While Ethiopians mark a new year of 2002, Ethiopia’s regional states of Oromiya and Amhara officials on Friday said that they have freed 9,612 prisoners, including 391 women on amnesty in connection with the New Year.

Ethiopia's most popular singer, Teddy Afro, was freed early from prison on Thursday after serving 18 months of a two-year sentence for hit-and-run manslaughter.

Ethiopian government has directed to authorize expelled Eritreans to reclaim assets they left behind before the two neighbor states went in to a bloody border war in 1998.

Bloomberg - Ethiopia may prosecute six of the country’s largest coffee exporters after the government said they have been hoarding beans bound for export, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said.

AllAfrica - Forced political exile has made many once-powerful dictators idle and impoverished. But not Mengistu Haile Mariam. The former Ethiopian strongman, who fled to Harare in 1991 as Meles Zenawi's rebels closed in on Addis Ababa, has not only remained active in helping his generous host President Robert Mugabe sharpen tactics of repression and political longevity. He has also flourished as a businessman.

East Africa Forum - The Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party on Thursday accused the government of breaking the law when it re-arrested Birtukan Mideksa, the party’s chairperson for her alleged violation of terms of her parole.

Reuters - Although 13 years had passed, Hirut Abebe-Jiri instantly recognised the man who tortured her during Ethiopia's brutal Red Terror purges.

Times Online, UK - The former Ethiopian dictator who slaughtered opponents on an industrial scale in the so-called "Red Terror" is to face justice after 17 years being sheltered by Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe.