additional infant deaths annually following pentavalent vaccination.  The WHO response was to reclassify its adverse event reporting system to disregard "infant" deaths altogether. Dr. Jacob Puliyel, a member of the Indian government's National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization concluded, “deaths and other serious adverse events following vaccination in the third world, that use WHO-AEFI classification are not recorded in any database for pharmacovigilance. It is as if the deaths of children in low (and middle) income countries are of no consequence.” The WHO's Director General's Troubled Past Given the enormous number of experts in infectious disease and control, it is astounding that the WHO's current Director General is Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus. He was a leading politician in the militant communist Tigray People's Liberation Front that ruled Ethiopia between 1991 to 2018.  Tedros served dual roles as the country's Health and Foreign Minister. According to the British journalist Thomas Mountain, who has lived in neighboring Eritrea for many years and has reported on the corrupt Tigray regime, Tedros had a direct role in the atrocities alleged to have been committed by the government.  It was Tedros who has been reported to have been responsible for the removal of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders following Ethiopia's brutal massacre of Ogaden citizens in Somalia, which was immediately followed by a cholera outbreak. As noted above, his approval to head of the organization may likely have been vetted by Bill Gates. Looking back at his past three years at the WHO, Mountain remarks, "For almost three years he remained quiet about the almost total lack of preparation at the WHO for what numerous panels had warned was inevitable, a highly contagious and deadly virus quickly spreading across the world." WHO's Depopulation Efforts with Vaccines Without doubt, the most nefarious activity conducted by the WHO is its alleged support and distribution of vaccines to poorer developing countries that may have been intentionally designed to decrease population rates.  Back in 1989, the WHO sponsored a symposium at its Geneva headquarters on "Antifertility Vaccines and Contraceptive Vaccines." The symposium presented proposals for vaccines that were later discovered to have been laced with the sterilizing hormones HCG and estradiol; the former prevents pregnancy and triggers spontaneous abortions and miscarriages, and the latter can turn men infertile.  In 2015, the Kenyan Conference of Catholic Bishops reported its discovery of a polio vaccine laced with estradiol that was manufactured in India and distributed by the WHO. A year earlier, Dr. Wahome Ngare from the Kenyan Catholic Doctors Association uncovered a tetanus vaccine specifically being administered to women, also distributed by the WHO, that contained the HCG hormone. All of the polio vaccine samples tested contained HCG, estrogen-related compounds, follicle stimulating and luteinizing hormones, which will damage sperm formation in the testes. Even more disturbing, this vaccine was going to be administered to children under five years of age. However, this is not the first time the WHO appears to have made efforts to use vaccination campaigns for depopulation.  A decade earlier, in 2004, the WHO, UNICIF and CDC launched a vaccination campaign to immunize 74 million African children during a polio outbreak. The initiative encountered a serious obstacle. In Nigeria, laboratory tests on the WHO's vaccine samples resulted in the presence of estrogen and other female hormones. And in the mid-1990s, a tetanus vaccine being administered to Nicaraguan and Filipino girls and women in their child-bearing years was discovered to contain HCG, which accounted for a large number of spontaneous abortions that were reported by Catholic health workers. Illegal Vaccine Experiments In 2014, The Economic Times of India published a report that provided details of a joint venture between the WHO and the Gates Foundation to test an experimental HPV vaccine on approximately 16,000 tribal girls between the ages of 9 and 15 unwittingly. The experiment was conducted in 2008, and the vaccine is now what we commonly know as Gardasil. Many of the girls, the report states, became ill and some died. The following year the WHO and Gates Foundation conducted a similar experiment on 14,000 girls with the HPV vaccine Cervarix. Again "scores of teenage girls were hospitalized."  Investigations led by Indian health officials uncovered gross violations in India's laws regarding medical safety. In numerous cases there was no consent and the children had no idea what they were being vaccinated for. The Indian Supreme Court has taken up a case against the duo for criminal charges. WHO's Double Standards of Vaccine Safety A more recent scandal erupted during the WHO's Global Vaccine Safety Summit convened in December 2019.  Days before the summit, one of the WHO's medical directors for vaccination, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, appeared in a public advertisement touting the unquestionable safety of vaccines and ridiculing parents who speak out against vaccination. She assured viewers that the WHO was in control of matters and monitored any potential adverse risks carefully. However, during the Summit, the same Dr. Swaminathan acknowledged vaccine health risks and stated, "We really don't have very good safety monitoring systems." Another Summit participant, Dr. Heidi Larson stated, "We have a very wobbly ‘health professional frontline' that is starting to question vaccines and the safety of vaccines. When the frontline professionals are starting to question or they don't feel like they have enough confidence about the safety to stand up to the person asking the questions. I mean most medical school curriculums, even nursing curriculums, I mean in medical school you are lucky if you have half a day on vaccines.” And more noteworthy were the statements by Dr. Martin Howell Friede, Coordinator of the WHO's Initiative for Vaccine Research, "... I give courses every year on how do you develop vaccines, how do you make vaccines. And the first lesson is while you're making your vaccine if you can avoid using an adjuvant please do so. Lesson two is if you're going to use an adjuvant use one that has a history of safety. And lesson three is if you're not going to do that, think very carefully." In other words, what the WHO presents to the public contradicts what is discussed behind closed doors, another example of the veil of secrecy the organization operates within. Suppression of the Dangers of Depleted Uranium The use of depleted uranium pervades military missiles and bombs. Tons of depleted uranium were deployed during the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.  It is estimated that the US fired over 300,000 rounds of depleted uranium, or 1,000 tons, during the 2003 Iraq war. In both countries, the WHO has been very active in providing health needs to the populations affected.  However, in regions where bombing was most intense, such as in Fallujah Iraq, there has been a high prevalence of congenital birth defects. This was uncovered by an on-the-ground investigation conducted by the Brussels Tribunal.  According to a BBC documentary, there is no longer any doubt about depleted uranium's association with genetic damage and birth defects.  According to an article published in the British Medical Journal in 2013, the WHO intentionally suppressed the scientific evidence .  The question remains why?  Hans von Sponeck, a former Assistant Secretary General for the United Nations has suggested that "the US government sought to prevent WHO from surveying areas in southern Iraq where DU has been used and caused serious health and environmental dangers."  Here we find a likely case of the WHO doing the bidding of the US government and its military adventures in regime change. There are many other questionable activities that the WHO has been involved with over the years. However, the above provide sufficient evidence to argue the case that, at least within the upper echelons of the WHO, global health does not stand in high priority.  The organization employs over 7,000 people around the world and most of these have deep concern for improving the lives of populations in poor and developing nations. On the other hand, the WHO's leaders are there largely because the powers of Washington, London and the pharmaceutical industry benefit by the organization advancing its agendas. Of course, the WHO is not the only health entity with a legacy of corruption.  Corruption appears to be systemic throughout global health and national health agencies.  This topic was featured last year in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. Author Dr. Patricia Garcia writes, "Corruption is embedded in health systems. Throughout my life—as a researcher, public health worker, and a Minister of Health—I have been able to see entrenched dishonesty and fraud. But despite being one of the most important barriers to implementing universal health coverage around the world, corruption is rarely openly discussed." Bear in mind, the WHO, along with Bill Gates and his Foundation, and Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Disease, are leading the efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Do you believe we can trust their judgment and the intense public relations effort that will immediately follow after such a vaccine reaches the market?  

