EEPCo says construction of power generation projects creates job opportunity

EEPCo says construction of power generation projects creates job opportunity
Addis Ababa, June 19, 2010 (Addis Ababa) -
Eight power generation projects, which would be constructed in the coming five years will create job opportunities for graduates of higher learning institutions in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) said.

EEPCo CEO, Mihiret Debebe said expansion of energy sector development ensures the successive economic growth being registered in the country.

Mihiret was speaking in Jimma Town of Oromia State on Saturday at the graduation ceremony of Jimma university students.

The university graduated on Saturday 1,850 students with bachelor’s degree and masters degree in regular and continuing education programs.

Mihiret, who was guest of honour at the event, handed over the degrees to the graduates and awards to outstanding students.

He said the government has been working in particular to further enhance domestic investment.

EEPCo is one of the main organizations, which create jobs in the country, he said, adding, construction of a single power plant creates jobs for nearly 5000 graduates.

He said construction of eight power plants is expected to create jobs for thousands of graduates in the coming five years.

Efforts will be exerted to work jointly with universities in the country on issues related to conducting research on energy development and building capacity of students, among others, Mihiret said.

Ethiopia aims to turn itself into a regional energy giant



Ethiopia aims to turn itself into a regional energy giant

The Gibe 3 dam on the Omo river will be Africa’s largest, providing power to a nation with one of the world’s lowest per capita levels of access to electricity. NGOs warn of environmental disaster

Christophe Châtelot,Guardian Weekly

The Gibe 3 dam on the Omo river will be Africa’s largest, providing power to a nation with one of the world’s lowest per capita levels of access to electricity. NGOs warn of environmental disaster.

Ethiopia’s government has set itself an ambitious target: in just a few years it aims to take an undeveloped country, with one of the world’s lowest levels of per capita access to electricity, and turn it into a regional powerhouse, exporting energy to its neighbours.

To achieve this the prime minister, Meles Zenawi, is advocating a spending spree to develop Ethiopia. Various foreign non-governmental organisations have questioned the reliability of official impact studies, but with a de facto one-party state, controlled by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, there is little risk of serious opposition.

Ethiopia is pinning its hopes on the Gibe 3 dam in the Omo valley, 350km south of Addis Ababa. Predictably this is also the focus of the NGOs’s concern. Work started in 2006 and by 2012 there should be a dam 240 metres high, the largest in Africa. It will feed a 1,800 MW hydroelectric power station producing twice as much electricity as Ethiopia used in 2009.

In January a coalition of NGOs, including International Rivers and Survival International, started a petition calling for work to be stopped.

“The dam, if not stopped, will cause food insecurity, chronic hunger, poor health, food aid dependence, conflicts among the local communities for the control of the already scarce natural resources and a general unravelling of the economy and social safety net throughout the region,” the petitioners say. They say that Gibe 3 and its 150km reservoir will lower the level in Lake Turkana by about 10 metres. The lake, which straddles the border with Kenya, draws four-fifths of its water from the Omo river. The changes would threaten several hundred thousand people in both countries, say the NGOs.

Over the past few years not a month has gone by without the opening of a new road, university, school or health centre. In the past two years alone three dams have come into service. “Most of these schemes are funded by international loans or aid, but Ethiopia is one of the few African countries where work is completed and corruption does not swallow all the money,” a western diplomat said.

Both the World Bank and the African Development Bank expressed initial doubts about the Gibe 3 scheme, so the government turned to the Chinese. On 19 May the CEO of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation, Mihret Debebe, and the president of the Dongfang Electric Corporation, Luo Zhigang, signed an agreement worth $459m for Gibe 3. The total cost of the dam is estimated to be $1.8bn (compared with $25bn gross domestic product in 2009). According to Debebe, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has committed itself to cover 85% of total outlay. The design office at Sinohydro is already working on plans for Gibe 4, also on the Omo.

“Ethiopia has enormous hydro-electric potential,” says Debay Tadesse, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in the capital. The government aims to achieve a ninefold increase in capacity in just a few years, rocketing from 1,000 to 9,000 MW.

Just 2% of Ethiopia’s rural population (80% of its 80 million inhabitants) have access to electricity. “It is inconceivable to develop the country without electrical energy. How else can we power the schools, hospitals, businesses and irrigation systems?” Tadesse asks.

Over and above the problem of connecting homes in Ethiopia to the power grid – which raises the question of a transmission and distribution network – the prime objective is to export energy and earn foreign currency. This should soon be the case thanks to the dam on Lake Tana – at the source of the Blue Nile – built by an Italian firm, Salini, and officially opened last month. A contract to export electricity to Sudan is slated to bring in $150,000 a day. Other contracts have been signed with Kenya and Djibouti.

Ethiopia woos Indian hospitals to set up branches

NEW DELHI: Ethiopia wants private Indian hospitals to open branches in that country to provide specialized treatment to its citizens, an official said.

An Ethiopian delegation was in India this week with the twin aim of learning from India’s health sector and small and medium enterprises.

“We felt that it will mutually benefit Ethiopians and the Indian private sector if they come to Ethiopia, especially Addis Ababa, and open branches, so that they attract not only Ethiopians but also other Africans,” Redwan Hussien, head of the delegation said.

The delegation, which included the health minister of the Addis Ababa city administration, met representatives of private hospital chains, like Fortis Healthcare and Moolchand Healthcare.

“In the last seven-eight years, we have been growing at double digits and the middle class has been booming, so people can afford to go out of the country for medical treatment,” said Hussien, a senior official in the city administration.

Addis Ababa, a city of 3.3 million, is also home to a substantial number of foreigners. It is the headquarters of the African Union and other international institutions. “Since Ethiopian Airlines is a major African airways, Addis Ababa is also a major transit point for Africans from other countries,” said Hussien.

But there is no equivalent level of specialized medical treatment available inside the country. “Most people travel to South Africa, or Bangkok or come all the way to India,” he said.

After discussions with private health providers, Hussien said that “Fortis Bangalore were really interested in going to Addis Ababa.”

A memorandum of understanding is being drafted and may be signed soon.

Hussien said space will be given in an existing Ethiopian hospital to set up a specialized treatment unit. Also, Indian doctors will be teaching their Ethiopian counterparts as part of the transfer of technology.

On the small and medium enterprises sector, Ethiopia is also looking towards Indian trainers to come to Africa. “We want Indian experts to come and teach in about 4-5 areas that we have drawn up,” he said.

The delegation also met with the Mayor of Delhi Prithviraj Sawhney and invited him to visit Ethiopia.

Ethiopian moves to broaden foothold in Africa

Ethiopian Airlines is seeking to expand its African presence by creating airline startups across the continent.

It launched Lome-based ASKY Airlines in January (ATWOnline, January 21). CEO Girma Wake previously toldATWOnline that Ethiopian has a 25% stake in ASKY, which has a diverse ownership spread among individuals and institutions in 11 African countries. The carrier operates to 11 destinations and will take delivery of its third 737NG during the summer. “ASKY has become profitable already,” Wake told ATWOnline this week on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Berlin.

He said ET is evaluating launching additional airlines in southern or northern Africa. “But first we want to [solidify] ASKY,” he explained. He did not rule out investing in existing African carriers. “We are talking to [some airlines],” he revealed. A further possibility could be to join forces with another major African airline to launch a startup, he said. He also reiterated that ET would like to join Star Alliance.

ET operates 26 jet aircraft (including a freighter fleet of two 747Fs, two MD-11Fs and two 757-200Fs) and nine turboprops. “We take delivery of our first 777-200LR this autumn,” Wake said. A total of five 777-200LRs will arrive through July 2011. It will take delivery of three 737-800s during the remainder of this year. He added that delivery of the carrier’s first 787 is confirmed “for July 2011.” It has 10 787s on order.

ET operates an extensive network, including 14 weekly flights to both China and India. Wake said it is considering new Asian destinations such as Malaysia and South Korea. It also is evaluating additional US routes including New York JFK, Atlanta or even a West Coast destination. It currently serves Washington Dulles.

He noted that ET faces stiff competition from non-African airlines within Africa. “Carriers like Emirates and Qatar are fighting like crazy across the continent,” he said. “But so far there is business for everyone.”

Wake expects ET to grow passenger traffic at the rate of 20% annually. Currently, 60%-70% of its passengers transfer through its Addis Ababa hub. It expects to transport around 3 million passengers this year, up from 2.8 million last year. Cargo remains an important part of its business, generating 18% of total revenue. He said it is considering operating 777 freighters “in the future.”

Thousands at KeyArena pay respects to victims of last Saturday’s fatal fire

Thousands at KeyArena pay respects to victims of last Saturday’s fatal fire

By Marc Ramirez

Seattle Times staff reporter

One by one, the lives lost to last weekend’s fire in Fremont were celebrated on screen, a series of snapshots taken in happier times.

Thousands of mourners from the area’s East African community attended a Friday memorial at KeyArena for the woman and four children who perished in last Saturday’s apartment fire in Fremont.

One by one, the lives lost to last weekend’s fire in Fremont were celebrated on screen, a series of snapshots taken in happier times.

The boy who dreamed of playing point guard for the Boston Celtics. The siblings who adored their older brother. The girl who liked to jump rope. And the young woman who could win any argument she set her mind to.

The emotional slide show capped Friday’s public memorial to those five family members at Seattle Center’s KeyArena. The multicultural crowd, estimated at 3,500, largely reflected an East African population united in grief over the loss of so many young lives.

“Your sorrow is our sorrow,” said Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn. “Your grief is Seattle’s grief. We walk with you in your grief because we are — and will be — one community.”

Killed last Saturday morning in the swift-moving fire at Helen Gebregiorgis’ Fremont apartment were three of her children — Joseph Gebregiorgis, 13, Nisreen Shamam, 6, and Yaseen Shamam, 5; her sister, Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis, 22; and a niece, 7-year-old Nyella Smith, daughter of a third sister, Yordanos Gebregiorgis.

Their names appeared on the arena’s electronic-display board overhead as attendees — including several Seattle Fire Department lieutenants — began to arrive. Some had been shuttled from Yesler Community Center, where the East African community has been gathering all week to grieve alongside the victims’ families, members of the city’s Ethiopian community.

The Gebregiorgis sisters, along with brother Daniel, moved to Seattle with their refugee parents around 1990, joining a growing local community of Ethiopians who had fled famine and war in their homeland.

Conducted in line with the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian religion to which the family’s mother adheres, the funeral opened with chanting clergy at times under a red, ornately embroidered liturgical umbrella. Many in the crowd wore traditional attire, with women in flowing garments and white shawls known as netellas.

In addition to McGinn, speakers included Maria Goodloe-Johnson, superintendent of Seattle Public Schools. “They will be remembered by their beautiful smiles and friendly natures,” she said, noting that the deaths had united the city in pain.

Michael Ramos, executive director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, also spoke.

“Every loss of life is tragic,” he said. “And it is particularly sorrowful when it involves young people and children.”

That sorrow was evident in the ceremony’s concluding slide show. Brief biographies and tearful tributes preceded photos set to music, images from life stories that had ended too soon:

Eyerusalem Gebregiorgis, the young woman who liked sweets and wanted to be a prosecutor. Joseph, the popular seventh-grader at Whitman Middle School, who loved basketball, video games and looking after his younger relatives. Nyella, who swam and jumped rope. And siblings Nisreen, a giggly girl who loved to dance, and Yaseen, a loving boy with a never-ending appetite.

With each series of photos, family members crumbled into uncontrollable sobs as others consoled them.

Originally set for Seattle Center’s Exhibition Hall, the event was moved to KeyArena because of the large number of expected attendees. “We didn’t want to be in a position where people would have to be turned away,” said Seattle Center spokeswoman Deborah Daoust.

A letter from the Ethiopian consulate in Los Angeles was read, thanking McGinn for donating the use of KeyArena for the memorial.

Some Seattle residents have questioned McGinn’s decision to provide the use of KeyArena for the service at taxpayer expense. Daoust said those costs — which she pegged at less than $5,000 — were low because the arena was already configured for such a large-capacity stage event, having hosted numerous recent high-school graduation ceremonies.

“With this tragedy, the saying ‘life is too short’ has never been so true,” said Saba Desta, cousin to the children who died, nearly breaking down in tears. “I ask that you remember these children by their smiles, and not by their tragic deaths.”

Marc Ramirez: 206-464-8102 or mramirez@seattletimes.com

Ethiopian Election Result: Official Results of the 23rd May 2010 General Election

Election Result

THE NATIONAL ELECTORAL BOARD OF ETHIOPIA (NEBE)

Official Results of the 23^rd May 2010 General Election

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia conducted fourth round general election in all over the country on 23 May 2010 in a legal manner ensuring the sovereignty power of the people.  The general election was conducted to the House of Peoples Representatives and Regional State Councils.  It was characterized by high voter turnout, and orderly conduct of the Election Day proceedings. The election was peaceful, credible, fair, free, and democratic.

All the results of the general election are to be declared on 21 June 2010 as per the formal time table of the Board.

In accordance with the Amended Electoral Law 532/2007 Article 76 (5), The Board had publicized formal provisional results earlier from all Constituencies dealing with:

• Seats to the the House of Peoples’ Representatives
• Seats to the nine   Regional State Councils

The provisional results were announced by the NEBE through the Local and International Medias on 24, 25 and 27 May 2010.

The Board has assessed the results of the general election in detail on its 149^th urgent meeting held on 18 June 2010 ensuring that

• All the results of the May 23 General Election have been received from all over the country

• Decisions have been given to all Complaints lodged by contending political parties according to the law

Thus, the Board approved the results unanimously and decided to announce to the nation on 21 June 2010 as per its previous formal time table.

The results of the 2010 General election are declared as follows:

1.        63 Political Parties participated in the elections fielding comprising of

1.1     2,188 candidates for the House of Peoples’ Representatives, of which

• 1,916 (87.6%) are male
• 272 (12.4%) are female

1.2     4,746 Candidates for the Regional State Councils, of which

• 4,021 (84.7%) are male
• 725 (15.3%) are female

1.3    Independent Candidates

34 participated for the House of Peoples’ Representatives, of which

• • 33 (97.1%) are male
  • 1 (2.9%) female

11 participated for the Regional State Councils, of which

• 9 (81.8%) are male
• 2 (18.1%) are female.

In general, the total numbers of candidate participants in the 2010 General Election are 6,979, of which

• 5,979 (85.7%) are male
• 1000 (14.3%) are female.

Total No. of registered voters is 31, 926,520, of which

• 16,674,280 (52.2%) are male
• 15,252,240 (47.8%) are female

Total No. of voters who casted their votes is 29,832,190, of which

• 15,617,453 (52.4%) are male
• 14,214,737 (47.6%) are female.

Total voters turn out was 93.4% (of the registered voters)

The remaining 6.6% were not casted their votes.

Results of the 2010 General Election

1.         The Results of the General Election to the House of Peoples’ Representatives

Elections were held for 547 seats in the House of Peoples’ Representatives in 547 Constituencies

• The Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) won 499 seats
• The Afar National Democratic Party (ANDP) won 8 seats
• The Somali Peoples Democratic Party (SPDP) won 24 seats
• The Benishangul Gumuz Peoples Democratic Party (BGPDP) won 9 seats
• The Harari National League (HNL) won 1 seat
• The Argoba People Democratic Organization (APDO) won 1 seat
• The Ethiopia Federal Democratic Unity Forum (Medrek )  won 1 seat
• One Independent Candidate won 1 seat.

2.         Results of the General Election to Regional State Council

Elections were held for 9 Regional State Councils. The results are as follows:

2.1 Tigray

The Tigray Regional State has 152 seats in its Regional State Council.

• The Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF-EPRDF) won all the 152 seats.

2.2 Afar

The Afar Regional State has 96 seats in its Regional State Council.

• The Afar National Democratic Party (ANDP) won 93 seats.
• The Argoba Peoples Democratic Organization (APDO) won 3 seats.

2.3 Amhara

The Amhara Regional State has 294 seats in its Regional State Council.

• The Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDP-EPRDF) won all the 294 seats.

2.4 Oromia

The Oromia Regional State has 537 seats in its Regional State Council.

• The Oromo Peoples Democratic Organization (OPDO-EPRDF) won all the 537 seats.

2.5 Somali

The Somali Regional State has 186 seats in its Regional State Council.

• The Somali Peoples Democratic Party (SPDP) won all the 186 seats.

2.6 Benishangul Gumuz

The Benishangul Gumuz Regional State has 99 seats in its Regional State Council.

• The Benishangul Gumuz Peoples Democratic Party (BGPDP) won 98 seats.
• The all Ethiopian Unity Organization (AEOU) won 1 seat.

2.7 Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’

The Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State has 348 seats in its Regional State Council.

• The Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM-EPRDF) won all the 348 seats.

2.8 Gambela

The Gambela Peoples’ Regional State has 156 seats in its Regional State Council.

• The Gambela people’s Unity Democratic Movement (GPUDM) won all the 156 seats.

2.9 Harari

The Harari People’s has 36 seats in its Regional State Council, of which

• The Harari National League (HNL) won 18 seats.
• The Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO-EPRDF) won 18 seats.
• The official result as to winners of seats to the House of Peoples’ Representatives and the Regional State Councils are hereby officially announced as per the official electoral calendar of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia.

Furthermore, the Board will publish the details of the official result in Addis Zemen Gazeta during the next couple of days. It has been also posted in the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia official website.

Similarly, detailed results for each political party candidate in each Constituency have been publicized.

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia

June 21, 2010

Addis Ababa

II.      The local Election result of Somali Region  held on May 30, 2010

As per the Board’s special election time table for Somali Region on May 30, 2010, it is confirmed that the local election was held in a free, fair, peaceful, democratic and credible manner. By examining and approving the local election, the Board has decided to publicize the result as follows፦

1.         Results of Jijiga City Administration Council

The Somali Peoples’ Democratic Party (SPDP) won 75 seats in 13 kebeles of which 51 (68%) are male and 24 (32%) are female.

2.         Results of Woreda Council

The Somali Peoples’ Democratic Party (SPDP) won 4,032 seats in 52 Woredas, of which 3412 (84.6%) are male and 620 (15.4%) are female.

3.         Results of kebeles Councils

The Somali Peoples’ Democratic Party (SPDP) won 47,849 seats in 706 kebeles, of which 37,541 (78.5%) are male and 10,308 (21.5%) are female.

The details of Somali Region Local election result is also publicized on in the office of the National Electoral Board hall as of today, June 21, 2010.

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia

June 21, 2010

Addis Ababa

A summary of final results of the 2010 General Election

No.	Winner Party	Results Obtained
1	The Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)	499
2	The Somali  People’s Democratic Party (SPDP)	24
3	The  Benishangul Gumuz Peoples Democratic Party (BGPDP)	9
4	The Afar National Democratic Party (ANDP)	8
5	The Gambela People’s Unity Democratic Movement (GPUDM)	3
6	The Harari National League (HNL)	1
7	The Argoba People Democratic Organization (APDO)	1
8	The Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (Medrek)	1
9	Independent	1
Total number of  seats in the House of Peoples’ Representatives		547

To the House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR)

A summary of final results of the 2010 general election

No.	Regional State	No. seats	Winner Party	Results Obtained
1	Tigray	152	The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF-EPRDF)	152
2	Afar	96	The Afar National Democratic Party (ANDP) The Argoba People’s Democratic Organization (APDO)	93 3
3	Amhara	294	The Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM-EPRDF)	294
4	Oromia	537	The Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO/EPRDF)	537
5	Somali	186	The Somali  People’s Democratic Party (SPDP)	186
6	Benishangul Gumuz	99	The  Benishangul Gumuz Peoples Democratic Party (BGPDP) The All Ethiopian Unity Organization (AEUO)	98 1
7	SNNP	348	The Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM-EPRDF )	348
8	Gambella	156	The Gambela People’s Unity Democratic Movement (GPUDM)	156
9	Hareri	36	The Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO/EPRDF) The Harari National League (HNL)	18 18
Total number of  seats in the 9 Regional States				1,904

To Regional State Councils (RSC)

Human Ancestor Ethiopian ‘Lucy’ Walked Upright 3.2 Million Years Ago

Netanyahu: Uproot discrimination against Ethiopians

Netanyahu addressed the racial discrimination many community members suffer, and said “Israel is obligated to uproot the phenomenon of ethnic discrimination. I will not tolerate or hear of such things. It opposed our values. The government of Israel will act to promote the Ethiopian community and eradicate discrimination.”

The prime minister noted the government approved on Monday “a budget proposal of NIS 490 million (about $127 million) to improve absorption of Ethiopian immigrants, education, employment, housing and welfare.

“Two months ago we allocated 13 Kessim positions, in addition to the 44 existing positions, so that the community can receive proper religious services. We will continue to absorb this aliyah; it is the duty of the State of Israel,” he said.

Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar agreed with the prime minister and added, “We cannot bury our heads in the sand while the Ethiopian immigrant community suffers from racist discrimination. We have to battle against this sort of behavior, both overt and covert.”

Sa’ar addressed the segregation affair in the Emmanuel school and the dismissive reaction to High Court rulings in the matter. “No man or groups of people stand above the law,” he said.

Roni Sofer contributed to this report

Ethiopia is witnessing the birth of a new ocean, according to scientists at the Royal Society.

By Matt McGrath
BBC News Science reporter

Africa is witnessing the birth of a new ocean, according to scientists at the Royal Society.

Geologists working in the remote Afar region of Ethiopia say the ocean will eventually split the African continent in two, though it will take about 10 million years.

Lead researcher Tim Wright who is presenting the research at the Royal Society’s Summer Exhibition, described the events as “truly incredible”.

Used to understanding changes in the planet on timescales of millions of years, the international team of scientists including Dr Wright have seen amazing changes in Afar in the past five years, where the continent is cracking open, quite literally underneath their feet.

In 2005, a 60km long stretch of the earth opened up to a width of eight metres over a period of just ten days.

Hot, molten rock from deep within the Earth is trickling to the surface and creating the split.

Underground eruptions are still continuing and, ultimately, the horn of Africa will fall away and a new ocean will form.

‘A smaller Africa’

Dr James Hammond, a seismologist from the University of Bristol – who has been working in Afar – says that parts of the region are below sea level and the ocean is only cut off by about a 20-metre block of land in Eritrea.

“Eventually this will drift apart,” he told the BBC World Service. “The sea will flood in and will start to create this new ocean.

“It will pull apart, sink down deeper and deeper and eventually… parts of southern Ethiopia, Somalia will drift off, create a new island, and we’ll have a smaller Africa and a very big island that floats out into the Indian Ocean.”

The researchers say that they are extremely lucky to be able to witness the birth of this ocean as the process is normally hidden beneath the seas.

The team hope to conduct experiments in the area that will help understand how the surface of the Earth is shaped.

They believe that the information they glean from observing the shaping of the Earth will help scientists better understand natural hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Ato Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister his arrival to Canada for the Muskoka 2010 G-8 Summit and the G-20 Toronto Summit

His Excellency Ato Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is welcomed by the minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, John Baird, upon his arrival to Canada for the Muskoka 2010 G-8 Summit and the G-20 Toronto Summit:
Images of his arrival in Toronto on Ethiopian Airlines

President Barack Obama arrived in Canada to attend the G20 and G8 summits. Images of his arrival in Toronto on Air Force One

Aend Ethiopia June 14, 2010

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Aend-Ethiopia Radio Address (Ethiopian 4th General Election 2010)

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Aend Ethiopia Radio 06-27-2010

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Aend Ethiopia Radio 06-27-2010

Aend Ethiopian Live News From Addis Ababa 06-30-2010

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ESFNA: Kansas is in!!! It will join the ESFNA family as the 28th member team starting 2011.

Day 7 – Saturday July 3rd, 2010

See you at the Closing Event at the San Jose Convention Center folks…..let’s close it out real strong with a lineup of exciting entertainers!

• Winners Ethio-LA Stars – Division I
• Winners LA Vegas – Division II…they also go into division I next year.

Kansas is in!!! It will join the ESFNA family as the 28th member team starting 2011.

Division II Final

• Las Vegas over San Diego : 4 – 2

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Aend Ethiopia Radio 07-04-201

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ESFNA Tournament 2010 San Jose, CA ETHIOPIAN DAY ~ Friday, July 2

ESFNA Tournament 2010 San Jose, CA ETHIOPIAN DAY ~ Friday, July 2

American Independence Day Message Delivered by U.S. Ambassador Donald Booth (Ethiopia)

Ethiopia bids farewell to opposition MPs

Ethiopia bids farewell to opposition MPs
July 8th, 2010 in News, Society
APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Ethiopia bade farewell to opposition members of Parliament (MPs) who were in the parliament for the past five years as the opposition scored poorly following the 23 May national elections in the country compared to the 2005 national election.

It could be recalled that, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) won a landslide victory with 545 seats out of the 547 seats in the parliament in the May 2010 elections.

One independent candidate and another candidate from an opposition party won one seat each.

During the past five years, there has been a strong opposition presence in the Ethiopian parliament as they won over 100 seats in the 2005 national election.

The outgoing opposition MPs and members of the House of People’s Representative (lower house) as well as the House of Federation (upper house) have been handed appreciation certificate for their five-year contribution in the parliament.

The farewell ceremony was held on Wednesday evening at the national palace in the presence of Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi and diplomats based in Ethiopia.

The 2005 legislature ended its five years term on Wednesday 7 July.

The new parliament, to be filled with ruling party members, is expected to start its work in October.

Aend Ethiopia Radio 07-11-2010

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2 Bomb Attacks in Uganda; 70 Feared Dead

New al-Qaida threat: Somali group claims blasts

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Spokesman

______________________________________________________________________________

July 12, 2010

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY CLINTON

Bombings in Uganda

I join President Obama in strongly condemning today’s attacks in Kampala, Uganda targeting innocent spectators watching the World Cup final.

We understand that American citizens may have been injured or killed and our embassy is reaching out to assist.  Our condolences go out to the families and friends of the victims, in the United States and Uganda.

At this tragic moment, the United States stands with Uganda.  We have a long-standing, close friendship with the people and government of Uganda and will work with them to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice.

=====================

(CNN) — The death toll from a pair of bombings that struck a restaurant and a rugby ground in Uganda’s capital is around 60, a police spokeswoman told CNN on Monday.

Seventy-one more people were injured, said police spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba.
The blasts occurred Sunday night as patrons gathered to watch the World Cup final game between Spain and the Netherlands.

One explosion took place at an Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala; the other at a rugby field.
Americans may be among the dead or wounded, the U.S. State Department said.

The State Department did not elaborate nor did it definitively say whether any Americans died in the blast.
What is known for certain is that some of the wounded included six members of an American church mission working with a local congregation.

The Rev. Kathleen Kind, pastor of Christ Community United Methodist Church in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, confirmed those injuries Sunday.

“All of our members are accounted for and all of the families have been contacted,” Kind told CNN. She added that injuries ranged from broken bones and flesh wounds to temporary blindness and “hearing issues.”

She said congregants are now “praying here in the church and in their homes for our members.”

The bombs went off within 25 minutes of each other shortly after 10 p.m.(3 p.m. ET), as fans gathered in both locations. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for what Nabakooba called “definite acts of terrorism.”

Islamic militants battling Somalia’s U.N.-backed transitional government have threatened attacks on Uganda and Burundi, which contribute troops to an African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. But Nabakooba said the investigation is not yet focused on any specific group.

Ethiopian immigrant student in Israel sues Egged driver for racism

Ethiopian immigrant student sues Egged driver for racism

Varkar, who is a behavioral science student at the Academic College of Management in Rishon Lezion said that the incident happened on August 9 on a bus bound from Rishon Lezion Central Bus Station to Tel Aviv. The driver initially refused to allow her to board but when he stopped at a nearby junction to allow another passenger to board, she jumped on the bus even though the driver allegedly shouted at her, “I don’t let Ethiopians on the bus.”

