Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Long Run: Running Wild in Ethiopia

The author (left) running with Haile Gebrselassie (front) in Ethiopia. Photo: Jenny Jurek
In the African nation, running is more of a social activity.
Last month I had the thrill of traveling to Ethiopia for a unique cultural running adventure. When we weren’t busy volunteering at a camp to help improve eye health, helping to develop sustainable education practices, visiting schools, and learning how to cook traditional Ethiopian cuisine, we were running with some of the world’s best distance runners. My runs in the Tigray countryside and amid the hustle and bustle of downtown Addis Ababa provided insight as to what makes the Ethiopian running culture so special. And through it all there was one simple aspect that stood out: the runners of Ethiopia use their surroundings, whatever they may be.
Every day, as the call to morning prayer and mass could be heard echoing in the darkness of Addis Ababa, runners of all ages and abilities gathered at Meskel Square for exercise. The rows of an outdoor auditorium turned into a running labyrinth as adults and children ran the dirt maze, snaking their way down a row until they reached the end and moved up to the next level, repeating the process until they reach the top row, totaling 5 kilometers. Some people did dips and pull-ups on the scaffolding of the adjacent billboards; another group did sprints up the center aisle stone steps; still others used cement pillars for a calisthenic circuit routine.

MTN Ethiopia Sponsors the National Football Team


MTN Ethiopia signed a 6-million Ethiopian birr sponsorship contract with the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF). The sponsorship agreement is aimed at supporting the national football team, the Walias, for one year period, with the a possibility of extension.
As part of the agreement, MTN Ethiopia will be a second-tier sponsor, and the exclusive value-added services (VAS) provider of the EFF. Some of the benefits of sponsoring the national team include MTN Ethiopia’s association with Ethiopian Football Federation’s products, activities and services.
“MTN is passionate about making a positive and meaningful contribution in the lives of our customers in all the communities we serve. Our partnership with the EFF is one of the many ways we intend to do this in Ethiopia,” Happy-Girl Buthelezi Country Manager of MTN Ethiopia, said.
Ambassador Tewolde Gebru, executive member of the Ethiopian Football Federation,expressed similar enthusiasm of the newly-formed partnership.
“The EFF is proud to partner with MTN, one of the prominent sponsors and supporters of football in Africa. It is a memorable moment for Ethiopians, and we are glad that MTN stands with us to celebrate the journey.”
In December 2012 MTN launched its "Celebrate 31 on 831" SMS campaign  to celebrate Ethiopia's recent football successes. The campaign included an SMS contest featuring an entertaining football-related quiz.
The Reporter

First Haile Gebrselassie Marathon set for October

Moray Mountain Sports of San Diego has announced the first annual Haile Gebrselassie Marathon to be held on Sunday, 20 October 2013 in Hawassa, Ethiopia. The marathon and half marathon, as well as the 5km, will be held in Hawassa, about 170 miles south of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
Tim Murphy of Moray Mountain Sports started Elite Racing of San Diego and is also the man responsible for such now-commonplace innovations as blending kids and elite races, music and bands along race courses and multi-loop races. Murphy created such prestigious events as the Carlsbad 5000 and the Arturo Barrios 10km, as well as the Rock 'n' Roll series of marathons and half marathons. Murphy sold the Rock 'n' Roll franchise five years ago to Competitor. Since the sale, he has been inactive in the running business but itching to get back.

ኤልያሳውያን እና የኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶው ምህረተአብ አሰፋ

Darfur to host Cecafa club tournament


The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) has confirmed that the troubled Darfur region in western Sudan will host the 2013 Cecafa Club Championships in June.
The football body said that Democratic Republic of Congo side St. Eloi Lupopo will take part in the event.
Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye also told BBC Sport that "a team from Eritrea is yet to confirm".
Musonye is in Darfur inspecting facilities and has reported that the region is 90% ready to host the event, but for only two of the three groups.
"Two football stadiums in Al Fashir - Al Nuggaa [capacity 15,000] and Al Fashir [45,000] - were of impressive quality and so were hotel accommodations and transport," he said.
He added that the hosting of the tournament had been switched from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to Sudan because Ethiopia was not ready to stage the event.
"We shall announce other developments on Tuesday on venues and other issues as pertains to the tournament," said Musonye.
Darfur has has been devastated by civil war since 2003 but a peace agreement, a reduction in fighting, and the limited but promising return of displaced people to their homes have been seen as signs of progress and hope.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Governor of Lazio calls for withdrawal of funds for Graziani monument


Nicola Zingaretti, the governor of Lazio region, one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, has called on regional offices and the residents of the town of Affile to cut the funds of the controversial monument dedicated to the fascist general, Marshal Rodolpho Graziani.
According to the governor, the unilateral decision of the Municipality of Affile is “deeply flawed, not only because it is a clear violation of administration with respect to agreements on the use of public funding.”

“I asked the regional offices to suspend the loan granted to the City of Affile, originally intended for the completion of the Park Rodimonte and construction of a monument to the soldier, that is, to the Unknown Soldier,” Zingaretti wrote in a letter sent to the residents of Affile.

However, improperly, the city municipality then decided to dedicate it to Rodolfo Graziani.

“I do not see why we should celebrate the memory of a war criminal and his actions with a monument paid for with public funds,” Zingaretti said.

The regional government has now suspended the 180 thousand euro earmarked for the construction of the park.

አርቲስት ጀማነሽ ሰለሞን ታሰረች

“የፍርድ ሂደቱ ሲጠናቀቅ ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ እንሠጣለን” - ከጀማነሽ ጋር የታሰሩ አባት
በተለያዩ የመድረክ ቴያትሮች፣ በቴሌቪዥንና በሬዲዮ ድራማዎች በተለይም “ገመና” በተሰኘው ተከታታይ የቴሌቪዥን ድራማ የእናትነት ገፀ - ባህሪን ተላብሳ በመተወን የምትታወቀው አርቲስት ጀማነሽ ሰለሞን ታሰረች፡፡ አርቲስቷ ማክሰኞ ማታ ተይዛ አራት ኪሎ የሚገኝ ፖሊስ ጣቢያ ከታሰረች በኋላ ረቡዕ አመሻሽ ላይ ወደ ጉለሌ ክፍለ ከተማ ወረዳ ዘጠኝ መዛወሯንና ከእርሷ ጋር ሌላ አንዲት ሴትና ሁለት ወንዶች መታሰራቸውን በስፍራው ተገኝተን አረጋግጠናል፡፡ አርቲስት ጀማነሽና አብረዋት የታሰሩት ግለሰቦች ሃሙስ እለት አፍንጮ በር መንገድ አዲስ አበባ ሬስቶራንት አካባቢ በሚገኝ የመጀመሪያ ደረጀ ፍርድ ቤት ቀርበው ጉዳያቸው የታየ ሲሆን የፊታችን በድጋሚ ፍርድ ቤት ይቀርባሉ፡፡

The allure Ethiopians can’t resist down in South Africa

NAIROBI, KENYA: In 1998, the first group of Ethiopian peasants ventured to South Africa to look for greener pastures.
Since then, the trend has been unprecedented, with hundreds of the aliens crossing through the long porous Kenyan border mainly through Moyale
and Sololo Districts of Marsabit County.
The young, largely illiterate men from the southern regions of
Ethiopia are smuggled through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique
before they find their way into South Africa by a well organised cartel spread through these countries.
Investigations by The Standard On Saturday found out the all-men group are mainly from the Kenbata and Adiya speaking communities, whose headquarter is at Hossama in Ethiopia and largely profess the same faith.