In this episode, CJ speaks with Mohamed Abdulkaadir, a Somali American journalist about the Ethiopian government's persecution of ethnic Somali Muslims in Ogaden, and ongoing US drone strikes in Somalia, which have been ramped up again by the Trump administration in 2020, killing dozens of innocent civilians. Please help this podcast by pledging as little as $1/month here: www.patreon.com/cjwerleman

On this day in 1978, the last of significant unit of Somali troops withdrew from Ogaden. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

The situation of the Somali people just after the world ward II, was a puzzle between the northern district of Kenya, the provinces of Haud and Ogaden in Ethiopia, French Somalia (now known as Djibouti), British Somalia or Somaliland (north of current Somalia) and finally Italian Somalia (south of present-day Somalia).  You would agree that another version of Somalia was possible right? Whose fault is all this? It's up to you to think about it, and you may want to read a nice book titled, Madre Piccola, by Italian writer from Somali descent, Cristina Ali Farah.

Juste après la seconde guerre mondiale  la population Somali est éparpillée donc entre le district Nord du Kenya, les provinces du Haud et de l’Ogaden en Ethiopie, la Somalie française, (actuel Djibouti), la Somalie britannique ou Somaliland (au nord de la Somalie actuelle) et la Somalia italienne, (au sud de la Somalie actuelle) Que serait la Somalie aujourd’hui si les puissances coloniales ne l'avaient pas prise pour un puzzle géant? A qui la faute ?   La lecture du roman, Madre piccola de l’italo-somalienne, Cristina Ali Farah, l'une des représentantes majeures de la littérature de l'immigration en Italie, vous aidera peut-être à y réfléchir.

Så skapade Aftonbladet den så rubrikvänlige "Ekerömannen". Uppdrag granskning fälls för metoo och Fredrik Virtanen. Polischef ny krönikör i GT. Faktan bakom fiktionen i filmen 438 dagar. Aftonbladet skapade ny serieförbrytarman på Ekerö Den senaste tiden har olika händelser på Ekerö genererat en stor mängd artiklar i såväl lokala som rikstäckande medier. Rubriker har berättat om att polisen varnar för en man som jagar kvinnor i löparspår. Minst tre ofredanden har det rapporterats om från både löparspåret och på ett bad. Dessutom ska det ha skett ett våldtäktsförsök i centrum. Ny attack av Ekerömannen i natt skrev Aftonbladet i helgen. Men att en serieförbrytare går lös på Mälaröarna finns det enligt polisen i dagsläget faktiskt inga belägg för. Tvärtom ser de en medierapportering som dragit iväg och på sina håll fått eget liv. Reporter: Therese Rosenvinge. Svårtolkad UG-fällning i Granskningsnämnden SVT:s Uppdrag Granskning fälldes i veckan med minsta möjliga marginal för att ha kränkt Cissi Wallins privatliv. Det handlar om programmet där UG skulle granska hur medier rapporterat om metoo och Cissi Wallins våldtäktsanklagelse mot Aftonbladets Fredrik Virtanen. Fällningen är ovanlig. För tre ledamöter ville fälla och tre ville fria programmet. Det blev till slut ordförandens röst som blev avgörande. Vilka konsekvenser får egentligen den här fällningen? Är det så att SVT och SR inte kan granska uppgifter som en känd person själv gått ut i offentligheten med? Reporter: Tonchi Percan.   GT ny kommunikationskanal för polisen i Göteborg GT har kontrakterat en ny kolumnist. Ingen mindre än stans högste polischef Erik Nord som nu får en helt egen plattform i kvällstidningen. För att upprätthålla oberoendet ska polischefen inte få betalt av GT. Men frågan är ju om det räcker? För betalt eller ej, hur rimmar det här upplägget med att ha en oberoende och granskande relation till polisen i Göteborg? Tonchi Percan ringde upp GT:s chefredaktör Christer El-Mochantaf för att fråga. Fakta och fiktion i filmen 438 dagar Förra veckan var det biopremiär för filmen 438 dagar. En film som det så ofta heter baserad på en sann historia. Filmen handlar om journalisterna Johan Persson och Martin Schibbyes reportageresa till oljeprovinsen Ogaden i Etiopien. En resa som bekant slutade med över ett års fångenskap i fängelset Kality. Att göra fiktion av fakta är inte okomplicerat. Inte blir det enklare när grundhistorien dessutom handlar om just journalistik och jakt på sanning. I några centrala delar har filmen helt kastat om verkligheten och kronologin. Och det är ju förstås fritt fram det är ju film och fiktion. Men trots det har Martin Schibbye i samband med premiären fått svara på frågor som om filmen var en dokumentär. Reporter: Johan Cedersjö.

