Ethiopian fossil raises controversy
United Press International - July 11, 2007
The Ethiopian Community Organization in Houston is objecting to the upcoming display of the remains of a 3.2-million-year-old hominid from Ethiopia.
The group says the decision by the Houston Museum of Natural Science to deal with the Ethiopian government in arranging for the display of the fossil, nicknamed Lucy, is a politically insensitive and profit-driven move that could lead to it being damaged during transport, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.
"We have to be able to differentiate bad government and good government -- government that has engaged in massacre, illegal election fraud, imprisoning people," said Dula Abdu, one of the group's board members. "As an institution, it would have been unheard-of for them to do business with the Khmer Rouge or Hitler or Mussolini."
However, museum officials said their contact with the Ethiopian government is based on cultural exchange, not politics. They said their aim is to display artifacts for the public and the current political situation in Ethiopia is not a concern ...
| 15 |  16- Monday  08:00 Oromo Youth Leadership Conference 2007 | 19 - Thursday | 21 - Saturday 08:00 Oromo Soccer 2007 |
| 22 | 23 | 26 - Thursday 11:00 The 10,000 People March for Oromia 16:00 Oromo Jilboo American Game 16:30 Second Annual International Conference on Human Rights | 28 - Saturday 08:00 Oromo Studies Association Annual Conference |
| 29 - Sunday 08:00 Run for Oromia 10k & 5k Races | 30 | Visit | |
'Hundreds died' off Yemen coast
BBC Afrique, UK - July 10, 2007
At least 367 people have died and 118 are missing after trying to reach Yemen from the Horn of Africa so far this year, the UN refugee agency says.
Most of those who died were forced off the boats by smugglers, drowning in deep waters, said the UNHCR.
Some 8,600 smuggled people have nevertheless arrived in Yemen this year - a 30% fall since 2006.
People are fleeing poverty and unrest, mostly in Somalia or Ethiopia, to seek a better life in the Middle East ...
Ethiopia prosecutor requests death for 38 opposition members
Yahoo News - July 9, 2007
The prosecutor of Ethiopia's Federal High Court on Monday requested the death penalty for 38 opposition members accused of "plotting against the constitution".
"According to the country's penal code maximum punishment should be dealt to parties found guilty of plotting against the constitution," the court's top prosecutor Abraha Tetemke said.
The 38 are among more than 100 opposition figures put on trial by the state on charges of plotting a coup following disputed 2005 polls which the ruling party won but the opposition claims were rigged.
The group, convicted on June 11, had refused to be defended in court and admitted responsibility for the unrest that followed the controversial legislative elections.
"Since all the accused were found guilty of this charge, we call on the court to hand them the death penalty," Tetemke argued ...
Related News:
AI Calls on Ethiopia to Reject Death Sentences for 38 Defendants in Political Trial
Amnesty International - July 9, 2007
Study indicates Greeks and Oromos are genetically related
Online Journal on Macedonian History and Culture, July 2007
A 2001 study conducted by researchers at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, one of the oldest universities in the world and the top public university in Spain, shows that Oromos are closely related to three groups of Greeks, namely the Attica, Cyprus & Aegean, genetically. The genetic research was done on samples taken from 83, 98, 85, 96 & 101 Oromo, Amhara, Aegean Greek, Attica Greek & Cyprus Greek individuals, respectively.
The study indicates that Greeks are genetically more related to Oromos than any other Horn of African groups considered for the study. It also shows that the Oromo and Amhara groups are genetically very well related to each other. Furthermore, the time period when the relationships between Greeks and sub-Saharans might have occurred was ancient, but uncertain, and might have related to the displacement of Egyptian-Ethiopian people living in pharaonic Egypt.
Read the entire document here.
Eritrea drafts military recruits
Sunday Times, South Africa - July 6, 2007
Eritrea’s annual batch of conscripts have begun their compulsory military training, officials said yesterday, boosting what is already estimated to be the largest army in sub-Saharan Africa.
Teenagers from across the country have been sent to the Sawa Military Training Centre in western Eritrea to "fulfil their national obligation", a statement on the information ministry website said.
Eritreans stress the national service training is a long established tradition independent of current tension with arch-foe Ethiopia.
However, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi last week said Ethiopia had beefed up its army over concerns of a possible attack from Eritrea ...
Crackdown in Ethiopia condemned
BBC Afrique, UK - July 4, 2007
Ethiopia's government has been accused of forcing thousands of civilians from their homes in a campaign against separatist rebels in the south-east.
US-based Human Rights Watch says troops had burned homes, seized livestock and carried out arbitrary arrests.
The group also accused the rebels of targeting officials and clan leaders who failed to support its insurgency.