Ethiopian breaks course record at Metro Group Marathon Duesseldorf

Metro Group Marathon Duesseldorf - Ethiopian runners won the men's and women's titles at Sunday's METRO GROUP Marathon Duesseldorf in Germany.

According to the online RaceNewsService, 26 year-old Dereje Debele Tulu, who won the men's event, broke the course record with two hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds. It was the first sub 2:08 time in Duesseldorf.

Second placed Pius Ondoro of Kenya clocked 2:08:17 while compatriot Duncan Koech was third with 2:09:10.

In the women's class, the big pre-race favourite, Melkam Gizaw, was the winner with a personal best of 2:26:24.

It was the second fastest women’s performance in the history of the race.

Kenyan debutant Rebecca Chesire ran a fine 2:27:52 for second place, while Agnieszka Ciolek-Mierzejewska (Poland) was third with 2:33:36.

Adding all events, 14,000 runners entered the METRO GROUP Marathon Duesseldorf, with around 4,250 of them marathon runners.

The race is an IAAF Bronze Label Race.
http://www.afriquejet.com

Adopted against her will: Ethiopian Tarikuwa Lemma shares her story

What would you do if you arrived in a foreign country ready to study on an educational exchange and only to discover you had been “adopted” by a family that thought you were an orphan? It may sound like a nightmare, but it happened to Tarikuwa Lemma, who told her story on Sunday’s Melissa Harris-Perry. Lemma came to the United States from Ethiopia for what she and her family thought was an educational exchange program when she was 13-years-old; after she arrived, she was told she had been adopted. Once she learned what her adoption meant for her future, Lemma felt “a lot of grief and anger.” “I didn’t want a new family because I had a family in Ethiopia,” said Lemma, who will start her freshman year at college in the fall. The family that tried to adopt Lemma and her two younger sisters changed their names and even stopped them from speaking their native language. Adoption is a multi-billion dollar industry, rife with corruption and dissemblance, and in recent years it has morphed into an evangelical movement. “There is so much emphasis on and enthusiasm for adoption in the United States,” said journalist Kathryn Joyce, author of “The Child Catchers.” “When adoption agencies prey on families’ desire to ‘help’ children they believe to be in need, there have been lies and misinformation seeded in from the very beginning” of the adoption process. How can the adoption process be reformed? Is it even possible to do so? Watch the full discussion on MHPshow.com and watch the show every Saturday and Sunday at 10:00 AM ET.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
http://tv.msnbc.com

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Ethiopian Maid stabs baby after hearing 'satanic whispers'

An Ethiopian housemaid who stabbed a three-year-old girl told police she had committed that crime because she was told so by the devil.
“During investigation, the maid said that Satanic whispers pushed her to attack the little girl with a knife,” Sharq newspaper said, quoting police sources.
The maid stabbed her employer’s daughter, Alanoud, in her shoulder three times at her house in the central town of Al Ras three days ago.
“I am still shocked at what she had done…she used to fast every Monday and Thursday,”the child’s father Shayei Al Shayei said.
A few hours before the incident, an Asian housemaid stabbed a five-year-old Saudi girl in the neck at her house in the same town, inflicting serious injuries on her. Doctors managed to save the Wajd’s life while the maid was arrested and is to stand trial.
Wajd’s father said:”We knew later that the maid was hiding a knife under her blanket…when my wife left Wajd’s room, the maid jumped on Wajd and stabbed her….we also later found a cleaver in the bathroom, which indicates the maid had intended to hurt all my family.”
http://www.emirates247.com

Ethiopian Airlines Flies First Commerical Dreamliner Flight Since January Grounding

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A Boeing 787 operated by Ethiopian Airlines flew from Ethiopia to Kenya's capital Saturday, the first commercial flight since air safety authorities grounded the Dreamliners after incidents with smoldering batteries on two different planes in January.
The Boeing 787 passenger jet arrived in
Nairobi on Saturday afternoon after a two-hour trip from Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, according to the Kenya airport website. The Dreamliner arrived at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 12:40 p.m. local time, according to the Kenya Airports Authority.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Ethiopian Airlines to resume Dreamliner flights on Saturday


(Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines plans to resume flying Boeing Co's grounded 787 Dreamliner passenger jets on Saturday with a commercial flight between Addis Ababa and Nairobi, two airline sources said on Wednesday.
"Ethiopian Airlines will be the first airline company to resume 787 Dreamliner flights in the world. Saturday's the date," a senior Ethiopian Airlines source told Reuters. "We're flying to Nairobi, Kenya on the normal flight schedule."
A second source confirmed Ethiopian Airlines would fly on Saturday, resuming flights for the first time since its fleet of four 787 Dreamliners was grounded in January.
http://www.reuters.com/

‘The Child Catchers’: Evangelicals and the Fake-Orphan Racket

 In her shocking new book, Kathryn Joyce uncovers how conservative Christians have come to dominate the international adoption circuit—and its dark underbelly.