Ethiopië maakt een einde aan de bloedige strijd in de regio Ogaden ten oosten van het land. Het gaat om een vredesverklaring met de ONLF, een Somalische rebellengroep die tientallen jaren streed voor zelfbeschikking van het gebied. De vrede met de Somaliërs volgt op de toenadering met aartsrivaal Eritrea. Ethiopië-deskundige Harry Verhoeven over deze nieuwe toenadering.

Hibak Thahir kom till Sverige som ensamkommande flyktingbarn från Ogaden i Etiopien 2015. Hon har lärt sig svenska, går på gymnasiet och försöker klara sig själv, men hon saknar sin mamma. Det är hösten 2017. I dokumentärserien Ett nytt Sverige följer nio P4-kanaler ett antal personer som på olika sätt berörs av migrationsfrågan. Hibak är en av dem. Reporter: Peter Johansson

In this episode, CJ speaks with Mohamed Abdulkaadir, who is a Somali journalist from the Ogaden in northeastern Ethiopia. Mohamed reached out to me recently to let me know of the genocide taking place against Somali Muslims in this border region at the hands of Ethiopian government backed militias, an effort that is taking place in total international silence. Please help this podcast by pledging as little as $1/month here: www.patreon.com/cjwerleman

Hibak Thahir från Ogaden i Etiopien var bara 15 år när hon kom ensam till Sverige 2015. Hon är fast besluten att börja om sitt liv här, men saknar sin mamma, som finns någonstans i Afrika. I snart tre år har hon varit ensam här, Hibak som, liksom många andra unga asylsökande, kom till Sverige hösten 2015. Hon måste ta ansvar för allting själv: boende, skola och jobb. Och hon måste vara beredd på att vänta länge på besked från Migrationsverket, om hon får stanna här eller inte. Hennes mamma försvann i Afrika. Ska Hibak lycks hitta henne? Det här är en berättelse ur P4-satsningen Ett nytt Sverige, som Sveriges Radio arbetat med sedan den stora migrationsvågen nådde Sverige 2015. Programmet är gjort 2018 av Peter Johansson.

Den 7:e oktober 2013 gästade Martin Schibbye och Johan Persson Studentafton. Sommaren 2011 reste Schibbye och Persson till Etiopien med mål att granska jakten på olja i den konfliktfyllda regionen Ogaden. Deras tillvaro sattes på spel när de blev tillfångatagna av etiopiska soldater för att ha korsat gränsen från Somalia utan tillstånd. Detta blev starten på deras 438 dagar i Kalityfängelset i Etiopien. De gästade Studentafton för att berätta om tiden i fångenskap och för att ge sin syn på pressfrihetens roll i demokratin.

