MALAWI (Nyasa Times) – Police in Mozambique are keeping in custody about 100 Ethiopians arrested this week for illegally attempting to cross Malawi for South Africa.
The 100 are said to have escaped from Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa and were reportedly on their way to South Africa to seek asylum and employment.
They were arrested by Mozambican Police at Zobue Border after successfully beating the Malawian security system and other authorities all the way from Dowa.
Immigration Officer-In-charge at Mwanza Boarder Jika Ndovi confirmed the development saying the East African asylum seekers were being held by Police in Tete, Mozambique pending repatriation to Dzaleka.
In a similar development, another cluster of 20 Ethiopians has also been nicked for questioning by Balaka Police.
Balaka Police Public Relations Officer Chiyanjano Ligomeka said the 20 who could not clearly explain how they found themselves in the district are believed to have entered Malawi using uncharted routes.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Afrique en ligne) – Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi said on Friday he was in consultations with his ruling party about the possibility of quitting as Prime Minister and retaining his role as the party leader after next year’s elections.
The Ethiopian Premier, who has been at the helm of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) for the last 18 years, said on Friday that he has had enough and wanted to do something different after the next elections.
Ethiopia is about 15 months away from the next elections, due in 2010.
The Prime Minister says he is considering quitting the post and remaining as party leader (a la Russia’s Putin) if his party members agree to the position, but said he would make a final decision on this later.
“I do not think there is a conflict of policy here. My desire is that I have had enough here and I have to move on. I want to leave this position (Prime Minister) without leaving the party as leader but I have to respect the decisions of the party,” Meles told journalists.
Meles was asked about two conflicting signals he had given about his intentions not to seek a new mandate during the next elections in 2010. He said his personal decisions not to seek the post of Prime Minister must be balanced by the party position.
The EPRDF says it has yet to decide on who would be the next leader but the party has begun the search for a new leader of the party. The party sources say they are looking for the “new face of Ethiopia” if the current premier insists on not running for the post.
“I cannot be a member of the party and not respect its decisions. My open decision is that there will be no conflict between my position and that of the party. If there is a conflict, I will have the freedom to chose but I will try to resolv e the differences,’ the PM said.
Meles said among his major achievements were leading the Ethiopian transition process from military rule to a democratic system that employs a parliamentary system of leadership.
The PM said he was glad Ethiopia’s transition from military rule to democracy did not suffer from setbacks such as those witnessed in Eastern Europe.
He said Ethiopia had transformed its political system to a full democracy, despite certain limitations the three arms of government still suffered.
He also said Ethiopia’s move from economic stagnation to rapid growth was equally an achievement during his tenure as Prime Minister. [This guy doesn’t get tired of lying. Ethiopia under the Woyanne rule remains one of the poorest countries in the world where millions of children do not have enough food to eat and have no access to school.]
“We took Ethiopia into one of the seven few elite states with a higher economic growth rate in the world, that is an achievement,” Meles, who holds a record as one of the few African leaders to conduct regular press interviews, told a three-hour long briefing.
He said under his rule, steps to fight corruption had also been initiated but expressed disappointment at some very lenient sentences that some people charged with corruption were getting away with. [Meles and his wife, Azeb Mesfin, are thought to be the most corrupt politicians in Africa who amassed incredible wealth in the past two decades.]
It was 25 years ago today that the famous Ethiopian writer and journalist, Baalu Girma, was abducted by the military junta (Derg) in Ethiopia. He hasn’t been heard from since, but his legacy continues.
We are happy to announce that a foundation has been set up in the author’s name to advance his literary work and vision. Please click on the link below to learn more about the foundation and exciting projects planned.
www.baalugirmafoundation.org
Send us your comments via the website, and feel free to forward this e-mail today to others who may be interested.
Meskerem Baalu Girma
Founder
ADDIS ABABA (SAPA) – The defense ministers of South Africa and Ethiopia’s tribalist dictatorship signed a memorandum of understanding in Addis Ababa on Friday, South Africa’s defense spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said. [The current South Africa regime is as full of scumbags as the apartheid regime.]
Defense Minister Charles Nqakula and his Ethiopian counterpart Arto Siraj Fegesa agreed that both countries would work towards developing procedures for military co-operation including the exchange and training of military personnel, instructors and observers and promoting technical co-operation.
Co-operating in the field of military medical services, knowledge and training would also be on the agenda.
The agreement was motivated by their commitment to support peace efforts on the continent under the auspices of the African Union, which has its headquarters in the northern African country.
Nqakula said co-operation between the two countries would benefit their respective populations who were “yearning for peace, stability and development on the African continent”.
This was in line with Freedom Charter principles that there should be peace and friendship on the African continent and beyond, said Mkhwanazi, relaying the essence of the meeting by telephone.