In 2009, a van from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, carrying seven young children and babies, was stopped as it drove outside the rural, central Ethiopian town of Shashemene. The children in the van were wards of Better Future Adoption Services (BFAS), a U.S. adoption agency, and had been declared abandoned—their families unknown—in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Police outside Shashemene arrested seven adults riding in the van, including five BFAS employees. The staff, it appeared to some, had sought to process children who had living family as though they had been abandoned in anot

her region of the country, so that their adoptions to the U.S. could proceed more quickly.
At the time, Ethiopia was in the midst of a dramatic international adoption boom, with the number of adoptions to U.S. parents rising from a few hundred per year in 2004 to more than 2,000 five years later, and around 4,000 worldwide.The boom had brought substantial revenue into the country, as agencies and adoptive parents supported newly-established orphanages that became an attractive child care option for poor families; some agencies paid fees to “child finders” locating adoptable children; and the influx of Western adoption tourism brought money that trickled down to hotels, restaurants, taxi-drivers and other service industries.
Also with the boom came early warning signs of adoption fraud and corruption. Before the van was stopped near Shashemene, there had been a glut of abandonment adoptions being processed in Addis Ababa. The number of adoption cases where the parents were said to be unknown had caught the attention of Ethiopia’s First Instance Court, the body responsible for approving international adoptions. The court announced a temporary suspension on processing abandonment cases that originated in the capital until it could investigate further. For some agencies, the news was likely a blow, forecasting long wait times to process adoptions and frustrated clients in the U.S. But there was a way around: the court would continue to hear cases for children abandoned in other parts of Ethiopia.
Listen to the Story
One of the children transported in the van would later be adopted by a Christian couple just outside Nashville: 31-year-old Jessie Hawkins, a health and wellness author, and her 38-year-old husband, Matthew, a marketing executive. The Hawkinses had chosen BFAS as a protection against corrupt adoptions, assuming that because an Ethiopian woman living in the United States, Agitu Wodajo, ran it, the agency would operate more ethically than those lacking a local connection. Wodajo’s public professions of Christian faith reassured them as well.

Zambia Court fines 50 Ethiopians for failing to report to immigration

THE Chinsali Magistrates' Court has fined 50 Ethiopians KR400.00 each or in default serve a one and half year imprisonment with hard labour for failing to report to an immigration officer.
Appearing before magistrate Shadreck Chanda for judgment on Friday were Sisa Asefa and 49 others aged between 11 to 37 who stood charged with one count of failing to report to an Immigration officer at Nakonde Border Post contrary to section 12(1) and 51(1) of the immigration and deportation Act number 18 of the Laws of Zambia.
It was alleged that on March 29 this year, 50 prohibited immigrants jointly and whilst acting together, being persons entering Zambia through Nakonde border, failed to report to the Immigration officer as required by law.
The court found the 50 prohibited immigrants guilty upon their own admission of guilty and convicted them accordingly.

Just Released: "Ethiopia Business Forecast Report 2013"

Fast Market Research recommends "Ethiopia Business Forecast Report 2013" from Business Monitor International, now available

[USPRwire, Wed Apr 24 2013] Core Views

Despite the sudden death of long-standing Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in August 2012, the smooth handover of power and his successor's endorsement of the status quo should see stability and broad policy continuity preserved through to elections in 2015.

We expect the Ethiopian economy to remain on a robust growth trajectory over the next few years - BMI forecasts real GDP growth of 6.7% in 2013 and 6.1% in 2014 - underpinned by strong investment in the energy and transport sectors and an improvement in conditions for the Ethiopian consumer.

Ethiopia’s improved business environment is benefitting entrepreneurs

Malik Fal is the managing director of Omidyar Network Africa.
Ethiopia has experienced impressive economic growth in the past few years and, according to the IMF, is estimated to be one of the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world over the next five years.
According to a recent report entitled Accelerating Entrepreneurship in Africa by the Omidyar Network, the country has seen regulatory and institutional reforms such as improved business registration requirements, which have helped strengthen investor confidence in the market.
The report surveyed 582 entrepreneurs in six sub-Saharan African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.
“Results from Ethiopia reflect a positive outlook for conducting business as the country continues to embark on a cautious programme of economic reform, including the privatisation of state enterprises and rationalisation of government regulation,” highlighted the research.
The results also showed that Ethiopia outperforms the other countries surveyed in sub-Saharan Africa in areas such as legislation, administrative burdens and legitimacy of entrepreneurship.
Starting and operating a business has become easier
“Ethiopian respondents are particularly upbeat about the changing business environment as the country continues to reform from a more planned and centralised socialist state, to a more open economy that is increasingly adopting aspects of capitalism and a free market economic framework,” stated the report.
Those surveyed indicated that in the last 10 to 20 years Ethiopia’s business environment has improved significantly and, in fact, the results of the survey indicated that Ethiopia outperforms the other sub-Saharan African countries surveyed in terms of starting a new business.
“Respondents are more positive about the ease with which required permits and licences can be obtained,” highlighted the report. “In addition, 52% of respondents believe government regulations do not interfere with the successful start of new and growing firms, in comparison to [sub-Saharan Africa] and global average agreement rates of 36%.”

Filmmaker Aramazt Kalayjian Brings ‘Tezeta’ to Life


By Gabriella Gage
Mirror-Spectator Staff
WATERTOWN — Tezeta is a word of great significance in Ethiopia. In Amharic (Semetic language spoken in Ethiopia), it means memory, nostalgia or longing. It is also the name of a type of Ethiopian jazz and the ballads in that style that have been sung by countless Ethiopian singers. More recently, it has served at the linguistic inspiration for “Tezeta [The Ethiopian Armenians,]” a documentary by Armenian-American filmmaker, Aramazt Kalayjian.
The film, currently in production, explores the historic connection between Armenians and Ethiopians, with music serving as the main cultural bridge between the communities. Through the film, its creators hope to preserve the culture legacy of the small, relatively unheard of Armenian community in Ethiopia. “From 40 Armenian orphans adopted by Emperor Haile Selassie after the Genocide to perform as the first imperial orchestra of Ethiopia in 1924, to Alemayhu Eshete, the ‘Elvis’ of Ethiopia, Armenians have left their imprint on the cultural and musical landscape of Ethiopian society,” said, Kalayjian, creator and director of the project.

           

Kalayjian explained, “I chose [Tezeta] as the title for our documentary because of its connection to the music as well as the implied sentiment.  ‘tezeta,’ memory, nostalgia, these are what people describe when thinking about the connection between Armenians and Ethiopians.” He added, “Music has been the main cultural vein by which Armenians were able to sustain a connection and impart their musical craft to Ethiopian society. Through the stories and people I mentioned previously, they were able to elevate the level and quality of music performance, composition and appreciation in Ethiopia.”
Kalayjian first heard of the Ethiopian-Armenian community as a small child, growing up in the Hudson River Valley of New York. “As a child, my father had always told me stories of how many places we had Armenian communities. Poland, Uruguay, Australia, India and this also included Ethiopia. He had told me about an Ethiopian classmate he had at the now-closed Melkonian Boarding School.” But Kalayjian didn’t begin to fully explore his father’s tales of little-known Armenian communities until years later while he was living in Harlem, New York.