The driver has already been fined six weeks salary by an Egged disciplinary committee for unsuitable behavior and damaging Egged’s image after the student complained and the Ministry of Transport is also suing both Egged and the drive

Nelson Mandela turns 92, The United Nations inaugurated Nelson Mandela International Day

The United Nations inaugurated Nelson Mandela International Day, which will be celebrated each year on the former South African president’s birthday, July 18th.The day calls for people around the world to take action to make a difference in their communities.

በዩጋንዳው ፍንዳታ የተጠረጠሩት አራት ኢትዮጵያዊያን በነጻ ተለቀቁ

በዩጋንዳው ፍንዳታ የተጠረጠሩት አራት ኢትዮጵያዊያን በነጻ ተለቀቁ

የዩጋንዳ ፖሊስ ፍንዳታውን አስመልክቶ በሰጠው መግለጫ ጥቃቶቹ በሁለት አጥፍቶ ጠፊዎች መከናወናቸውን አስታውቆ፤ በጥርጣሬ የተያዙት ኢትዮጵያዊያን መለቀቃቸውን አረጋግጧል።

የፖሊሱ አዛዥ ካሌ ካይ-ሁራ ለጋዜጠኞች ሲናገሩ በፍንዳታው ከተሰበሰቡት አስከሬኖች መካከል የሁለቱን ሬሳ ፈልጎ የመጣ ሰው አልተገኘም። የሁለቱን ሰዎች ማንነት የሚያሳዩ ምስሎችንም ፖሊስ አሳይቷል።

በአለም አቀፍ የወንጀለኛ አዳኝ ፓሊስ ኢንተር-ፖል ድረ ገጽ የሚገኙት እንደገና የተሰሩ ምስሎች የአጥፍቶ ጠፊዎቹን ማንነት ከሞላ ጎደል እንደሚያሳዩም ተጠቁሟል። አንደኛው ሰው ሶማሊያን ጨምሮ ከአፍሪካ ቀንድ ሰዎች የፊት ምስል ጋር የሚቀራረብ የቆዳ ቀለም ያለው ሰው ሲሆን፤ ሌላኛው ሰፋ ያለ ፊትና ጥቁር የቆዳ ቀለም ያለው ነው።

የፖሊሱ አዛዥ ካሌ ካይሁራ እነዚህ ሰዎች የአጥፍቶ ጠፊዎች መሆናቸውን በእርግጠኝነት ይናገራሉ።

“እነዚሁ ሁለት አስከሬኖች፤ ከሌሎቹ ሬሳዎች በተለየ መልኩ፤ መጥቶ ስጡን ያለ ሰው የለም። አሁን አንድ ሳምንት ሆኗል። ሁሉም አስከሬኖች በዘመድ ተለይተው ርክክብ ተደርጓል። እነዚህን የጠየቀ የለም፤ ይሄ ደግሞ አጋጣሚ ሊሆን አይችልም፣” ብለዋል።

ካይሁራ አክለውም የሰዎቹን ማንነት ለማወቅ አለም አቀፍ ዘመቻ መጀመሩን አስታውቀዋል።

“ኢንተር-ፖል፤ FBI እና ሌሎች አጋር የፖሊስ ሀይሎች ስራዮ ብለው ፍለጋውን ቀጥለዋል። ማንነታቸውን ማወቅ ለምርመራችን ወሳኝ ስለሆነ፤ በአለም ዙሪያ የነዚህን ሰዎች ማንነት እያስፈለግን ነው።”

ለዚህ ምርመራ የተለያዩ የፖሊስ ግብረ-ሀይሎች ወደ ካምፓላ አምርተዋል። የአሜሪካው የደህንነት ተቛም FBI ከ60 በላይ መርማሪዎቹን ልኳል። የዩጋንዳው እለታዊ ሞኒተር ጋዜጣም የኢትዮጵያ የደህንነት ሰራተኞችም ምክር እየሰጡ መሆናቸውን አስነብቧል።

የኢትዮጵያ ደህነንት ባለስልጣናት የካምፓላውን ፍንዳታ ያቀነባበረው ግለሰብ አሁንም አለመያዙን መጠቆሙን ዴይሊ ሞኒተር ጽፏል። የሰውየውን ማንነት ያልጠቀሱ መንጮችን የጠቀሰው ዘገባ ተጠርጣሪው የሶማሊያ ዜጋ መሆኑን አስነብቧል።

የዩጋንዳ ፖሊስ ከፍንዳታዎቹ ጋር በተያያዘ 20 ሰዎችን አስሯል። እነዚህም  ዩጋንዳዊ፣ ፓኪስታናዊ፣ ኢትዮጵያዊና ሶማሊያዊ ዜግነት ያላቸው መሆናቸው ተጠቁሟል።

የፖሊስ አዛዥ ካሌ ካይሁራ ከነዚህ ሰዎች መካከል ተጠርጥረው የተያዙት ኢትዮጵያዊያን መፈታታቸውን ተናግረው፤ በፍንዳታው የውጭ ሀይሎች እጅ እንዳለበት ገልጸዋል።

“ከዚህ ፍንዳታ ጋር በቀጥታ የተገናኙ ሰዎችን መለየት የሚቻልበት ጊዜ ላይ አይደለግም። ገና ብዙ ስራ ይጠብቀናል በፍጥነት የምንናገረው የለም። መረጋገጥ ያለባቸው መረጃዎች አሉን። በነገራችን ላይ ፓኪስታናዊያን ብቻ አይደሉም፤ ከመካከላቸው ዩጋንዳዊያንም አሉበት።”

ለዚህ ፍንዳታ ሀላፊነቱን በሶማሊያ የሚንቀሳቀሰው የእስልምና አክራሪ ቡድን አል-ሸባብ ሀላፊነቱን ወስዷል። አልሸባብ “ፍንዳታዎቹ የአፍሪካ ህብረት የሰላም አስከባሪዎች የሚገድሏቸው ሰዎችን ደም ይበቀላል” ማለቱ ይታወሳል።

ማለዳ ተፈተዋል የተባሉት ኢትዮጵያዊያን እስከ ሰኞ ማታ ድረስ በእስር መዋላቸውን በካምፓላ የሚኖሩ ኢትዮጵያዊያን አረጋግጠዋል።

U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald E. Booth Travels to Bahir Dar

Addis Ababa, July 29, 2010:  U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald E. Booth, and his wife Anita Booth, traveled to Bahir Dar from July 28-29 to meet with regional and local officials, visit U.S. assistance

projects and programs, meet with American citizens and learn about economic development issues in the Amhara area.  He was accompanied by the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Ethiopia, Dr. Thomas Kenyon, and other U.S. Embassy staff.

During his first visit to the Amhara region, Ambassador Booth paid calls on Regional State President Ayalew Gobeze and the Bahir Dar City Mayor Alemayehu Sewagegne.  He also had the opportunity to meet with religious leaders from Bahir Dar’s newly launched Interfaith Peace Building Council and hear about their efforts to promote tolerance and interfaith dialogue in the region.

Ambassador Booth and Dr. Kenyon visited the National Defense Force of Ethiopia (NDFE) barracks in Bahar Dar to witness the HIV-AIDS peer education and prevention program supported by the U.S. Government through a cooperative agreement with NDFE.  They also received a briefing on the NDFE’s Modeling and Reinforcement to Combat HIV/AIDS (MARCH) programs.

Ambassador Booth and seven U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers who are working in the Amhara region visited the Aba Megesha Geneme Public Library and Information Center where there is an American Corner Library supported by the U.S. Embassy.  They received a briefing from the Jerusalem Children and Community Development Organization, which manages the library, about its development programs in the region.  The Ambassador also had the opportunity to meet with library clients, including high school students who had participated in the Embassy’s annual African American History Month essay contest.  Mrs. Booth visited the Children’s Library located on the same compound and participated in a special story hour with children from Bahir Dar.

Ambassador Booth also traveled to the Tana Beles Hydropower Plant, currently Ethiopia’s largest power plant.  He met with project personnel at the plant and received a plant tour.

Mrs. Booth visited the Tana Medhanealem Integrated Development Association to view U.S.-supported poultry farming and beekeeping projects, and meet with program beneficiaries.   ###

Peaceful demonstration August 05, 2010 (Slogans/Chantings)

Click the picture for more pic

Ethiopian and the US Export-Import Bank Sign $1.6 Billion Agreement

Ethiopian and the US Export-Import Bank Sign $1.6 Billion Agreement – 10 August, 2010
Ethiopian Airlines and the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) of the United States have signed an agreement worth over $1.6 billion to support the financing of five B777-200LR and ten B787-8 aircraft and General Electric spare engines.

At a ceremony held at the 9th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum in Washington DC on August 02, 2010, the financing documents were signed by Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake and Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. The magnitude of the transaction represents the first of its kind for the support of the African aviation industry.

Upon signing the agreement Girma Wake said, ”Ethiopian would like to thank the management and Board of the US Ex-Im Bank for their unreserved support to Ethiopian Airlines. This agreement has significant contribution towards the development and growth of our airline.” He added, “Our sincere thanks also go to the African governments, leaders and our customers for the unwavering support to the success of Ethiopian Airlines. The signing of this agreement reaffirms the principles and objectives for which the AGOA stands and vividly reflects the forum’s firm commitment to advance the growth of the aviation industry in Africa.”

The US Ex-Im Bank President and Chairman Fred P. Hochberg said, “It is a pleasure to continue to work with and support one of Africa’s premier air carrier, Ethiopian Airlines. In fact, looking back at our relationship and discussing our latest transaction with our transportation team and Boeing, our relationship with Ethiopian Airlines is one of the best in the world. I want to thank Ethiopian Airlines, Boeing and our transportation team for making this possible and I look forward to strengthening this relationship.”

The successful and mutually advantageous bondage between the U.S. Ex-Im Bank and Ethiopian Airlines has been developed over the last 30 years, culminating in more than 1.6 billion in Ex-Im Bank’s approval of final and preliminary commitments to support the export of the five Boeing 777-200LR aircraft and ten Boeing 787-8 aircraft and the General Electric spare engines for Ethiopian Airlines.

The 9th AGOA Forum brought together high-level officials and business leaders of Africa and the US to promote trade and economic ties between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa.

About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines, one of the largest and fastest growing airlines in Africa, made its maiden flight to Cairo in 1946. With the recent addition of flight services to Pointe Noire, Ethiopian provides dependable services to 39 cities in Africa and a total of 59 international destinations spanning throughout four continents.

Ethiopian won the NEPAD Transport Infrastructure Excellence Awards 2009 on November 25, 2009 and “Airline of the Year” award from the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) on November 24, 2009, bringing the total Awards honored since January 2009 to five.

In August, 2008, Ethiopian won “the 2008 Corporate Achievement Award” of Aviation & Allied Business for setting the pace towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry.

Ethiopian is also the first African carrier to win the 2008 Brussels Airport Company Award in recognition of its distinguished long haul operations witnessed through the introduction of new routes, new products, and close cooperation with Brussels Airport in marketing activities.

Ethiopian was the winner of the ‘2008 Best Airline in Africa Award’ at the African Travel Award ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, for its excellent network and convenient connections in Africa.

World’s Oldest Person Dies in Ethiopia

World’s Oldest Person Dies in Ethiopia on Sunday August 8, 2010

Ethiopia receives $780mn remittances from the Diaspora

APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Ethiopia has obtained around $780 million from remittances from Ethiopians in the Diaspora in the past ten months, the Ethiopian National Bank said here on Tuesday.

According to the bank, this year’s earnings from remittances exceed that of last year by about nine per cent.

An estimated one million Ethiopians are estimated to live outside their country, mostly in the United States and Europe.

The bank said that the amount of remittances Ethiopia is getting each year is on the rise, especially since the past three years.

“We have enforced a new legislation allowing the Diaspora to have saving accounts in US Dollars, which is encouraging many citizens to do so,” said the bank.

However, according to available information, Ethiopia is getting lower remittances than other neighbouring countries, such as Kenya and Egypt.

In 2007, Kenyans in the Diaspora had sent home nearly 1.6 billion dollars, achieving a per capita remittance of 42 dollars.

Ethiopians on the other hand sent home only 359 million dollars, with a per capita remittance of only four dollars, according to a United Nations report for 2009.

However, 1.2 billion to 1.5 billion dollars was remitted to Ethiopia through the non-banking system.

Ethiopia is expecting the remittances to rise to around one billion in the next few years.

Africa Oil Completes Acquisition of South Omo Block in Ethiopia

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Aug 19, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Africa Oil Corp. /quotes/comstock/11v!aoi (CA:AOI 1.10, +0.01, +0.92%) (“Africa Oil” or “the Company”) is pleased to report that it has received Ministerial consent in connection with the previously announced Farmout Agreement with Agriterra Ltd. (formerly White Nile Ltd.) and the deal has now closed. Under the Farmout Agreement, Africa Oil Ethiopia B.V. (“AOEBV”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Africa Oil, has acquired an 80% participating interest in, and operatorship of, the South Omo Block in Ethiopia.

South Omo represents a new opportunity for Africa Oil to secure a highly prospective block in the Omo Rift Valley of south-western Ethiopia. The block spans 29,465 square kilometres and is within the Tertiary age East African Rift, just north of Lake Turkana, Kenya and within the same petroleum system as the Company’s Kenya Block 10BB and Tullow’s Uganda discoveries.

Pursuant to the Farmout Agreement AOEBV will pay 80% of past costs incurred by Agriterra, to a maximum of US$2,517,000, to earn its 80% participating interest. The payment of these past costs will be set-off against future cash calls made to Agriterra by AOEBV in respect of Agriterra’s 20% Participating Interest. AOEBV will also fund 100% of the costs associated with a work program comprised of 500 kilometres of 2D seismic, a field geology program, and a surface geochemistry program. Total cost exposure for this work program is estimated at $6.5 MM USD with the majority of these costs to be incurred in the first half of 2011.

Africa Oil Corp. is a Canadian oil and gas company with assets in Kenya, Ethiopia and Puntland (Somalia). Africa Oil’s East African holdings are in what is considered a truly world-class exploration play fairway. The Company’s total gross land package in this prolific region is approaching 250,000 square kilometers – an area roughly the size of Great Britain. The East African Rift Basin system is one of the last of the great rift basins to be explored. New discoveries have been announced on all sides of Africa Oil’s virtually unexplored land position including the major Tullow Albert Graben oil discovery in neighbouring Uganda. Similar to the Albert Graben play model, Africa Oil’s concessions have older wells, a legacy database, and host numerous oil seeps indicating a proven petroleum system. Good quality existing seismic show robust leads and prospects throughout Africa Oil’s project areas. The Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “AOI”.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements made and information contained herein constitute “forward-looking information” (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation). Such statements and information (together, “forward looking statements”) relate to future events or the Company’s future performance, business prospects or opportunities. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to estimates of reserves and or resources, future production levels, future capital expenditures and their allocation to exploration and development activities, future drilling and other exploration and development activities, ultimate recovery of reserves or resources and dates by which certain areas will be explored, developed or reach expected operating capacity, that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management.

All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. Statements concerning proven and probable reserves and resource estimates may also be deemed to constitute forward-looking statements and reflect conclusions that are based on certain assumptions that the reserves and resources can be economically exploited. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as “seek”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect, “may”, “will”, “project”, “predict”, “potential”, “targeting”, “intend”, “could”, “might”, “should”, “believe” and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties relating to, among other things, changes in oil prices, results of exploration and development activities, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of materials and equipment, timeliness of government or other regulatory approvals, actual performance of facilities, availability of financing on reasonable terms, availability of third party service providers, equipment and processes relative to specifications and expectations and unanticipated environmental impacts on operations. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Keith Hill, President and CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

ኢትዮጵያዊው ባለሀብት ግዮን ሆቴልን በሰባት ቢሊዮን ብር ሊገነቡ ነው

አክሊለ ብርሃን መኮንን ኃይለ ሥላሴ የተባሉ ኢትዮጵያዊ ኢንቬስተር ‹‹ግራንድ ግዮን ሆቴል›› በሚል ስያሜ አንድ ባለ አራት ኮከብና አንድ ባለ አምስት ኮከብ ሆቴል በሰባት ቢሊዮን ብር ወጪ ለመገንባት ከፕራይቬታይዜሽን ኤጀንሲ ጋር ከትናንት በስቲያ ስምምነት ተፈራረሙ፡፡

የሆቴሉን ግንባታ የሚያከናውነው ድንቅነሽ ኩባንያቸው 80 በመቶ፣ የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ደግሞ 20 በመቶ ድርሻ ይኖራቸዋል፡፡

የአፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ የልጅ ልጅ መሆናቸውን በመግለጽ፣ ‹‹ልዑል›› የሚባልበት ዘመን ስላለፈ ‹‹ልዑል አክሊለ ብርሃን የሚለውን ስም አልጠቀም›› በማለት ዶ/ር ቆስጠንጢኖስ በረሀ ከጋዜጠኞች ጋር ያስተዋወቋቸው የድንቅነሽ ኩባንያ ሥራ አስኪያጅ አክሊለ ብርሃን መኮንን፣ ትናንት በሒልተን ሆቴል በሰጡት ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ እንዳስታወቁት፣ የግዮን ሆቴልን ለመግዛት በጨረታ ከተሳተፉት 12 የውጪ ኩባንያዎች መካከል ድንቅነሽ ኩባንያ በገንዘብም ሆነ በዲዛይን በልጦ ስለተገኘ የጨረታው አሸናፊ ሆኗል፡፡

ግራንድ ግዮን ሆቴል በሚል ስያሜ አሁን ግዮን ሆቴል ባረፈበት ቦታ ላይ የሚገነባው አዲሱ ሆቴል፣ አንድ ባለአራት ኮከብ ሆቴልና አንድ ባለአምስት ኮከብ ሆቴል የሚኖሩት ሲሆን፣ የባለአራቱ ኮከብ ሆቴል ግንባታ በአንድ ዓመት ከአራት ወር ጊዜ ውስጥ ሲያልቅ የባለአምስት ኮከቡ ሆቴል ግንባታ ደግሞ በሶስት ዓመት ተኩል ጊዜ ውስጥ ይጠናቀቃል፡፡

በግዮን ሆቴል ውስጥ መዋኛ ሥፍራ ላይ ባለ አራት ኮከብ ሆቴሉ እንደሚሠራ፣ የዚህ ባለአራት ኮከብ ሆቴል ግንባታ ሲጠናቀቅ ደግሞ በአሁኑ ጊዜ አገልግሎት የሚሰጠው ሆቴል ሙሉ በሙሉ ፈርሶ ባለአምስት ኮከቡ ሆቴል ግንባታ እንደሚጀመር አቶ አክሊለ ብርሃን ገልጸዋል፡፡ ድንቅነሽ ኩባንያ ሁለቱን ሆቴሎች ለማሠራት ወደ ሰባት ቢሊዮን ብር ገደማ ወጪ የሚያደርግ ሲሆን፣ ግዮን ሆቴል ያረፈበትን ቦታና ቁሳቁሶች በዓይነት 100 ሚሊዮን ዶላር የገመተው የፕራይቬታይዜሽን ኤጀንሲ የአዲሱ ግራንድ ግዮን ሆቴል የ20 በመቶ ባለድርሻ ሆኗል፡፡

የድንቅነሽ ኩባንያ ሥራ አስኪያጅ አቶ አክሊለ ብርሃን እንደገለጹት፣ ድርጀታቸው የሚያስገነባው አዲሱ ሆቴል በአፍሪካ ውስጥ በመጠኑም ሆነ በዓይነቱ ከፍተኛ ጥራት ያለው የመጀመሪያ ሆቴል ይሆናል፡፡
የሄሊኮፕተር ማረፊያዎች እንዲኖሩት ተደርጎ የሚገነባው ይኸው ሆቴል፣ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ስብሰባዎች በሚደረጉበት ጊዜ የሁሉንም አገሮች መሪዎች ማስተናገድ የሚችሉ የፕሬዚዳንት ልዩ ማረፊያዎች እንደሚኖሩትም ተገልጿል፡፡ የሆቴሉ ዋና መግቢያ የሚሆነው በመስቀል አደባባይ ፊት ለፊት ያለው ሥፍራ ነው፡፡

ኢንቨስትሩ አክሊለ ብርሃን መኮንን ኃይለ ሥላሴ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ መጥተው ኢንቬስት ለማድረግ የሚያስችል የገንዘብ አቅም ያላቸው መሆኑን የሚገልጽ ማስረጃ ከውጪ አገር ባንኮች ይዘው የመጡ ሲሆን፣ ማስረጃው በኢትዮጵያ ኤምባሲዎች ታትሞና በውጪ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር ታይቶ ለፕራይቬታይዜሽን ኤጀንሲ ቀርቧል፡፡

‹‹በሚቀጥለው ሳምንት አዲሱ ግራንድ ግዮን ሆቴል ይቋቋማል፡፡ ሆቴሉ ከተቋቋመ በኋላ ቦርድ ተመስርቶ ሥራዎችን ማከናወን እንጀምራለን፤›› ሲሉ የኢንቬስተሩ ተወካይ መሆናቸውን የገለጹት ዶ/ር ቆስጠንጢኖስ ተናግረዋል፡፡

የሆቴሉን ግንባታ ሥራ ለመጀመር ከሚደረገው እንቅስቃሴ ጎን ለጎን ድንቅነሽ ኩባንያ ሆቴሉን ከሚያስተዳድሩ ዓለም አቀፍ ሆቴሎች ጋር ውድድር ሲያካሂድ መቆየቱን የጠቆሙት ዶ/ር ቆስጠንጢኖስ፣ በአሁኑ ወቅት ኢንተርኮንቲኔንታል ሆቴል፣ ሆቴሉን ለማስተዳደር ዝግጁነቱን የገለጸ መሆኑን አስታውቀዋል፡፡

ኢንተርኮንቲኔንታል ሆቴል በዓለም ውስጥ 4800 ሆቴሎችን የሚያስተዳድር መሆኑንና በስፋትም ሆነ በጥራቱ በዓለም አንደኛ ደረጃን የያዘ ኩባንያ መሆኑን ዶ/ር ቆስጠንጢኖስ አስታውቀዋል፡፡
ለሆቴሉ ግንባታ ሰባት ቢሊዮን ብር ገደማ ለማውጣት የተዘጋጁት የሆቴሉ ሥራ ያዋጣኛል ብለው ነው ወይስ ለአገርዎ ልዩ ፍቅር ስላለዎት? በሚል ከሪፖርተር ለቀረበላቸው ጥያቄ አቶ አክሊለ ብርሃን ሲመልሱ፣ ‹‹እትብቱ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የተቀበረና ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ የተወለደ ማንኛውም ሰው ሀብታምም ሆነ ድሃ ተመልሶ ወደ አገሩ ነው የሚመጣው፡፡ አሁን በምኖርበት አገር ገንዘብ ቢኖረኝም፣ አገሬን ለማሳደግ ፍላጎት አለኝ፤›› የሚል ምላሽ ሰጥተዋል፡፡ በአሁኑ ጊዜ አገሪቱ በከፍተኛ ፍጥነት እያደገች መሆኗን የገለጹት አቶ አክሊለ ብርሃን፣ ለወደፊቱ ኩባንያቸው የሆቴሉን ኢንዱስትሪ ለማስፋፋት በላሊበላና በአክሱም አካባቢ የሚሠራው ሥራ እንደሚኖር፣ ኢንቨስትመንቱም በግዮን ሆቴል ግንባታ ላይ ብቻ እንደማይወሰን አስታውቀዋል፡፡

ድንቅነሽ ኩባንያ በአቶ አክሊለ ብርሃንና በቤተሰቦቻቸው የተቋቋመ ኩባንያ ሲሆን፣ (ድንቅነሽ የአቶ አክሊለ ብርሀን ባለቤት ስም ነው) እንግሊዝ ውስጥ ስምንት፣ ጀርመን ውስጥ ደግሞ ሁለት ኩባንያዎች አሉት፡፡ ዋና መቀመጫውን ስዊዘርላንድ ያደረገው ይኼው ኩባንያ፣ በስቶክ ኤክስቼንጅ ኢንቨስትመንት ላይ የተሰማራ መሆኑንም አቶ አክሊለ ብርሃን አክለው ገልጸዋል፡፡

ከኢንቨስትመንቱ ውጪ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በሰብዓዊ ዕርዳታ ላይ ያደረጉት ተሳትፎ ስለመኖሩ ጥያቄ የቀረበላቸው አቶ አክሊለ ብርሃን፣ በድሬዳዋ የጎርፍ አደጋ ጊዜ ድርጅታቸው እርዳታ የለገሰ መሆኑን፣ አድዋ ውስጥ የንግስት ሳባ ትምህርት ቤትን ማሳደሳቸውን፣ በአዲስ አበባ ቅድስተ ሥላሴ ቤተክርስቲያን 2ሺሕ 500 ተማሪዎችን የማስተናገድ አቅም ያለው ሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርት ቤት ለመገንባት ሥራ መጀመራቸውንና በጅማ አካባቢም የተለያዩ የበጎ አድራጎት ሥራዎች መሥራታቸውን ጠቁመዋል፡፡

‹‹እኛ ለሚጎዳው ሕዝብ መድረስ እንጂ የሠራነውን ሥራ ማስተዋወቅ (publicity) አንፈልግም፤›› ያሉት አቶ አክሊለ ብርሃን፣ በቀጣይ ጊዜዎችም ኩባንያቸው አክሱም ውስጥ በ20 ሚሊዮን ዶላር ሙዚየም ለማስገንባት መወሰኑንና ጅማ ውስጥም ሆስፒታል ለማሠራት ማሰቡን ተናግረዋል፡፡

‹‹አዲሱ ሆቴሉ ሲገነባ በአሁኑ ጊዜ ግዮን ውስጥ የሚሠሩ ሠራተኞች እጣ ፈንታ ምን ይሆናል?›› በሚል ለቀረበላቸው የሪፖርተር ጥያቄ ምላሽ ሲሰጡ፣ ጨረታውን ያሸነፍንበት አንደኛው ምክንያት የሠራተኞች ጉዳይ ነው፤ ‹‹ኢትዮጵያዊ ስለሆንኩ ማንኛውም ኢትዮጵያዊ ሥራውን ለቆ እንዲወጣ አልፈልግም፤ ሆቴሉ ሲገነባ ሠራተኞቹ ለአንድ ዓመትና ለሁለት ዓመት ትምህርት ተሰጥቷቸው ሥራቸውን እንዲቀጥሉ ይደረጋል፡፡ ለጡረታ የደረሱ ሰዎች ካሉም የጡረታ ክፍያ እየሰጠን እናሰናብታለን፤›› ብለዋል፡፡

Ethiopian birr devalued, IMF welcomes move

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The Ethiopian birr was devalued by 16.7 percent on Wednesday, according to exchange rates published on the central bank’s website, a move welcomed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The birr was quoted by the National Bank of Ethiopia at a weighted average of 16.3514 against the dollar compared with 13.6284 on Tuesday. A central bank official confirmed the new rate but was not authorised to make further comment.

“The IMF welcomes this move given it will help bolster Ethiopia’s competitiveness,” IMF representative in Ethiopia, Sukhwinder Singh, told Reuters. “It will need to be supported by appropriate monetary policy.”

Last month, the government unveiled an ambitious five-year economic plan which targets average annual economic growth of 14.9 percent over the period and aims to end the Horn of Africa nation’s dependence on food aid.

Ethiopia is Africa’s biggest coffee exporter and the world’s fourth largest exporter of sesame. It is also one of Africa’s biggest potential markets — with a population of 80 million — and most of its people have no telephones or bank accounts.

The devaluation is the Horn of Africa nation’s fourth since January 2009. Devaluations can spur economic growth and reduce current account deficits to the extent they boost exports and discourage imports, although they carry the risk of importing inflation.

‘DEPRECIATION LIKELY TO CONTINUE’

“I think it’s related to the new five-year plan and a strategy of export promotion and import substitution,” Tewodros Mekonnen, an economist with local think tank, the Ethiopian Economic Association, told Reuters.

“Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia” (A Week in the Horn )

“Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia”

Last week, US Senators Feingold and Leahy introduced a draft bill into the US Senate. It was entitled ‘Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Ethiopia, Act of 2010.’ Any bill that is introduced into the US Senate is, of course, a matter of US internal affairs. And we wouldn’t criticize Senators for anything they might wish to place before the Senate of the US, even if it does deal with the internal affairs of other countries. Indeed, we would entirely welcome support for democracy in Ethiopia. As we have frequently emphasized, democracy, together with good governance and respect for human rights, is a necessity for the survival of Ethiopia and for the achievement of the eradication of poverty, the main aim of government development strategy. This, indeed, is why we spend a great deal of time and energy ensuring the strengthening of democratic governance.

At the same time, this bill is something of a puzzle. Under the heading ‘findings’, it does contains sizeable factual errors and fails to notice numerous relevant details. Senators Feingold and Leahy really ought to know by now that Ethiopia, far from refusing to comply with the arbitration of the Ethiopian Eritrean Border Commission, fully accepted the Delimitations Decisions of the Commission nearly six years ago, in November 2004. Since then,Ethiopia has made repeated efforts to encourage demarcation of the border according to international practices, to enter into dialogue with the government of Eritrea and to normalize relations. These efforts have been repeatedly rebuffed by Eritrea. Eritrea has coupled this with the takeover of the Temporary Security Zone between the two countries and the arbitrary expulsion of the UN Mission, the guarantor of the integrity of the TSZ, and another of whose jobs was supposed to be oversight of the demarcation process. Eritrea has in fact to all intents and purposes nullified the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of June 2000, the central plank of the peace agreement which ended the war started by Eritrea in May 1998. It is not Ethiopia which has made demarcation impossible.

The ‘finding’ on the Somali Regional State is similarly inaccurate, making no mention of, inter alia, such important developments as the peace deal signed between the government and the United Western Somali Liberation Front (UWSLF) in March, or the agreement currently being negotiated between the government and the major faction of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) which will be signed next month. It makes no mention of recent major advances in the provision of health, education, infrastructure, IT and energy supplies in the Somali Regional State, nor of the significant administrative and financial devolution down to woreda, even kebele, level.

The source of any claim of “credible” reports of gross violations of human rights in the Somali Regional State is the Asmara-based ONLF fraction, refracted through Human Rights Watch, whose methodology and checking procedures have been shown to be seriously flawed. In its last report on the Ogaden region, over two years ago, HRW admitted relying solely upon external, often telephonic, contacts with refugees and ONLF sources, all outside Ethiopia. It made little or no effort to establish the accuracy of claims on the ground. Other reports, indeed, clearly demonstrated multiple errors in HRW’s claims.

The other difficulty with this bill is its failure to notice that a number of the demands it makes have actually been going on for years. We have, in ‘A Week in the Horn’ for example, listed details of the extensive and regular education provided for all levels of the Ethiopian Defense Forces in human rights and accountability. Any credible allegations of abuse are automatically investigated; appropriate punishment is given if proven. We would, however, admit that details of such procedures are not normally released to the US Senate. It is hardly the appropriate body to be kept informed of such internal disciplinary matters. There is a major program for strengthening the independence and capacity of the judiciary, supported by a number of international donors, which has been going on for several years. There are no political leaders who have been jailed for political reasons; any in custody have been arrested on civil or criminal charges. Humanitarian and development ‘entities’, including those of the UN, are welcome anywhere in Ethiopia and have complete access unless security preclude this, as for example close to the Eritrean border, or in areas of the Somali Regional State where the ONLF was carrying out terrorist attacks in 2007-2008.

It is, in fact, disconcerting that two such prominent Senators should spend so much time and energy on the internal affairs of a country with which the US has a close and, we believe, a valuable relationship. We would, in this context, have expected a real and particular effort to get the facts straight. Equally, however, at the end of the day, perhaps the biggest surprise is that Senators Feingold and Leahy should concentrate on Ethiopia when there are so many more serious concerns for the international community in our own region: the dangers posed by the situation in Somalia, by the possibility of expanding extremism and terrorism, the operations of Al-Shabaab and piracy, the risks to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan, and the destabilization activities of Eritrea throughout our region which have after all been recognized as a major problem by the international community. It is ironic that the two Senators even appear unaware of Security Council Resolution 1907. This is indeed emblematic of the flaws in their draft bill. All these are very real threats to international peace and security. It is hardly surprising that we find it difficult to understand why Senators Feingold and Leahy should focus on allegations, most unchecked and largely inaccurate, concerning Ethiopia.

Somaliland Army Drives Out Ethiopian Rebels

Somaliland’s deputy minister for foreign affairs and international cooperation said its national army has driven from Somaliland territory Ethiopia’s Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels who, he said, were trained in neighboring Eritrea.

Mohammed Yonis Awale said his administration has alerted Addis Ababa about the ONLF rebels wanting to use Somaliland to launch attacks on Ethiopia.

“They came to our coast by two boats and they took their weapons and their men from the coast by some two or three trucks to transport them to Ethiopia. While they were trying that we were informed and we chased them…into the mountains. We captured two of them and we slightly injured one of them. We took from them light weapons and some documents that indicated they belonged to ONLF,” he said.

Deputy Minister Yonis Awale said the rebels wanted to “penetrate Ethiopia’s territory.”

But, the ONLF rebel group denied that over 200 of their troops were forced out of Somaliland.

The ONLF rebels have been battling Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government for independence from what they call the original Ethiopia.

Somaliland official Yonis Awale said the ONLF rebels were carrying 64 rocket launchers and that some of them had Eritrean currency and documents that proved they were trained in Eritrea.

“All these indicated that they have been trained in Eritrea and their intention was to go into Ethiopia and start their fight with the Ethiopian government. (But), we intercepted them (on) the edge of the borderline between Ethiopia and Somaliland and so we shared the information with the Ethiopian government and the Ethiopia government closed the border,” Yonis Awale said

He also said Eritrea has been training and funding armed groups in the Horn of African region. But, Asmara has sharply denied the allegations as baseless and without merit.

The United Nations Security Council has imposed an arms embargo on Eritrea and vowed to slap financial and travel restrictions on its leaders for allegedly arming hard line Somali Islamic insurgents.

The embargo followed months of international frustration over Eritrea’s alleged role in arming al-Shabab, an Islamic insurgent group that is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s transitional government.

On the Nile, Egypt cuts water use as Ethiopia dams for power

On the Nile, Egypt cuts water use as Ethiopia dams for power
There is a battle over the historic river. Under existing accords, Egypt has veto power over development projects, but upstream nations say they should not be bound by unfair colonial-era pacts.

September 11, 2010|By Jeffrey Fleishman and Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times

U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa: 2012 Diversity Visa Lottery Begins on October 5, 2010

2012 Diversity Visa Lottery Begins on October 5, 2010

U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa, September 30, 2010: The Embassy of the United States of America today announced that the beginning of the 2012 Diversity Visa
(DV) Lottery application season. Applications for the 2012 DV Program
will be accepted from October 5 to November 3, 2010. Applicants may
access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at
www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Paper entries
will not be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait
until the last week of the registration period to enter as heavy demand
may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after noon,
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), on November 3, 2010.

The annual DV program makes visas available to persons meeting the
simple, but strict, eligibility requirements. Every DV lottery entrant
must have at least a high school education or its equivalent or have,
within the past five years, two years of work experience in an
occupation requiring at least three years’ training or experience.
Applicants who do not meet the educational or work experience
requirement will be disqualified.

A computer-generated, random lottery drawing chooses selectees for
Diversity Visas. The visas are distributed among six geographic regions
globally, with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower
rates of immigration, and with no visas going to nationals of countries
sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. over the past five
years. Within each region, no single country may receive more than
seven percent of the available Diversity Visas in any one year.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, the Department of State received more than 12
million entries for the DV lottery program. Of that number some 100,000
entrants were selected worldwide, including 5,200 Ethiopians, to further
pursue a Diversity Visa. In FY 2010, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia issued more than 3,600 visas through the DV program.

The congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is
administered on an annual basis by the Department of State and conducted
under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA). Beginning in 2005, the Department of State implemented an
electronic registration system in order to make the DV process more
efficient and secure. Special technology and other means are used to
identify those who commit fraud for the purposes of illegal immigration
or those who submit multiple entries.

One significant change from previous years is that all entrants for the
2012 DV program will only find out the status of their entry online on
the E-DV website Entry Status Check. The online Entry Status Check
will be the ONLY means by which selectees will be notified of their
selection for DV-2012. The State Department will not be mailing out
notification letters, nor will the Department send an email to those
selected.

For detailed information about entry requirements, along with frequently
asked questions about the DV lottery, please see the instructions for
the DV-2012 Diversity Visa lottery on the Department’s Consular Affairs
Website at www.dvlottery.state.gov. For information about the visa
process in Ethiopia, please visit the U.S. Embassy’s website at
www.ethiopia.usembassy.gov. PDF

Ethiopian PM sworn in for another five-year term

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) – Ethiopian Prime Minister MelesZenawi was sworn in for another five-year term Monday, almost five months after controversial polls propelled his party to victory.

Meles, who came to power in 1991 after toppling Mengistu Haile Mariam’s communist junta following a 17-year war, was re-elected as head of his Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition last month.

“I hereby pledge to commit to the constitution and serve my country and its people,” he said in a ceremony held in parliament.

Foreign diplomats also attended the session, which saw key ally Abadula Gemeda elected as speaker in another appointment that follows the election of the EPRDF’s 36-member executive committee and 180-member council in September.

Ethiopia’s ruling party and its allies won more than 99 percent of parliament seats in the May 23 polls, but both the United States and the European Union have said the vote did not meet international standards.

The country’s main opposition parties have all rejected the results saying they were riddled with fraud, but their appeals were subsequently turned down by the electoral board and the supreme court.

The Medrek coalition had filed an appeal demanding a re-run, arguing that its supporters had been subjected to intimidation and its observers barred from polling stations during election day.

The 55-year-old former guerrilla leader has said his primary focus during his new — and last — term will be employing his five-year “Growth and Transformation” development plan that targets 15 percent economic growth over the period.

The plan — launched in September — seeks to substantially increase Ethiopia’s food production.

The Horn of Africa nation is one of the world’s poorest countries and nearly five million people needed relief in the first six months of this year, according to the United Nations.

Addis Ababa, October 4 (WIC) – The 4th term joint session of the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) and the House of Federation (HoF) today reelected Meles Zenawi as Prime Minister .

===================

Meles Zenawi reelected as Prime Minister of Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, October 4 (WIC) – The 4th term joint session of the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) and the House of Federation (HoF) today reelected Meles Zenawi as Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

The House also elected Abadula Gemeda and Shitaye Minale as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.

Similarly, Kassa Tekeleberihan was elected Speaker of the House of Federation of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Today House of People’s Representative (HPR) unanimously endorsed the appointments of the 20 Ministers.

Parliament unanimously endorsed newly appointed ministers

Tuesday, 05 October 2010
Addis Ababa, October 5 (WIC) – Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has appointed 20 Ministers and presented them to the House of People’s Representative (HPR) today. The House unanimously endorsed the appointments of the 20 Ministers.
Below are lists of the newly appointed 20 Ministers
1. Hailemariam Desalegn…..Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
2. Siraj Fegeta…………… Minister of Defense
3. Dr. Shiferaw Tekelemariam ………Minister of Federal Affairs
4. Berhane Hailu………..Minister of Justice
5. Junedin Sado ……………Minister of Civil Service
6. Sufian Ahmed………Minister of Finance and Economic Development
7. Tefera Deribew ……… Minister of Agriculture
8. Mekonnen Manyazewal……Minister of Industry
9. Abdurahman Shek Mohammed ………….Minister of Trade
10. Desse Dalke…… Minister of Science and Technology
11. Diriba Kuma…………………….Minister of Transport
12. Debretsion Gebremikael …….Minister of Communication and Information Technology
13. Mekuria Haile …..Minister of Urban Development and Construction
14. Alemayehu Tegenu….. ..Minister of Water and Energy
15. Sinknesh Ejigu…… Minister of Mines
16. Demeke Mekonnen ………Minister of Education
17. Dr. Tewodros Adhanom….Minister of Health
18.Abdulfetah Abdulahi Hassen — Minister of Labor and Social Affairs
19. Amin Abdulkadir ………Minister of Culture and Tourism
20. Zenebu Tadesse……….Minister of Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs

The House also approved the appointments of Bereket Simon as Government Communication Office Head, Aster Mamo Government Chief Whip and Melaku Fanta Director General of the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority all with the rank of Ministers.

Written by Ben

Tuesday, 05 October 2010 08:08

Today House of People’s Representative (HPR) unanimously endorsed the appointments of the 20 Ministers. South Ethiopian Peoples’ Democratic Front (SEPDF) …… 5 Ministers Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO) ……… 5 Ministers Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) ………. 5 Ministers Somali People Democratic Party (SPDP) …………………. 2 Ministers Tigrayan Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) ……………….. 2 Ministers Afar National Democratic Party (ANDP) …………………… 1 Minister

Ato Hailemariam Desalegn, Deputy PM & Foreign Affairs Minister(SEPDF)	Ato Berhane haile, Justice Minister(ANDM)	Ato Debretsion Gebremichael, Communication and Information Technology Minister (TPLF)
Ato Demeke Mekonen, Education Minister. (ANDM)	Dr. Shiferaw Teklemariam, Federal Affairs Minister (SEPDF)	Ato Juniedy Saddo, Civil Service Minister (OPDO)
Ato Mekuria Haile, Urban Development and Construction(SEPDF)	Ato Sufian Ahmed, Finance and Economic Development Minister(OPDO)	Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Health Minister (TPLF)
W/ro Aster Mamo, Government Whip in the Federal Parliament with a rank of minister (OPDO)	Ato Melaku Fenta, Revenue and Custom Authority Director General with a rank of minister (ANDM)	Ato Alemayehu Tegenu, Water and Energy Minister (OPDO)

በዛሬው ዕለት መስከረም 25 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም. በዋለው የተወካዮች ምክር ቤት ሁለተኛ ስብሰባ የካቢኔ ዕጩዎች ሹመት የፀደቀ ሲሆን፣ አቶ ኃይለ ማርያም ደሳለኝ ምክትል ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትርና የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር ሆነው ተሹመዋል፡፡

በአዲሱ ካቢኔ የሲቪል ሰርቪስ ሚኒስቴር እንደ አዲስ ሲዋቀር አቶ ጁነዲን ሳዶ በሚኒስትርነት ተሹመዋል፡፡ የኢንዱስትሪ ሚኒስቴር አቶ መኮንን ማንያዘዋል (ብቸኛው የፓርቲ አባል ያልሆኑ ሹም)፤ የንግድ ሚኒስትር አቶ አብዱራህማን ሼክ መሐመድ (ሶሕዴፓ)፤ የሳይንስና ቴክኖሎጂ ሚኒስትር አቶ ደሴ ዳርጌ፤ የመገናኛና ኢንፎርሜሽን ቴክኖሎጂ ሚኒስትር አቶ ደብረ ፅዮን ገ/ሚካኤል፤ የከተማ ልማትና ኮንስትራክሽን ሚኒስትር አቶ መኩሪያ ኃይሌ፣ የውኃና ኢነርጂ ሚኒስትር፤ አቶ አለማየሁ ተገኑ፤ የማዕድን ሚኒስትር ወ/ሮ ስንቅነሽ እጅጉ፤ የባህልና ቱሪዝም ሚኒስትር አቶ አሚን አብዱልቃድር (አፋር)፤ የሴቶች፣ ወጣቶችና ሕፃናት ሚኒስትር ወ/ሮ ዘነቡ ታደሰ፣ የሠራተኛና ማኅበራዊ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር አቶ አብዱላሂ ሐሰን (ሶሕዴፓ) ሆነው የተሾሙ ሲሆን፣ በሚኒስትርነት ማዕረግ የመንግሥት የኮሙኒኬሽን ጽሕፈት ቤት ኃላፊ አቶ በረከት ስምዖን፣ በተወካዮች ምክር ቤት የመንግሥት ተጠሪ ወ/ሮ አስቴር ማሞ፤ እንዲሁም የገቢዎችና ጉምሩክ ባለሥልጣን ዳይሬክተሩ አቶ መላኩ ፈንታ ሆነዋል፡፡ በነበረ ይቀጥሉ የተባሉት ደግሞ የአገር መከላከያ ሚኒስትር አቶ ሲራጅ ፈጌሳ፤ የፌዴራል ጉዳዮች ሚኒስትር ዶ/ር ሺፈራው ተ/ማርያም፤ የፍትሕ ሚኒስትር አቶ ብርሃን ኃይሉ፤ የገንዘብና ኢኮኖሚ ልማት ሚኒስትር አቶ ሶፊያን አህመድ፤ የግብርና ሚኒስትር አቶ ተፈራ ደርበው፤ የትምህርት ሚኒስትር አቶ ደመቀ መኮንና የጤና ጥበቃ ሚኒስትር ዶ/ር ቴዎድሮስ አድሃኖም ናቸው፡፡ የአዲሱ ካቢኔ ሹማምንት ዝርዝር እንደሚከተለው ነው፡፡

የተሾሙበት ኃላፊነት	የተሿሚዎች ስም ዝርዝር
ምክትል ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትርና የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር	አቶ ኃ/ማርያም ደሳለኝ፣ የኢሕአዴግ ም/ሊቀመንበር፣ (ደኢሕዴን)
የአገር መከላከያ ሚኒስትር	አቶ ሲራጅ ፈጌሳ (ደኢሕዴን)
የፌዴራል ጉዳዮች ሚኒስትር	ዶ/ር ሽፈራው ተ/ማርያም (ደኢሕዴን)
የፍትሕ ሚኒስትር	አቶ ብርሃን ኃይሉ (ብአዴን)
የሲቪል ሰርቪስ ሚኒስትር	አቶ ጁነዲን ሳዶ (ኦሕዴድ)
የገንዘብና ኢኮኖሚ ልማት ሚኒስትር	አቶ ሱፊያን አህመድ (ኦሕዴድ)
የግብርና ሚኒስትር	አቶ ተፈራ ደርበው (ብአዴን)
የኢንዲስትሪ ሚኒስትር	አቶ መኮንን ማን ያዘዋል (ብቸኛው የፓርቲ አባል ያልሆኑ ባለሥልጣን)
የንግድ ሚኒስትር	አቶ አብዱራህማን ሼክ መሐመድ (ሶሕዴፓ)
የሳይንስና ቴክኖሎጂ ሚኒስትር	አቶ ደሴ ዳርጌ (ደኢሕዴን)
የትራንስፖርት ሚኒስትር	አቶ ድሪባ ኩማ (ኦሕዴድ)
የመገናኛና ኢንፎርሚሽን ኮሙዩኒኬሽን ቴክኖሎጂ ሚኒስትር	አቶ ደብረ ጽዮን ገ/ሚካኤል (ሕወሓት)
የከተማ ልማትና ግንባታ ሚኒስትር	አቶ መኩሪያ ኃይሌ (ደኢሕዴን)
የውኃና ኢነርጂ ሚኒስትር	አቶ አለማየሁ ተገኑ (ኦሕዴድ)
የማዕድን ሚኒስትር	ወ/ሮ ስንቅነሽ እጅጉ (ኦሕዴድ)
የትምህርት ሚኒስትር	አቶ ደመቀ መኮንን (ብአዴን)
የጤና ጥበቃ ሚኒስትር	ዶ/ር ቴዎድሮስ አድሃኖም (ሕወሓት)
የሠራተኛና ማኅበራዊ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር	አቶ አብዱልፈታህ ሐሰን (ሶሕዴፓ)
የባህልና ቱሪዝም ሚኒስትር	አቶ ዓሚን አብዱል ቃድር (አፋር)
የሴቶች፣ ወጣቶችና ሕፃናት ሚኒስትር	ወ/ሮ ዘነቡ ታደሰ (ብአዴን)
የመንግሥት ኮሙዩኒኬሽን ጽሕፈት ቤት ኃላፊ (በሚኒስትር ማዕረግ)	አቶ በረከት ስምዖን (ብአዴን)
በተወካዮች ምክር ቤት የመንግሥት ተጠሪ (በሚኒስትር ማዕረግ)	ወ/ሮ አስቴር ማሞ (ኦሕዴድ)
የገቢዎችና ጉምሩክ ባለሥልጣን ዳይሬክተር (በሚኒስትር ማዕረግ)	አቶ መላኩ ፈንታ (ብአዴን)

Gov’t grants pardon to Birtukan Mideksa and has been released today

Gov’t grants pardon to Birtukan

Wednesday, 06 October 2010

Addis Ababa, October 6 (WIC) – The government of Ethiopia today granted pardon to Birtukan Mideksa. According to a press release the Ministry of Justice sent to WIC, she was released from prison as she submitted a request for pardon to the government of Ethiopia.

She wrote a statement asking to be pardoned on the grounds that she regretted what she did in the past, the statement said.

“I express my deep regret for deceiving the Ethiopian people and government by denying my release on pardon,” the ministry quoted her as saying in a statement “Pledging not to ever resolve to these fraudulent and deceptive acts, I beg the Ethiopian people and government to grant me pardon,” it said.

“In her remorseful petition, Birtukan Mideksa implored the prime minister to grant her a second pardon for her to be able to see her mother and child,” it added.

Birtukan was jailed since she violated the pardon agreement that freed her from prison by claiming that she had not asked for a pardon, the statement indicated.

• Letter from Woizerit Birtukan Mideksa to PM Meles Zenawi (Original Document)
• Press report by Ministry of Justice with regards to Miss Birtukan (Original Document)
• Pardon Certificate issued by President Girma Woldegiorgis (Original Document)

Ethiopia Signs Peace Deal With Faction of Ethnic-Somali Rebels

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) – Ethiopia’s government signed a peace agreement with a faction of the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front led by Salahdin Maow.

An accord was signed in Addis Ababa, the capital, today by Salahdin and Federal Affairs Minister Shiferaw Teklemariam. As part of the agreement, members of the ONLF will be offered amnesty and those in prison will be released, Shiferaw told reporters at the signing ceremony.

“The state of insurgency is terminated and peace is established,” he said.

Abdirahman Mahdi, spokesman for a separate ONLF faction, said in an e-mail that today’s deal was an attempt to “hoodwink the international community.”

The ONLF has been fighting for self-determination for the people of the Ogaden for 16 years. The region is an arid zone that covers much of Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State and borders Somalia. Ethiopia has previously described the group as a terrorist organization backed by neighboring Eritrea.

Salahdin said his faction signed the peace deal because “we have come to understand the destructive nature of war.”

The Ethiopian government and the ONLF have previously claimed battlefield victories and accused each other of atrocities. Verification of the reports is difficult as the government bars foreign journalists from traveling independently in the region, much of which is under military administration.

Ethiopian Airlines appoints its first female captain

Vigil Outside DC9 Nightclub Turns Into Anger

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of people gathered in sadness to remember a 27-year-old man who died near the popular DC9 nightclub last Friday.

The candlelight vigil quickly turned to anger over the alleged attack of Ali Mohammed. It was an emotional evening as the crowd poured into the street and shut down the intersection of 9th and U Street, NW.

“We want justice. We want justice. We want answers,” cried the crowd carrying candles and signs.

Many of them wanted the charges against the five nightclub workers who were arrested to be upgraded from aggravated assault to murder.

“My son was not a violent man and did not deserve to die as he did,” said Ahmed Galchu, the victim’s father. “We have faith in the American system.”

“All of these people would not be standing out here if Ali was the type who deserved to die the way he did,” said Nunu Wako, Mohammad’s cousin. “I can understand if it was just one-on-one thing but five-to-one is utterly barbaric and savage.”

D.C. Police say Mohammed was turned away from the nightclub and became angry. Witnesses say he threw a brick through the nightclub’s plate glass window.

Detectives say the 27-year-old Ethiopian immigrant was allegedly chased, beat and stomped by the workers.

Council Member Jim Graham brought an update after meeting with police.

“They have evidence sufficient to justify the charge of murder. I said to myself, ‘Thank God that there is the evidence that will substantiate the murder charge’ and so I ask you to be patient when I know your hearts are crying out,” said Graham.

The official cause of death is pending, but the case has already struck a chord in the Ethiopian community. Some are asking for calm.

“We should not try to take vengeance into our own hand. We should let the justice system take its place,” said ANC Commissioner Gail Anderson.

Lawyers for the men arrested have said police have jumped to conclusions in the case and maintain their innocence.

City officials suspended the club’s liquor license Tuesday. The nightclub has three days to request a hearing on the suspension.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi gave appointments to different government officials

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi gave appointments to different government officials Addis Ababa, October 19, 2010 (Addis Ababa) – Prime Minister Meles Zenawi gave here on Tuesday appointments to different government officials.

Following is lists of the appointments:
1. Nega Tsegaye, Foreign Affairs State Minister
2. Berhane Gebre-kiristos, Foreign State Minister

3. Berhanu Abera, National Defense State Minister
4. Berhanu Negash, National Defense State Minister
5. Alemayehu Ejigu, Government Communication Affairs Office State Minister
6. Shimelis Kemal, Government Communication Affairs Office State Minister
7.Dr. Abraham Tekeste, Finance and Economic State Minister
8. Ahmed Shide, Finance and Economic Development State Minister
9.Alemayehu Gujo, Finance and Economic State Minister
10. Dr. Kaba Urgessa, Education State Minister
11. Fuad Ibrahim, Education State Minister
12. Wondiosen Kiflu, Education State Minister
13. Firenesh Mekuyria, Women, Children and Youth Affairs State Minister
14. Almaw Mengistu, Women, Children and Youth Affairs State Minister
15. Sileshyi Getahun, Agirculture State Minister
16, Mitiku Kassa, Agriculture State Minister
17. Wondiyirad Mandefro, Agirculture State Minister
18. Tadelech Dalecho, Culture and Tourism State Minister
19. Dawd Ahmed, Culture and Tourism State Minister
20. Mulugeta Wuletaw, Federal Affairs State Minister
21. Wondimu Tekle, Water and Energy State Minister
22. Kebede Gerba, Water and Energy State Minister
23. Tolosa Shage, Mines State Minister
24. Dr. Kebede Work, Health State Minister
25. Dr. Kesete Berhan Admasu, Health State Minister
26. Remedan Ashenafi, Labor and Social Affairs State Minister
27. Dr. Zerihun Kebede, Labor and Social Affairs State Minister
28. Mohamuda Ahmed Gass, Science and Technology State Minister
29. Getachew Mengiste, Transport State Minister
30. Tekletsadik Reba, Transport State Minister
31. Peter Gat Cot, Communication and Information Technology State Minister
32. Hailemaskal Tefera, Urban Development and Construction State Minister
33. Dr. Misrak Mekonne, Civil Service State Minister
34. Adamu Ayana Mekonnen, Civil Service State Minister
35. Ahmed Abagisa, Justice State Minister
36. Berhanu Tsegaye, Justice State Minister
37. Tadesse Haile, Industry State Minister
38. Ahmed Tussa, Trade State Minister
39. Yakob Yala, Trade State Minister.
40-Roman Gebre-sillassie, Government Whip with the rank of State Minister
41. Meles Tilahun, Acting Government Whip with the rank of State Minister
42. Getachew Bedane, Acting Government Whip with the rank of State Minister
43, Wondimu Gezahegn, Acting Government Whip with the rank of State Minister
44. Alebachew Nigussie, Public Organization and Participation Advisory State Minister
45. Mengistab Gebre-kidan, Public Organization and Participation Advisory State Minister
46. Temesgen Tilahun, Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister with the rank of state minister
47. Demisse Shito, Cabinet Affairs Advisory State Minister
48: Michael Tobias, State Minister for the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Affairs.