Security was stepped up in April in the remote Somalia region after a deadly rebel raid on a Chinese-run oil field.
UNHCR honors World Refugee Day
Yemen Observer, Yemen - June 26, 2007
Scores of refugees, especially Somalis, gathered on Wednesday at the Cultural Center in Sana’a to commemorate World Refugee Day and honor the refugee experience. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Sana’a conducted this celebration, the slogan of which was In Order Not to Forget the Refugees, in cooperation with the Interaction Development Foundation. The refugees thanked the efforts made by the UNHCR to improve the refugees’ conditions in Yemen, but they still asked the UNHCR to find solutions for the problems they face in Yemen.
According to the refugee representative’s statement, many male refugees are sitting jobless on the pavements, especially Somalis. This has forced Somali women to provide much of their families’ incomes. They are compelled to work at a number of jobs in order to meet their families’ basic needs. “My husband died, so there is not any other one else to be responsible for our expenses in this life. I worked a lot of jobs to support my family. I am now responsible for myself and my three children,” said Amnah Abdullah, 45, a Somali refugee who has lived in Yemen for 13 years. Others have similar struggles ...
Starbucks, Ethiopia reach trademark deal
ABCmoney.co.uk, UK - June 20, 2007
Starbucks Corp. and the Ethiopian government said Wednesday they will work together to promote three of the African nation's prized specialty coffees under a deal that supports the country's bid to win trademarks it believes will benefit farmers.
The world's largest coffeehouse chain and Ethiopia's intellectual property office said their licensing, distribution and marketing agreement acknowledges the country's ownership of three coffee names -- Yirgacheffe, Harar and Sidamo -- regardless of whether they are trademarked.
The deal will not reap Ethiopia any royalty payments, officials said ...
Maryam aims to be our golden girl
Gulf Weekly, Bahrain - June 20, 2007
Subah’s performance was heartbreaking while Maryam’s heartening with the World Athletics Championships around the corner.
I have not met Maryam, who is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, but her story has always inspired me, in the same way that Olympic champion sprinter Wilma Glodean Rudolph’s did.
For a refugee who fled Ethiopia to escape political oppression, Maryam has done remarkably well. Born Zenebech Tola in Arsi, the village that also gave world long distance champion Haile Gebreselassie to athletics, Maryam sought asylum with her husband and coach Tareq Yaqoob (former Mnashu Taye) in Switzerland in 2002, according to the IAAF’s official web site.
Belonging to the ethnic Oromo group, the single largest group in Ethiopia but sidelined in mainline politics, Maryam began running at a very late stage, and out of compulsion rather than choice: to reach school which was a good 15 miles away and across hilly terrain.
But her precocious talent was evident right from the beginning. She even met the qualifying standards for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, but the Ethiopian Athletics Federation denied her permission to represent her home country.
Disappointed and desperate, Maryam sought Swiss citizenship, and failed. She even signed multiple citizenship papers with four other countries – Canada, Turkey, France and Bahrain. Maryam finally chose Bahrain nationality in 2005 ...
Watch more than 50 music videos on 1 page @ gadaa.com/GadaaVideoPlaylist.html ...
** Update: Black Gold - the must-see documentary movie that exposes the outright unfairness of the world coffee market system to farmers in Oromia is now added to the Gadaa.com Video Playlist. Click here to watch.
** New video from Kilolee just got added to the Gadaa.com Video Playlist. Click here to watch.
Asafa Dibaba and his analysis of Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s National Oromo Poetry
American Chronicle, CA - June 18, 2007
In an earlier article entitled ‘Sociology of Oromo Literature and Asafa Dibaba, leading Oromo Intellectual’, we presented analytically the methodological tools the Oromo scholar used in his research focused on Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s poetry. We noticed a massive interest in the article, and due to the importance of the subject, we re-publish here another part of Mr. Dibaba’s book “Theorizing the present” that evolved out of the author’s MA thesis entitled "Towards a political sociology of Oromo Literature: Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s Poetry".
With his sociological analysis of Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s poetry, Asafa Dibaba opens new horizons in the Sociology of Oromo Literature, and we are convinced through his text the average non – specialized reader will get a pertinent insightful into the greatness of Modern Oromo poetry that has been so far unduly disregarded by European and American scholars ...
Asafa Dibaba and his analysis of Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s National Oromo Poetry
American Chronicle, CA - June 18, 2007
In an earlier article entitled ‘Sociology of Oromo Literature and Asafa Dibaba, leading Oromo Intellectual’, we presented analytically the methodological tools the Oromo scholar used in his research focused on Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s poetry. We noticed a massive interest in the article, and due to the importance of the subject, we re-publish here another part of Mr. Dibaba’s book “Theorizing the present” that evolved out of the author’s MA thesis entitled "Towards a political sociology of Oromo Literature: Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s Poetry".