Le Figaro Names Three Ethiopians to ‘Africa’s 15 Most Powerful Women’ List

Tirunesh Dibaba, Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu and Liya Kebede are 3 of the 15 women that made Le Figaro's 2013 list. (Images - Creative Commons)
April 25th, 2013
New York (TADIAS) – Le Figaro has named three Ethiopians to its list of Africa’s 15 most powerful women, including the long distance track athlete and three-time Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba, and Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, the founder and CEO of the international Ethiopian shoe brand SoleRebels.
The French newspaper also selected Ethiopian-born model Liya Kebede who lives in the United States among Africa’s power women. Other leaders include Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the current President of Liberia, as well as the South African actress and fashion model Charlize Theron, and Kenyan activist, lawyer, and blogger Ory Okolloh who works as Google’s Policy Manager for Africa.
Click here to read the list at www.madame.lefigaro.fr
http://www.tadias.com/

Thursday, April 25, 2013

PM Hailemariam Desalegn's interview with France 24


Eritrean Refugees Tortured for Ransom in 'Silent Tragedy'

FILE - Refugees are seen during a visit by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres to the Shagarab Eritrean Refugees camp at Kassala, Sudan, January 2012.


Ethiopian Airlines to resume Dreamliner flights-sources


* U.S. Airworthiness Directive expected on Thursday
* Air India expects 787 commercial flights in a week
* Grounding cost Boeing an estimated $600 million
* Boeing says can meet 2013 Dreamliner delivery target
By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA, April 24 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines is set to become the world's first carrier to resume flying Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner passenger jets, with a commercial flight on Saturday to neighbouring Kenya, two airline sources said.
Boeing's Dreamliners have been grounded since regulators ordered all 50 planes out of the skies in mid-January after batteries on two of them overheated. U.S. regulators approved a new battery design on Friday, clearing the way for installation.
An Air India source told Reuters in New Delhi that commercial operations should start within a week or so, immediately after approval from the local regulator DGCA.
"Ethiopian Airlines will be the first airline company to resume 787 Dreamliner flights in the world. Saturday's the date," a senior Ethiopian Airlines source told Reuters. "We're flying to Nairobi, Kenya on the normal flight schedule."

Book signing Saturday for 'Jesus in Ethiopia' Author from Blanchester

Jim Rankin in the mountains above Axum
A Blanchester man has visited exotic islands, traveled through jungles, over mountains and deserts and into ancient tombs to gain information for his recently published book, "Jesus in Ethiopia."

Jim Rankin, founder of Adventures in Truth Biblical Research, will hold a book signing on Saturday, April 27 at 2 p.m. at Books 'N' More, located at 28 W. Main St. in Wilmington.

Rankin recently completed his fourth trip to Ethiopia which began as a journey in search of the lost Ark of the Covenant. He said the trips turned into a "revelation of biblical proportions." He called it an "unforgettable" story. "It's a journey that has only just begun," he said.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

የተፈናቃይነት እጣ ፈንታ…በራሳቸው አንደበት

Ethiopian double in Yangzhou

Ethiopian runners continued their dominance of the Yangzhou International Half Marathon on Sunday (21) as Jakob Jarso and Worknesh Degefa triumphed at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
Having won both men’s and women’s races in 2011, Ethiopian runners narrowly missed the feat in 2012 with a win in the men’s race and a loss by one second in the women’s race. But on a sunny Sunday morning in 2013, they started the race as favourites and did not disappoint at the finish line.
Clear skies and temperature at 7°C got the runners to a good start at around 8am and the leading group was off immediately. Kenyan Nicholas Kipkemboi, one of the favourites, took the lead from the start, leading a pack of 12 runners to the Guangling Bridge.

Ethiopia says preparing to pull troops out of Somalia


ADDIS ABABA | Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:48pm BST
(Reuters) - Ethiopia will withdraw its troops from Somalia soon, its prime minister said on Tuesday, voicing frustration with the Mogadishu government and African Union peacekeeping forces that are also battling Islamist militants there.
After waging an ill-fated war in Somalia in 2006-2009, Ethiopia in 2011 once again rolled troops into Somalia to fight al Qaeda-allied al Shabaab, opening a third front alongside Kenyan troops and an African Union mission.
At the time Ethiopia pledged to stay in the war-ravaged country until Somali government could ratify a new constitution and its ragtag military was able to fend off the Islamist threat on its own.
However, last month Ethiopian troops unexpectedly withdrew from Hudur, the capital of Bakool province near the Ethiopian border, enabling al Shabaab to retake the dusty town.
Hailemariam Desalegn, who replaced Ethiopia's long-serving Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in September, stopped short of announcing a full withdrawal but voiced concern with the pace of progress in Somalia, recovering from two decades of civil war.

Mysterious Lake Threatens Ethiopian Sugar Ambitions

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- A saline lake in Ethiopia that’s baffled scientists by its 15-fold growth threatens to spill into the nation’s longest river and damage plans by Africa’s biggest coffee grower to become a commodities powerhouse.
Lake Beseka in the Rift Valley has grown to its largest size ever amid irrigation runoff and seismic shifts in past years. Should salt waters contaminate the Awash River, they would risk Ethiopia’s oldest state-owned sugar estate and an India-funded project downstream that’s key to the government’s $5 billion plan to turn the country into a top sugar exporter.
“The fear is for the river,” Water and Energy Ministry groundwater chief Tesfaye Tadesse. “If it discharges by itself without any control, the river is going to be contaminated forever.”
River basins including the Blue Nile and rugged highlands bless Ethiopia with plentiful hydropower and the continent’s second-largest water resources. The government is counting on Indian financing, a Saudi billionaire and Chinese loans to grow sugar, rice, bananas and oranges for export to expand the fastest-growing African economy without oil reserves.
It’s crucial that efforts be made to stop a possible overflow before the seasonal rains start in June, said Endashew Tadesse, a technical specialist at the Upper Awash River Basin Authority. A spill by the lake east of the capital Addis Ababa may flood towns and drive nomadic herdsmen from the area.
Beseka, fed by hot springs at 954 meters (3,130 feet), has swollen from a 3-square-kilometer pond in the 1960s to 45 square kilometers, causing the diversion of a road from Addis Ababa to Djibouti’s port, a main trade route in landlocked Ethiopia.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

LG Electronics to open technical college in Ethiopia

Tuesday 23 April 2013 | 12:25 CET | News ainPlaceHolder_txtAbstract"> LG Electronics is set to inaugurate a USD 1 million Technical & Vocational Education & Training (TVET) College in September in Ethiopia. The college will offer courses in information technology, electronics, television and mobile phone maintenance. According to Yong Geun Choi, representative for LG's Ethiopia office and LG's director of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the Middle East and Africa, the college will also offer additional courses in agriculture, The Focus reported. The TV and mobile phone maintenance services will be specific to LG products, while the rest of the courses on offer are general. LG's college will accept 75 students into three departments for the first year of its two-year training. LG has applied for 3,000 sqm of land at the Industrial Zone in Akaki Kaliti District, where it plans to build the college facility.
http://www.telecompaper.com

Parking lot manager Abeselom Hailemariam, pleads guilty in theft from Smithsonian


By Mary Pat Flaherty,April 19, 2013
A parking lot manager for the Smithsonian’s air and space museum in Chantilly pleaded guilty Friday to his role in stealing approximately $1.4 million in parking fees during a three-year scheme.
The manager, Abeselom Hailemariam, 33, of Alexandria, skimmed as much as half of the cash that attendants stole each day , court records show, and also advised the attendants on when to ease up on the thefts to avoid detection.
Hailemariam is the third person to plead guilty in the case in which attendants pocketed the $15 parking fee paid by at least 92,213 visitors to the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. They masked the crime by unplugging counting mechanisms in their booths and doctoring shift reports about lot activity, court records state.

