Elsa Chyrum, Director of Human Rights Concern- Eritrea, and a prominent human rights activist and advocate for Eritrean refugees all over the world, has been chosen as Woman of the Year 2012 by one of the main Eritrean websites, asmarino.com.

The President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, in his New Year address to the Nation has called once again for the release of the prisoners of war seized by Eritrea during Eritrea incursions into Djibouti when Eritrea attacked Djibouti in June 2008.

Beedwantee Keetharuth, the newly-appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Eritrea on Friday called on Eritrean authorities to cooperate with her mandate, as required by the UN Human Rights Council.

Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki has asked Qatar to mediate his long-standing feud with "arch-rival" Ethiopia. This message was communicated to the new Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalgn, by Qatar, while the Ethiopian prime minister was conducting a state visit.

Lawmakers in Somalia's new parliament approved all ten ministers named by Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon by an overwhelming majority.

It is a very obvious fact that the regime in Eritrea is exceptionally isolated. Few nations accept the illusion that Eritrea normally acts as a constructive member of the international community. This is not isolation imposed by others. It stems from the activities of Eritrea’s leaders who appear to have worked hard to alienate themselves from the rest of the world, and even more particularly from their neighbors, against whom they have waged all kinds of destructive campaigns.

The Eritrean regime has a habit of selective reading of texts to fit them into its own bizarre worldview.  This approach was in full view in the latest letter written by Eritrea's Foreign Minister to the United Nations Security Council arguing that the UN sanctions imposed on Eritrea ought to be lifted. This was based on what can only be describes as a highly selected reading of the report of the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea.

Although Eritrea has been ruled under an undeclared state of emergency for 14 years, recent developments lend credence to the view that the Eritrean regime is cracking under the pressure: two Eritrean pilots defected to Saudi Arabia; the militarization of Eritrea’s civilians has intensified.

Many Eritreans who have taken refuge in Canada have complained for years that the Eritrean government has continued to try and force them to contribute to the government funds through its 2 percent ‘Diaspora tax’ and a national defence levy to the government in Asmara in addition to any taxes paid in Canada in order to be allowed to access any services from the Eritrean authorities.

A spokesman for the African Union Mission in Somalia, Colonel Ali Houmed, said on Thursday that Somalia's newly elected President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has moved to the secure presidential compound following the assassination attempt at his hotel.