'Every referee's ambition is to go to the World Cup'. That's what Omar Artan told BBC Somali before heading to the US in what would have been a historical first for a Somali - refereeing a game at the 2026 Fifa World Cup. https://t.co/GOA10Q1pFW
Somali referee Omar Artan has been denied entry into the United States after getting selected to officiate at the FIFA World Cup.
The 2025 CAF Referee of the Year was "determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns" per the U.S. Department of Customs and Border Protection.
If you have a forex card, don’t use it on ATMs here in Addis. The exchange rate is not the official bank rate. For example, Abyssinia used a rate of 103 birr per USD. A theft of 55 Birr per USD. @AbyssiniaBank y’all should do better, but it’s not only you.
My silence is not indifference. My heart is simply too heavy for words 💚💛💔But when even the Patriarch has to beg security officials to protect citizens in Aseko, Shirka, Honkolo Wabe, & Munesa, silence becomes its own form of complicity.
"Break this chain of attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice." 😢💔
These are not the words of an activist or a politician. They are the words of a religious leader pleading for the most basic right of all that people not be killed.
And yet, here we are.
In Ethiopia, death has become arithmetic a number, a statistic, a headline that trends for a day & then disappears. But the victims of East Arsi had names, families, dreams & communities. They were never just numbers.
To the so-called government & security officials, the Patriarch's words should haunt you! "History will judge you by the price you pay for the safety of citizens during your tenure.” History is already watching. And so are we grieving, frustrated & too often helpless.
#EastArsi #IdentityAttack #Ethiopia #HumanRights
Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed is expected to win the upcoming elections in Africa’s second most populous country. Abiy came to power after a wave of protests that had lasted several years.
Africa Now is joined by writer Befeqadu Hailu and Tewodros Sile from Africa Practice.