The appointment of the officials will be effect as of October 18, 2010.

The officials were appointed by taking into account their educational and political leadership qualification. …(ena)

Ethiopian Government Appoints Ambassadors…

Addis Ababa, October 27, 2010 (Addis Ababa) – The government gave appointments to special envoys, ambassadors and plenipotentiaries and ambassadors of Ethiopia, the Office of the Prime Minister announced here on Wednesday.
Accordingly.
1. Seyoum Mesfin
2. Girma Birru
3. Dr. Kassu Illala
4. Ambassador Teshome Toga
5. Degife Bula.
6. Mulugeta Alemseged
7. Hilawe Yosef
8. Ambassador Mohammed Dirir
9. Hassan Abdella
10. Dr. Tekeda Alemu
11. Gifti Abasiya
12. Dr. Mohammed Hassan
13. Kassahun Dendir
14. Dr. Yehsimebrat Mersha
15. Markos Tekle
16..Lelalem Gebreyohannes
17. Dr. Bogale Tolosa
18. Minelik Alemu
19.Dr. Mohammed Gudeta
20. Misganaw Admasu
21. Ambassador Dr. Kua Wang Tutlam,   were appointed as special envoys and ambassadors and plenipotentiaries of Ethiopia.

Also,
1. Merwan Bedri
2. Ababi Demise
3.Dr. Gebeyeu Ganga
4. Mule Tarekegn
5. Tesfaye Yilma
6. Tebeje Berhe
7. Bereded Animut
8. Dereje Asfaw
9.Ambassador Aman Hassan
10.Alemayehu Sewagegn
11. Mesfin Chernet
12. Dr. Bitew Getnet
13. Shamilo Fitamo
14. Ambassador Mohammed Ali
15. Dr. Desta Woldeyohannes were appointed as ambassadors of Ethiopia.
The appointment shall be put into effect as of Wednesday.

New Foreign Minister Looks for int’l Support, Consistency

The appointment of Hailemariam Desalegn as minister of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), a position which had been much speculated about prior to his assumption of it, surprised many political pundits, including members of the diplomatic community, most of whom had not had any interaction with him before.

To remedy the situation, a cocktail reception was organised by MoFA to informally introduce Hailemariam to the diplomatic community at the Sheraton Addis on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, where he stood in a corner of the Lalibella Ballroom to personally greet everyone.

“This is not intended to be a substitute for more formal and extended discussions that I [am planning and looking] forward to having with you all,” Hailemariam said in his welcoming remarks.

Many in attendance followed what the new head of the country’s MoFA said with some taking notes of the office’s priority agendas and Hailemariam’s personal principles. Sudan and Somalia were at the top of the agenda due to the impact that the volatility of the situations in these countries has on Ethiopia.

“[The effects of] what happens in Sudan will by no means be limited to the people of Sudan,” he said. “What goes on in Sudan has continental implications, for good or ill.”

The situation in Somalia is the same with its impact extending far beyond the regional level, according to Hailemariam.

“The period ahead of us is extremely critical to the region, Africa, and the international community in general,” he said. “Somalia is not yet out of the woods either; the challenge there continues to be daunting.”

The ministry is looking for “support” and “understanding” from the international community in these situations, according to the minister who added that it is in the interest of Ethiopia and the other countries.

However, the amount of support the country will get for its Five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), he seemed unsure of. The task of obtaining support for the plan is a “diplomatic challenge” and the coming period will be “complex and very difficult,” he said.

The plan was a “Herculean task,” Hailemariam admitted, adding that even though the government will assume primary responsibility for the success of the plan, it counted on the assistance of other countries.

Besides financial support, the country is looking for technology transfer, the minister explained in a sidebar with the media.

Hailemariam has worked as the head of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ (SNNP) Regional State as well as the Public Mobilisation and Participation advisor to the Prime Minister. Often referred to as a humble man by those who know him, his competence in high diplomacy is yet to be proven. Yet, some attending diplomats reserved judgment.

“It is too early to say whether Hailemariam is capable enough for the job,” a Western diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous told Fortune.

However, Italian Ambassador Renzo Rosso is confident in the new minister’s ability to execute his responsibilities.

“He demonstrated his capacity notably in his prior internal assignment and I am sure he will make an excellent foreign minister,” he told Fortune.

Showing Hailemariam the ropes for four consecutive days was Seyoum Mesfin, the outgoing foreign minister who has been steering the country’s foreign policy for the past 20 years, according to an official at the MoFA who is not authorised to comment.

The immediate support for Hailemariam comes from Berhane Gebrekiristos, former Ethiopian ambassador to the European Union (EU), who was appointed state minister for MoFA only a day before the reception at the Sheraton. His absence was conspicuous as Hailemariam got to know the diplomatic circle of Addis Abeba.

Hailemariam’s welcoming remarks “were very consistent with the traditional line of Ethiopia,” Rosso said, seemingly satisfied with the new foreign minister’s start.

Regarding international relations, Hailemariam esteems consistency.

“The one thing I cherish most in relations among nations is consistency,” he said. “It in no way prevents pragmatic adjustment to changing situations but is based on principles.”

In addition, his welcoming speech held a promissory note.

“I might sometimes disagree with you and make you unhappy as a result but I shall not mislead you,” he told the audience.

gebru g/maryam

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The special remembrance event in Washington DC, which was held at Washington Marriott Hotel starting at 2 PM, was broadcast live by video and audio.

Dr Berhanu Nega reflecting on the 2005 killings in Ethiopia – Washington DC Nov. 7, 2010

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia @ G-20 summit in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 12, 2010

Wikileaks memo reveals Egypt’s Nile fears over Sudan

By Will Ross   East Africa correspondent

A leaked US embassy cable has revealed Egypt’s fears about the possibility of its neighbour Sudan breaking into two.

In the cable, written last year, a foreign ministry official urged the US to help postpone a referendum on independence for Southern Sudan.

The official said the creation of “a non-viable state” could threaten Egypt’s access to the River Nile.

Cairo’s Almasry Alyoum newspaper published the cable, one of thousands being released by Wikileaks.

Southern Sudan is due to vote in a referendum on independence in January.

But in the cable – from the US embassy in Cairo – the official talks of implications should south Sudan secede and concern is expressed about the River Nile – a lifeline for Egypt.

Egypt has in the past threatened to go to war with any country tampering with the Nile.

The official said the creation of “a non-viable state” could threaten Egypt’s access to the Nile at a time when several countries are negotiating how to share the river’s water.

The official presses the US to help postpone the referendum by four to six years.

Egypt clearly fears a new nation, Southern Sudan, would be more likely to side with the upstream countries of the Nile basin like Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.

Vital resource

Those countries believe a colonial era treaty which guarantees that Egypt receives most of the Nile water is unfair.

Egypt and Sudan are refusing to sign up to a new agreement.

The fact that south Sudan is oil rich is seen as a major reason for tension ahead of the referendum on independence.

However, some argue that the vital water resource is likely to be a far greater bone of contention in the region long after the oil wells have dried up.

Wikileaks has so far released more than 600 of 251,000 classified US diplomatic and military cables.

The 5th International Conference on Federalism, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2010

The 5th International Conference on Federalism, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Ethiopia hosts the Fifth International Conference on Federalism which will take place from December 13th – 16th, 2010 based on the invitation made by His Excellency Meles Zenawi

Ethiopia Football:Mengistu Worku, passed away today at the age of 70 (1940-2010)

Mengistu Worku, the greatest Ethiopian footballer of all time, passed away today at the age of 70 after  undergoing a two-year medical treatment in Bangkok, Thailand.  Mengistu returned home recently after it was determined that his last days should be spent in his beloved country.

Mengistu, was named the “Ethiopian Kopa”, after the great French footballer of the 50s Raymond Kopa, because of his dribbling ability and swiftness of his movements.

I don’t think that there is any middle age Ethiopian, whether he/she likes football or not, who doesn’t know about Mengistu Worku, either from personally watching him play or from what their parents, older brothers, etc…. have told them about him.

The name Mengistu Worku is synonymous with Ethiopian football. He was the most complete player Ethiopia has ever produced. He had flair, speed, intelligence, elegance, extreme confidence and a knack for goals.

For those of us who were lucky enough to see him play at his prime, Mengistu was a joy to watch. His impeccable ball control (feet, chest), his timing and acceleration, his jumping ability, his positioning, and his passing and the many goals that he scored made him a star player in Ethiopian football at a time when there were so many good players around.

He was a player of average height but the volleyball training drills he did at “Medhane Alem Secondary School” during his early years, prepared him well for football that he often out jumped defenders who were much taller than him to score numerous goals both for his club St. George or the Ethiopian national team.

Although I don’t know of any statistics done as to how many goals he scored with his feet or his head, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are even.

He was loved and cherished by his adoring fans, who gave him several nicknames, including “Menge”, “Gonderew”, “Doctor” and “Fitawrari”, to name a few. While he was the pride and joy for St. George fans, he was on the other hand, a total nightmare for the opposition, and I can attest to that from personal experience. Being a member and also a supporter of Electric Football Club (EEPCO now) at the time, I can’t tell you how many times, I went home crying after Electric lost to St. George, due to Mengistu either creating or scoring goals against us.

However, as much as we resented him, we also admired him. This was certainly the case when Mengistu was playing for the Ethiopian national team. He was fearless and had such an incredible do-or-die attitude when representing Ethiopia that we were all behind him 100%.

Later on, I became a sports journalist for the Ethiopian Herald and he took over as head coach of the national team, and I had the opportunity to interview him on several occasions. We often spoke of the good old days and we spent the great majority of our times going over the goals he scored, the players he admired, the problems with Ethiopian football and much more.

The story of Mengistu and his contribution and influence on Ethiopian football can’t be summarized in one or two articles.

There is more to come in the days ahead.

Menge, I miss you already.

May the Good Lord rest his soul!

Ethiopia to Allow First Non-State TV Shows on New Channels, Minister Says

Ethiopia will introduce as many as eight new television channels in 2011 featuring programs made by non-government broadcasters for the first time, Communications Minister Bereket Simon said.

State-owned Ethiopian Television’s two channels currently offer no private content, so the move is a “significant change,” Bereket said in a phone interview today from the capital, Addis Ababa.

“So far we have only limited private FM radio stations,” he said. “Now we are going to have private content providers for television.” The “infrastructure” will still be operated by the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency, Bereket said.

State media coverage of Ethiopia’s parliamentary elections in May, which the ruling party won by a landslide, was not “balanced,” the European Union’s observation mission said in its report on the vote. The government has admitted to jamming the Voice of America’s Amharic-language service and has been accused of blocking opposition-friendly websites and a new Amsterdam-based satellite channel, Ethiopian Satellite Television.

The country’s sole Internet provider is the state-run Ethio Telecom, which will be managed by France Telecom SA for the next two years under a 30 million-euro ($39 million) contract announced on Nov. 29.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

DEPUTY PM HAILEMARIAM DESALEGN (Video)

Ambassador Girma Birru, Presents His Credentials to the State Department!!

Ambassador Girma Birru, Special Envoy, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the United States of America presented his credentials at an official ceremony held at the State Department today Thursday January 6, 2011.

Ambassador Girma Birru, presented his letter of appointment as Ethiopia’s Special Envoy to America to His Excellency MR .James B. Steinberg, Deputy Secretary of State. With this formality, Ambassador Girma Birru has officially begun his duties as Ethiopia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the U.S..

During the occasion Mr. James B. Steinberg expressed his appreciation for the intensity of the Ethio-US partnership. The Deputy State Secretary, underscored the significance of bilateral partnership of the two friendly countries in combating international terrorism and in the maintenance of peace and security in the Greater Horn of Africa Region..

Mr. James B. Steinberg further underlined the positive role that Ethiopia is currently playing to safeguard peace and stability in different parts of the African continent by deploying its peace keeping forces..

While submitting his letter of accreditation, Ambassador Girma Birru, on his part apprised the Deputy State Secretary of the bold and deep going Growth and Transformation Strategy that Ethiopia has at present decisively anchored on and expressed his belief that America will continue to support Ethiopia in its resolve to mitigate poverty and backwardness.

The Special Envoy emphasized the close cooperation of both countries in the areas of peace and security and reiterated his strong belief that Ethiopia will continue to strive to further consolidate, enhance and bolster the mutually beneficial bilateral ties to a yet higher level and wider scope of partnership.

Before his appointment to Washington, Ambassador Girma, had served his country in various high level and multi-faceted areas of government positions; the latest portfolio being as the Minister of Trade and Industry of Ethiopia.

Ambassador Leila-alem Gebreyohanness presents credentials to President Mary McAleese of Ireland

New Ambassadors present Credentials

Their Excellencies the Ambassador of  the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Ambassador of Canada and the Ambassador of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya presented their Letters of Credence to the President at Áras an Uachtaráin today.

H.E. Mrs. Lela-alem Gebreyohannes Tedla, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, was accompanied by her husband, Mr. Tsehay Debebe, their daughter, Ms. Aden Tsehay, and by Mr. Mulugeta Asseratte Kassa, Counsellor at the Embassy.

H.E.  Mr. Loyola Hearn, Ambassador of Canada, was accompanied by his wife Maureen and by Ms. Jackie Ellis, General Relations Officer at the Embassy.

H.E. Mr. Omar Ramadan Jelban, Ambassador of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, was accompanied by Mr. Tarek Awad, First Counsellor at the Embassy.

Mr. Peter Power, T.D., Minister of State for Overseas Development, represented the Government at the ceremony.

The following were also present:   Mr. Adrian O’Neill, Secretary-General to the President; Mr. Niall Burgess, Assistant Secretary, Ms. Kathleen White, Chief of Protocol, Mr. Joe Brennan, Deputy Chief of Protocol, and Ms. Cliona Manahan, Deputy Chief of Protocol, at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Ambassadors were escorted to and from Áras an Uachtaráin by an Escort of Honour consisting of a motorcycle detachment drawn from the 2^nd Cavalry Squadron, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin, under the command of Lieutenant John Forde.

The Guard of Honour was provided at Áras an Uachtaráin by troops drawn from the 1^st Infantry Battalion, Renmore, Galway, under the command of Lieutenant Tom Mulderrig

The Army No. 1 Band was conducted by Captain Fergal Carroll.

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Ambassador Leila-alem Gebreyohanness presents credentials to President Mary McAleese

Jan 12, 2011

The newly appointed Ambassador of the FDRE, H.E. Ambassador Lela-alem Gebreyohanes, presented the Letter of Recall of her predecessor and her Letter of Credence to President Mary Mc Aleese of Ireland on Tuesday January 12th 2011

At an elaborate ceremony held at Aras an Uachtarain where Ambassador Lela-alem inspected a guard of honour, President Mary McAlesse introduced Mr Peter Power, T.D. Minister of State for Overseas Development, Mr Adrian O’Neill, Secretary-General to the President and Mr Niall Burgess, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs to H.E. the Ambassador.

Ambassador Lela-alem debriefed the President about the growing amicable and productive relations between the two friendly countries.

Sarkozy in Ethiopia for lightning visit to AU summit

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – – French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived Sunday in the Ethiopian capital on a lightning visit to attend the opening of the African Union summit.

Sarkozy immediately held a working breakfast with Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi to discuss bilateral matters. He was then to have a quick meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon before attending the opening of the summit.

The French leader was to make a speech outlining his plans for upcoming G8 and G20 meetings stressing development aid and transparency in markets of primary products, particularly agricultural.

Before leaving after just a few hours he was also expected to discuss with other leaders the two major subjects of the AU meeting: the ongoing post-electoral crisis in Ivory Coast and the revolt in Egypt.

US Embassy inaugurates New Chancery Building

Addis Ababa, February 1, 2011 (Addis Ababa) – The U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia inaugurated here on Monday its new chancery building on Entoto Road constructed at a cost of 126.7 million US dollars.

The exterior design of the building subtly incorporates stone features from Ethiopian architectural monuments in Axum and Lalibela.

The inauguration was held in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hailemariam Desalegn, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, Deputy Director of Overseas Building Operations for the State Department Lydia Muniz (AU Representative).

The official ribbon cutting ceremony marks the end of a two and a half year building project that added approximately 16 million US dollars to the Ethiopian economy and employed in excess of 1,200 Ethiopian workers.

Speaking at the inauguration of the building Hailemariam said the building demonstrates the strong relations of the two countries.

He said the US government is backing the education, health and aviation and many other sectors in Ethiopia.

The new building consolidates in one facility the U.S. Embassy to Ethiopia and the U.S. Mission to the African Union.

The U.S. Embassy to Ethiopia now has all its resident U.S. government agencies under one roof.

Previously, U.S. Government agencies operated in separate buildings and in four different locations around the city of Addis Ababa.

The co-location of these agencies into the new building will enhance daily coordination on various diplomatic and development activities in Ethiopia.

Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg on his part said the building, the largest U.S. chancery in Sub-Saharan Africa, employs the latest green technology and architectural features drawing from Ethiopian historical styles.

The building is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified facility with energy efficient design employed throughout.

Ambassador Donald Booth affirmed that the building “is a symbol of the cooperation and friendship that the United States enjoys with this extraordinary country.”

The new state-of-the-art chancery building will better serve the U.S. Mission in Ethiopia and support the continuation of productive and strong relations with Ethiopia and the African Union in the years to come, he said.

Ambassador Girma Birru presented his credential to President Barack Obama.

Addis Ababa, February 25 (WIC) – His Excellency Mr. Girma Birru, Special Envoy, Ambassador Extra-ordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the United States of America, presented his credential to President Barack Obama at a ceremony held at the White House on February 23, 2011.

In his remark during the handing in session, Ambassador Girma, reminisced the long standing history of warm friendship and cordial diplomatic relations that continued for over a century between Ethiopia and the US based on mutual respect and the promotion of common interest.

The Ethiopian envoy underscored the shared commitment of both countries as pertains to development, the core values of democracy, the rule of law and the fundamental respect for human rights.

He referenced the deep going cooperation of the two countries in the areas of peace and in safeguarding regional stability and their unwavering joint commitment in the anti- terrorism onslaught.

Ambassador Girma used the occasion to highlight his government’s regards for the valuable and all-encompassing support extended by the US. He made a special note of the provision of the generous US assistance for Ethiopia’s effort to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

In reference to areas of further partnership the Ethiopian emissary underlined that the two countries could benefit by tapping into the vast and heretofore much unexplored and unharnessed field of trade and investment that he believes could spell a treasure trove for the mutual advantage of both countries.

Ambassador Girm Birru, all the more stressed the need for people to people relations and reiterated his stance that he will tirelessly strive to position himself as a bridge to cement the link by engaging the Ethiopian Diaspora to be able to forge a positive connecting chord with Ethiopia, their country of origin.

President Barack Obama, on his part expressed his country’s readiness to further enhance and bolster the already existing cordial relations of the two countries. Upon the occasion of the presentation of the letter of credence by Ambassador Girma, the President also remarked that Ethiopia and the US have an important bilateral partnership, based on shared regional security concerns and the desire to promote a democratic and developed Ethiopia.

Furthermore he underlined that Ethiopia has a rich history and diverse cultural heritage that makes it a truly special country in Africa and in the world, and” we continue to strengthen our relationship”. “Our dynamic and mutually beneficial relationship requires deepening our engagement in a balanced fashion”, Mr. Obama stressed.

Elucidating US support to Ethiopia in its effort at extricating itself from the bondage of poverty and backwardness, President Barack Obama cited the progress on the Economic Growth and Development Working Group as a testament to his country’s desire to sustain Ethiopia’s positive economic progress forward.

He added that the fostering of a positive democratic trajectory will sustain the important partnership between the two countries in the long term. He paid a pivotal attention to the prevailing vital security co-operation between Ethiopia and the US and underscored their common security interests in the Horn of Africa.

Mr. Obama assured Ambassador Girma of his preparedness to work closely with him; in what he referred to the advancement of the shared goals and in the furtherance of the two countries’ engagement on “the three pillars of our relationship” he underscored.

(aigaforum)

በኢትዮጵያ የሊቢያ ኤምባሲ የጋዳፊን ዕርምጃ አወገዘ

Farewell to Birtukan Mideksa

Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa, 36, announced that she has stepped down from the leadership of her party, the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) Party claiming that she wanted to pursue higher education in the US. Birtukan was scheduled to leave for the US on Saturday, March 19, 2011, accompanied by her daughter. She is expected to arrive first in San Francisco, California, where she has relatives, sources told Fortune. These same sources tell Fortune that, Birtukan will head off for Maryland after spending three weeks in San Francisco, where she is expected to spend the next two to three years pursuing higher education there. In a statement she released on Friday, Birtukan asserted that she is not bowing out of politics. “To believe that Birtukan would abandon her struggle towards building a free democracy is unthinkable,” the statement read. It was also learnt that Yilma Yifru would be mediating between the two factions that emerged within the party during her 21 months in jail

‹አራት ኪሎ ከገቡ በኋላ ሥልጣን ይለቀቃል ማለት የማይታሰብ ነው›› አቶ ልደቱ አያሌው

- ለመማር፣ ትዳር ለመመስረትና ልጅ ለመውለድ አቅደዋል
- አቶ ሙሼ ሰሙ የኢዴፓ ፕሬዚዳንት ሆኑ

የፖለቲካ ፓርቲ መሪዎች ተቃዋሚ ሆነው ሳሉ ከሥልጣን መውረድና መውጣትን ካልተለማመዱ በስተቀር አራት ኪሎ ከገቡ በኋላ ሥልጣን ይለቃሉ ብሎ ማሰብ የዋህነት መሆኑን፣ የኢትዮጵያውያን ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ (ኢዴፓ) የቀድሞ ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ ልደቱ አያሌው ከትናንት በስቲያ ገለጹ፡፡

አቶ ልደቱ ይህንን የገለጹት ላለፉት አራት ዓመታት በፕሬዚዳንትነት ከቆዩበት ሥልጣን ሲሰናበቱ አዲስ ለተሾሙት የፓርቲው አመራሮች ባደረጉት ንግግር ሲሆን፣ ለንግግራቸው መነሻ የሆናቸው፣ የእሳቸው ፓርቲ በታሪክ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ የመሪዎችን የሥልጣን ጊዜ የሚገድብ ሕገ ደንብ ያለውና በተግባርም እያሳየ መሆኑን በመግለጽ ነው፡፡

የአፍሪካ መሪዎች ሳይወዱ በግድ በሕዝብ ተቃውሞ እንኳን ሥልጣናቸውን እንዲለቁ ሲጠየቁ ዕርምጃ መውሰድ እንደሚጀምሩ የተናገሩት አቶ ልደቱ፣ ቱኒዚያን፣ ግብፅን፣ ሊቢያን፣ የመንንና ሌሎችንም የዓረብ አገሮችን በምሳሌነት አንስተዋል፡፡

5,000 government officials have so far registered their assets

Addis Ababa — Some 5,000 government officials have so far registered their assets, the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC) disclosed on Tuesday.

The registration undertaken with the assistance of the World Bank will oblige any appointee, elected person or public servant to disclose and register the assets under the ownership or possession of themselves and their family and sources of income of the familyThe law, however, exempts common property acquired through inheritance and held by the heirs for private use, household goods and personal effects, and pension benefits.

According to the commission, Ethiopia is one of the few countries who register the wealth of officials as part of the global efforts to combat corruption and other impropriety.

This is the first time for the Horn of Africa’s nation to register wealth of government officials including ministers. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was the first high ranking government official to register his assets.

The Ethiopian Parliament on March 30, 2010 endorsed the wealth registration proclamation which has been the pipeline for several years

ከ70 እስከ 80 ቢሊየን ብር ወጪ ግዙፍ ግድብ በኢትዮጵያ ሊገነባ ነው

ግድቡ የጣና ሐይቅን ሁለት እጥፍ የውሃ መጠን የመያዝ አቅም ይኖረዋል

በየማነ ናግሽ

አሁን ያለውን የአገሪቷን የኃይል አቅርቦት ከሶስት እጥፍ በላይ ያሳድጋል ሚባለውና ወጪው በሙሉ በመንግስት እንዲሸፈን የታቀደው ግዙፍ ግድብ በቤኒሻንጉል ጉሙዝ አካባቢ ሊገነባ ነው፡፡

‹‹ታላቁ የሚሊኒየሙ ግድብ›› የሚል ስያሜ የተሰጠውና ‹‹ፕሮጅክት ኤክስ›› በመባል የሚታወቀው ይህ ፕሮጀክት፣ ከሱዳን ድንበር ከ20 አስከ 40ኪሎ ሜትር ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ገባ ብሎ የሚገነባ ሲሆን፣ ግንባታው ሲጠናቀቅ 5,250 ሜጋ ዋት ኃይል ለማመንጨት የሚያስችል አቅም እንደሚኖረው መንግስት ይፋ አድርጓል፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ የውሃና ኢነርጂ ሚኒስቴር፣ የኢትዮጵያ የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይል ኮርፖሬሽንና የመንግስት ኮሚዩኒኬሽን ጽ/ቤት በጋራ በመሆን ዛሬ መጋቢት 21 ቀን በሸራተን አዲስ ሆቴል በሰጡት ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ፣ ግድቡ በኢትዮጵያ እስካሁን ከተገነቡት መካከልል ትልቁ ሲሆን፣ ከ62 ቢሊዮን ኪዩቢክ ሜትር በላይ የውሃ መጠን (የጣና ሐይቅ የውሃ መጠንን ሁለት እጥፍ) የመያዝ አቅም እንደሚኖረው ገልጸዋል ፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ የውሃና ኢነርጂ ሚኒስትር አቶ አለማየሁ ተገኑ ጉዳዩን አስመልክተው እንደተናገሩት፣ ግድቡ ከ70 እስከ 80 ቢሊዮን ብር ወጪ የሚገነባ ሲሆን ኢትዮጵያን፣ ግብጽንና ሱዳንን ተጠቃሚ እንዲያደርግ ተደርጎ የሚሰራ ነው

ወይዘሪት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ፣ አሜሪካ ውስጥ የፖለቲካ እንቅስቃሴ እንደማያደርጉ ተገለጸ፡፡

የቀድሞዋ የአንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትሕ ፓርቲ ሊቀመንበር ወይዘሪት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ፣ አሜሪካ ውስጥ ትምህርታቸውን እየተከታተሉ በሚቆዩባቸው ሁለት ዓመታት ምንም ዓይነት የፖለቲካ እንቅስቃሴ እንደማያደርጉ ተገለጸ፡፡

የአንድነት ፓርቲ ተቀዳሚ ምክትል ሊቀመንበር ዶ/ር ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ ለሪፖርተር እንደገለጹት፣ ወይዘሪት ብርቱካን ወደ አሜሪካ ከመሄዳቸው አንድ ቀን ቀደም ብሎ አግኝተው ባነጋገሯቸው ወቅት ትምህርታቸውን ጨርሰው ወደ አገራቸው የመመለስ ፍላጎት ያላቸው መሆኑን የገለጹላቸው ሲሆን፣ እዚያ በሚቆዩባቸው ሁለት ዓመታት ምንም ዓይነት የፖለቲካ እንቅስቃሴ እንደማያደርጉ አስታውቀዋቸዋል፡፡

‹‹የድርጅቱ ተቀዳሚ ምክትል ሊቀመንበር ነህና ለሥራ አስፈጻሚው የምትነግርልኝ መልዕክት አለኝ፤›› በማለት ወይዘሪት ብርቱካን አግኝተው ባነጋገሯቸው ዕለት፣ የፓርቲው ሊቀመንበር ሆነው እንደማይቀጥሉ የገለጹላቸው መሆኑን የጠቆሙት ዶ/ር ነጋሶ፣ ይህንን ተከትሎም የወይዘሪት ብርቱካንን ከኃላፊነት የመልቀቅ ጥያቄ ለሥራ አስፈጻሚው ማሳወቃቸውን ተናግረዋል፡፡ ወይዘሪት ብርቱካን ከኃላፊነታቸው የለቀቁ ስለመሆናቸው የተገለጸለት የፓርቲው ሥራ አስፈጻሚ፣ በቅርብ ጊዜ ውስጥ ለብሔራዊ ምክር ቤቱ ጉዳዩን ሪፖርት እንደሚያደርግና ብሔራዊ ምክር ቤቱም ‹‹ምን ይደረግ?›› በሚለው ጉዳይ ላይ ውሳኔ የሚያስተላልፍ መሆኑንም አክለው ገልጸዋል

Gaddafi army ‘not at breaking point

Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi’s armed forces are not close to breaking point despite hundreds of allied air strikes, American military chiefs have said.

