WASHINGTON (CNN) — A woman saluted as a CNN Hero was among a group of creative philanthropists honored Tuesday by President Obama.

The White House event highlighted nonprofit programs that are making a difference. Alfa Demmellash was invited after White House staffers saw her being profiled on CNN. More on Obama recognizes CNN Hero from New Jersey

group * HRW says law needs to be rewritten before passing * Government says fully recognises right to dissent

ADDIS ABABA, June 30 (Reuters) - A draft Ethiopian law could define criticism of the government as a “terrorist act” and be used to crack down on the opposition if it is passed by parliament, a rights group said on Tuesday. More on New Ethiopia law may criminalise opposition - group

Doublethink,  Doublespeak

George Orwell may have understated the situation in the Big Brother totalitarian state of Nineteen Eighty-Four: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” He would be amused to learn that in the police state of Two Thousand and Nine Ethiopia, Big Brother has been unceremoniously replaced by THE P-R-O-C-E-S-S! More on Hero vs. Zero

Join us in Chicago and deliberate on national issues, review the process and prepare new resolutions. The door is open. This press release and the conference program will be available at www.enpcp.org and other Ethiopian websites. In our next statement, we will communicate on the “Deliberations and Resolutions of the Chicago Conference.”  Stay tuned!May God Bless Ethiopia!! …” More On

The US has confirmed that it has sent weapons to Somalia’s UN-backed transitional government.

The state department said the move followed an urgent call for help from the government, which has been fighting Islamist militias. More on US says weapons sent to Somalia

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) – The young woman who last weekend emerged as a powerful symbol of opposition to the Iranian government embraced life in many ways, but there was little about her that would have led her friends to predict she would become a martyr, one of them told CNN. More on Who was Neda? Slain woman an unlikely martyr

Introduction:

Most people in Diaspora and inside Ethiopia expect that the next election is going to be a rematch of the 2005 race. But as the 2010 election days come closer and closer, the opposition groups both at home and in Diaspora all together seem still; and have not yet started their respective warm-up campaign. More on Ethiopia - In Preparation for the 2010 Election

Inside the Torture Chambers of the Dictatorship in Ethiopia

Last week, Barry Malone of Reuters reported that families of the suspects allegedly involved in a “terror network” against the dictatorship in Ethiopia told him that some of their loved ones had “been tortured and are injured. They have been interrogated for up to nineteen hours. One man with injuries to his penis had to be treated in hospital.” Voice of America’s Peter Heinlien further reported: More on Torture, Inc. (Ethiopia)