This week we’ve got comedian Natalie Benedict. You can see Natalie at the shows Parker Posey and Side Coach every fourth Wednesday of the month. Natalie and Hannah sit down on her big red couch and talk about: Chelsie Hill (25), a dedicated dancer who was in a car accident at 17 and paralyzed from the waist down. She hasn't her new life in a wheelchair stop her from doing what she loves and she started a wheelchair dance group called the Rollettes! The Forgiveness Project and the F Word exhibit, a non-profit that aims to heal through forgiveness in order to stop the cycle of vengeance. The exhibit in the UK uses photographs and written word to feature incredible stories of hardship and overcoming anger through forgiving. The Forgiveness Project works with families and individuals who have been hurt by others, but they also have programs working with inmates who have committed crimes. The GoFundMe of the week brings something we should all probably educate ourselves a little more on, (it’s obvious from how Hannah talks about it that she knows very little during the episode) which is the famine that is currently affecting Etheopia, specifically Ogadan. The Etheopian government is denying access to any NGO’s such as the Red Cross. The goal of this GoFundMe is to raise funds for the Somali’s living in the occupied Ogaden region of Ethiopia and partner with an independent government registered international NGO that can directly provide aid to the region while documenting and safeguarding the disbursement of aid. There are several gofundme’s out there that are raising money and awareness for the Ogadan famine, if you are not into this one just search Ogadan. Natalies hometown news (San Jose) features an ice cream shop, Sweet Retreat, that is reopening after a recent fire (Natalie’s brother might have worked there we don’t know for sure) and a great non-profit called Midpen, which works to provide comfortable affordable housing and revive neighborhoods in the Bay Area. Also if you are interested in getting tickets to The Ice Cream Museum which Hannah and Natalie sidetracked to at inappropriate times you can find them at https://www.museumoficecream.com/ Animal Corner: There is a real life Pet Detective named Tom Watkins who has found over 2,000 pet’s to date. Also, cats really do care about your affection more than food, but they might still eat your face. Follow Natalie @qualitybenedict on Instagram! Follow Hannah @hannahgator on Instagram ! Follow @helloandgoodnews On Facebook! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ever since 1991 Somalia has been marked by a brutal civil war, especially between al-Shabab militia and the government. But now, finally, the country has started to rise again, and the militia are losing ground. Now the country faces it’s perhaps greatest challenge ever: How to manage the difficult and critical transition from war to peace. We have invited the world-renowned author Nuruddin Farah to speak about his encounter with the “new Somalia” his thoughts about the future of the country. The meeting will be held in english. Farah_9swNuruddin Farah is a prominent Somali novelist. In 1963, three years after Somalia’s independence, Farah was forced to flee the Ogaden following serious border conflicts. From 1966 to 1970, he pursued a degree in philosophy, literature and sociology at Panjab University in Chandigarh, India. The event is supported by NORAD. Foto: Pål Høyum See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 1977 Somalia invaded Ethiopia in an attempt to take control of disputed territory where most of the inhabitants were ethnic Somalis. The ensuing war would become one of the defining events in recent East African history. Hear from General Mohamed Nur Galal, one of the architects of the Somali invasion. Photo: Young men in a Somali rebel camp in Ogaden. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.

North Caucasus Caucus and OSMahmood discuss Turkish foreign fighters in Ogaden. "The Clear Banner: Turkish Foreign Fighters and the Ogaden" "Azerbaijani Foreign Fighters in Syria" "Turkish Fighters in Syria, Online and Off"

Tobias Hagmann (Roskilde University) gives a talk for the African Studies Seminar Series on 28 February, 2013.

Frilansliv utan skyddsnätDet har gått 15 månader sedan de inledde den där resan som skulle ta dem in över gränsen till Etiopien och Ogaden-provinsen. Syftet var att kasta ljus över situationen i den slutna provinsen, där svenska affärsintressen verkar samtidigt som ofattbara övergrepp och brott mot de mänskliga rättigheterna pågår.Även om resan gick käpprätt åt helvete så har misslyckandet och det som drabbade dem med all sin grymhet avslöjat för oss just det som de ville visa oss när de åkte dit. Martin Wicklin och Lasse Truedson talade med dem om reportagen de ville skriva, tiden i fängelset och om ett frilansliv utan skyddsnät.Livsfarlig informationUnder den här veckan vi fått reda på hittills okända historier om skenavrättningar och den riggade inspelningen av en propagandafilm som använts som bevis mot Johan Persson och Martin Schibbye. Flera av de här uppgifterna har redaktionerna hållit inne med för att inte äventyra deras säkerhet. Vi berättar om spelet bakom några av veckans nyheter om Johan och Martins fångenskap. Reporter Erik Hedtjärn.Dags för TV-skatt?Det är inte första gången som TV-licensen föreslagits vara mogen för skräphögen. Trots det finns den kvar. Men nu har det blivit aktuellt igen sen Public Service kommitten kommit med sitt förslag. Det skulle innebära att licensen ersätts med en skatt på 1 procent av inkomster upp till en viss nivå. Många skulle få lägre avgift än i dag, men hushåll med fler än två inkomster skulle få betala mer. Det som tidigare stoppat en förändring har varit oron för att Public Service bolagen skulle förlora den självständighet det ändå ger att inte vara skattefinansierad. Men när nu allt fler tittar på TV utan TV-apparat så blir frågan om det går hålla kvar systemetNu finns alltså ett förslag - men kommer det också bli politik? Inga politiker har varit med i utredningen, så Caroline Jägerfeld och Lasse Truedson har ringt och frågat vad de tycker om saken.