Adm Mike Mullen told a US Congress committee Col Gaddafi’s troops still had 10 times the rebels’ firepower.

At the same hearing, Defence Secretary Robert Gates reiterated the US would put no “boots on the ground” in Libya

Ethiopia: Hundreds of Groups Join in Protest Against Mega-Dam

Addis Ababa — Some 400 organisations from across the world have signed a petition against the construction of Ethiopia’s multi-billion dollar Gibe III Dam project, Survival International has told Sudan Tribune.

In an e-mail exchange Sarah Shenker, researcher at Survival International, said that the petition had been delivered to Ethiopian embassies across Europe and the United States on World Water Day.

“We have delivered the petition on 22 March, to Ethiopian embassies or representatives in France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the UK and the USA,” she said on Wednesday.

Survival International says construction of the dam will devastate the fragile ecosystem of the area by altering the seasonal flooding of the Omo River and reducing its downstream volume, resulting in the drying out of the land endangering the lives of 500,000 people along the lower Omo Valley and Kenya’s Lake Turkana.

For these reasons, the group strongly argues construction of the dam must be halted and funds must stop

ኢትዮጵያ የውጭ ድጋፍ ብታገኝም ባታገኝም የኃይል ማመንጫ ግድቦች ግንባታን ፈጽሞ አታቋርጥም-ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ

አዲስ አበባ, መጋቢት 22 ቀን 2003 (አዲስ አበባ) – ኢትዮጵያ የውጭ ድጋፍ ብታገኝም ባታገኝም የኃይል ማመንጫ ግድቦች ግንባታን ፈጽሞ እንደማታቋርጥ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ አስታወቁ።የውሃ ኃይል በአፍሪካ ዘላቂ ልማት ላይ በሚኖረው አስተዋጽኦ ላይ በሚመክረው ጉባኤ ላይ የተገኙት ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ እንዳሉት መሰረታቸውን በአውሮፓና በሰሜን አሜሪካ ያደረጉት አንዳንድ የሃይድሮ ኤሌክትሪክ ተቃዋሚዎች በአገሮቻቸው የውሃ ሃይል ማመንጫዎች ሲገነቡ በዝምታ እያለፉ ኢትዮጵያን የመሳሰሉ ድሃ አገራት በአካባቢ ላይ አሉታዊ ተጽእኖ የማያስከትሉ የኃይል ማንጫዎችን ሲገነቡ ግን ለፕሮጀክቶቹ ማስፈጸሚያ ብድርና እርዳታ እንዳያገኙ የማከላከል ጥረቶችን ያደርጋሉ። ኢትዮጵያ ግድቦቿን ለመገንባት የልማት አጋሮች የገንዘብ ድጋፍ እንደሚያስፈልጋት የገለጹት አቶ መለስ በተቃዋሚዎች ዘመቻ ብድርና እርዳታ ብታጣም የራሷን የውስጥ አቅም አሟጣ በመቀጠም ግድቦቿን በአስተማማኝ መልኩ እንደምታከናውን በአጽንኦት አስረድተዋል አቶ መለስ እንዳብራሩት ኢትዮጵያ ድህነትን ለማሸነፍ በመሰረተ ልማት ግንባታ በተለይም የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይል ማመንጫ ፕሮጀክቶችን ለመገንባት ከፍተኛ መጠን ያለው ሙዓለ ንዋይ ማፍሰሷን ትቀጥላለች። ከአንዳንድ አማራጭ የገንዘብ ምንጮች ድጋፍ ለማግኘትም ጠንካራ ጥረት ታደርጋለች

“ግድቡን ማንም መጥቶ በቦምብ ያፈነዳዋል የሚል ስጋት አይግባችሁ፤ እንደዚህ የሚባል ነገር ቀልድ ነው የሚሆነው፤” ብለዋል አቶ መለስ፡፡

Addis Ababa, April 2 (WIC) – Construction of the Millennium Hydropower plant, the biggest hydropower plant in Africa yet, officially launched today in Benishangul Gumuz regional state

The North America tour has taught many people a lasting lesson.

April 11, 2011( aend-ethiopia)-Ethiopia is on the move. Its economy on an upward trajectory and its people more hopeful than ever. The country is destined to become one of the middle income earner countries in few years time. Many people who returned from a recent visit to the country have become a witness to today’s Ethiopia reality. It is no wonder then the Growth and Transformation tour in North America was a very successful despite the short comings observed in organizing the campaign in some cities

የግብፅ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ኢትዮጵያን እጎበኛለሁ አሉ

የግብፅ አዲሱ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ኢሳም ሻሪፍ ኢትዮጵያን በቅርቡ እንደሚጎበኙና አዲስ የሁለትዮሽ ግንኙነት እንደሚመሠርቱ በግብፅ ለኢትዮጵያ አምባሳደር መሐመድ ድሪር ገለጹ፡፡ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ ኢትዮጵያን የሚጎበኙት በተለይ በዓባይ ጉዳይ ለመደራደር መሆኑ ተገልጿል፡፡

ግብፅ ውስጥ የተከሰተውን ሕዝባዊ አመፅ ተከትሎ የሙባረክ መንግሥት ከሥልጣን ከተወገደ በኋላ ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ኢሳም ሻሪፍ የካቲት 24 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም. በግብፅ ከፍተኛ ወታደራዊ ምክር ቤት ተሹመዋል፡፡ የ58 ዓመቱ ኢሳም እ.ኤ.አ. ከ2004 እስከ 2005 የትራንስፖርት ሚኒስትር ሆነው አገልግለዋል፡፡

ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትሩ በቅርቡ አዲስ አበባ በመምጣት የሁለቱን አገሮች ግንኙነት ወደ አዲስ ምዕራፍ ለማሸጋገር እንደሚፈልጉ ቢገልጹም፣ የጉብኝታቸው ጊዜ መቼ እንደሚሆን ከመግለጽ ተቆጥበዋል፡፡

ኢትዮጵያ በቤንሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልል ውስጥ 5,250 ሜጋ ዋት የሚያመነጨውን የታላቁ ሚሌኒየም ግድብን በይፋ ካስታወቀች በኋላ ግብፅ የተለያዩ የዲፕሎማሲ ጫናዎች ለመፍጠር እየጣረች የቆየች ቢሆንም፣ አሁን ከዓባይ ተፋሰስ አገሮች ጋር በውኃው ክፍፍል ላይ ለመደራደር እየተንቀሳቀሰች ነው፡፡ የግብፁ የውኃ ሀብት ሚኒስትር ሑሴን አል አትፋይ እንደገለጹት፣ ግብፅ ከላይኛው የተፋሰሱ አገሮች ጋር ያላትን የውኃ ክፍፍል ከግጭት ይልቅ በድርድር መፍታት ብቸኛው አማራጯ እየሆነ ነው፡

የመኢአድ ምክትል ፕሬዚዳንት በእስራት እንዲቀጡ ተፈረደባቸው

የመላው ኢትዮጵያ አንድነት ድርጅት (መኢአድ) የላዕላይ ምክር ቤት አባልና ምክትል ፕሬዚዳንት ዶ/ር ታዴዎስ ቦጋለና ሌላው የድርጅቱ አባል አቶ ግርማ ነጋ፣ ከአንድ ዓመት እስከ ሁለት ዓመታት ከአራት ወራት በሚደርስ ፅኑ እስራት እንዲቀጡ የፌዴራል የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ አራዳ ምድብ ስድስተኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ትናንት ፈረደባቸው፡፡

ፍርድ ቤቱ ውሳኔውን ያስተላለፈው፣ የፌዴራል ዓቃቤ ሕግ በፍርድ ቤትና በምርጫ ቦርድ እግድ የተጣለበትን የመኢአድ ማኅተም መጠቀማቸውን በመጥቀስ የመሠረባቸው ክስ፣ በሰዎችና በሰነድ ማስረጃ በመረጋገጡ ነው፡፡

ዶ/ር ታዴዎስ በሁለት ዓመት ከአራት ወራት ጽኑ እስራት፣ አቶ ግርማ ደግሞ በአንድ ዓመት ከስምንት ወራት እስራት እንዲቀጡ ፍርድ ቤቱ ውሳኔ በማስተላለፉ ሁለቱም ግለሰቦች ወደ ማረሚያ ቤት ተልከዋል፡

ዶ/ር ታዴዎስ በፌዴራል ከፍተኛ ዓቃቤ ሕግ የ1997 ዓ.ም. ምርጫን ተከትሎ ተፈጥሮ በነበረው ብጥብጥ ምክንያት ክስ ተመስርቶባቸውና በዕድሜ ልክ እስራት እንዲቀጡ ተወስኖባቸው በምህረት ከተለቀቁት የቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ ሰዎች አንዱ ስለነበሩ፤ በነበረባቸው የወንጀል ሪከርድ ምክንያት ቅጣቱን ሊያከብድባቸው ችሏል፡፡ አቶ ግርማ ቀደም ባሉት ጊዜያት ምንም ዓይነት የወንጀል ድርጊት ባለመፈጸማቸው ቅጣቱ ቀሎ ሊወሰን ችሏል፡፡

መኢአድ ጠቅላላ ጉባዔውን በታኅሣሥ 2003 ዓ.ም. በማድረግ ኢንጂነር ኃይሉ ሻውልን በፕሬዚዳንትነት መምረጡ ይታወሳል፡፡ ‹‹ጉባዔው ሥልጣን ሰጥቶኛል›› የሚሉት ኢንጂነር ኃይሉ ሻውል አቶ ያዕቆብ ልኬን በተቀዳሚ ምክትል ፕሬዚዳንትነት በመሾማቸው፣ ዶ/ር ታዴዎስና አሥር የሚሆኑ የመኢአድ ከፍተኛ አመራሮች ቅሬታ እንዳነሱ እነ ኢንጂነር ኃይሉ ይገልጻሉ፡፡ ‹‹ጉባዔው ሥልጣኑን እስከሰጠኝና መተዳደሪያ ደንቡ እስከፈቀደልኝ ድረስ ይመጥናል፣ ሥራውን በደንብ ያውቃልና ብቃት አለው የምለውን የድርጅቱን አባል መሾም እችላለሁም፤›› ይላሉ ኢንጂነር ኃይሉ፡

Central Bank Gives Commercial Banks “Haircut”

National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) issued a new directive last week, ordering almost all commercial banks to begin buying saving bills, spending 27pc of the loan disbursements they have made since July 2010. The directive was signed by Yohannes Ayalew, chief economist and vice governor of monetary stability at the central bank, on Wednesday, April 6, 2011. It follows the announcement by Teklewold Atnafu, governor of NBE, lifting of the lending cap that has been in place since 2009. However, the state owned Commercial (CBE) and Development banks of Ethiopia (DBE) have been exempted from purchasing the saving bills. The bills have an annual three per cent interest and five-year maturity date; they can be used as collateral for loans or for any agreement made with domestic banks, according to the directive. In a subsequent letter Yohannes wrote to the banks on Thursday, April 7, he instructed them to start buying these bills in the value of 27pc of their total disbursements between July 8, 2010, and February 28, 2011, sources disclosed to Fortune. The total disbursements include the amount spent on purchasing the bills, increasing the share to 34.4pc, according to industry analysts. Bank executives were dismayed and shocked at the news. During their meeting with Yohannes and Getahun Nana, vice governor of finance at the central bank, on Thursday, April 7, they appealed to be granted more time.

Meheret Debebe, CEO of EEPCo, stops and looks back on the path to where the future one kilometre wall of the dam is to be raised

Back in the 1960s, the then Hailesellasie I University had a revered professor in engineering, credited for the establishment of the technology faculty at Amist Kilo. However, the German born Yehuda Peter (Prof) is remembered for instilling dreams in his engineering students, many of whom are in their 60s today.

For over three decades, some of Peter’s students have been turning into the nation’s finest and most celebrated engineers. These include Getachew Tasssew; Tadesse Hailesellasie and his partner in Berta Construction, Brehane Abate; Girma Muluneh (once Addis Abeba’s chief engineer); as well as Negussie Tebeje (Prof Em), a prominent structural engineer.

Peter inspired a generation of Ethiopian engineers to keep alive his dream and conviction that it is possible to develop vast tracts of fertile land in Afar Regional State and the Ogaden Desert by irrigating it with a network of canals to channel the Abay River. This would require connecting Abay with Awash and Wabi Shebelle rivers, down in the Somali lowlands.

These engineers also thought that such a grand project could be of help to upstream countries because it would avoid sedimentation and floods in Sudan, save 10 million cubic metres of water per year from evaporating from Aswan Dam, and retain a significant portion of unutilised water flowing into the Red Sea.Were this project to be implemented, it would have cost a projected half a billion Birr at the time, according to one of Peter’s students

የዋጋ ንረት ያደበዘዘው የፋሲካ ገበያ

የዘንድሮ የፋሲካ ዓውደ ዓመት ገበያ በርካታ ሸማቾችን የተፈታተነ ነው ማለት ይቻላል፡፡ የሳምንቱ መገባደጃ ድረስ እንደ ወትሮው የሞቀ ገበያ አልተስተዋለም፡፡ በተለይ የቅቤ ዋጋ ከመጠን በላይ መናር ተጠቃሽ ይሆናል፡፡

የዘይት፣ የስኳር፣ በቅርቡም የዱቄት ዋጋ መወደድና የአቅርቦት እጥረት ሲያጉላላው የነበረው ሸማቾች፣ ለዓውደ ዓመት የሚፈልጋቸውም ዕቃዎች ዋጋ ማሻቀብ የዘንድሮን የበዓል ገበያ አቀዛቅዞታል፡፡ በተለያዩ ገበያዎች መመልከት እንደተቻለውም በቅቤ ዋጋ መጨመር ምክንያት አብዛኛው ሸማች ግማሽ ኪሎና ከዚያ ያነሰ መጠን ለመግዛት መገደዱንም ታዝበናል፡፡ በግና ዶሮ ለመግዛት የወጡ ሸማቾች በዋጋ ጭማሪው እየተደናገጡ በአብዛኛው ሳይገዙ ሲመለሱ ይታዩ ነበር፡፡ የሚገዙትም ቢሆኑ በዋጋው መናር በጣም ሲማረሩ ይታያሉ፡፡

አዲሱ የግብፅ ወታደራዊ አስተዳደር የቀድሞ የአገሪቱ መሪዎች ከኢትዮጵያ ጋር ያበላሹትን ግንኙነት አድሳለሁ ማለቱን አረጋግጬያለሁ ያለው መንግሥት፣ በግብፅ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ልዩ ሁኔታ መፈጠሩን ይፋ አደረገ፡፡

Addis Ababa, April 22, 2011 (Addis Ababa) – Egyptian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Tariq Gahanom said the new Egyptian administration is ready to work closely with Ethiopia and other Nile riparian countries on the issue of Nile River.He said the new administration is desirous of working in collaboration with the other Nile riparian countries including Ethiopia towards equal benefit. According to the Ambassador, after Hosni Mubarak left the presidency, Egypt has set a new foreign policy of cooperation. The new policy will assist Egypt to create good friendship with Ethiopia and the other Nile riparian countries, he noted. The Ambassador expressed his belief that the high level meeting between the two countries due to be held soon will come up with symbiotic results. He said the bilateral relations of the two countries especially in the political, economic and social sectors is getting better, according to the report filed by Fana Broadcasting Agency

የስቅለት የጸሎተ ቅዳሴ ስነ ስርአት በተለያዩ ዝግጅቶች ተከበረ

1. 

አት አዲስ አበባ, ሚያዝያ 14 ቀን 2003 (አዲስ አበባ) – በኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ቤተክርስቲያን በየአመቱ የሚከናወነው የስቅለት የጸሎተ ቅዳሴት ስነ ስርአት ዛሬ በተለያዩ ዝግጅቶች ተከበረ፡፡በቅድስት ስላሴ ካቴድራል ቤተ ክርስትያን ዛሬ በደማቅ ሁኔታ በዓሉ ሲከበር ወንጌል፣ መዝሙር ስቅለትን የተመለከቱ የተለያዩ ዝግጅቶች ቀርበዋል፡፡ሐይማኖት አባቶችና ምእመናን በተገኙበት ብጹእ ወቅዱስ አቡነ ጳውሎስ ፖትርያርክ በመልዕክታቸው እንዳሉት የሰው ልጅ አምላክ በሰጠው ትዕዛዝ መሰረት በህግና በስርዓት መመራት ይገባል፡፡ የዛሬው ቀን ጌታችን መድሃኒታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ለሰው ዘር ሲል ራሱን በስቅለት መስዋዕት ያደረገበት ቀን ነው ብለዋል፡፡በመሆኑም የሰው ልጅ ተፈቃቅሮ፣ ተከባብሮ እና ተሳስቦ ሃይማኖቱን ማክበር ይጠበቅበታል ሰሉ መልዕክታቸውን አስተላልፈዋል፡፡

‹‹የኤርትራ መንግሥትን ለመለወጥ ቆርጠን ተነስተናል››

የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት በፕሬዚዳንት ኢሳያስ የሚመራው የኤርትራ መንግሥት አዲስ አበባን ባግዳድ ለማድረግ እየተንቀሳቀሰ መሆኑን ለዓለም አቀፍ ማኅበረሰቡ ማሳወቁን ተከትሎ፣ በኤርትራ ላይ ይዞት የቆው የመከላከል ስትራቴጂ መቀየሩን በቅርቡ ማሳወቁን ይታወቃል፡፡ ‹‹የኤርትራ መንግሥት በኢሕአዴግ የሚመራውን የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት ለመለወጥ እየተንቀሳቀሰ መሆኑን ድሮም እናውቃለን፡፡ አሁን ግን እኛም የኤርትራ መንግሥትን ለመቀየር እንንቀሳቀሳለን፤›› ያሉት አቶ ኃይለ ማርያም፣ ያ የሚሆነው ግን በቀጥታ በመውረርና አስመራ ድረስ በመሄድ አይደለም ብለዋል፡፡

PRESIDENT OBAMA ANNOUNCES MORE KEY ADMINISTRATION POSTS

Gebisa Ejeta, Appointee for Member, Board for International Food and Agriculture Development
Gebisa Ejeta is currently a Professor at Purdue University and serves as the Executive Director of the Purdue Center for Global Food Security.  He previously served as Principal Plant Breeder for the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics assigned to Sudan.  Dr. Ejeta serves on the Consortium Board of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, the Sasakawa Africa Association, and the Chicago Council for Global Affairs Agricultural Development Program. He is a Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Sciences, the Crop Science Society of Agronomy, and the American Society of Agronomy. Dr. Ejeta was the recipient of the 2009 World Food Prize. He holds a B.S. in Plant Sciences from Alemaya College of Agriculture in Ethiopia, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Plant Genetics and Breeding from Purdue University.

Royal wedding watched by 3 billion on TV

More than 24m viewers in the UK watched the royal wedding on the BBC and ITV, industry body Barb estimates.The BBC said a peak figure of 20m – a 70% share – tuned into the corporation’s coverage at the end of the service in Westminster Abbey.More than 34 million viewers watched at least part of the BBC’s TV royal wedding coverage, it added. These figures include live iPlayer viewings

A victory for Obama — and America

President Barack Obama announces the killing of Osama bin Laden from the White House on Sunday night.

Heineken Enters Ethiopian Market With $163M Buys

AMSTERDAM (Dow Jones)–Dutch brewer Heineken NV (HEIA.AE) said Thursday it will enter the high-growth potential Ethiopian market with the acquisition of two state-owned breweries.

Heineken said it has been named preferred bidder for the Bedele and Harar breweries, which itwill acquire for $85 million and $78 million .

Ethiopia – Bin Laden’s Death Major Victory for the Global War On Terror

Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile could ease after Egypt said last week it was ready for talks.

Nairobi — Optimism is growing that the tension between Egypt, Sudan and upstream countries over the construction of the Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile could ease after Egypt said last week it was ready for talks.Egypt’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Tarek Ghoneim, said renegotiating the allocation of Nile waters and raising transparency in the matter would be very healthy and good for Egypt and the regionThe region has seen months of heated public debate around the renegotiation of Nile water sharing sanctioned by colonial agreements.East African Community states have expressed their intention to restart stalled negotiations with Egypt on the use of the Nile waters.A communiqué released after a meeting by EAC presidents in Dar es Salaam, last week said that “The Summit reiterated its readiness to host a special summit to advance negotiations on the Nile water question with a view to realising a mutually acceptable solution among all riparian states.”The wave of democratic change sweeping North Africa in the past few months has presented an opportunity for upstream countries to overhaul the colonial-era policies that had given Egypt the lion’s share of the Nile waters and veto power over hydro projects on the riverAnalysts say that Egypt, eager to re-engineer itself and enhance its global clout as a leader of both Arab and African nations, has to change its posture from that of a bully over the Nile waters to a more diplomatic negotiator.Towards this end, a delegation of 40 Egyptian representatives visited Kampala in early April to hold talks with President Yoweri Museveni concerning new plans for the sharing of Nile Basin water.Delegation co-ordinator Mostafa Gendy said that “What the delegation is trying to do is build upon the sympathy that the African people showed towards our revolution and to work towards a new start

Government, EU back around discussion table after election dispute

The Ethiopian government early this week held discussions with ambassadors of the European Union countries for the first time after disputed elections last year, during which Ethiopia said ‘it threw the EU election observation mission report in the garbage.’
A joint statement said both sides discussed foreign policy issues, recent political development in Ethiopia after last year’s general elections and Ethiopia’s ambitious five year economic plan, which  aims to double its GDP.The EU commission and member countries collectively extend an annual one billion Euros to Ethiopia in assistance: “this makes us the most important partner in terms of cooperation, we are also the most important partner to Ethiopia in terms of trade,” Ambassador Marchal said.
The Cotonou Agreement says good governance is an ‘essential element’, the violation of which may lead to the partial or complete suspension of development cooperation between the EU and the country in violation.
Pundits anticipated into Ethio-EU ties would be damaged when they diputed last years polls.
The EU election observation mission, after releasing a preliminary report saying the election proceedings failed to meet international standards,  was barred from coming back to Ethiopia; a move said to be the first one in EU election observation mission history. PM Meles rejected the EU’s mission assessment as “useless trash that deserves to be thrown in the garbage”.
“Ethiopia is very, very much attached to its sovereignty. I respect that. Nevertheless sometimes it very difficult to deal with that from the donor perspective as we would like to give some advice,” the ambassador explained.
Despite the challenge, the ambassador says they have influenced how EU’s cooperation would be extended to the GTP: “Collectively the EU is providing more or less one billion Euros every year in terms of assistance to Ethiopia, that will continue and that is already to the credit of the GTP. Now what we have to do is to adopt our cooperation better to suit the needs of the GTP and for that we need to discuss with the government and we are going to do that.

Ethiopia: Clashes On Kenya Border Kill Over 30 – Official

.Addis Ababa — Tribal clashes along the Ethiopia-Kenya shared border have killed 34 people in the last week, an Ethiopian official said Saturday.Speaking to Sudan Tribune, Shimels Kemal, a spokesman for the Communications Ministry of Ethiopia, said the clashes were triggered after Kenya’s Turkana herdsmen killed four Ethiopians from the Merille community on Monday at Tondonyang, a remote Kenyan villageMerille community members, in retaliation to the four killed earlier, ambushed some 25 Turkana villagers from Kenya who arrived for barter trade at a border point to the Ethiopian side and killed 20 of them” Shimels Kemal said.”Ten Merille tribesmen of Ethiopia were also killed during the reprisal attacks” he added.According to the Ethiopian official, 20 bodies have been recovered and sent to Kenya however there are unconfirmed reports saying that there are still 50 Turlkana villagers missing. It is thought they may have been taken hostage by the Ethiopian attackersGovernment spokes person Shimels Kemal confirmed told Sudan Tribune that the situation is now under control and security on both sides of the border has been beefed-up to counter any further revenge attacks between the two warring communities.”It is now taken under control. Authorities from both sides have launched a joint investigation to hunt down assailants” he said adding a “border meeting is also going on between the provincial security officials of Kenya and Ethiopia to settle the conflict.”Such clashes are common at the shared border of the two East African nations are mainly caused over resources such as pasture or fertile land

Dr. Berhanu Nega says he is plotting revolution in Ethiopia

Current leader of the exiled Ethiopian opposition group “Ginbot 7” and the former Mayor-elect of Addis Ababa city Dr. Berhanu Nega said he is planning to trigger Tunisia-style revolution against Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

“We are doing everything we can to spark a North Africa style revolt in Ethiopia,” declared Berhanu. During an interview with EthioTube media this week, the US based economist Dr. Berhanu said he believes an Ethiopian revolution will not be similar to the bloodshed in Libya. He claims the Ethiopian army has begun to protest against the Meles government and it will take the side of the people. “The army wants democracy just like other Ethiopians and the army does not want to be held responsible for crimes against civilians,” Dr. Berhanu added.

Meles is also trying to distract the public and use scare tactics, according to Berhanu. The state run television controlled by the Meles Zenawi regime censored news reports of the nonviolent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, but Meles’s ETV television program extensively reported the bloody quagmire in Libya. “This was a signal that Meles wanted to send to scare Ethiopian people” declared Berhanu.

In August 2009, the Ethiopian government convicted Berhanu in absentia. Several democracy activists and civil society members have also been convicted by the Meles regime which has ruled the country for nearly 20 years. After the recent national elections allegedly rigged by the ruling party, the country solidified its return back to a one-party state comparable to the era of former Marxist leader Mengistu Haile Mariam.

Some opposition youth activists have announced May 28 as a national day of protest against the Meles government. According to Berhanu, it will not take long for democracy to thrive in Ethiopia and he hopes to return back to Ethiopia by the next Easter holiday

India to invest $4.78 bn in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA: India has offered to invest $4.78 billion in various projects in Ethiopia over the next few years, of which nearly $1 billion is already on ground or in the pipeline, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said Saturday. India is the largest foreign investor in Ethiopia with approved investment of $4.78 billion, Sharma said after meeting Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi here.
The Indian minister, who is on a four-day official visit to Ethiopia, emphasised the need for strengthening business and economic ties between the two countries.
Sharma also co-chaired India-Africa Trade Ministers Meeting held at the African Union Commission here. The meeting took place ahead of the second India-Africa Forum Summit to be held May 24-25.During the meeting, the ministers explored ways to establish trade and investment linkages between India and Africa through, among other things, the conclusion of trade cooperation agreements between India and African Regional Economic Communities , according to a joint statement released after the trade ministers’ meeting. ”We appreciate the establishment of an India-Africa Business Council , a mechanism to strengthen and deepen economic ties between the business communities of India and Africa; facilitate a consultative process to address the issues that stand in the way of enhancing economic and commercial relations between India and Africa, and develop a road map for business partnership,” the statement said.