The agreement between the militaries of the two countries would serve as a springboard to ensure that they do whatever is necessary to ensure that conflict is eradicated on the African continent, added Mkhwanazi.
By Mark Gomez | Mercury News
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – Police have arrested two men whom they say played a role in the death of a 25-year-old immigrant from Ethiopia whose body was found Monday morning in a South San Jose neighborhood.
San Jose police arrested Samuel Rose, 19, and Ronald Correa, 20, both of San Jose, on Monday, according to Officer Jermaine Thomas, a department spokesman.
Rose is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon on charges of accessory to murder and theft or unauthorized use of a vehicle, according to Amy Cornell, a spokeswoman with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Correa, who was arrested on suspicion of murder, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, Cornell said.
Monday morning, the body of Fisaha Isaac Gebremichael, 25, of San Jose, was discovered lying on the curb at about 5:30 a.m. by a resident who lives in the neighborhood of the 600 block of Braxton Drive, located south of Hellyer Avenue.
Gebremichael died of a gunshot wound, according to police, who have not released any other details about the slaying.
“No motive has been established yet and the investigation is ongoing,” Thomas said.
The slaying, the city’s fourth killing this year, does not appear to be gang-related, according to police.
Contact Mark Gomez at [email protected] or (408) 920-5869.
The University of Minnesota’s entry into January’s final University Nanosatellite Program competition won’t be launched into space.
However, the U.S. Air Force has selected the University team to participate again. Team members are already recruiting new students, while some are still working on satellite components to use for the next two-year competition cycle, Nanosat-6.
The program has two aims: training students to build satellites and provide the Air Force with useful research, aerospace engineering and mechanics associate professor {www:Demoz Gebre-Egziabher} said.
As the faculty adviser, he’s responsible for pitching an idea for the satellite’s science mission.
Since Gebre-Egziabher’s research involves Global Positioning Systems, the University’s nanosatellite projects have tried to use it in novel ways.
Goldeneye, as the satellite is known, is an apt name, as its science mission was to keep an eye on the Earth’s surface conditions, like ocean wave heights and wind speeds, by analyzing reflected GPS signals.
Aerospace graduate student Jim Pogemiller is writing his master’s thesis on the GPS sensing the satellite was meant to do, and he said a lot of the work he did for it, like making sure his radar system would work in space, will go into his thesis.
Though equipment already exists for remote sensing, it would be handy to be able to do it with GPS since most satellites already use it, Gebre-Ebziabher said.
The upcoming Nanosat-6 science mission is an extension of the previous project, Gebre-Ebziabher said. But instead of sensing the Earth’s surface, this satellite will use GPS to sense other satellites in space.
When one satellite is repairing another — like the Hubble Space Telescope — it’s important it knows where its target is to avoid a collision.
Existing sensors can do this, but GPS would be cheaper, weigh less and require less power, Gebre-Ebziabher said.
Though Gebre-Ebziabher pitches the science mission, it’s up to students to figure out how to accomplish it.
That means designing the satellite, fabricating it, testing it and updating it, mechanical engineering senior and project field manager Ellie Field, said.
“It’s real engineering,” Gebre-Ebziabher said. “It’s a lot of work.”
Aerospace engineering senior Erin Mussoni, who was in charge of satellite communications (getting information to and from the satellite using radio signals), found that out. “I didn’t sleep for five months,” she said.
One of the challenges, she said, was finding and paying for materials that are space-ready.
Materials with impurities or air bubbles, like plastic and fiberglass, can expand and explode in space. Space ready materials are expensive, she said.
Though the Air Force provides $110,000 to get accepted teams started, Gebre-Ebziabher said the teams are expected to raise more than that.
Goldeneye got a lot of help from businesses, mostly in the form of product donations from companies like Honeywell and Lockheed Martin, he said. He estimated the Goldeneye team’s fundraising at least tripled the Air Force’s seed money.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration also supports the program, through scholarships given to Nanosat students through the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium .
Aerospace engineering professor Bill Garrard, who directs the MSGC, said the draw for NASA is to fill the pipeline of engineers and scientists.
Though Mussoni said she hasn’t found much use for the ham radio license she got in order to operate Goldeneye’s radios, the project did help on the career front: “This project probably gave me my internship,” she said.
“Engineers want to talk about design projects, and if you have something unique like this, they just go wild over it,” she added.
Garrard said he thinks University students have become increasingly interested in this kind of activity during his time here.
“I think students realize that these opportunities really are important for them in terms of getting a job,” he said.
But aerospace senior Kyle Zakrzewski , who will take over as field manager, said he does it because it’s fun.
“We’re a bunch of undergrad students making a satellite. I mean, that’s pretty cool.”
– BY Tiffany Smith | Minnesota Daily