Gebrhiwet keeping his feet on the ground ahead of Moscow

It’s the time of the year when 18-year-olds in Ethiopia fret about their looming university entrance exams or immerse themselves with the latest trends in pop culture. But newly-minted World junior cross-country champion Hagos Gebrhiwet is not a typical teenager.
In fact, he is not a typical Ethiopian distance runner either.
“Qualifying for Moscow, that’s all I’m thinking of right now,” says the World junior record-holder for 5000m outdoors and 3000m indoors. “I just want to maintain my current best performance and keep doing my training properly and without fear. In Moscow, I aim to gain something big for my country and myself too.”
Gebrhiwet was already being talked up as the ‘next Kenenisa Bekele’ in some quarters, albeit in modest and hushed tones, following his breakout season in 2012 where he smashed the World junior 5000m record with 12:47.53 at the Samsung Diamond League meeting in Paris.
But the comparisons and plaudits have grown both in volume and clout over the last month since winning the junior title at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoscz, Ethiopia’s first victory in the event since 2008.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Ethiopian Saint George draw 1:1 with Egypt's Zamalek






                                                                                                                                                                     
Zamalek's Brazilian manager Jorvan Vieira has said that his team players did not perform well during the 1-1 draw with Ethiopian side Saint George in the first-leg of the CAF Champions League last 16 in Egypt on Saturday.

"The players' mistakes throughout the game caused the home draw," Vieira told the post-match press conference.

In a game played behind closed doors at Cairo's Air Defence Stadium, Saint George took a surprising lead three minutes past the hour mark when Umed Ukuri pounced on a defensive howler to fire home following a bursting run.

Burkinabe striker Abdoulaye Cisse, who was introduced in the second half, leveled the score with eight minutes remaining but the visitors survived a late onslaught to claim a valuable draw.

"The game atmosphere forced us to suffer lack of performance," he added.

After failing to take a first-leg advantage in Cairo, Zamalek are scheduled to travel to Ethiopia to face Saint George in the second leg of the CAF Champions League last 16 on 5 May.

"The Ethiopia trip won't be easy, but we will prepare well for the second leg game. We will do our best to avoid the mistakes we had in the 1-1 draw."

"I don't agree with draw but we will work hard before the second leg," the Zamalek tactician concluded.

London Marathon wheelchair crash leaves Tiki Gelana and other athletes raging at organisers

  • London Marathon wheelchair crash leaves athletes raging at organisers 
  • Marathon competitors say their warnings were ignored
Athletes attacked the London Marathon race organisers after a dangerous clash occurred between the men's wheelchair racers and the elite women's field at a drinks station around the 15km mark. The Olympic champion, Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia, was effectively taken out of the race as she ran to grab a drink, seemingly unaware that the men's racers were coming through.
Despite an arrangement that organisers say has stood for years, Gelana seemed oblivious as she ran across the path of the racers going at 20mph, and into Josh Cassidy whose chair careered into the side of the drinks table, the Canadian slamming the table in anger and frustration.
To her credit, Gelana got to her feet and continued running but the damage had already been done and, as with Cassidy, the 25-year-old ultimately never recovered.
A furious Cassidy, who finished in 20th place, blasted the race organisers. "It's something I have mentioned before. I don't know who's responsible but every year we come to overtake the women, there's 10 chairs going at 20mph and the poor women are scrambling to find their feet."
The 2010 London winner suffered scrapes and bruises but was more concerned about the damage done to his wheelchair. "I have a brand new $2,000 pair of wheels that are damaged, who's going to pay for them? Things have to change.
"The safest thing would be to have the chairs start first because one of these years a woman is going to have a leg broken, a career ruined. It's just not worth having this programme if the races are going to suffer."

London Marathon 2013: Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia wins men's race for the second the time, after victory in 2010

If Mo Farah’s purpose in running the first half of the Virgin London Marathon was to advance his road-running education, then the double Olympic champion was given an object lesson by Tsegaye Kebede on Sunday.
Winning feeling: Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede celebrates after winning the men's race at the London Marathon 2013

 A little over an hour after Farah dropped out as planned just after crossing Tower Bridge, the diminutive Ethiopian was celebrating his second London title in The Mall, having timed his race to perfection to triumph in 2 hr 06  min 04 sec.
Four miles before the finish, Kebede had been fifth and almost a minute behind the leader but slowly he reeled in his opponents before overtaking Kenya’s Emmanuel Mutai with just 800 metres to go.
It was a textbook example of how to remain patient and conserve energy until the business end of a marathon – one of the key skills Farah admits he has to learn as he prepares to make his debut over the full 26.2-mile distance in London in a year’s time.


Friday, April 19, 2013

Egypt worried over potential negative impact of Ethiopian Dam

A report on the effects of the Ethiopian mega dam on Egypt’s water safety is to be issued late May, government official says
An Egyptian government official said a technical report on the impact of the new Ethiopian mega dam, currently under construction, will reveal the need for Addis Ababa to attend to safety and environmental concerns at the construction process.
The report will also reveal concerns of potential negative influence on Egypt’s share of the Nile Water "depending on the mechanism and time of water storage behind the dam," the government official added.
The report will be issued at the end of the 6th session of a joint Egyptian-Sudanese-Ethiopian technical committee in late May. The committee has been meeting for almost two years to examine the plan of construction for the Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopia had started building with the intention of storing 84 billion cubic meters of water. The water stored will then generate electricity sufficient for its advanced use and for exports to neighbouring countries, not excluding Egypt.

Oil Exploration Being Stepped Up In Ethiopia, Says Mines Minister

ADDIS ABABA, April 18 (BERNAMA-NNN-ENA) -- Ethiopian Mines Minister Sinknesh Ejjigu says petroleum exploration activities will be stepped up across the country.

In an exclusive interview with the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) here Wednesday, she said large international oil companies were engaged in strengthened petroleum exploration activities across the nation.

Seven large international companies were exploring for oil in Ogaden, Abay basin, Gambella and Omo basin areas, the minister said, adding that one of them, Tullow Oil plc, had already recorded hydrocarbon indications along the Omo basin.

BEZUNESH BEKELE Last show in LA 1990 6 weeks before her Death


The Word on Women - A second chance for Ethiopia’s child brides

A young Ethiopian wife with a baby on her back. Photo: David Snyder/ICRW
By Jeff Edmeades
 Once again, I have just returned to my home base in Washington, DC after spending several weeks in Ethiopia’s deeply poor, yet breathtaking, Amhara region. And once again – as is always the case – I was inspired by the sheer enthusiasm and thirst for opportunity among an often forgotten group: child brides.
 Amhara has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with around three quarters of women aged 20 to 24 marrying before their 18th birthday. Over the past three years, I’ve been involved in an innovative project run by the aid agency CARE that is aiming to give these girls and young women who were married too young – some in their very early teenage years – a second lease on life. Their experiences of marriage are often quite similar, typically involving arranged unions either preceded or accompanied by school dropout.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Ethiopian asylum seeker Dereje Tessema: 'Don't let me die over a fax error'


Bianca Hall is immigration correspondent

Bianca Hall
Bianca Hall
An errant fax could be the difference between life and death, Ethiopian asylum seeker Dereje Tessema says.
Mr Tessema was a high-ranking government official in Ethiopia before defecting and moving to Melbourne in 2011, where he claimed asylum.
But he faces forcible deportation in as little as two weeks, after an administrative bungle meant his appeal to the Refugee Review Tribunal was not sent.
Asked what would happen if he returned, Mr Tessema's voice shook: ''The minister has to listen. I will be tortured. I will be killed.''

Haile’s 40th birthday surprise & his tribute to Boston Marathon

18 April 2013 - Haile Gebreselassie celebrated his 40th birthday this morning in his office. He was surprised by Derartu Tulu (the first black African woman Olympic gold medalist at the Barcelona Olympic in 1992), Worku Bikila (former Ethiopian athlete who has paced Haile on a number of races and his best man), Million Wolde (Sydney Olympic Gold Medalist) and the Great Ethiopian Run team.
Haile and his colleagues paid tribute to Boston Marathon victims. Haile said “our thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by these tragic events especially everyone in Boston and families from around the world who have family members taking part in the race”. Tulu on her part said “I made my debut marathon in 1997 at the Boston Marathon and had special place for the oldest marathon in the world. I was deeply shocked and saddened by what has happened at the Boston Marathon and my thoughts are with victims and families“

Ethiopian Airlines readies grounded 787 for flight

Ethiopian Airlines readies grounded 787 to resume flights; waiting for FAA green light

 
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- The chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines says it is seeking approval from America's Federal Aviation Administration and from Boeing to put its grounded Boeing 787s back into service.
Ethiopian Airlines chief executive officer Tewolde Gebremariam told The Associated Press that the company expects FAA approval within a few days.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliners has been grounded since January because of a risk of fire from the plane's lithium batteries.
United Airlines earlier this month put its grounded Boeing 787s back in its flight schedule. United has a 787 scheduled to fly starting May 31.
Boeing Co. has proposed a fix for the 787's batteries, but it needs approval from the FAA.

Africa Oil adds Dingley to Ethiopia, Somalia positions

Africa Oil Corp., Vancouver, BC, said that Mark Dingley will join the company on May 1 as president of Africa Oil Ethiopia BV and chief operating officer of Horn Petroleum Corp.
Africa Oil holds an approximate 45% equity interest in Horn and provides the management of the business. Dingley will be based in company’s Addis Ababa office.
Dingley has 14 years of oil industry experience including 12 years with Talisman Energy Inc., where he was vice-president, Middle East operations, and general manager, Peru; manager, corporate security and surface risk; manager, government affairs; and deputy general manager, Sudan.
Africa Oil said it expects the addition of Dingley to be of great benefit as it commences operations in Ethiopia and moves to conduct further operations in Somalia through Horn.
http://www.ogj.com

Somalia: Telecom Growth Rate, in a Lawless Country, is Three Times Greater Than Ethiopia

SomCable drags the EASSy Submarine cable from Djibouti to Somalia. The cable connects Somalia (Berbera, Mogadishu), Djibouti, Kenya to South Africa and Europe. It also has landing points in Sudan (port Sudan)
The use of Skype and Google talk are limited and tightly monitored in Ethiopia.
Ethio Telecom, formerly the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) is the sole Government controlled telecom.
In contrast, Somalia offers some of the most technologically advanced and competitively priced telecommunications and internet services in the world.
Somalia telecoms offer many services that are not even available throughout the continent. Customers can conduct money transfers (such as through the popular Dahabshiil) and other banking activities via mobile phones, as well as easily gain wireless Internet access.There are over 20 telecom companies in Somalia and they offer the cheapest and clearest phone calls in Africa. There are presently around 25 mainlines per 1,000 persons, and the local availability of telephone lines (tele-density) is higher than in neighboring countries; three times greater than in adjacent Ethiopia.
As of 2012, Somalia has around 186 internet hosts. There were about 106,000 online users in the country in 2009.

Food Ready-to-eat Ethiopian or a Big Mac? It's a no brainer

Diaspora entrepreneurs have taken Ethiopian food to stores and pop-up restaurants in the US

Americans are already familiar with Yirgacheffe and Sidama – these Ethiopian coffees are now common in outlets from boutique cafés to Starbucks.
Now young entrepreneur Hiyaw Gebreyohannes has brought Ethiopian food to their dining tables.
His company, Taste of Ethiopia, produces and packages Ethiopian dishes and sells them to supermarkets in New York, including organic foodstore Whole Foods Market.
Gebreyohannes hopes to promote healthy eating through his products.
"The appeal of Ethiopian food is that it can accommodate people with dietary restrictions, meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans alike," he says.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Suffering of Ethiopian Refugees documentary

                   

Solomon Deressa – Poet, Screenwriter and Essayist

Solomon Deressa was born in the highlands of Western Ethiopia (Wollagga) during the Italo-Ethiopian war that covered the years 1935—1941. He missed being born in the then muddy little village that was Addis Ababa by 1.4142… years and was born in the much littler hamlet of the more magical name of Chutta. Addis Ababa means New Flower. Good luck. Solomon claims, “Since plastic flowers were, alas! not yet available, and Monet’s Water Lilies were not yet painted, and if they had been, were not yet known to Abyssinians, the name of the Ethiopian capital, owed and still owes, its double-barreled ostentation more to arrogance than to the almost non-existent Ethiopian’s predilection for euphony or proclivity for descriptive accuracy.” Solomon says that the fore-going statement applies only to Ethiopian poetry. As proof of the accuracy of his claim, he challenges you to pick up the CD Gigi and listen. If you understand Amharic, Gigi will blow your mind. Solomon is a contentious 75 years old who stays out of trouble by keeping humans and territorial dogs at a distance. He has a hard time taking the poems he writes seriously. Anyway, his secret ambition was to participate in the creation of an Ethiopian media (at the time radio and television) that would be worthy of any worthy nation that speaks dozens of language, not to write poems. He took refuge in America when he realized that his Marxist age-mates and the military could not be trusted farther than he could then toss a shot-put. 38 years later, he still feels certain that he made the right decision. There is a river that flows into a large body of seeming water that esoteric geographers call Anguish. Solomon thinks that the littleboat, the land of his birth, aka Ethiopia/Eritrea, has been and still is blithely riding the high waves to Anguish. He does not like reading poetry; he enjoys being read to because it tends to douse anguish.