ግንቦት 20 ሠልፍ ያልወጡ የከተማው ዋና ኦዲተር መሥሪያ ቤት ሠራተኞች ሪፖርት እንዲያደርጉ ታዘዙ

ግንቦት 20 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም. በተካሄደው የድጋፍ ሰላማዊ ሠልፍ ያልተገኙ የአዲስ አበባ ከተማ አስተዳደር ዋና ኦዲተር መሥሪያ ቤት ሠራተኞች በሦስት ቀን ውስጥ ማስረጃ እንዲያቀርቡ ታዘዙ፡፡ የአዲስ አበባ ከተማ አስተዳደር ዋና ኦዲተር መሥሪያ ቤት የሰው ኃይል አስተዳደር ደጋፊ የሥራ ሒደት መሪ ስምና ፊርማ አርፎበት ግንቦት 22 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም. በመሥሪያ ቤቱ የማስታወቂያ ሰሌዳ ላይ በተለጠፈው ማስታወቂያ ላይ እንደተገለጸው፣ ግንቦት 20 ቀን በተደረገው አገር አቀፍ ጥሪ ያልተገኙ ሠራተኞች ያልተገኙበትን ምክንያት የሚገልጽ ማስረጃ በሦስት ቀን ውስጥ ማቅረብ አለባቸው፡፡
በድጋፉ ሰላማዊ ሠልፍ ላይ የተገኙ 79 ሠራተኞች ሙሉ ስም ከማስታወቂያው በታች የተዘረዘረ ሲሆን፣ የሰው ኃይል አስተዳደር ደጋፊ የሥራ ሒደት በዋና ኦዲተር መሥሪያ ቤቱ ስም በሠልፉ ለተገኙ ለእነዚህ ሠራተኞች ያለውን የላቀ አክብሮት ገልጿል፡፡በመሥሪያ ቤቱ ማስታወቂያ ሰሌዳ ላይ የተጻፈው ማስታወቂያ እንዲህ ይላል፡፡ ‹‹መሥሪያ ቤታችን ግንቦት 20 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም. ታላቁ የኢትዮጵያ ህዳሴ ግድብ ግንባታን አስመልክቶ በተደረገው የድጋፍ ሰላማዊ ሠልፍ ላይ ጥሪያችንን አክብራችሁ የተገኛችሁ ከዚህ በታች የተዘረዘረው የመሥሪያ ቤታችን ሠራተኞች አገራዊ ግዴታችሁን በመወጣታችሁ የላቀ አክብሮታችንን እየገለጽን፣ የሰው ኃይል አስተዳደር ደጋፊ የሥራ ሒደት በመሥሪያ ቤቱ ስም ከፍተኛ ምስጋናችንን እያቀረብን ከዚህ በታች ስማችሁ ያልተጠቀሰው ሠራተኞች ግን በዕለቱ በተደረገው አገር አቀፋዊ ጥሪ ያልተገኛችሁበትን ምክንያት በሦስት ቀን ውስጥ ማስረጃ ይዛችሁ እንድታቀርቡ እናሳስባለን፡፡››ግንቦት 20 ቀን በተካሄደው ሰላማዊ ሠልፍ ያልተገኙ ሠራተኞች ሪፖርት እንዲያደርጉ የተጠየቁበትን ምክንያት እንዲያብራሩልን የጠየቅናቸው የአዲስ አበባ ከተማ አስተዳደር ዋና ኦዲተር መሥሪያ ቤት ኦዲተር ጄነራል ወይዘሮ አባይነሽ ገብረ መድህን እንደገለጹት፣ በሰላማዊ ሠልፉ ላይ ያልተገኙበትን ምክንያት እንዲያሳውቁ የተጠየቁት ጉዳዩ ከሥራ ዲሲፕሊን ጋር የሚገናኝ በመሆኑ ነው፡፡

ኮሎኔል ተስፋዬ ወልደ ስላሴ የደርግ የደህንነት ሚኒስትር ዓረፉ

በደርግ ዘመን የደህንነት ሚኒስትር የነበሩት ኮሎኔል ተስፋዬ ወልደ ስላሴ ግንቦት 27 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም ከዚህ ዓለም በሞት ተለዪ፡፡ኮሎኔል ተስፋዬ በደርግ ዘመን በተፈጸመው የዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል ከተከሰሱትና በቅርቡም በመንግስት ውሳኔ መሰረት የተፈረደባቸው የሞት ፍርድ ከተነሳላቸው 23 ከፍተኛ የደርግ ባለስልጣናት ውስጥ አንዱ ነበሩ፡፡ኮሎኔሉ በደርግ ዘመን ለረጅም ጊዜ የደህንነት ሚኒስትር ሆነው አገልግለዋል፡

Somali interior minister dies after suicide blast

Addis Ababa, June 11 (WIC) - Somalia’s Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan died from wounds suffered after an explosion at his house in the capital Mogadishu on Friday, the African Union peacekeepers AMISOM said.”Unfortunately the minister has just passed away,” Paddy Ankunda, the AMISOM spokesman told Reuters.”We condemn the barbaric acts in the strongest terms. The forces of peace will have their way.”The minister, Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan, was wounded after a female suicide bomber attacked his house, the minister’s driver, police and African Union troops said.Relatives added the suicide bomber was also a close relative to the minister, but this could not be independently confirmed.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991

Interview with MIDROC Plc, Ato Teklu haile Aend Ethiopia Radio Sunday 06-12-2011

MIDROC Ethiopia is a private Investment Group with 41 companies. The companies are engaged in multifaceted business sectors across the country. MIDROC Ethiopia Investment Group is a member of the MIDROC Group Companies owned by the prominent global businessman, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-Amoudi. These Group Companies are operating in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States of America. Each of the MIDROC Ethiopia Group Companies is legally established and autonomous.  Sixteen of these companies are organized under the MIDROC Ethiopia Technology Group.*

Volcano erupts in Eritrea after earthquakes: VAAC

The volcano started to erupt around midnight on Sunday, charts on the website of France-based VAAC indicated.The remote, arid region, close to the border with Ethiopia, was hit by a series of earthquakes earlier the same day, data from the United States.Geographical Survey showed, with the biggest reaching 5.7 on the richer scale.The Dubbi Volcano — which is located 350 km north of the Eritrean capital Asmara and 233 km east of the Ethiopian city of Mekelle — is thought to have last erupted in 1861.The independent earthquake monitoring website, earthquake.com said it might be another nearby volcano nearby known as Nabro that was erupting and carried testimonies from residents in the region confirming the ash cloud.”The plume from the volcano is covering the whole of Asmara since the morning, but now it is clearing somewhat,” one resident was quoted as saying.Dubbi’s ash cloud hit an altitude of 13.5 km, VAAC said.Ethiopian state media warned people to protect themselves from ash.Ethiopia relocated more than 50,000 people in 2005 after a series of earthquakes and a volcanic eruption on its side of the border. As residents fled, hundreds of their animals were swallowed into crevices in the ground.The Dubbi Volcano is located in a tectonic triple junction known as the Danakil depression that spans parts of Eritrea and Ethiopia.Scientists say its spreading ridges, that form the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, may 10 million years form a new ocean and split Africa in two.

Cabinet packed delegation markets Ethiopia in London

In a rare collective desertion from Addis Ababa, a high level delegation that includes eight cabinet ministers marketed the country’s investment potential and incentives to a forum of United Kingdom investors in London on Thursday.
Spearheaded by the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Affairs Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, the delegation which also includes key public enterprise heads and consultants spent the whole Thursday engaged in presentations and discussions in an effort to lure the UK and other national investors to invest in Ethiopia. “Incentives for priority sectors such as duty free schemes, tax holidays, bank loans and export incentives are put in place,” DPM Hailemariam told the forum of investors in an opening address.

UN orders Ethiopian peacekeeping force to Sudan border region

UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council on Monday ordered a 4,200-strong Ethiopian peacekeeping force to the disputed Sudanese territory of Abyei in a bid to douse tensions ahead of southern Sudan’s split from the north.

The 15-member council voted unanimously for a resolution sending the force to monitor the withdrawal of north Sudan troops who occupied Abyei on May 21. More than 100,000 people have fled.

With fighting also flaring in the neighboring state of South Kordofan, north-south rivalry is again an international concern ahead of southern Sudan’s declaration of independence on July 9.

Ethiopia has signaled that the force will be ready to be deployed before the key independence day celebrations in the south, diplomats said.

Abyei, which sits on the border, is claimed by both sides. An African Union-brokered peace accord to demilitarize the territory was reached on June 20 in the Ethiopian capital.

Abyei is now in “utter devastation” according to UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang, who has just been to the territory. Speaking to reporters in Khartoum, she called for a thorough human rights investigation there and in South Kordofan.

Kang told reporters she had seen traditional huts smoldering in Abyei and “looters still roamed among the ruins in the presence of the Sudanese Armed Forces. All the civilians are gone.”

Sudan’s UN ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said Khartoum’s forces would withdraw as soon as Ethiopian troops had been deployed.

French UN ambassador Gerard Araud said there was a “robust” mandate for the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei, or UNISFA. He highlighted that human rights abuse investigations would be allowed.

The resolution also orders the force to protect civilians and to “protect the Abyei area from incursions by unauthorized elements.”

North and south Sudan fought a two-decade civil war in which two million people died. A 2005 peace accord, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, ended the conflict and allowed for a referendum in January in which the south voted massively to split from the north.

Abyei did not take part in the referendum because the two sides could not agree who should be eligible to vote.

Major worries remain ahead of South Sudan’s independence day particularly because of the new conflict in South Kordofan, on the northern side of the border, where northern troops and their allies are fighting forces loyal to south.

Misseriya Arab militiamen on Sunday attacked a train carrying south Sudanese home ahead of the independence declaration, the UN said. One person was killed and four injured.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed the UN force in Abyei but demanded an “immediate” ceasefire in Kordofan where the United Nations said that new air bombing attacks had been reported Monday.

“Tens of thousands of people have been driven from their homes, and there are reports of very serious human rights abuses and violence targeting individuals based on their ethnicity and political affiliation,” Clinton said in a statement.

“There is just two weeks to go until July 9 and the parties really need to do everything they can to settle the outstanding issues under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” said Britain’s deputy UN ambassador Philip Parham.

These include the final status of Abyei and the sharing of oil revenues from zones which straddle the border and the citizenship of nationals caught on either side of the border.

“To the extent they remain unresolved, the potential for tensions is obviously that much greater, so the harder they can work even over the next two weeks to make progress on those issues, the less likely there are to be damaging tensions,” Parham told reporters.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes and genocide, is to join UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other international leaders at the south’s formal declaration of independence on July 9, Khartoum’s ambassador said.

The 27th Annual ESFNA ATLANTA Tournaments In MEMORY of Mengistu Worku, Ethiopia’s greatest footballer of all time who made the number 8 jersey popular in Ethiopia, SPORT & CULTURAL EVENT JULY 3 – JULY 9th

THE GUEST OF HONORS

Mengistu spent his entire club playing career with Saint George FC, where he started at the age of 16.  He played 115 times for the Ethiopian national team and scored a record 68 goals. He played a pivotal role in helping Ethiopia win its only African Nations Cup when the third edition was held in Ethiopia in 1962. As a player, Mengistu has taken part in 7 African Nations Cup tournaments (1959-1970) and scored 10 goals. He was given numerous offers to play professionally for teams in Italy and France, as well as Egypt’s El Zamalek, but like earlier legend and coach Yidnekatchew, he refused all offers and stayed in Ethiopia wearing St. George’s characteristic “V” across his chest.Mengistu spent his entire club playing career with Saint George FC, where he started at the age of 16.  He played 115 times for the Ethiopian national team and scored a record 68 goals. He played a pivotal role in helping Ethiopia win its only African Nations Cup when the third edition was held in Ethiopia in 1962. As a player, Mengistu has taken part in 7 African Nations Cup tournaments (1959-1970) and scored 10 goals. He was given numerous offers to play professionally for teams in Italy and France, as well as Egypt’s El Zamalek, but like earlier legend and coach Yidnekatchew, he refused all offers and stayed in Ethiopia wearing St. George’s characteristic “V” across his chest.

ESFNA

Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA), founded in 1985 in wasngtion dc, is a non-profit organization dedicated to promote the rich Ethiopian culture and heritage as well as build positive environment within Ethiopian-American communities in North America. Its mission is bringing Ethiopians together to network, supporting the business community, empowering the young by providing scholarships and mentoring programs, primarily using soccer tournaments, other sports activities and cultural events as a vehicle.

ሰበር ዜና ፡ የታሰሩት ሁለት ጋዜጠኞች በአሸባሪነት ወንጀል ተጠርጥረው መሆኑ ተገለጸ

የአውራምባ ታይምስ ጋዜጣ ምክትል ዋና አዘጋጅ ውብሸት ታዬና ፤ አዲስ ፕሬስና ፍትህ ጋዜጦች ላይ የፖለቲካ አምደኛ የሆነችው ወይዘሪት ርዕዮት አለሙ የታሰሩት በአሸባሪነት ወንጀል ተጠርጥረው መሆኑን መንግስት አስታወቀ፡፡የኢትዮጵያ  ብሔራዊ   ዲሞክራሲያዊ  ፓርቲ (ኢብዴፓ) ሊቀ መንበር አቶ ዘሪሁን ገ/እግዚአብሔር ፣  የፓርቲዉ አባል አቶ ደጀኔ ተፈራና እንዲሁም ሌሎች አምስት ግለሰቦች በአሸባሪነት ተጠርጥረው በቁጥጥር ስር መዋላቸውን የፌደራል ፖሊስ አስታውቋል፡፡መግለጫውን የሰጡት የመንግስት ኮምዩኒኬሽን ጉዳዮች ጽሕፈት ቤት ምክትል ኃላፊ አቶ ሽመልስ ከማልና በፌደራል ፖሊስ ወንጀል ምርመራ ዳይሬክቶሬት ዳይሬክተር ምክትል ኮሚሽነር ደመላሽ ገ/ሚካኤል ናቸው፡፡ተጠርጣሪዎቹን አስመራ ላይ ሆኖ ሲረዳቸው የነበረው አቶ ኤሊያስ ክፍሌ መሆኑን በመግለጫው ተገልጿል፡፡  አቶ ኤሊያስ ከግንቦት 7 ተጠርጣሪዎች ብርጋዲየር ጄኔራል ተፈራ ማሞ ጋር ክስ ተመስርቶበት በሌለበት በሞት እንዲቀጣ መወሰኑ ይታወሳል፡፡ ለተጠርጣርሪዎቹ አቶ ኤሊያስ የፋይናንስና የተለያዩ ዕርዳታዎች እንደሚያደርግ ከመግለጫው ለማወቅ ተችሏል፡፡ ሁለት ጋዜጠኞች ባለፈው ሳምንት በማዕከላዊ እስር ቤት መታሰራቸው ይታወሳል፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ ፕሪምየር ሊግ ውድድር፣ ባለፈው ሰኞ በኢትዮጵያ ቡና አሸናፊነት ተጠናቅቋል፡

ባለፉት ጥቂት ሳምንታት ውስጥ በኢትዮጵያ ስፖርት አፍቃርያን ዘንድ አነጋጋሪ የነበረውና ከመቼውም ጊዜ በላይ ልዩ ትኩረትን ያገኘው የኢትዮጵያ ፕሪምየር ሊግ ውድድር፣ ባለፈው ሰኞ በኢትዮጵያ ቡና አሸናፊነት ተጠናቅቋል፡፡ይህ መላ አገሪቱን በሬዲዮና በቴሌቪዥን ጭምር ከዳር እስከዳር ያነቃነቀው የፕሪምየር ሊግ ውድድር የመጨረሻዎቹ ሳምንታት ትንቅንቅ፣ በኢትዮጵያ ቡና አሸናፊነት መጠናቀቁ ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ በኢትዮጵያ እግር ኳስ ላይ ትልቅ መነቃቃትን ፈጥሯል፡፡ ከዚህ በፊት ወደ አውሮፓ ሊጎች ፊታቸውን አዙረው የነበሩ የእግር ኳስ አፍቃሪዎችና ስለ እግር ኳስ ጨዋታ ደንታ የሌላቸው ሳይቀሩ አጓጊውን ውድድር በተለየ ስሜት ተከታትለውታል፡፡ ከመቼውም ጊዜ በላይ ከዳኝነት ስህተት፣ ከአድልዎና ከሸፍጥ የጸዳ በተባለለት በዚህ አጓጊ ውድድር ላይ የተፈጠረው ስሜት ወደሚቀጥለው ዓመት ይሸጋገር ዘንድ ብዙዎች ተመኝተዋል፡፡

Opening Day: Aaaah here we go again, another year, our 27th anniversary celebrated in none other than the strong community of Atlanta.

Opening Day at the Georgia Dome was truly a blast and arguably one of the best opening day attendances on record. Atlanta residents and Ethiopians from around North America came out in high spirit to welcome the teams and Congressman John Luis. The Congressman and Civil Rights leader gave a rousing speech as he reminisced of his visit to Ethiopia in the late ’60’s and mid ’70’s. Guest of Honor, Ato Wondimu Bekele and his family were also in attendance and warmly welcomed.

Division I FINAL . July 9 CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM OHIO FOR BEING THE 2011 ESFNA CHAMPIONS. THIS IS THE FRIST TIME OHIO WON THE WHOLE THING, Washingtion DC Stars (2nd pl) .

Congratulations Calgary for joining the ESFNA family. Calgary prevailed over the other three opponents; Phoenix, Tennessee and North Carolina. This is the second team from Canada and ESFNA’s 29th member

The Republic of South Sudan formally declares its independence with thousands dancing through the night to welcome the dawn of a new era

Salva Kiir was sworn in as President during South Sudan’s formal proclamation of independence today. massive cheers rang out as the Sudanese flag was lowered and was replaced by the new flag of South Sudan. The crowd went wild as the new flag was raised, as a marching band played through the cheers.South Sudanese parliament speaker James Wani Igga said: “We, the democratically elected representatives of the people, hereby declare Southern Sudan to be an independent and sovereign state.”The hard-won separation from the north was celebrated as South Sudan became the world’s newest nation on the stroke of midnight.

After two decades of bitter civil war the world is due to witness the birth of new nation, South Sudan, on Saturday with tens of thousands of exiled southern Sudanese flocking home to celebrate the long waited North-South divorce.

የአሜሪካ ድምጽ ሬድዮ ስራ አስኪያጅና ዋና አዘጋጅ ስቲቭ ሬዲሽ ቪኦኤ ከኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ዝግጅቶቹን እንዲቀይር ምንም አይነት ጫና እንደማይደርስበት ገልጸዋል።

ሰሞኑን በተለያዩ ድረ-ገጾች፣ ብሎጎችና የሬድዮ ጣቢያዎች የቪኦኤን የውስጥ አሰራር አስመልክቶ የተነሱ አስተያየቶችንና ዘገባዎችን አስመልክቶ ለተነሱ ጥያቄዎች የተሰጡ ምላሾችን በዝርዝር እንመልከት።የአፍሪካ ቀንድ ስራ አስኪያጅ ዲቪድ አርኖልድ ፤ ቪኦኤን የሚያስተዳድረው Broadcasting Board of Governors የኢትዮጵያን ጉብኝት ተከትሎ፤ ለአማርኛው ዝግጅት ክፍል በሰጡት አስተያየት ሁኔታው እስኪጣራ በእረፍት እንዲቆዩ ተደርገው፤ በአሁኑ ወቅት ወደ እንግሊዝኛው ክፍል ተዛውረዋል። ይኽ ለምን እንደሆነ ሬዲሽ ሲናገሩ፤“የዴቭድ አርሎንድ ጉዳይ ስለሚገኝበት ህኔታ መናገር አልፈልግም። ዴቪድ አርሎንድ በቪኦኤ ከፍ ያለ ስፍራ የሚሰጠው ነው። እንደ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ሰራተኛ መብቶች አሉት። በቀረበው ዜና ላይ ተፈጥሯል በተባለው የመረጃ መዛባትም ሆነ በተላለፈው ቃለ ምልልስ ውስጥ እርሱ ስለነበረው ሚና እየፈተሽን ነው። ፍተሻው እንዳለቀ ዴቪድ አርሎንድ ምን እንደሚሰራ እንወስናለን።”በአማርኛው ዝግጅት በድረ-ገጹ አስፍሮት የነበረው ዘገባ መነሳቱ፤ የመገናኛ ብዙሃን ነጻነትን ይጻረራል በሚል በርካታ ዘገባዎችና አስተያየቶች ተሰጥተዋል።  “ቦርድ ኦቭ ገቨርናንስ ከኢትዮጵያ መንግስት ጋር ያደረጉትን ውይይት በተመለከተ የወጣ ዜና ነበረ። ዜናው ከወጣ በኋላ እንዲነሳ ተደርጓል።  ሌላኛው የውይይት ርእስ፤ የአሜሪካ ድምጽ ሬድዮ በዋሽንግተን ዲሲ አካባቢ ከሁለት ሳምንት በፊት የተካሄደ ህዝባዊ ስብሰባን ጋዜጠኛ ልኮ ዘግቦ አየር ላይ እንዳይውል ተከልክሏል የሚል ነው። የአሜሪካ ድምጽ ሬድዮ የአፍሪካ ክፍል ሃላፊ ጉዌን ዲላርድ ይሄ መረጃ የተሳሳተ ነው ይላሉ። የአሜሪካ ድምጽ መጀመሪያውኑም ጋዜጠኛ አላከም ይላሉ።የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት የአሜሪካ ድምጽ ሬድዮ ለተቃዋሚዎች ያደላል፤ በሃገር ውስጥ መንግስት የሚሰራቸውን የመሰረተ ልማት ግንባታዎች፣ የአገር ገጽታዎችና የአስተዳድር እመርታዎች ዋጋ ይነሳል ሲል ይከሳል።የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት 42 ገጽ ያለው የክስ መዝገብ ለአሜሪካ ኢምባሲና ለቪኦኤ አስገብቷል። ባለፉት ጥቂት ወራት የአሜሪካ ድምጽ ሬድዮ ስርጭቶች ላይ መንግስቱ ያልወደዳቸውንና ሚዛናዊ ያልሆኑ ያላቸውን ዘገባዎች አትቷል።በዚህ ላይ የቪኦኤ አስተዳደር ጉዳዩን በገለልተኛ አካላት እያስጠና መሆኑን ስቲብ ሬዲሽ ለዝግጅት ክፍላችን ገልጸዋል። የኢትዮጵያ መንግስት በደፈናው ቪኦኤ የተሟሉ ዘገባዎችን አያቀርብም ከማለት ይልቅ ዝርዝር ክስ ማቅረቡ፤ የተሻለ አሰራር መሆኑ የጠቆሙት ሬዲሽ፤ ለዚህም ቪኦኤ በገለልተኛ አካላት የተጠና ምላሽ ይሰጣል ብለዋል።

Mr Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi An Ethiopian-born billionaire has won £175,000 in libel damages over allegations he had hunted his daughter down so she could be stoned to death

Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi was born in Ethiopia, but now spends his time at homes in central London, Surrey and Saudi Arabia.The article was published on the online news website Ethiopian Review.Judge Richard Parkes QC said it was difficult to imagine more serious allegations.The site’s publisher and editor-in-chief, Elias Kifle, had denied liability.The judge said that instead of apologising Mr Kifle had repeated the libel and abused Mr al-Amoudi and his lawyers.High Court in London heard Mr Kifle’s response to the initial complaint was: “Here is my formal statement: Screw yourself”.The court heard Mr Kifle then went on to describe Mr al-Amoudi as a “scumbag bloodsucker” who was “funding al-Qaeda”.Mr al-Amoudi, 65, gave evidence during the libel trial that he was completely opposed to all forms of terrorism.The judge said the site alleged that Mr al-Amoudi had “disgracefully and callously” married off his daughter Sarah, then 13, to an elderly member of the Saudi royal family as a gift.

(BBC) News

Ethiopia ‘using aid as weapon of repression’ BBC NewsNight and Bureau of Investigative Journalism | August 5, 2011

joint undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered evidence that the Ethiopian government is using billions of dollars of development aid as a tool for political oppression.

Posing as tourists the team of journalists travelled to the southern region of Ethiopia.There they found villages where whole communities are starving, having allegedly been denied basic food, seed and fertiliser for failing to support Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.The investigation has also gathered evidence of mass detentions, the widespread use of torture and extra-judicial killings by Ethiopian government forces.Yet Western donors including Britain – which is the third largest donor to Ethiopia – stand accused of turning a blind eye by continuing to provide aid money despite being warned about the abuses.The aid in question is long-term development aid, not the emergency aid provided in response to the current drought in Ethiopia and its neighbours in the Horn of Africa.

Government response

Ambassador Abdirashid Dulane, the Deputy Head of Ethiopia’s UK Mission, has rejected the allegations saying that theNewsnight/Bureau report “lacked objectivity, even-handedness”.

“The sole source of the story was opponents of Ethiopia who have been rejected by the electorate, and time and again it has been shown that their allegations are unfounded”.Our reporters visited one village in southern Ethiopia with a population of about 1,700 adults.Despite being surrounded by other communities which are well fed and prosperous, this village, which cannot be named for fear of reprisals, is starving. We were told that in the two weeks prior to our team’s arrival five adults and 10 children had died.Lying on the floor, tooexhausted to stand, and flanked by her three-year-old son whose stomach is bloated by malnutrition, one woman described how her family had not eaten for four days.”We are living day to day on the grace of God,” she said.Another three-year-old boy lay in his grandmother’s lap, listless and barely moving as he stared into space.”We are just waiting on the crop, if we have one meal a day we will survive until the harvest, beyond that there is no hope for us,” the grandmother said.

Rebels say Libya is under its control, but Gadhafi doesn’t back down

Tripoli, Libya - Six months after a ragtag group of poorly trained rebels set out to topple the Libyan regime, the fighters appeared Monday to be on the brink of ending Moammar Gadhafi’s 42-year rule.The holdout now: A barrage of clashes with Gadhafi forces on his home turf, Tripoli.”A great majority of the capital of Tripoli is under freedom fighters’ control,” said Guma El-Gamaty, the Britain-based coordinator for the rebels’ Transitional National Council.But Gadhafi’s forces remained in control of at least three parts of the city — a hospital, a military barracks and Rixos hotel where international journalists are staying.

A Libyan government official, who asked not to be named, conceded that the regime had lost control of some parts of the capital.

Swedish journalists to remain in Ethiopia jail.

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Two Swedish journalists arrested in Ethiopia appeared in court this week, but will remain in detention until September 14 while a police probe continues, a Swedish official said Friday.”They have once again been kept in custody by the judge for another 28 days and that is to prolong the police investigation,” Swedish foreign ministry spokesman Anders Jorle told AFP by phone from Stockholm.Photographer Johan Persson and reporter Martin Schibbye appeared in court on Wednesday, but no formal charges have been levelled against them since their July 1 arrest in the town of Jijiga near the Somali border.They were arrested while embedded with rebels of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, opposed to the Ethiopian government. Fighting broke out between the rebels and Ethiopian troops, killing 15 and injuring six, including the journalists.Jorle said the journalists were detained because they refused to show their passports to a border guard when entering Ethiopia.”They entered Ethiopia in an illegal way and (the authorities) are investigating other possible violations against Ethiopian law,” Jorle said.The journalists said they were not being mistreated and have had weekly contact with Swedish embassy staff in Addis Ababa, Jorle added.Press freedom watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrests of the journalists last month and called for their release.”These journalists should not be detained for seeking to cover an under-reported story,” CPJ’s Africa consultant Tom Rhodes said in a statement.Ethiopia is one of Africa’s most restrictive countries for media, according to the watchdog.Earlier this year, two local journalists were arrested for suspected “terrorist activities” along with several opposition members.