Ett år i etiopiskt fängelse För exakt ett år sedan greps ju fotografen Johan Persson och skribenten Martin Schibbye av etiopisk militär, när dom två försökte rapportera om Ogaden-regionen i östra Etiopien, på gränsen mot Somalia i Afrika. De två svenska journalisterna dömdes i december förra året till elva års fängelse för olaglig inresa och medhjälp till terrorbrott i Etiopien.Vår reporter Terje Carlsson har pratat med Johans pappa, Kjell Persson, om vilken strategi som gäller för att få dem fria, nu när Johan och Martin sitter i Kalityfängelset utanför Addis Abeba. Han berättar om träning, modellbygge och om familjens förtroende för Carl Bildt. Vaccinskeptiker vädrar morgonluft Nu till vaccinfrågan som tycks vara en följetong i svenska medier i under våren och sommaren. Och den tycks skapa problem för de journalister som ger sig på den. I söndags var det Svenska Dagbladets tur att skriva att det finns en utbredd rädsla bland föräldrar när det gäller vaccinet Gardasil, trots att det är ett mycket vältestat vaccin. Och till sin hjälp använde man en skribent från sajten Vaken. Men här finns också ett generellt journalistiskt problem: Det här inslaget ska handla om en journalistisk form - där åsikter ställs mot åsikter - oavsett hur verkligheten ser ut. Och om vad som händer när journalister gör kunskapsfrågor blir till debattfrågor. Reporter: Lars Truedson. Var går Glennsen för extraknäckandet?Han är SVTs fotbollsexpert som under EM förklarat och kritiserat. Han gör reklam för mat, köksredskap och spelbolag. Glenn Strömberg har många strängar på sin lyra.Men vart går gränsen för medarbetarna på den fria televisionen, som SVT kallar sig?Leksaksexperten Peter Pluntky t ex fick nyligen sparken från det populära programmet Antikrundan, efter att ha gjort reklam för en elektronikkedja.Krönikören Marcus Leifby på Aftonbladet anser att SVTs trovärdighet urholkas när man accepterar Glenn Strömbergs kommersiella uppdrag.Reporter: Terje Carlsson

På farligt uppdragI över ett år hade Johan Persson och Martin Schibbye planerat reportageresan till Ogaden i östra Etiopien. De reste dit som frilansjournalister, utan någon redaktion i ryggen. Att vi kan få reportage från oroliga och slutna områden hör ofta samman med att det finns just frilansare som är beredda att ta stora risker, som redaktionerna inte alltid vill ta. Veckans händelser sätter ljus på en principiell och svår fråga om risktagande och vilket ansvar redaktioner har när dom inte själva vill ta riskerna men ändå gärna ha det angelägna frilansmaterialet. Seg väg mot rättelseOm du inte är nöjd med ett inslag i radio- eller tv eller om ditt namn dragits i smutsen i etern så kan du som bekant anmäla det till granskningsnämnden. Och kanske fälls också inslaget. Men räkna med att få vänta länge på ett sådant besked. Enligt den senaste statistiken som vi på Medierna tagit fram har det nämligen tagit i snitt 151 dagar för nämnden att handlägga de 64 ärenden som lätt till fällning sedan augusti förra året. Vi undrar varför det tar så lång tid och hur myndigheten ser på sina egna handläggningstider. Hisnande lögner i New YorkMediernas sommarserie går vidare med historien om hur en av världens mest ansedda tidningar, New York Times, 2003 drabbades av en skandal som skakade tidningen i grunden. Skandalen slutade med att New York Times för fösta gången under tidningens 150-åriga historia sparkade den sittande chefredaktören. I centrum för historien står journalisten Jayson Blair, som nu ger sin version av den stora skandalen.