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Listen to a mix by Ethiopia's most exciting producer

Weaving post-dubstep with local influences, Endeguena Mulu is driving forward the modern sound of east Africa
Ethopia is not somewhere you'd traditionally associate with electronica. The country located in the Horn of Africa is recognised more for its azmaris and jazz groups rather than Ableton and MPCs, but a new wave of young producers armed with little gear and a lot of ideas are redefining Addis Ababa's underground scene, sampling the street musicians that are ubiquitous in the cities of Ethiopia and combining that traditional sound with British-influenced programming and approaches to beatmaking.

One of those producers is Endeguena Mulu, who releases music under the name Ethiopian Records. His EP, released at the end of last year, references the music of his home country – all wooden clacks and stolen street performer vocals – underpinned with beautiful piano and synth pad chords. The result is something that sounds indebted to British "post-dubstep" but similarly sounds lifted straight from the streets of Northeast Africa.
We caught up with Mulu to talk about living in Addis Ababa, his inspirational late father and sampling his own live jazz sessions. Listen to his "The Sound That We Need" mix below, featuring a selection of his unreleased tracks and his picks of local talent.

How long did it take you to make your EP Qen Sew?

Endeguena Mulu: Technically about a year or so, but some of the elements I use in there I have been developing for much longer.

You dedicated it to your father, why?

Somalia's al-Shabab kills 'CIA and Ethiopian spies'

Somalia's militant Islamist group al-Shabab has killed by firing squad four men accused of spying for the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

The men, who included two government soldiers, were shot in front of a large crowd in the southern town of Bardhere, witnesses said.

A court run by al-Shabab had earlier convicted them of spying for the CIA, Ethiopia and the Somali government.

US air strikes have killed two senior al-Shabab commanders in recent months.

'Blindfolded'

"One of the spies worked with the CIA and facilitated the killing of an al-Shabab commander," a judge in the al-Shabab-run court said.

"Tsehai Loves Learning" Speaks to Young Readers in Ethiopia

Amharic, the official language in Ethiopia, has a 231-letter alphabet, making it one of the most difficult languages to read and write. The east African country has a population approaching 90 million and has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. Amharic is a second language for many children in the country whose first language may be Afaan Oromo, Tigrigna, Af-Somali, Hadiyyisa, Wolayttatto or Sidamo Afoo—just to name a few. While the Ministry of Education does mandate teaching children in up to 22  mother tongues in early grades, most schools have no access to learning materials such as children’s story books in their local languages, workbooks or classroom posters.
However, efforts to increase literacy rates for Ethiopia’s primary school children are starting to gain momentum. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, USAID is helping develop new instructional materials and train teachers as well. Now, more children are learning to read in their mother tongue.

Complementing this effort is the All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development competition sponsored by USAID, World Vision and the Australian Government to spur innovation in education using science and technology to improve reading for children in the early grades. One grant winner is an Ethiopian organization promoting early childhood development and engaging children to read in pre-school and primary grades with the help of computer animation, puppetry, television and radio broadcasting—and a talking giraffe named Tsehai.

Court Adjourns Ethiopian Bloggers’ Trial for 15th Time

ADDIS ABABA—The trial of Ethiopian bloggers known as Zone 9 was adjourned yet again Monday after prosecutors failed to amend terrorism charges as ordered by the court. The development raises the likelihood that some charges against the young bloggers and journalists may be dropped.

The six members of the Zone 9 blogging collective and three affiliated journalists were imprisoned in April, accused of using social media to incite violence in Ethiopia. They were charged under Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law in July. This was the 15th adjournment of their trial, now due to resume January 14.

Ameha Mekonnen, the attorney for eight of the nine defendants, said “this is the last chance” for the prosecution to amend charges. If that’s not done by the next hearing, he said, the judges will exclude them. One is related to digital training allegedly received by the journalists.

Former Kenyan PM’s son found dead, leaves behind Eritrean wife and child

Fidel Odinga Weds His Eritrean Girlfriend in Nairobi

Fidel Odinga, son of former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has been  found dead in his Nairobi home in unclear circumstances.

Kenyan police is investigating the cause of death of the young businessman and politician.

According to preliminary findings, Odinga had been out Saturday night before he was found dead on Sunday morning.

The 39- year-old was married to Lwam Getachew from Eritrea, whom he wed in 2012 at the Othodox church in Nairobi after filing for divorce from his former wife Veronica Wanjiru.

The wedding was attended by 500 guests including dignitaries and politicians among them Lands Minister James Orengo, Betty Murungi as well as the Eritrea’s Ambassador to Kenya, Beyene Russom.

Odinga and his Eritrean wife appeared for the first time together in public during a polo tournament at the Nairobi Jockey Club in September 2014.

Kenyan reports claim that he was keen to protect his Eritrean wife and their one- year-old son from public attention and Paparazzi.

Dibaba successfully defends her Xiamen title as both course records fall

Mare Dibaba winning at the Xiamen International Marathon (Organisers) © Copyright

(IAAF)
Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba won the Xiamen Marathon for the second year in succession, taking more than one-and-a-half minutes off the course record she set last year at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race, winning in 2:19:52 on Saturday (3).
For the first time since the inaugural Xiamen Marathon in 2003, both course records were broken as Kenya’s Moses Mosop set a Chinese all-comers’ record of 2:06:19 to win the men’s race.
When Dibaba won in Xiamen last year, she took 61 seconds off the course record and crossed the line five minutes ahead of her nearest rival.
This time, her victory was even more emphatic.
By equalling her PB of 2:19:52, she covered the course one minute and 45 seconds quicker than she did last year, finishing almost eight minutes ahead of Meseret Legesse, who once again finished second to Dibaba for the second year running.
Dibaba built up a significant lead in the early stages of the race and maintained it all the way to the finish.
“I could have run faster but I felt a little bit pain in my legs in the last 10km which forced me to slow down,” said the 25-year-old who finished third in Boston and second in Chicago last year. “But I am happy with the result.”
Legesse was about a minute slower than last year, finishing second in 2:27:38. In third, Kenya’s Meriem Wangari set a PB of 2:27:53. It was the second time the 35-year-old had made it on to the podium in Xiamen, having finished second on her marathon debut in 2012.