With his sociological analysis of Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s poetry, Asafa Dibaba opens new horizons in the Sociology of Oromo Literature, and we are convinced through his text the average non – specialized reader will get a pertinent insightful into the greatness of Modern Oromo poetry that has been so far unduly disregarded by European and American scholars ...
AFD Statement on 'Manipulation of legal system and totalitarianism in Ethiopia'
ONLF - June 17, 2007
Over the last 16 years the Ethiopian people have suffered under the tyrannical rule of EPRDF. The gross violation of human rights, the absolute disregard for the rule of law, and the general absence of basic democratic practices, like the independence of the judicial system from direct interference by the executive, has been well documented by various human rights organizations. This sad state of affairs is also well known to western governments who, despite the lofty rhetoric of championing freedom and democracy, continue to bestow external legitimacy on a regime that has completely lost legitimacy at home. The situation has been steadily deteriorating since the botched May 2005 elections in which the overwhelming majority of the people voted out the ruling party. Against popular will it however continues to cling to power by sheer force.
The Alliance for Freedom & Democracy (AFD) strongly condemns the conviction of the leaders of the Coalition for Unity & Democracy (CUD) on trumped up charges. This politically motivated, sudden and unjust verdict by the kangaroo court is another indication of the totalitarian nature of the EPRDF/TPLF regime and a sign of desperation ...
Defar Breaks Women's 5000 World Record
ABC News - June 15, 2007
Meseret Defar of Ethiopia broke her own women's world record in the 5,000 meters Friday by finishing in 14 minutes, 16.63 seconds at the Bislett Games, the opening meet in the Golden League.
The 23-year-old set the previous mark of 14:24.53 in New York last year.
"Everything was perfect today," Defar said. "I knew I could break the record after two kilometers. The pacemaker was great, and it was not a problem to continue with the pace alone because I've trained hard in the past few weeks."
Defar and the other front-runners were below world record pace the entire race. At the 2,000 mark, the leaders were five seconds faster, and at 3,000 more than seven seconds inside.
"I did not expect it could be so good," she said. "It's all due to my hard training and my health is great. I think I can even improve my time."
Defar's world record was the 53rd set at Bislett Stadium since 1924, and the first since the venue was rebuilt three years ago ...
'Lost' towns shed light on Islamic past
Independent Online, South Africa - June 15, 2007
The discovery of three old Muslim towns in Ethiopia has put a question mark on the history of a nation which prides itself on its overwhelmingly Christian heritage dating back to Biblical times.
The first known civilisation in Ethiopia was that of the mighty Aksumite kingdom which was established in 1000 BC in the country's north.
Its best known figure was the Queen of Sheba who is said to have borne King Solomon a son named Menelik, who became the first emperor of Ethiopia and the founder of its ancient Christian dynasty which only ended when Emperor Haile Selassie was toppled in 1974 ...
Ethiopia accepts to give a key town to Eritrea
Sudan Tribune, Sudan - June 15, 2007
After years of conflict and a tense border dispute, Ethiopia has accepted a U.N. commission’s ruling to turn over a disputed town to Eritrea.
The Ethiopian government gave its unconditional acceptance of the commission’s decision, announced five years ago, that it return the key town of Badme to Eritrea, in a letter last week to the U.N. Security Council.
"I believe it’s good news ... that was one of the bottlenecks in the situation," U.N. associate spokesman Yves Sorokobi said Thursday. "If they do agree, it should move the process forward a bit more quickly."
The Horn of Africa neighbors initially promised to accept the boundary commission’s 2002 ruling awarding Badme to Eritrea, but Ethiopia has not handed it over ...
Un Official Hails Deal On Darfur Force
Guardian Unlimited, UK - June 13, 2007
The U.N. peacekeeping chief on Wednesday called Sudan's acceptance of a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force for Darfur "a significant step forward," although he cautioned "it's not the end of the road."
A Sudanese diplomat in Ethiopia confirmed on Wednesday that Sudan has accepted the mission after receiving assurances Tuesday that a "hybrid" AU-U.N. force of between 17,000 and 19,000 troops will not be open-ended and Sudan will remain in control of its borders.
Akuei Bona Malwal, the deputy head of mission for Sudan in Ethiopia, said the joint force could be in Darfur by October, depending on how quickly the two organizations are able to mobilize the troops and secure funding.
"What we certainly have today is agreement of the government of Sudan on the hybrid mission and that is something significant," Undersecretary-General John-Marie Guehenno told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council ...