Addis Ababa was bustling today with last-minute sprucing-up as Ethiopia prepared to ring in the new millennium with an all-night party, nearly seven years after the rest of the world.

Ethiopian prosecutors today asked for the death penalty for 38 politicians and activists accused of inciting violence in an attempt to overthrow the government.

Somalia’s government is holding up vital aid to tens of thousands of people as car bombs and street fighting brought the death toll to nearly 1,500 in less than a month, sending the country lurching towards catastrophe, it was warned.

Rebels stormed a Chinese-run oil field at dawn in eastern Ethiopia today, killing 74 workers and destroying the facility, the guerrilla group and government officials said.

Eight Ethiopians who had been captured along with a group of European tourists who were released earlier today made their way back to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa after being held for 52 days in one of the most inhospitable areas on Earth.

Ethiopian troops who helped Somalia’s government drive out a radical Islamic militia last month began withdrawing from the Horn of Africa nation today, a Somali government spokesman said.

Somalia’s transitional government lifted a broadcast ban today, said the government spokesman, a day after it had ordered three Somali radio stations and an international television channel to stop operations.

The first African peacekeepers to help the government assert its authority in Somalia are expected by the end of January, the prime minister said today.

Somali and Ethiopian forces skirmished with Islamic militiamen in southern Somalia Thursday, as US troops on the ground hunted for al-Qaida suspects.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said in an interview published today that suspected terrorists from Canada, Britain, Pakistan and elsewhere have been among those taken prisoner or injured in military operations in Somalia.

Kenya has sent extra troops to the Somali frontier, stepped up security checks and said it saw no reason for Somalis to flee, underlining fears about Somali Islamic militants slipping across the border after losing a power struggle.

KENYAN soldiers and helicopters beefed up defences at the Somali border yesterday after Ethiopian warplanes and ground forces attacked fleeing Islamists on the other side of the frontier.

Somalia’s prime minister today said he does not expect any more major fighting against rival Islamic fighters and his Ethiopian military backer described the operation as within weeks of being completed.

The prime minister promised thousands of cheering Somalis peace and stability after he drove through battle-scarred Mogadishu in an armed convoy, a day after an Islamic movement’s fighters abandoned the capital ahead of his Ethiopian-backed troops.

Somali government troops rolled into Mogadishu unopposed today, the prime minister said, hours after an Islamic movement that tried to establish a government based on the Koran abandoned the capital and promised to make a stand in southern Somalia.

ETHIOPIAN Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said more than 1,000 people have been killed in fighting between his troops, backing Somali government forces, and Somalia’s Islamist movement.

Islamic fighters were in a tactical retreat today after suffering massive casualties as government and Ethiopian troops advanced for control of Somalia, Ethiopia’s prime minister said.

Ethiopian jets dominated Somalia’s skies today and bombed the country’s two main airports while ground troops captured a strategic village.

Ethiopian fighter jets bombed Mogadishu International Airport in the middle of Somalia’s capital today.

Ethiopia is at war with the Islamists in neighbouring Somalia who want to rule according to the Koran, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said tonight.

Hundreds of Ethiopian troops reinforced Somalia’s transitional government today, hours after Ethiopia’s prime minister said his country was ready for war with an Islamic movement that has become the most powerful force in Somalia.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi today said his country has completed its preparations for a potential attack by Islamic militants from neighbouring Somalia, who have declared a holy war on his country.

Hundreds of Ethiopian troops were patrolling the road that leads to Somalia’s government headquarters after a brief but intense battle in the area this week, witnesses said today.

The leader of Somalia’s Islamic radicals today urged Ethiopians to revolt against their government, which he described as an oppressive regime led by an unpopular minority ethnic group.

THE Government is gravely concerned at the humanitarian situation in Darfur, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern said yesterday.

The Government is gravely concerned at the humanitarian situation in Darfur, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said today.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has offered the Government's help in starting a peace process in Ethiopia.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern met jailed Ethiopian opposition leaders today in an effort to resolve a political crisis triggered by a disputed election.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is to hold talks with Ethiopian leaders in the country’s capital, Addis Ababa, today in a bid to help ease political tensions.

Members of a group listed by the US as a terrorist band are running the capital of Somalia, days after Islamic fighters wrested control of the city from warlords, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said today.

African and Western diplomats were discussing the details of a peacekeeping mission to Somalia, an African Union spokesman said today, after militias vowing to impose Islamic rule took over the capital of the Horn of Africa country.

Nine bombs exploded across Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa today, killing three and injuring more than 42, in what police call a co-ordinated attempt to discredit the government.

Irish development aid may be propping up a corrupt government regime in Ethiopia, it was claimed today.

International donors will freeze $375m (€316m) in aid to Ethiopia’s government following its recent crackdown on the main opposition party and the independent press, Western diplomats said today.

Ethiopian authorities said they have now freed more than 8,200 people who were seized after days of political unrest that claimed the lives of at least 46 people and rocked the nation.

WHY are Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden considered by the Irish Government to be individuals of ill repute while the presidents of Uganda and Ethiopia are welcome visitors to our shores?

Clashes between police and protesters erupted in gunfire and grenade explosions today, with police killing at least 33 people during a second day of renewed demonstrations against Ethiopia’s disputed elections, a rights group said.

JOHN O’SHEA’S article (‘Giving money to kleptocrats will not help the poor,’ Irish Examiner, June 16) is not only unfair but inaccurate.

Britain has suspended a planned £20m (€30.1m) increase in aid to Ethiopia because of political unrest, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said in Addis Ababa.

AT least 22 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in Addis Ababa as Ethiopian police battled demonstrators in a third day of protests over election results fraud.

Several opposition politicians have been placed under house arrest in Ethiopia, EU election observers said today.

Ethiopian security forces opened fire today on stone-throwing protesters in the central business district, leaving at least 20 people dead, the independent Ethiopian Human Rights Council said.

Ethiopia’s ruling coalition and allied political parties have won a majority in the country’s 547-seat parliament.

Ethiopia’s main opposition coalition said today it will not accept election results for 84 seats that may hold the balance of power in the 547-strong parliament, increasing already high tensions as the nation awaits official results.