Africa highlights: Obama in Ethiopia and other updates - Monday 27 July 2015

Summary

President Obama and Ethiopian leader address media
Obama: More work to do on democracy in Ethiopia
PM Hailemariam says Ethiopia needs 'ethical journalism'
Obama held talks with regional leaders on South Sudan

Live Reporting

Hugo Williams and Damian Zane

South Sudan talks: What's at stake?published at 17:54 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
Author and New York Times columnist tweets:
Warning: the video contains some disturbing images.
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Ethiopia opposition figure 'unhappy with Obama address'published at 17:00 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
Ethiopia's independent news magazine the Addis Standard says that the leader of Ethiopia's opposition Semayawi (Blue) party Yilkal Getnet is not happy with President Obama's choice of words.
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Ethiopia's ruling party, the EPRDF, and its allies won every single parliamentary seat in May's elections, according to official results.
Battle of the hashtags: #ObamaInEthiopia vs #ObamaInKenyapublished at 16:32 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
The #ObamaInEthiopia, external hashtag is trending in Ethiopia as the president holds talks there with regional leaders, but it's not nearly as popular as #ObamaInKenya, external, which was used about ten times more often over a 24-hour period.
Image source, trendsmap
Jeffrey Smith from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights foundation has his own theory why Ethiopia, which has more than double the population of Kenya, has got less to say online about Mr Obama's visit.
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President Obama's aid comments criticisedpublished at 15:48 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
Howard French, the author and former New York Times Africa bureau chief has been responding after President Obama's address in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. He takes particular issue with Mr Obama's comments on aid (see first tweet below).
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Obama holds talks on South Sudan with regional leaderspublished at 15:26 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
President Obama used his address to the media earlier to call for an breakthrough in efforts to bring peace to South Sudan, where fighting continues despite several attempts to secure a deal between the warring factions.
"We don't have a lot of time. The conditions on the ground are getting much much worse," Mr Obama said of the conflict, which has now displaced at least two million people.
Mr Obama has joined regional leaders, including Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, as well as Sudan's foreign minister and head of the African Union Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, whose office shared these photos on twitter:
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Bomber in Mogadishu was Somali-Germanpublished at 14:01 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
The BBC reporter in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, has been tweeting about the background of the bomber who killed at least 13 people when he blew up the Jazeera Palace hotel:
Mixed Twitter response to Obama press conferencepublished at 13:55 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
Ethiopians have been giving their reactions to the press conference given by President Obama and Prime Minister Hailemariam.
Some activists are disappointed about the comments made on human rights and journalism:
Others have been pointing out some of the positive things that were said:
Kenyatta in Ethiopia for South Sudan talkspublished at 13:22 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
Leaders are gathering in Addis Ababa for talks on South Sudan. President Obama will also be at the discussions:
The US president told journalists that time is running out to find a solution for the conflict on South Sudan.
Image source, AFP
Leaders travel to Addis for South Sudan talkspublished at 12:57 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
Uganda's president will be part of the talks on South Sudan in Addis Ababa, as one of his media team tweets:
Kenya's President Kenyatta and the foreign minister of Sudan will also be at the talks.
Video of Obama arrival at palacepublished at 12:45 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
The Associated Press has posted video of President Obama's welcome to the presidential palace in Addis Ababa:
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Ethiopia press freedompublished at 12.42
White House correspondent for The Blaze tweets:
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How free is the Ethiopian media?published at 12.32
Ethiopian lawyer tweets:
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Obama 'should press for change' on human rightspublished at 12.24
Human Rights Watch executive director tweets:
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Multiple topics under discussion for Obama in Ethiopiapublished at 12.21
White House assistant press secretary tweets:
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No US troops to fight al-Shababpublished at 12.19
CNN White House correspondent tweets:
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Obama and Ethiopian PM address mediapublished at 11:53 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
BBC producer in Addis Ababa tweets
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White House livestream of President Obama's press conferencepublished at 11.30
The White House will be live-streaming the press conference of US President Obama and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, which is due to begin any minute:
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Kenyan President leaves for Ethiopia talkspublished at 11.07
President Kenyatta tweets
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The meeting on South Sudan is set to follow the press conference with Ethiopia's prime minister and the US presdent.
State banquet tonight for Obamapublished at 10:36 British Summer Time 27 July 2015
A BBC reporter in Addis Ababa has managed to get a sneak peak of the dining room ahead of the state dinner tonight:
Ethiopian activists lobby Obama on rights abusespublished at 10.31
BBC Monitoring
Juliet Njeri
Ethiopians are sending messages to US President Barack Obama on Twitter, urging him to put pressure on their government over its human rights record.
Using the hashtags #FreeZone9Bloggers and #EthiopiansMessageToObama, they hope to bring attention to the plight of detained rights activists and journalists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, external says that despite some recent releases 11 journalists remain in prison.
During his visit, Obama is expected to discuss human rights and regional security issues, as well as the civil war in South Sudan.
But there has been some travel advice too: