The Athlete: One Story Among Many

The Athlete is a remarkable Ethiopian film that challenges Western portrayals of Africa as a lost continent.

At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Abebe Bikila, an athlete dismissed by commentators as an “unknown Ethiopian”, became the first black African to win an Olympic gold medal. His victory caused a palpable shock in the international community - at the time newspapers declared that “it took an entire Italian army to conquer Ethiopia, but only one Ethiopian soldier to conquer Rome”. In Tokyo 1964, Bikila became the first man ever to win two Olympic marathons, amazingly winning the first while running barefoot - an achievement that lives on in footwear technology. Rasselas Lakew and Davey Frankel’s award winning film The Athlete, showcased recently at Film Africa 2011 in London, charts Bikila's from shepherd boy to Olympic champion.

Africa’s many stories

Ethiopia sanctioned for fielding ineligible player-FIFA

FIFA can confirm that the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) has been sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player in the preliminary competition match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ between Botswana and Ethiopia played on 8 June 2013.

The match is declared to be forfeited and awarded 3-0 in favour of Botswana, with the EFF also receiving a fine of CHF 6,000 after the FIFA Disciplinary Committee considered the EFF liable for having breached art. 55 par. 1 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and art. 8 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Regulations.

The sanction relates to the Ethiopian player Minyahile Teshome Beyene failing to serve the automatic one-match suspension imposed on him following two cautions received in two different matches (art. 17 par. 3 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code).
http://www.fifa.com

The amazing 900-year-old churches of Ethiopia's 'New Jerusalem' built into solid rock

•      The 11 churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia were commissioned in the 12th Century when travel to the Hold Land became dangerous

•     Built on stretches of volcanic tuff, workers carved down into the ground to form the churches inside and out

•     In 1978 the churches became a UNESCO World Heritage site

By Ashley Collman
Peter may have built his church upon a rock, but the ruling king in 12th century Ethiopia decided to build his churches into the rocks themselves.

During his reign 900 years ago, King Lalibela commissioned the building of a set of churches to form a 'New Jerusalem.'

All 11 churches are still standing today in a rural Northern Ethiopian town named after the same King.

What's so unique about these structures though is that they were carved into a solid piece of rock. The inside and outside of the churches were built into the ground on stretches of volcanic tuff rock. Workers would start at the top and carve down creating the roof and walls of the church.Then they would hollow it out to create the interior structure.

Out of stone: Bete Giyorgis, one of the 11 rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, Ehtiopia during the celebration of the Epiphany - the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River

The new Holy Land: King Lalibela created the 11 churches as the 'New Jerusalem' - an alternate pilgrimage site to the Holy Land for Coptic Christians

Legendary: One folk tale says that men worked all day to build the churches, and that angels would relieve them at night and get twice as much work done

Ethiopia’s Nile dam cuts Sudan’s expenditure on siltation

June 29, 2013 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD) which is being built on the Blue Nile river will enable neighbouring Sudan to save millions of dollars a year in clearing sedimentation, Ethiopian scholars and researchers have said.
In a high-level symposium held on Friday at Addis Ababa University researchers said Ethiopia’s massive dam, which is just 30km from the Sudanese border, will highly reduce the quantity of silt that accumulates in Sudan, enabling Khartoum to save annually up to $20 million.
Yilma Seleshi a representative from the Ethiopian Water Resource Institute said that the dam will also reduce the frequent floods that affect people and infrastructure on the banks of the Blue Nile.
Khartoum, Sudan’s capital is where the Blue Nile meets the longer but slower moving White Nile that has travelled north through Uganda and South Sudan.

Hailu Mergia: A beloved Ethiopian musician of a generation ago now stays quiet in D.C.­­

 He’s carried his music around the planet, but if you want to hear him play it, you have to go to his house.
In his living room, there’s an upright piano where he coaches his fingertips through jazz standards for 30 minutes each day.­

In his dining room, there are framed photographs where he’s sporting bell-bottoms and broad smiles alongside his seven bandmates in Ethiopia’s beloved Walias Band.
And in his garage, there’s a graphite gray Washington Flyer taxi cab where he spends his workweek dashing to and from Dulles International Airport — if his passengers happen to be from Ethiopia­­, the ID hanging from the cab’s sun visor might catch their eye.
“Hailu Mergia the musician?” they ask, pivoting from delight to disbelief.

“Some of them say, ‘I grew up listening to your music! . . . How come you drive taxi?’ ” Mergia says on a recent Saturday afternoon. “I tell them, ‘This is what I do. I am perfectly happy.’”
But with Mergia’s 1985 solo album, “Hailu Mergia & His Classical Instrument,”
being re-released this month, the 67-year-old has been wondering how it might feel to play music outside of the Fort Washington home he shares with his wife.
“Of course, I want to go back to [performing], but it depends how,” says Mergia, who hasn’t stepped on a stage since the early ’90s. “If you ask me to play organ in a restaurant by myself, I’m not going to do it . . . . I grew up in a group.”

DCTV Honors Tsedey Aragie: ‘New Producer of the Year’

New York (TADIAS) – Tsedey Aragie, Tadias Magazine’s video reporter since 2010, has been honored by DCTV with the “Best at Viewers’ Choice” award for her TV program on the local public access channel highlighting health and lifestyle topics affecting residents of Washington, D.C.
Tsedey received the “New Producer of the Year and Innovative Program of the Year for creativity, production quality and audience impact” awards at a ceremony held in the District for her show entitled The 30-Day Health Challenge.
“I am very humbled by the awards,” said Tsedey, who shared the stage on June 22nd at the DCTV Viewers’ Choice Awards gala with other winners including Denise Rolark Barnes, Publisher of The Washington Informer, whose publication was recognized in Sports category for an interview marking the resurgence of boxing in the District of Columbia.

የአስካሉካን ትሬዲንግ ባለቤት 6 አመት ከ6 ወር እስራት ተፈረደባቸው

በደቡብ አፍሪካ ተካሂዶ በነበረው የ2010 የአለም ዋንጫ ወደ ደቡብ አፍሪካ መግባት የሚያስችል የ10ሺህ ሰዎችን ቪዛ ልሰጣችሁ እችላለሁ በሚል 1200 ከሚደርሱ ዜጉች ከ25-37ሺህ ብር በነፍስ ወከፍ በመቀበል አጭበርብረዋል ባላቸው የአስካሉካን ትሬዲንግ ባለቤት አቶ ግርማዬ ገ/ሚካኤል ላይ ፍርድ ቤት የ6 አመት ከ6 ወር ጽኑ እስራት እና የ8ሺ ብር የገንዘብ መቀጮ እንዲቀጡ ባለፈው ማክሰኞ ውሳኔ አስተላለፈ፡፡

አቃቤ ህግ በተከሳሹ ላይ ካቀረባቸው ስምንት ክሶች መካከል ፍርድ ቤቱ ጥፋተኛ ያላቸው በሰባት ክሶች ሲሆን ከህዳር 7 እስከ ግንቦት 2002 ድረስ ባለው ጊዜ ውስጥ ግለሰቡ ያልተገባ ጥቅም ለማግኘት ከ25ሺህ እስከ 37ሺህ ብር ከመውሰዳቸውም በተጨማሪ የተሳሳተ መረጃ በመስጠት ዜጐች እንዲጉላሉ በማድረግ እና የንግድ ፍቃዳቸው የአስመጪነትና ላኪነት ሆኖ ሳለ ባልተፈቀደላቸው የስራ መስክ ተሰማርተው ወንጀል በመፈፀም ከሀገር ለመኮብለል ሞክረዋል ሲል ክሱን አጠናክሮ አቅርቧል፡፡