NATO has continued to insist that its aim is to protect civilians , What began as a supposedly neutral intervention has become one-sided rebel commander, analyst says

Six months and more than 17,000 air sorties after it began,NATO’s Operation Unified Protector in the skies over Libya grinds on.What was envisaged in March as a rapid engagement to prevent Moammar Gadhafi’s forces from razing Benghazi to the ground has evolved into a long slog. And increasingly NATO operations have dovetailed with those of the rebels — with the aim of making pro-Gadhafi forces incapable of offensive action.The initial mandate set out by the United Nations Security Council resolution 1973 was to protect civilians under threat or attack, to enforce an arms embargo on the country and implement a no-fly zone.”What was initially supposed to be a neutral intervention to protect civilians that were threatened specifically in Benghazi has morphed into being largely a one-sided affair to support the Libyan rebel force to overthrow Gadhafi,” says Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations.Throughout the conflict NATO has continued to insist that all its actions are aimed at protecting civilians from pro-Gadhafi forces, and that it has not “taken sides.” On Thursday, the Royal Air Force spoke of “precision strikes on former regime facilities at Sabratah [west of Tripoli], including a commando base which had been used by Colonel Gadhafi’s men to launch numerous reprisals against the local people.”

BBC በድብቅ የሠራው ፊልም ታሪክ [የቢቢሲው ኒውስ ናይት ፕሮግራምና የምርመራ ጋዜጠኝነት ቢሮ በመተባበር ሀገሪቱ ውስጥ “በድብቅ ሠራነው” ባሉት ጥናታዊ ፊልም “የኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት በቢሊዮኖች ዶላር የሚያገኘውን የልማት እርዳታ ለፖለቲካ ጭቆና በመሣሪያነት እንደሚጠቀምበት Prof Beyene Petros” ይላሉ Prof Beyene Petros a (professor at Addis Ababa University and the member of MEDREK Party) Tooking Aend Ethiopia Radio 08-21-2011

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በአፍሪካ ኅብረት እንፈር !!!

የአፍሪካ አንድነት ድርጅት ሲቋቋም ዓላማው የአፍሪካ አገሮችን ነፃነት እውን ለማድረግ፣ አፍሪካውያን እንዲተባበሩ ለማስቻልና ከነፃነት ባሻገርም አፍሪካውያን የአፍሪካን ችግር ለመፍታት በጋራ እንዲንቀሳቀሱ ለማድረግ ነው፡፡የአፍሪካ አንድነት ድርጅትም ይባል፣ በአዲሱ ስሙ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ብለንም እንጥራው ዓላማው ይኸው ነው፡፡በተጨባጭ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ወቅታዊ እንቅስቃሴን ስናይና ስንገመግም ግን እኛ አፍሪካውያን የሚሰማን ምንድን ነው? ኩራት ወይስ ኀፍረት?በአይቮሪኮስት ‹‹ከምርጫው›› በኋላ በተከሠተው ሁኔታ ሕዝብ እያለቀ ነበር፡፡ ሥልጣን ልቀቅ አለቅም በሚል ጉዳይ በእንደዚህ ዓይነት ሁኔታ ፈረንሳይ ወታደሮቿን አስገብታ የማረጋጋት እንቅስቃሴ አደርጋለሁ ትል ነበር፡፡ የአፍሪካ ኅብረትስ ምን አለ? ምን አደረገ? ያደረገው ነገር ካለስ የሚያኮራ ወይስ የሚያስነውር?በሶማሊያ በአሁኑ ጊዜ ሕዝብ በረሃብ እያለቀ ነው፡፡ በአጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ ሠላሳ ሺሕ ሕፃናት ያለቁበትና የረገፉበት ሁኔታ ተስተውሏል፡፡ አንዲት እናት በአንድ ቀን አራት ሕፃን ልጆቿን ያጣችበትን ሁኔታ አፍሪካ አይታለች፡፡ አሁንም ያለው ስደት፣ አሁንም ያለው እልቂት ነው፡፡የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ምን እያለ ነው? ምንስ እያደረገ ነው? አፍሪካውያንና የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ዝም ብለው የቱርክ መሪዎች ግን ሞቃዲሾ ገብተው ሁኔታውን ሲያዩና ዕርዳታ ሲሰጡ እየተመለከትን ነው፡፡ አፍሪካኅብረትስ? አፍሪካውያንስ?የአፍሪካ ኅብረት በሶማሊያው ረሃብ ላይ እየወሰደ ስላለው ተጨባጭ ዕርምጃ እንኩራ ወይስ እንፈር?እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያንስ እንደ ኢትዮጵያዊነታችንና እንደአፍሪካዊነታችን ለተራበው የሶማሊያ ሕዝብ የሚገባንን እያደረግን ነውን? ረሃብና እልቂት ምን እንደሚመስል እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከማንም በላይ እናውቀዋለን፡፡ በሶማሊያው እልቂት ምን ያህል ተሰምቶናል? ምን ያህልስ ደንግጠናል? ምን ያህል ያቅማችንን ያህል እንኳ ተንቀሳቅሰናል?ያለውን የፖለቲካና የጸጥታ ችግር ረስተነው አይደለም፡፡ ግን ምንም ነገር ላለመርዳት በቂና ሙሉ ምክንያት ሊሆን አይችልም፡፡ አፍሪካውያን ምን እያደረጉ ናቸው? ስንል በቅድሚያ ጐረቤትና አንድ ሕዝብ የሆነው ኢትዮጵያዊ ምን እያገዘ ነው ብሎ መጠየቅ ተገቢ ነው፡፡ የራሳችን ችግርና ረሃብ ቢኖርብንም ሌላውን ትንሽም ብትሆን ላለመርዳት ሽፋን አይሆንልንም፡፡ሌላው በአፍሪካዊነታችን የአፍሪካ ኅብረትን የምንጠይቅበት አጀንዳ የሊቢያ ጉዳይ ነው፡፡ የሙዓመር ጋዳፊ ተቃዋሚዎች የሊቢያ ዋና ከተማ ትሪፖሊን እየተቆጣጠሩ ናቸው፡፡ ሕይወት እየጠፋ ነው፡፡ የተስፋ ብልጭታም ለሊቢያ ሕዝብ እየፈነጠቀ ነው፡፡ነገር ግን በሊቢያ ጉዳይም እየተንቀሳቀሱም እየተናገሩም ያሉት አሜሪካና አውሮፓ በተለይም የኔቶ አገሮች ናቸው፡፡ እነሱ ለምን ተንቀሳቀሱ፣ ለምን ተናገሩ አንልም፡፡ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች ግን በአፍሪካዊት አገር ጉዳይ ምን እየተናገሩና ምን እንቅስቃሴ እያደረጉ ነው? የሚያሳፍር ወይስ የሚያኮራ?የአፍሪካ ኅብረት በሊቢያ ጉዳይ ሊያፍር ይገባዋል፡፡ ሊያፍር የሚገባው ግን በሰሞኑ ይህን አለመናገሩ ወይም ያንን አለመተግበሩ ብቻ አይደለም፡፡ እንደ ሙዓመር ጋዳፊ ዓይነት መሪዎች በአፍሪካ መኖራቸውና የአፍሪካ ኅብረት አባልና አባል መሆናቸውም ሊያሳፍረን ይገባል፡፡ሊቢያ የዘይት ሀብት ቢኖራትም በቤተሰብ የምትተዳደር አገር፣ ተቋማት የሌላት አገር፣ ኋላ ቀር አገር ናት፡፡ አሁንም የዴሞክራሲና የሰብዓዊ መብት አጀንዳ የራቃትና መሪዋ ሕዝብን አይጥና ተምች እያለ የሚሰድብበት አገር ናት፡፡ሆኖም ግን የዘይት መዓት ገንዘብ ስለነበረ ጋዳፊ የአፍሪካ መሪዎችን በጉቦ የሚገዛበት ሁኔታ ነበር፡፡ ‹‹ንጉሥ ነገሥት ነኝ›› ሲሉ ‹‹አዎን ንጉሠ ነገሥት ናቸው›› የሚሉ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች አሉ፡፡ አፍሪካን ልምራ ሲሉ አዎን ጋዳፊ ይምሩን የሚሉ ነበሩ፡፡ የአፍሪካ ጽሕፈት ቤት ትሪፖሊ ይሁን ሲሉ አዎን ትሪፖሊ ይሁን የሚሉ ነበሩ፡፡ ባጭሩ ከጋዳፊ ምጽዋት የሚቀበሉ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች ነበሩ፡፡ ጥገኞች!እንደነሙዓመር ጋዳፊ ዓይነቱ መሪዎች ያቀፈና በነጋዳፊ ጉቦ የሚንቀሳቀሱ መሪዎች የያዘ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት የሚፈጥርብን ስሜት ኩራት ወይስ ኀፍረት?የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ራሱን መፈተሽና መገምገም አለበት፡፡ ለዴሞክራሲ፣ ለፍትሕ፣ ለሰብዓዊ መብት፣ ለፕሬስ ነፃነት፣ ለትክክለኛ ምርጫ፣ ለሰላምና መረጋጋት፣ ለብዙኀን ድምፅ የቆመ ኅብረት መሆን አለበት፡፡በአፍሪካ አገር ጉዳይ አሜሪካ፣ አውሮፓ፣ እስያና ላቲን አሜሪካ አያገባችሁም አንልም፡፡ ኦባማ፣ ካሜሩንና ሳርኮዚ ለምን ተናገራችሁ አንልም፡፡ የዓለም አካል ስለሆነች ስለአፍሪካዊት አገር መናገር ይገባቸዋልና፡፡ አጽንዖት ሰጥተን የምንናገረው፣ በአፍሪካ አገሮች ጉዳይ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ግልጽና ቀልጣፋ፣ ጠንካራና መፍትሔ የሚያሳይ እንቅስቃሴ ማድረግ አለበት፤ አቋምም መውሰድ አለበት የሚለውን ነው፡፡ አፍሪካ ስትቸገር፣ ጠንካራና ግልጽ፣ ወቅታዊም አቋምና ተግባር በማይወስድ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት አፍሪካውያን የሚሰማን ስሜት ምንድን ነው?እፍረት !!!

Amnesty International says a group of its delegates was expelled from Ethiopia this week after meeting with two opposition leaders who have since been arrested.

Amnesty International says a group of its delegates was expelled from Ethiopia this week after meeting with two opposition leaders who have since been arrested.The human rights group said Wednesday that a delegation of foreign members was told by Ethiopian officials August 27 to leave the country, after it held separate meetings with the opposition leaders.The government arrested the two leaders, Bekele Gerba and Olbana Lelisa, the same day. Both men have been charged with involvement in a banned rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Front.VOA correspondent Peter Heinlein reports from Addis Ababa that others have been arrested for alleged connections with the group. He reports a government spokesman says at least eight were arrested, while opposition leaders put the number at two dozen.Amnesty says it is worried Gerba and Lelisa were arrested because they spoke with the delegates. It notes that Ethiopian officials have denied the allegation.The group says the arrests are an example of the constant harassment that opposition politicians face in Ethiopia.Human rights groups have complained frequently about abuses and oppression by the Ethiopian government. The party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has ruled the country since 1991.Amnesty International says its foreign delegates were under constant surveillance during the 12 days they spent in the country before being expelled.

Report: Schools discriminate against Ethiopians

Israel has over 100 preschools and schools with a majority of Ethiopian students, a new report by the Knesset Research Center revealed.The report will be submitted to the Knesset’s Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs on Tuesday, as it debated the integration of Ethiopian children in schools.

Receive Ynetnews updates directly to your desktop Ethiopian children make up 1% of the education system’s student body. The report suggests that the concentration of Ethiopian immigrants in certain communities has resulted in some schools becoming “ghettos” for the community’s children. The data indicated that Israel has 10 kindergartens and one elementary school whose student body is exclusively Ethiopian; and these students make up over 50% of the student body in 75 preschools, 17 elementary schools, four junior high schools and seven high schools.The percentage of Ethiopian student to successfully graduate high school has risen from 32.7% to 42.1% between 2007 and 2010, but it is still significantly lower than the percentage noted in the general Jewish student body – 64.6%.

The report found that only 21% of Ethiopians qualify for higher education.Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that his ministry was “working to ensure the optimal integration of Ethiopian students in Israeli schools and strives to place them is schools which can offer the proper academic and social integration.”Since the ministry cannot prevent parents from enrolling their children in a specific school because of the ratio of Ethiopian students, he added, “We are working on making school more attractive, so they would appeal to a diversified population.”A position paper submitted to the committee by the Israeli Association for Ethiopian Jews said that “The separation of Ethiopian students and ‘holding’ then in schools ‘of their own’ are indicative of a clear policy of segregation, which perpetuates racist perceptions labeling them as weaker than other students.

Sudan: UN Agencies Dispatching Aid As More Sudanese Refugees Flee To Ethiopia

United Nations agencies are mobilizing to assist at some 20,000 people who have fled the fighting in Sudan’s Blue Nile state and arrived in neighbouring Ethiopia.An assessment team from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) found that the refugees arriving in the Assosa region of western Ethiopia appear in good physical condition but need food, water and shelter.So far, some 2,500 refugees who were willing to be relocated have been moved into an existing refugee camp at Sherkole that was first opened in 1997 in response to the North-South Sudanese civil war.”However, most are reluctant to go and prefer to stay near the border, hoping that fighting will die down soon and allow them to return home,” UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva.

Displaced family in cave on the top of al-Labu Umudwal mountain,

WikiLeaks: Viewing cable 06ADDISABABA2708, ETHIOPIA: RECENT BOMBINGS BLAMED ON OROMOS

Classified By: CHARGE VICKI HUDDLESTON FOR REASONS 1.4(b)AND(d). 

¶1. (S) SUMMARY  A series of explosions were reported in Addis
Ababa on September 16, killing three individuals.  The GoE
announced that the bombs went off while being assembled, and
that the three dead were terrorists from the outlawed Oromo
Liberation Front (OLF) with links to the Oromo National
Congress (ONC).  An embassy source, as well as clandestine
reporting, suggests that the bombing may have in fact been
the work of GoE security forces.  END SUMMARY

Obama Puts Passion Into Jobs Speech Rarely Seen In His Presidency

WASHINGTON — Most presidents kick off their re-election campaigns with a speech on the campaign trail somewhere, or from the Oval Office. President Obama did it in a novel, telling and shrewdly chosen place: in the middle of an address to Congress.If people were wondering what template Barack Obama would choose for his re-election effort — some had suggested FDR in 1936 or Ronald Reagan in 1984 — we now have an answer:Harry Truman in 1948, the “Give ‘Em Hell Harry” who challenged Congress to tackle with the post-war nation’s problems and castigated the Republican Congress for its obstinate failure to do so.Addresses to joint sessions of Congress are supposed to be august, stately and somber affairs, but the president turned it into a raucous and lively mixture of a campaign stump speech and a college-style debate on the floor of the British House of Commons.His tactical strategy is clear. The only political institution less popular than he is at this time is the Congress. An astounding, almost pre-revolutionary 82 percent of the American people think that the Congress is doing a bad job of dealing with the nation’s problems.

Aend- Ethiopia (አርብ ጷግሜን 4 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም. September 9, 2011)፦ ታዋቂው የጥበብ ባለሙያና የቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ዲሞክራሲ አመራር አባል እንደነበር የሚታወቀው አርቲስት ደበበ እሸቱ በኢትዮጵያ መንግስት “ሽብርተኛ” ተብሎ ከተፈረጀው ግንቦት 7 ንቅናቄ ጋር ግንኙነት አድርጓል በሚል ማእከላዊ እስር ቤት መግባቱ ተገለጸ።

አርቲስት ደበበ በሀገር ክህደት ከተወነጀሉትና በ1997 ዓ.ም ምርጫ ዋና ተቃዋሚ የነበረው ቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ የህዝብ ግንኙነት ኃላፊ በመሆን ይሰራ እንደነበርና በ’ምህረት’ ተለቀቁ ከተባሉት የአመራር አባላት አንዱ መሆኑ ይታወቃል።አርቲስት ደበበ በወይዘሪት ብርቱካን ይመራ የነበረው አንድነት ፓርቲ ምስረታ ላይ ከፍተኛ ሚና ይጫወት እንደነበር የሚታወቅ ሲሆን የፓርቲው መሪ ወ/ት ብርቱካን በታሰረች ወቅት በፓርቲው አመራር አባላት መካከል በተፈጠረው አለመግባባት ዝም አንልም በማለት ይንቀሳቀስ ከነበረው አካል ጋር ይሰራ እንደነበር ይታወቃል።በአቶ ደበበ እሸቱ ላይ በ48 ሰአት ውስጥ ክስ እንመሰርታለን ያሉት የኮሙኒኬሽን ጉዳይ ባለስልጣኑ አቶ ሽመልስ ከማል አርቲስት ደበበን የ’ሽብርተኛ ድርጅት’ ካሉት ግንቦት 7 ንቅናቄ ጋር ግንኙነት እንደነበረው ደርሰናበታል ከማለት ውጭ ማብራሪያ አለመስጠታቸው ተመልክታል።

በሀገር ውስጥ የሚንቀሳቀሱ የፖለቲካ ድርጅት አመራር አካላት በተለይ በአሁኑ ጊዜ አዲሱን የሽብርተኝነት ህግ ከለላ በማድረግ በተቃዋሚዎች ላይ እየተፈጸመ ያለው ወከባ፣ እንግልትና እስር በእጅጉ እያሳሰባቸው መሆኑንና ተቃዋሚዎች በመሸማቀቅ ላይ መሆናቸውን በተለያዩ የመገናኛ ብዙሀን ድምጻቸውን በማሰማት ላይ ይገኛሉ።በተያያዘ ዜና በሳምንቱ መጀመሪያ ላይ በዚሁ የሽብርተኝነት ክስ የተመሰረተባቸው የአውራምባ ታይምስ ምክትል አዘጋጅ ውብሸት ታየ እና የፍትህ ጋዜጣ አምደኛ ርዮት አለሙን ጨምሮ ሁለት ስዊድናዊ ጋዜጠኞች ፍርድ ቤት መቅረባቸው ታውቋል።

As New York reflects on probably the most painful episode in the city’s history, how are people there marking the 10th anniversary of 9/11?

Tourists carrying US flags, barricades closing off streets and police stationed on every corner. For Lower Manhattan, this was a Sunday morning charged with emotion and tension.

People who could not get close to the World Trade Center because of the security arrangements still wanted to be as near as they could be. “I needed to be here,” was a common sentiment.

About a dozen uniformed military police were gathered on Broadway before making their way to the ceremony for the families of those who died.

PM Meles Zenawi said nation’s role in raising nearly 7 bln birr for Renaissance Dam

Addis Ababa, September 13 (WIC) – The people of Ethiopia, the ultimate owner of the nation’s development activities, deserve outstanding honor and recognition, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said.He called on the public to move to further developmental victories by strengthening the sustainability of the public mobilization and unity witnessed for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.The government of Ethiopia prepared a recognition evening on the eve of the Ethiopian New Year, September 11/2011, to thank those who contributed to the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Asnakech Worku dies.

Asnaketch was an avid and accomplished player on kirar, the five-stringed instrument widely used in traditional Ethiopian music.

As a tribute to the emperor, earings with the portrait of emperor Haile-Selassie used to dangle on the ears of Asnaketch even later in old age.Her songs have been played for decades, over the radio and TV, and she was the darling of all as her songs kept on soothing and healing broken hearts of romance.Her beauty was also the focus of attention, with some going to as far as comparing her with stars in the West, notably America.She was so beautiful like the gorgeous women we used to see in Hollywood movies, and no wonder that some of her fans used to call her “Elizabeth Taylor,” an old friend of hers once said.Asnaketch was so pretty I personally know when men of power, wealth and influence used to vie for her hand, the late Tilhaun Gessesse was often heard as saying.Known for her tizita (blues) songs, Asnakech used to consider the National Theater as her home.

The funeral will be held in Addis today

Journalist Eskinder Nega and Opposition leader Andualem Aragie arrested

ADDIS ABABA – Security men on Wednesday arrested prominent Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega and opposition party leader Andualem Aragie.They were both taken to Makelawi Prison in handcuffs at different times in the afternoon, witnessed said.

Eskinder and Andualem were earlier around 8:30 am seen conversing over coffee with two other UDJ members at a cafeteria near the opposition party’s headquarters, a UDJ press release reported.Acclaimed as a widely read journalist whose weekly columns appear on Ethiomedia.com on Fridays, Eskinder has been writing articles critical of the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. the arreste denounced by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, among others.

The US Embassy dispatch released through Wikileaks is erroneous, GCAO

Addis Ababa, September 16, 2011 (WIC) – Government Communication Affairs Office said that the dispatch from the US Embassy in Addis Ababa that has released through Wikileaks is erroneous.In a press release it sent to WIC, it said that lately extensive internal correspondence between the US resident Ambassadors across the globe and Washington DC has been released through Wikileaks.In this connection, as cited in wikileaks, in his July 9 discussion, Prime Minster Meles has emphasized that “the Western paradigm of democracy and development can not be imported abroad and applied to the other countries”. In the said wikileaks the Prime Minster has pointed out that “the ‘old paradigm’ of the US is wrong and closes of the emergence of organic democracy in Africa”. Ethiopia, therefore, clarifies its position that it never and nowhere supports any external pressure for regime change.

A government with such a principled stand can by no means be expected to back a US regime change policy. The truth of the matter is that the task of changing the government of a sovereign country cannot be the responsibility of others and Ethiopia is strongly opposed to such a policy of regime change. Hence, despite the haste displayed by the former US Ambassador to submit such a report to his superiors, Ethiopia has never proposed to any foreign country to act as a substitute to that of the Sudanese or any other neighboring peoples to bring about regime change.

Police have adequate evidence against these terror suspects with close links to the terrorist group Ginbot 7, federal police Assistant Commissioner

Addis Ababa -The Federal police said that it has adequate evidence against the terrorist suspects arrested this week maintaining that the arrests are not politically motivated.The Federal Police and the National Intelligence and Security Service Anti-terror Joint Taskforce arrested five individuals early this week. The arrests included deputy chairman of Medrek party, Andualem Arage, and three other opposition party members.“Police have adequate evidence against these terror suspects with close links to the terrorist group Ginbot 7,” federal police Assistant Commissioner and Central Information and Criminal Intelligence Directorate Director Demelash Gebremichael, said during a press conference he held with Shimeles Kemal, state minister at Government Communication Affairs Office (GCAO)

Ethiopia and Egypt agree on new chapter in relations

  

Source: Al Ahram

Egypt’s Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and his Ethiopian counterpart Meles Zenawi agrees to start from scratch in regards to the Nile basin file after an era of strained relations

Egypt and Ethiopia have agreed to open a new chapter in relations that were strained under the regime of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak over disputes on Nile water sharing.

Ethiopian Prime Minsiter Meles Zenawi was in Cairo on his first visit since a popular uprising ousted Mubarak in February. Zenawi thanked Prime Minister Essam Sharaf “for helping in opening a new chapter of relations between Egypt and Ethiopia.” “We all agree that the Nile is a bridge, it is not a barrier,” he told a news conference

Ethiopian Man Stabbed His Wife’s eyes out

በኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ ዋና የበረራ አስተናጋጅ (ሆስቴስ) የሆነችውን የወ/ሮ አበራሽ ኃይላይን ዓይኖቿን በስለት ወግቶ በማጥፋት የተጠረጠረውና ባለቤቷ የነበረ ግለሰብ፣ መስከረም ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም. ሌሊት እጁን ለፖሊስ መስጠቱን ቤተሰቦቿ አስታወቁ፡፡ቤተሰቦቿ እንዳስታወቁት፣ ወ/ሮ አበራሽ ተከራይታ በምትኖርበት በቦሌ ክፍለ ከተማ ገርጂ ኮንዶሚኒየም ቤት ውስጥ፣ ፍስሐ ታደሰ የተባለው ተጠርጣሪ፣ ሁለቱንም ዓይኖቿን በስለት ወግቶ ካጠፋ በኋላ እጁን ለፖሊስ በመስጠቱ ፖሊስ ደርሶ ወደ ሆስፒታል ወስዷታል፡

Ethiopian Taxi driver Daniel Admassu Killed in South Carolina, Shooter killed self

47-year-old Daniel Admassu was gunned down Friday near the Waffle House on Two Notch Road. Investigators said Nicholas Rivers pulled the trigger before turning the gun on himself. “He’s not here,” chokes Admassu’s brother-in-law, Yohannes Negash.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Negash is dealing with the reality that Admassu is gone forever. “People get born,” he said. “People die. It’s a natural process, but most of it – 99% of it – makes sense. Things like this is hard to comprehend.”

He said it’s hard to understand how Admassu’s life was taken so violently inside his cab. Admassu died from multiple gunshot wounds Friday. It was two weeks shy of his 48th birthday.

Family members say Admassu worked at the cab company for five years. He was the bread winner for his wife and two sons. He had just moved his family from Ethiopia to Columbia last year. “His wife being new here, not working right now,” said Negash. “His two sons in a totally different culture, different environment. I don’t know how she will have any understanding of what to do tomorrow.”

“He will be missed,” said Negash.

march against US/European invasion of Libya.

In Ghana today members of several Pan African organisations, including the All -African Peoples Revolutionary Party (founded on the ideologies of Nkrumah and Toure) participated in a march against US/European invasion of Libya. The march coincides with the festivities to marking Nkrumah’s birthday. What was a peaceful demonstration against the Neo colonialist/imperialist assault of yet another African nation has led to the arrest of several protesters who are now negotiating their freedom. It is heinous to think that Nkrumah’s vision for the freedom of ALL AFRICANS is being violated in the very country whose independence he championed at the earlier imperialist assault on the continent.

President Isaias Afwerki Calls for End of Ethiopia’s ‘Occupation’

Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki made a rare appearance at the United Nations to address the 66th Session of the General Assembly. In a much subdued speech at the UN headquarter in New York, Afwerki called for the Security Council to “take urgent action to end the Ethiopia’s occupation of sovereign Eritrean territory”

Mid-east crisis: Abbas vs Netanyahu at UN

Standing ovation The Quartet unveiled its proposals shortly after Mr Abbas formally submitted the request for a Palestinian state to   become a full member of the UN.Addressing the General Assembly in New York, he urged the Security Council to back a state with pre-1967 borders.”I call upon the distinguished members of the Security Council to vote in favour of our full membership,” Mr Abbas told the General Assembly, in what was for him an unusually impassioned speech.”I also appeal to the states that have not yet recognised the State of Palestine to do so,” Mr Abbas said.”The

time has come for my courageous and proud people, after decades of displacement and colonial occupation and ceaseless suffering, to live like other peoples of the earth, free in a sovereign and independent homeland,” he said.He added that he hoped for swift backing. Many delegates gave him a standing ovation, and some were clapping and even whistling in support.

Conference: Collaborative Investing by the Ethiopian Diaspora in the U.S.

Ethiopia celebrates 4th National Flag Day

Melkam Meskel Meskel : – Finding of the true cross

Meskel is celebrated by dancing, feasting and lighting a massive bonfire known in Ethiopian tradition as “Damera”. Meskel commemorates the finding of the True Cross in the fourth century when Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, discovered the True Cross on which Christ was crucified. The feast is celebrated in Ethiopia on September 17 Ethiopian calendar (September 27 Gregorian calendar), 6 months after the discovery of the True Cross. The celebration of Meskel signifies the presence of the True Cross at mountain of Gishen Mariam monastery and also symbolises the events carried out by Empress Helena.