Africa's economic boom: Five countries to watch


Soccer players practice under the skyline of Gaborone, Botswana. The nation has seen a boom in construction fueled by diamond wealth and foreign investment.

South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, and Ethiopia all have economies that are growing at a brisk pace. But their future depends on how they invest that money, writes Matthew Hawkins.

 As competition for raw resources heats up globally, economic and political elites in the West are turning to Africa for quick and generous capital gains and for the promotion of British and American geostrategic interests.
This is not the first time that these elites have been optimistic about Africa – about a decade and a half ago “Africa experts” boosted new “progressive-minded” leaders, who were said to represent political reform, more grassroots participation in government, more transparent economic policies, and an end to tribal favoritism and conflicts.
Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia, Isaias Afewerki in Eritrea, Yoweri Museveni in Uganda, and Paul Kagame in Rwanda were symbols of this new leadership. It didn’t take long, however, before more tribal conflicts followed and persistent charges of corruption seemed to dash hopes for economic reform.
The problems facing Africa were compounded by the way HIV ravaged the continent, cutting down many men and women in the prime of their lives. Much of the media in the West questioned whether or not Africa would ever be able to recover.
By 2000 the Economist described Africa on its cover as being “The Hopeless Continent."
That was then.
Now, coverage of Africa promises a bright new future while noting that there are still a number of difficulties that African nations have to overcome. Population projections show that in the next 25 years Africa will more than recover its population losses from the '80s and '90s. At the same time, investment companies see Africa as having some of the world’s most promising opportunities for sharp economic growth.

ከየመን የተመለሱ በርካታ ስደተኞች ወደቀዬአቸው መመለሻ አጥተው ተቸግረዋል

-    ሰሞኑን ከሦስት ሺሕ በላይ ስደተኞች ይመለሳሉ

ማክሰኞ ማለዳ ከየመን ዋና ከተማ ሰንዓ አዲስ አበባ የገቡ 318 ስደተኞች፣ ወደየመጡባቸው አካባቢዎች የሚመለሱበት ገንዘብ በማጣታቸው ችግር ውስጥ መውደቃቸውን ገለጹ፡፡ መንግሥት እንዲረዳቸው ተማጽነዋል፡፡
አብዛኞቹ ስደተኞች ከሁለት ወራት በላይ በየመን ሲቆዩ ምንም ዓይነት ሥራና ገቢ ባለማግኘታቸው፣ ለእንግልት ተዳርገው እንደነበር ገልጸዋል፡፡ በርካቶቹም በሰንዓ በኩል ሳዑዲ ዓረቢያ ለመግባት አቅደው የወጡ መሆናቸው ታውቋል፡፡ በሕገወጥ መንገድ ሲወጡም ለሚያጓጉዟቸው ሕገወጦች እስከ 8,000 ሺሕ ብር መክፈላቸውን ይናገራሉ፡፡

የልጃቸውን እናት በሽጉጥ መግደላቸው የተረጋገጠባቸው የፖሊስ ኮማንደር በፅኑ እሥራት ተቀጡ



-    ቤተሰቦቿ ቅጣቱ አንሷል በሚል ቅሬታቸውን እየገለጹ ነው

የፌዴራል ዓቃቤ ሕግ ሐምሌ 22 ቀን 2003 ዓ.ም. ዮዲት አሰፋ የተባለች የልጁን እናት ግራ ጎኗ ላይ በሽጉጥ በመምታት ገድሏል በማለት በከባድ ሰው መግደል ወንጀል ክስ የመሠረተባቸው የአዲስ አበባ ፖሊስ ኮሚሽን ባልደረባ ኮማንደር ግርማ ሞገስ፣ ጥፋተኛ መሆናቸው በማስረጃ በመረጋገጡ ሚያዝያ 7 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም. በ18 ዓመታት ፅኑ እሥራት እንዲቀጡ በፍርድ ቤት ተወሰነባቸው፡፡
ቅጣቱን የወሰነው የፌዴራል ከፍተኛ ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ ሦስተኛ የወንጀል ችሎት ሲሆን፣ የቅጣት ውሳኔውንም ያስተላለፈው በልዩነት በአብላጫ ድምፅ ነው፡፡ ሦስት ዳኞች የሚሰየሙበት የልደታ ምድብ የሦስተኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ውሳኔ የተለያየው፣ ዓቃቤ ሕግ ያቀረባቸው ስድስት የሰው ምስክሮችና የሰነድ ማስረጃዎችን የኮማንደር ግርማ መከላከያ ምስክሮች ማስተባበል ባለመቻላቸው፣ የጥፋተኝነት ፍርድ ሲሰጥ በተጠቀሰው የወንጀል ሕግ ሥነ ሥርዓት ቁጥር ነው፡፡

Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu wins 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize


Imprisoned Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu is the winner of the 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. Ms Alemu was recommended by an independent international jury of media professionals in recognition of her “exceptional courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression.”

The Jury took note of Reeyot Alemu’s contribution to numerous and independent publications. She wrote critically about political and social issues, focusing on the root causes of poverty, and gender equality. She worked for several independent media. In 2010 she founded her own publishing house and a monthly magazine called Change, both of which were subsequently closed. In June 2011, while working as a regular columnist for Feteh, a national weekly newspaper, Ms Alemu was arrested. She is currently serving a five year  sentence in Kality prison.
The UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was created in 1997 by UNESCO’s Executive Board. It is awarded annually during the celebration of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, which will take place this year in Costa Rica.
The Prize honours the work of an individual or an organization which has made a notable contribution to the defence and /or promotion of freedom of expression anywhere in the world, especially if risks have been involved. Candidates are proposed by UNESCO Member States, and regional or international organizations active in the fields of journalism and freedom of expression. Laureates are chosen by a jury whose members are appointed for a once renewable three-year term by the Director-General of UNESCO.
www.unesco.org

Ethiopian Maid jailed for dumping newborn baby in deserted house

A maid who abandoned her newborn in a deserted house in the UAE has been jailed for a year.