16 የደርግ ባለሥልጣናት ተፈቱ:በዘር ማጥፋት ወንጀል ተከሰው በሞትና በዕድሜ ልክ እስር እንዲቀጡ ከተወሰነባቸው የደርግ ከፍተኛ ባለሥልጣናት መካከል 16 የደርግ ባለሥልጣናት ተፈቱ

the first African airline to order Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, the first to fly the 777-200LR and now the first to purchase the 777 Freighter.”from being

Wash., Oct. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ – Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Ethiopian Airlines today announced an order for four Boeing 777 Freighters, making Ethiopian Airlines the first African carrier to order the twin-engine freighter. The order is valued at approximately $1.1 billion at list prices and was previously attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing’s website.”As the largest African cargo carrier operating in some of the fastest growing trade lanes of the world – between Africa and Europe, Middle East and Asia – the new 777 Freighter fleet will significantly enhance our tonnage and range capabilities,” said Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. “The proven operational and economical efficiency of these airplanes will reposition Ethiopian Cargo in a stronger place to continue winning in this hypercompetitive market.

People camped out in New York’s Financial District in an entrenched protest loosely focused on corporate greed and big business’s involvement in government will see their numbers bolstered this afternoon.

The few hundred people camped out at Zuccotti Park in New York’s Financial District in an entrenched protest loosely focused on corporate greed and big business’s involvement in government will see their numbers bolstered by thousands this afternoon.A half-dozen labor unions, including the local Transport Workers Union are joining Occupy Wall Street for a march through Lower Manhattan today. The demonstrators plan to leave their encampment and join the union members at Foley Square about a mile north of their location. Then, together, they’ll march back down to Zuccotti Park.

Steve Jobs, Apple founder, dies

AEND ETHIOPIA — Steve Jobs, the visionary in the black turtleneck who co-founded Apple in a Silicon Valley garage, built it into the world’s leading tech company and led a mobile-computing revolution with wildly popular devices such as the iPhone, died Wednesday. He was 56.The hard-driving executive pioneered the concept of the personal computer and of navigating them by clicking onscreen images with a mouse. In more recent years, he introduced the iPod portable music player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet — all of which changed how we consume content in the digital age

አዲሱ የሊዝ አዋጅ ነባር ይዞታ በሚሸጥበት ወቅት ወደ ሊዝ ሥርዓት ይለወጣል

የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት ባለፈው ሳምንት ድንገት ሳይጠበቅ ያፀደቀው የከተማ ቦታን በሊዝ ስለመያዝ የሚደነግገው አዋጅ ጥያቄ እያስነሳ ነው፡፡
በተለይ አዋጁ ነባር ይዞታ በሚሸጥበት ወቅት ወደ ሊዝ ሥርዓት ይለወጣል ማለቱ አግባብ አለመሆኑን የተለያዩ የኅብረተሰብ ክፍሎች እየገለጹ ነው፡፡ ይህ አዋጅ ለፓርላማው የሚመለከተው ቋሚ ኮሚቴ ያልተመራ ከመሆኑም በላይ፣ ሰፊ ጉዳዮችን እንደማንሳቱ በቂ ውይይት እንዳልተደረገበት እየተተቸ ነው፡፡ በሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት ብቸኛው የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲ አባል የሆኑት አቶ ግርማ ሰይፉ አዋጁ እንዲፀድቅ የተደረገበትን አካሄድ ተችተዋል፡፡‹‹ደርግ የወረሰው የግለሰቦችን ትርፍ ይዞታ ነው፡፡ ኢሕአዴግ ከዚህ የባሰ የዜጎችን ይዞታ የመውረስ አሠራር ነው ተግባራዊ እያደረገ የሚገኘው፤›› ሲሉ በአዋጁ ፅንሰ ሐሳብ እንደማይስማሙ ገልጸዋል፡፡ከዚህ በተጨማሪም በይዞታ ሽያጭ ወቅት መንግሥት ተጨማሪ የሊዝ ክፍያ የሚያገኝበት አግባብ በመኖሩ፣ ግብይቱ የዋጋ ንረት እንደሚፈጥር ያነጋገርናቸው ባለይዞታዎች ስጋታቸውን እየገለጹ ነው፡፡ደንብ ሲወጣ አዲስ የይዞታ ልኬት የሚካሄድ ሲሆን፣ በልኬቱ ከ500 ካሬ ሜትር በላይ ይዞታ የያዘ ይቀነስበታል፡፡ እንደ አካባቢው ሁኔታ በፕላኑ መሠረት ያነሰ ይዞታ ያለው እንዲጨመርለት ከተፈለገ በክፍያ ይጨምርለታል፡፡ ‹‹የሚቀነስ ይዞታ በሕጉ መሠረት ተመጣጣኝ ካሳ ይከፈልበታል፡፡ ያነሰው ደግሞ በሊዝ ክፍያ ይጨመርለታል፤›› ሲሉ የሚኒስቴሩ አንድ ከፍተኛ ባለሥልጣን ገልጸዋል፡

Gaddafi death: The bloody birth of a new Libya. But black Africans have also been rounded up as alleged mercenaries, on little or no evidence.

BBC:The death of Muammar Gaddafi has removed a big problem for this country’s transition rulers. It has also imbued the new Libya with original sin it may regret.The leaders of the National Transitional Council (NTC) during the months of the fight against the colonel often spoke about building a country based on rights, not revenge.But the iconic image of their moment of national liberation is of Col Gaddafi, a man who spilled oceans of other peoples’ blood, not accounting for his crimes in a court, but being set upon by fighters who killed him.One man here in Tripoli told me he thought Col Gaddafi should have been spared to make him face justice.   But if the new Libya is going to be a country of rights, then it has some questions to answer.The most pressing are about what appears to have been the summary executions of Col Gaddafi and his son Mutassim.But black Africans have also been rounded up as alleged mercenaries, on little or no evidence, without being given access to a lawyer.I saw several dozen of them today being driven through Tripoli, hands bound, blindfolded with cloths of Gaddafi green, in the back of trucks with welded-on anti-aircraft cannon and heavy machine guns

‹‹ማሰር ከፈለግን ከመጠን በላይ ማስረጃ አለን›› ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር መለስ ዜናዊ (P/Meles answered various questions raised by the MPs.)

በቅርቡ ከሽብርተኝነት ጋር በተያያዘ የታሰሩ ሰዎችን በተመለከተ

ነገሩ በፍርድ ቤት እየታየ ነው፡፡ በፍርድ ቤት እየታየ ያለን ጉዳይ የሚዘግቡ ጋዜጦች ክሱ ምን እንደሆነ ሳያዩ፣ ማስረጃዎችን ሳይመለከቱ ተጠርጣሪዎቹ ነፃ ናቸው የሚሉት የፍርድ ሒደቱ በፍጥነት ባለመከናወኑ ሳይሆን፣ የጋዜጠኝነት ሀሁ የማይገባቸው ወይም እንዲገባቸው የማይፈልጉ ጋጠ ወጦች በመሆናቸው ነው፡፡ የጋዜጠኛ የመጀመሪያ ሥነ ምግባር የሁለቱን አስተያየት መስማት ነው፡፡ ነገሮችን በጥሞና ማጥናት ነው፡፡ ማስረጃዎችን መፈተሽ ነው፡፡ ይህን ሳያደርጉ ዘሎ አለመጻፍ አለመናገር ነው፡፡ የጋዜጠኝነት ሥነ ምግባር የሚጠይቀው ይኼን ነው፡፡ ይኼን ሥነ ምግባር አልፈው የሚንጣጡ ጋዜጠኞች ካሉ ችግሩ የራሳቸው እንጂ ለፍርድ ቤት በማቅረብ ላይ መዘግየት ስለታየ አይደለም፡፡ በአሁኑ ሰዓት በአገራችን የሚካሄደው የሽብር እንቅስቃሴ ሦስት ዋና ዋና ተዋናዮች አሉት፡፡ አንደኛውና ዋናው የኤርትራ መንግሥት ነው፡፡ የእዚህን ቡድን አቋም ሕዝቡ ያውቀዋል፡፡ ሻዕቢያ የአቋም ለውጥ አላሳየም፡፡ አካባቢውን የማተራመስ ስትራቴጂ ይዞ ነው እየሠራ ያለው፡፡ ሁለተኞቹ ሻዕቢያ በቀጥታ የሚያሰማራቸው ነጭ ለባሾች ናቸው፡፡ እነዚህ አልሻባብን ይመለከታሉ፡፡ ኦነግን፣ ኦብነግንና ግንቦት 7 ብሎ የሰየመውን ቡድን ይመለከታሉ፡፡ እነዚህ ቡድኖች በዚህ ፓርላማ አሸባሪ ተብለው ተፈርጀዋል፡፡ ዋና ቢሮአቸውም አስመራ ነው፡፡ የሚንቀሳቀሱትም አስመራ በተቀየሰው ስትራቴጂ መሠረት ነው፡፡ እነዚህ በጣም የታወቁ ተዋንያን ናቸው፡፡ ቀሪዎቹ ደግሞ በሰላማዊ መንገድ እንሠራለን ብለው ያወጁ ናቸው፡፡ አንዳንድ የመድረክ መሪዎች ከእነዚህ የሻዕቢያ ነጭ ለባሾች ጋር በመተባበር በሕጋዊ ፓርቲ ሽፋን የነኦብነግ፣ የነኦነግና የግንቦት 7 አስፈጻሚ ሆነው እየሠሩ ነው፡፡ አሁን የታሰሩ ሰዎች አሉ፡፡ እነዚህ የታሠሩት ሰዎች የአሸባሪ ድርጅት አባላት መሆናቸውን የሚያሳይ አሳማኝ ማስረጃ አለን፡፡ ማን የማን ድርጅት አባል መሆኑን እያወቅን ያላሰርናቸው ሰዎች አሉ፡፡ እነዚህን ግለሰቦች ያላሰርንበት ምክንያቱ ሁለት ነው፡፡ የመጀመሪያው ሰዶ ማሳደድ አያስፈልግም በሚል ነው፡፡ በፍርድ ቤት ተቀባይነት ያለው ማስረጃ ስላላገኘንባቸው ዝም ያልናቸው አሉ፡፡ እስካሁን ለታሰሩት ግን የአሸባሪ አባል ስለመሆናቸው አሳማኝ ማስረጃ አለን፡፡

Chinese, Ethiopian Companies Sign Agreement for Railway Project

The Ethiopian Railway Corporation and the China Railway Group Limited (CREC) on Tuesday signed an accord that enables the latter to construct railways that runs from Sebeta town, some 25 km away from Addis Ababa upto Meiso town in the east of Addis Ababa.The total distance of the railway project covers some 320 kms, according to the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC).The signing ceremony took place at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and witnessed by Hailemariam Desalegn, Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Getachew Mengiste, Ethiopian State Minister of Transport, Fekadu Haile, General Manager of the Addis Ababa Roads Authority, Gu Xiaojie, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, and Qian Zhaogang, Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, among others.Getachew Betru, General Manger of the Ethiopian Railway Corporation, and Zhou Mengbo, CRC Vice-President, signed the agreement on their respective organizations.Hailemariam, who is also Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia, appreciated the expert team of CREC which has been carrying out dedicated work on the study of the project

በመሬት ጉዳይ የተከሰሱ ከ50 በላይ የኦሮሚያ ባለሥልጣናት ጥፋተኛ ተባሉ

የመሬት አሰጣጥ ሥርዓት፣ ሕግ፣ ደንብና መመርያ በመተላለፍ በክልሉ ላይ ከፍተኛ ጉዳት አድርሰዋል በሚል ክስ ተመሥርቶባቸው የነበሩት ከ50 በላይ የሚሆኑ በኦሮሚያ ክልል የሚገኙ ባለሥልጣናት በትናንትናው ዕለት ጥፋተኛ ተባሉ፡፡ የሰበታ ከተማ ከንቲባንና መሬትን ሸንሽነው የሚያስረክቡ መሀንዲሶች፣ ደላሎችና በተለያዩ ኃላፊነቶች ላይ የሚገኙ ተከሳሾችን ጉዳይ ሲመረምር የቆየው የኦሮሚያ ልዩ ዞን ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት፣ በትናንትናው ዕለት ጥፋተኛ ያላቸውን ተከሳሾች በ20 የክስ መዝገቦች ክስ አቅርቦባቸዋል፡፡

Supreme Court takes up challenge to health care reform law

Washington (CNN) — As expected, the Supreme Court has agreed to decide the constitutionality of the sweeping health care reform law championed by President Barack Obama.The justices made their announcement in a brief order issued Monday.Oral arguments are likely to be held in late February or March, with a ruling by June, assuring the blockbuster issue will become a hot-button political debate in a presidential election year.The high court agreed to hear two major questions: whether the law’s key provision is unconstitutional, and if so, whether the entire law, with its 450 sections, must be scrapped.

በሽብር ወንጀል የተከሰሱት 24 ተጠርጣሪዎች ክስ ሳይሰማ ቀረ

ከኤርትራ መንግሥት፣ ከኦጋዴን ብሔራዊ ነፃነት ግንባር (ኦብነግ) እና ከኦሮሞ ነፃነት ግንባር (ኦነግ) ጋር ጥምረት በመፍጠር፣ የግንቦት 7 ድርጅት አመራርና አባል በመሆን፣ ሕገ መንግሥቱንና ሕገ መንግሥታዊ ሥርዓቱን በኃይል ለማፈራረስ ሲንቀሳቀሱ ተገኝተዋል በሚል 17 ገጽ ክስ የቀረበባቸውና በሽብር ወንጀል የተጠረጠሩ 24 ተከሳሾች ክስ በትናንትናው ዕለት ሳይሰማ ቀረ፡፡ ክሱ ያልተሰማው ሀብትና ንብረት እንደሌላቸው ቃለ መሀላ በመፈጸም መንግሥት ተከላካይ ጠበቃ እንዲያቆምላቸው የጠየቁት ተከሳሾች፣ ዮሐንስ ተረፈ፣ የሽዋስ ይሁንዓለም፣ ምትኩ ዳምጤና አንዱዓለም አያሌው፣ ተከላካይ ጠበቃቸው መጥቶ እንዳላነጋገራቸው በመግለጻቸውና ተከሳሽ ክንፈ ሚካኤል ደበበ ጠበቃ ለማቆም ጊዜ ይሰጠኝ በማለቱ ነው፡፡በማረሚያ ቤት ሆነው ክሳቸውን በመከታተል ላይ ካሉት ስምንት ተከሳሾች መካከል፣ ክንፈ ሚካኤል ደበበን ‹‹አቅምህ ካልቻለ መንግሥት ጠበቃ እንዲያቆምልህ ስትጠየቅ አልፈልግም ብለሀል፡፡ በራስህ አላቆምክም፤ ለምን?›› የሚል ጥያቄ ፍርድ ቤቱ ሲያቀርብለት፣ ‹‹ለሁለት ወራት ታስሬ ስቆይ አንድም ቀን ቤተሰቦቼን አግኝቼአቸው አላውቅም፡፡ ቤተሰቦቼን ያገኘኋቸው ማረሚያ ቤት ከተዛወርኩ በኋላ ባለፈው ቅዳሜ [ኅዳር 2 ቀን 2004 ዓ.ም.] ነው፡፡ ጊዜው አጭር በመሆኑ ተመካክሬ ጠበቃ ለማቆም አልቻልኩም፡፡ የሰባት ቀን ጊዜ ቢሰጠኝ በግሌ ማቆም እችላለሁ፡፡ መንግሥት ራሱ ከሶኝ፣ ራሱ ጠበቃ አቁሞ ይከራከርልኛል የሚል እምነት የለኝም፡፡ አልፈልግምም፤›› ብሏል፡፡

Why ban Ethiopians?

Bahrain’s government has shown its commitment, intent and motive to help small and medium enterprises and steps are being taken to this end.However, a lot remains to be done. Manpower agencies, which were absorbing several jobs, are one of the most forgotten businesses.During their heyday, most were located in the Kuwaiti building, Gudaibiya, providing companies and residences with staff at various levels. Now, due to a restriction on bringing in workers from some countries, they are closing, and with that losing jobs, leaving many unemployed.More than 80pc business was obtained from Ethiopian workers, which has stopped for more than two years. Many people have asked the reason for banning this group of workers, while they are employed comfortably in other GCC countries, but nobody has come forward to explain the reason.Businesses are closing, people are losing jobs, customers can’t afford to pay hefty fees to bring in other nationalities, so what is going on? Will MPs come up with a solution to ease the burden of businesses and help middle-class Bahrainis hire Ethiopian workers at reasonable fees? We are waiting. Duri Mohammed

Court orders the amendment of terror charge in Andualem Arage et al case

Addis Ababa, November 25 (WIC) – The third criminal bench of the Federal High Court ordered the amendment of two of the six terror charges instituted by federal prosecutors against Andualem Arage and 23 other defendants.The order came after defense lawyers of the eight defendants in custody raised a total of eight objections during a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.Accepting two of the objections, the court ordered the first and fourth charges relating to terrorism and high treason, respectively to be amended. Regarding the first charge, the court said the criminal provision cited and the description of the crime in the charge does not ‘fully correspond.’The fourth charge, which accuses the defendants of collaborating with the Eritrean government, fails to mention time and place of commission of the act, ruled the court ordering federal prosecutors to amend both charges.The court rejected the remaining objections stating that the right of the defendants to defend the charges against them ‘will not be hampered’.In their preliminary objections, defense lawyers had requested for the disjoinder [separation] of defendants. They wanted the eight defendants in custody including politicians Andualem Arage and Natnael Mekonnen, and journalist Eskinder Nega to be tried separately from official members of the outlawed Ginbot 7 such as Birhanu Nega (PhD) and Andargachew Tsige.The court rejected the appeal stating that all defendants are accused as participants in the alleged transgression of the anti-terrorism and criminal laws of the country. “The criminal procedure code under Article 117 clearly allows such joinder of defendants,” the judge held rejecting the primary objection of the defense lawyers.

The case is now adjourned to November 30, 2011 where the defendants are expected to enter a plea on the amended charge.

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የግብረሰዶማውያኑ ስብሰባ የፈጠረው ትኩሳት

ዛሬ በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ የሚጀመረው 16ኛው ዓለም አቀፍ የኤችአይቪ/ኤድስና የአባላዘር በሽታዎች(አይካሳ) ጉባዔን አስታክኮ፣ መሰንበቻውን የግብረሰዶማውያን ቡድን እያካሄደ ያለውን እንቅስቃሴ ከተለያዩ ወገኖች ተቃውሞ ሲቀርብበት ነበር፡፡በተለይ የሃይማኖት መሪዎች ለትናንት በጁፒተር ኢንተርናሽናል ሆቴል ለማካሄድ ቀጠሮ ተይዞለት ስለነበረው ስብሰባ ምንነትና ይዘት የሚያሳይና የሚኮንን መግለጫ ሊሰጡ ካሉ በኋላ መሰረዙን በሪፖርተር ባለፈው ረቡዕ ማውጣታችን ይታወሳል፡፡ ግብረሰዶማውያኑ ስብሰባቸውን በተባበሩት መንግሥታት ስብሰባ ማዕከል ማካሄዳቸውም እየተነገረ ነው፡፡ትናንት ማለዳ ላይ በስብሰባ ማዕከሉ የግብረሰዶማውያኑ ስብሰባ እንደሚካሄድ ሰምተው ለተቃውሞ የወጡ ጥቂት ሰዎች በፖሊስ ተበትነዋል፡፡ ፖሊስ ለተቃውሞ የወጡትን የበተነው በሕጋዊ መንገድ የወጡ አይደሉም በማለት ነው፡፡ ድርጊቱን በምስል ለማስቀረት በስፍራው የተገኘው የሪፖርተር ፎቶ ጋዜጠኛም በፖሊስ ቁጥጥር ሥር ውሎ ያነሣቸው ምስሎች ቅጂዎችም ተወስደዋል፡፡

Former president Bush received a hero’s welcome in Ethiopia

Africa AIDS Conference Opens in Ethiopia

An international conference on AIDS in Africa opens in Addis Ababa with an address by former U.S. president George W. Bush. He is being honored for his role in creating PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, the largest ever health initiative dedicated to fighting a disease.Former president Bush received a hero’s welcome Sunday during a brief stopover in Ethiopia. Amnesty International may be calling for his arrest, but in Ethiopia and many other AIDS afflicted developing countries, Mr. Bush is remembered for PEPFAR, which has pumped $39 billion into bilateral programs to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.Bush, his wife Laura Bush and daughters Jenna and Barbara visited St Paul’s Hospital and Medical College in Addis Ababa, where mothers living with HIV told how PEPFAR-funded programs had helped them deliver healthy babies.The famous human rights organization Amnesty International has asked the government of Ethiopia to arrest the former US President George W Bush for torturing prisoners in Guantanamo Bay after the Iraq War begun.

ዶክተር ነጋሦ ጊዳዳ ለአንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ፍትህ ፓርቲ ሊቀመንበርነት ተመረጡ

አንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ ባካሄደዉ ሁለተኛዉ መደበኛ ጠቅላላ ጉባኤ ዶክተር ነጋሦ ጊዳዳን በሊቀመንበርነት መረጠ። ዶክተር ነጋሦ ከዶክተር ንጋት አስፋዉና ከአቶ ዘለቀ ረዲ ጋር ተወዳድረዉ በ197 ድምጽ ብልጫ እንዳሸነፉ በፓርቲዉ ጉባኤ ላይ ተገልጿል።
ዶክተር ነጋሦ ጊዳዳ ቃለ መሃላ ከፈጸሙ ባሁዋላ ባደረጉት አጭር ንግግር፣ ድርጅታቸዉ ላይ የተጋረጡ ያሏቸውን አበይት ነጥቦች አንስተዋል። አንድነት ለዴሞክራሲና ለፍትህ ፓርቲ በአደረጃጀት፣ በሰዉ ኃይልና በገንዘብ ደካማ መሆኑን ጠቁመዉ እንዲጠናከርም ተግተዉ ለመሥራት ቃል ገብተዋል።መንግስት የፓርቲያቸዉ አመራር አባላት የሆኑ ንጹሐን ዜጎችን በአሸባሪነት ሽፋን ወንጅሎ ሰላማዊ እንቅስቃሴ ለማፈን እያደረገ ነው፤ ያሉትን ሩጫ እንደሚቃወሙ ገልጸዉ፤ ያሠራቸዉን የአመራር አባላት በፍጥነት እንዲፈታ ጠይቀዋል።ኢህአዴግ የፖለቲካ ምህዳሩን መቆጣጠሩን ከቀጠለና በአገሪቱ ፓለቲካ ተቃዋሚዎችን ካላሳተፈ ሕዝቡ መብቱን ለማስከበር መነሳቱ አይቀርም ብለዋል ዶክተር ነጋሦ። ፓርቲያቸዉ አንድነት ከሌሎች «ሃቀኛ፤» ተቃዋሚ ከሚላቸዉ ድርጅቶች ጋር ያከናዉናቸዉ ተግባራት አኩሪ መሆናቸዉን ተናግረዉ፣ በፖለቲካ ኢኮኖሚያዊና ማህበራዊ ችግሮች መፍትሔ ዙሪያ ከእነዚህ ድርጅቶች ጋር መሥራት እንደሚቀጥል ቃል አመልክተዋል።

Will this be the first time the world sees the Ark of Covenant? Leaking roof in Ethiopian chapel ‘will lead to relic being revealed’

.   Ark contains Ten Commandments God ‘gave’ to Moses on Mount Sinai

One holy monk is the only person allowed to see the holy box…

…but he’ll need a hand carrying metre long wooden structure to new home …A very British problem of a leaky church roof could be about to give the world the chance to glimpse the legendary Ark of the Covenant.That’s because the claimed home of the iconic relic – a small chapel in Ethiopia – has sprung a leak and so the Ark could now be on the move The Ark – which The Bible says holds God’s Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai – is said to have been kept in Aksum, in the Chapel of the Tablet, adjacent to St Mary of Zion Church, since the 1960s.According to the Old Testament, it was first kept in the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem for centuries until a Babylonian invasion in the 6th century BCRead more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2069765/Ark-Covenant-revealed-leaking-roof-Ethiopian-chapel.html#ixzz1gpEwL14O

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Agrees $300 Million China Loan

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with the Export-Import Bank of China for a $300 million credit facility, Ethiopia’s state- owned lender said.“The amount is to be used by the CBE whenever it needs it in the future,” Chief Business Development Officer Yishak Mengesha said in an e-mailed response to questions yesterday.The terms of the loan and interest rate will be negotiated later, he said. The money will help fund projects as part of the country’s five-year growth plan, according to Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa-based Foreign Ministry.The Horn of Africa nation plans to invest about $33 billion in industry and infrastructure by mid-2015. Projects include 10 sugar factories and a $4.8 billion hydropower plant on the Blue Nile river. The loan takes EXIM Bank’s lending to Ethiopia to more than $1.8 billion, according to the Foreign Ministry.The Chinese bank also plans to lend the government 1.7 billion birr ($98 million) for water-supply projects for the capital, Addis Ababa, the ministry said in an e-mailed statement on Dec. 9.–Editors: Gordon Bell, Alastair Ree To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net

World welcomes 2012 with cheers, celebrations

Ethiopian troops capture Beledweyne from Somalia militants

Al-Shabab said its forces were surrounding the town after making what it called a planned withdrawal.Eyewitnesses said armoured vehicles and heavy artillery were used in the attack, which Ethiopia said was made at the request of the Somali government.Somalia’s prime minister meanwhile announced an operation “to liberate the tyranny of… al-Shabab from Somalia”.”Early this morning, the Somali National Army recaptured some al-Shabab-occupied territories engaging the enemies in Hiiraan and other regions of the country,” said Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, head of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG)

Gursha Market Engulfs Capital, Catering to Many of Bottom Millions

Fekadu Petros, 24, moved to Addis Abeba from his native Wolayta, 390km south of the capital following the death of his father, who was survived by seven children and his wife. The short and skinny young man has worked in the city for the past four years, sending whatever money he can save to his mother and siblings.He is attached to a scrap metal store in Menallesh Terra, Merkato, which pays him 250 Br a month. But, he also carries stuff for a lot of people visiting Merkato to do their shopping. On good days he can make as much as 60 Br from these people, he says.The money may seem significant, but living on a day-to-day basis, people like Fekadu hardly think of their incomes on a monthly basis. They pay 10 Br just for a sleeping space on a mat. For 300 Br a month, they could get a better place, but they do not have enough money at any given to pay for it upfront. They live on a daily basis.A proper meal costs about 15 Br in that part of Merkato. Many of these people, including day labourers, shoeshine boys, snack vendors, and beggars, eat gursha, handfuls of restaurant leftovers served from plastic bags.Gursha, under normal circumstances, is a small roll of enjera and stew that one person puts into the mouth of another as an act of intimacy or hospitality, a tradition in Ethiopia. Sometimes the roll of food may be somewhat big with some of it falling into the palm of the person who is being fed, who keeps his hand just under his mouth expecting some spill over.

A book Signed by Bereket Simon, head of Government Communication Affairs

A book by Bereket Simon, head of Government Communication Affairs with a ministerial portfolio, titled “Tale of Two Elections,” discussing the elections of 2005 and 2010, was inaugurated on Tuesday, December 20, 2011. As Bereket had played a critical role in stirring the election campaign of the ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the book presents a detailed analysis of the pre and postelection situation of the highly contested election in 2005, in a very intimate and personal manner. It also deals with the overwhelming support that EPRDF received in the national election held in 2010 and issues usually raised on the result. The book is published in Kenya and Ethiopia, with a size of 20,000 and 10,000, respectively, sponsored by Mohammad Hussein Ali Al-Amoudi (Sheik), a business mogul. It is distributed with sole distributorship of Aynalem Book Store and has a cover price of 90 Br. In the picture, Berket provides Demeke Mekonnen, minister of Education (MoE), with his book signed, officially.