Dibba Criminal Court handed down the sentence to the Ethiopian woman after finding her guilty of an illegal affair and endangering the life of her baby boy. She had left the child in an empty building near her employer’s home in Dibba Al Hisn. The child survived for four days before being found by the brother of the maid’s Emirati boss.
Prosecutors said the infant boy was the product of the woman’s illicit relationship with an Arab man. Her lover was sentenced to six months in jail for having an illegal affair. Investig
ations revealed that the woman abandoned the child immediately after she gave birth.
Dibba Al Hisn Police said the brother found the child after hearing the boy’s cries, and he called police.
Prosecutors told the court the boy was in a bad condition when found due to being exposed to cold weather and having not been fed for days.
The maid admitted in court that she delivered the baby boy by herself. She said she had abandoned the newborn because she feared what happen to her as she got pregnant through an illegal affair.
She admitted that she had left him to die.
http://www.7daysindubai.com

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Introducing the potential new petro-state of Ethiopia

Big changes for Addis Ababa. AP Photo/Elias Asmare
 
Tullow Oil, the UK company responsible for some of the biggest recent frontier petroleum discoveries in Africa and South America, may have broken open yet another new petro-state. It is Ethiopia, a long-troubled, largely agricultural nation that imports all its oil and gas.
The company announced today that it found hydrocarbons in the south of the country in a much-discussed geological formation that extends into Kenya and Uganda. Estimates are that the entire formation may hold 10 billion oil-equivalent barrels (one billion barrels is called a super-giant).
The next tasks are to figure out whether the Ethiopian basin–called South Omo—contains mostly oil or gas, and whether it is extractable in commercial volumes. At the moment at least, oil is worth much more. In the same announcement, Tullow said it also has “very encouraging” new results at a well called Ngamia further south in Kenya.
The find—if it proves to be commercial oil—could be pivotal as it would demonstrate an entirely new petroleum basin. Already East Africa is the biggest frontier oil play in the world, stretching from Mozambique to Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and now possibly Ethiopia. Somalia is also being explored.
http://qz.com

Ethiopia's Desisa, Kenya's Jeptoo win Boston Marathon

Rita Jeptoo of of Kenya (L) winner of the women's division and Lelisa Desisa Benti of Ethiopia, winner of the men's division, pose for photos during post-race activities of the 117th Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Getty Images
A strong kick won the Boston Marathon for Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa.
Bunched up with two competitors with a mile left, Desisa pulled away in the last few blocks, winning the men's division Monday with a time of 2:10:22.
Kenya's Micah Kogo (2:10:27) and Ethiopia's Gebregziabher Gebremariam (2:10:28) finished second and third. American Jason Hartmann, of Colorado, finished fourth (2:12:12).
In the women's division, Kenya's Rita Jeptoo held off last year's champion to win her second Boston Marathon in seven years with a time of 2:26:25.
Last year's winner, Sharon Cherop of Kenya, finished third (2:27:01) behind Meseret Hailu of Ethiopia (2:26:58).
American Shalane Flanagan, of Oregon, finished fourth (2:27:08).




http://news.blogs.cnn.com

Monday, April 15, 2013

How Ethiopia is combating deforestation - video

Tsegaye Tadesse, programme manager with Farm Africa, describes how Ethiopia is combating deforestation through linking up governments with the communities dependent on the country's forests. After a successful pilot, under which forest cover increased by 9.2% between 2003-12, according to Tadesse, Farm Africa hopes the scheme can be rolled out to other parts of Ethiopia and tap into climate finance such as Redd+ to expand reforestation


http://www.guardian.co.uk

Tilahun Regassa of Ethiopia wins Rotterdam Marathon ahead of teammate Getu Feleke

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Tilahun Regassa led an Ethiopian 1-2 finish at the Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday, breaking away with 3 miles left.
He won the title in just his second marathon, finishing in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 38 seconds. That was 11 seconds slower than his personal best set in Chicago last year.
Regassa ran away from a leading pack of four runners around the 20-mile mark and finished blowing kisses to the crowd down the final straight in this port city. Regassa’s countryman Getu Feleke was second for the second straight year in 2:06.45. Sammy Kitwara of Kenya finished third in 2:07.22.
Jemima Jelagat of Kenya won the women’s race in 2:23.27.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Kenenisa Bekele sparkles with 27:49 10km in Dublin

Kenenisa Bekele clocking  the fastest 10 kilometres time in the world so far this year blew away Europe's top distance runners to win the SPAR Great Ireland Run by a huge margin in Dublin on Sunday (15).

The SPAR Great Ireland Run is an IAAF Silver Label Road Race.

Bekele who has struggled with injuries over the last two years and after a lowly 11th finish at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country in January, today over a tough course in Phoenix Park answered any question that his career was in decline.

With a whirlwind performance he flew to the first sub 28 minutes performance ever witnessed on Irish soil in a time of 27:49.
                                               
The awesome display by the 29-year-old Ethiopian saw him finish almost a minute ahead of Ayad Lamdassam of Spain who clocked 28:48 with Italy's Daniele Meucci hot on the heels of runners-up spot only a second behind.  

Bekele whose last visit to Ireland 10 years ago saw him score an IAAF World Cross Country long and short course double, brushed away his rivals with a devastating display of front running which crushed their ambitions after only three kilometres.

Tullow Falls After Delaying Oil Well in Ethiopia for Two Months

Tullow Oil Plc (TLW), the U.K. explorer searching for Ethiopia’s first crude, fell to a four-month low in London trading after delaying the Sabisa well.
The shares slumped as much as 4.9 percent to 1,103 pence, the lowest intraday price since Dec. 12, and traded at 1,104 pence as of 9:26 a.m. local time.
“Hole instability issues have required the drilling of a sidetrack,” or secondary wellbore, the London-based company said today in a statement. “The sidetrack recently commenced and a result is now expected in late May,” rather than in March as previously planned.
Tullow’s partner in the project, Africa Oil Corp. (AOI), fell 5 percent in Toronto on April 12 after shareholder Lukas Lundin said drilling had been set back by technical difficulties. The exploration group, which also includes Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO), has drilled Sabisa in western Ethiopia to 1,810 meters (5,940 feet) and found evidence of hydrocarbons in sands, Tullow said today.
Separately, the company said its Ngamia-1 well in Kenya flowed 281 barrels of oil a day during tests. Tullow and Africa Oil announced Kenya’s first oil discovery at Ngamia-1 in the Turkana region in March last year.
http://www.bloomberg.com