EMF – Ginbot 7 Dimits Radio, a radio broadcast of Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy (G7) will start on Thursday, September 11, 2008 (Meskerem 1, 2001 Eth. Cal.), the Movement’s public relations officials told EMF.
September 11, also known as Enqutatash, is Ethiopia’s New Year. “It is a new-year-gift for freedom loving Ethiopians,” the G7 officials said.
The radio program will be transmitted at 21,555 KHZ on 13 meter band and 17,655 khz on 13 meter band every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday between 8:00PM to 8:30PM (2:00 to 2:30 Ethiopian time).
The program will focus on the current Ethiopian situation and uses to mobilize people for the struggle for change in Ethiopia, according to the movement.
Ginbot 7 Radio will start broadcasting in Amharic, but there is a plan to add other major Ethiopian languages soon.
The broadcasting will have a signal strength of 500 KW and beamed to Ethiopia and its neighbours and will also be available on its web site ( www.ginbot7.org ) for the Diaspora listeners.
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
DENVER — Barack Obama was the clear favorite among the majority of people dining at the Cafe Africana on East Colfax Avenue in Denver one night last week.
None of Ethiopian immigrants interviewed had the right to vote. However, that doesn’t mean they haven’t been paying attention to the race.
Teddy Gazahagn, a 35-year-old warehouse worker from Denver, started tuning in back in the spring when the primary battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton was running at full tilt.
“I just like the way he talks. It has meaning,” Gazahagn said. “I’m just convinced that he’s going to be president.”
Obama has been a frequent topic of conversation whenever Gazahay and his cousin Asfeha Teklehaimanot, 29, of Denver, get together for some home style cooking and Ethiopian beer.
Teklehaimanot is holding down jobs as a security guard and a liquor store clerk, all while attending Community College of Denver. Yet he started paying attention to Obama almost from the time the Illinois senator declared himself a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Teklehaimanot agrees with his cousin that Obama has a chance to win.
“He’s very confident and what he says makes sense,” he said.
In Obama, he sees America turning to a new and different chapter.
“Another thing is he’s against the war. That’s one of the reasons I hope he wins because the war is killing us,” he said, citing the impact the war in Iraq has had on the U.S. economy.
The world’s oldest running film festival opened Wednesday in the Italian coastal city of Venice with a screening of the Coen brothers film ‘Burn After Reading.’
The latest quirky film by the Academy Award winning brothers features Brad Pitt and George Clooney, as well as Academy Award winning actors Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton.
While the Coen brothers film in not in the competition, 21 other films are in the running for the coveted Golden Lion top prize at the 65th Venice Film Festival.
Among this year’s offerings will be French director Barbet Schroeder’s ‘The Beast in the Shadow,’ a thriller set in Japan, and Ethiopian director Haile Gerima’s ‘Teza’ about an Ethiopian ex-patriot who returns to his native village at age 60.
Filmmakers from around the world, including from Algeria, Brazil, China, Iran, Spain and Portugal have submitted their works for the competition.
This year’s festival is dedicated to Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine who died last month at the age of 82. His film Chaos was shown at last year’s festival.
Source: VOA News
While Somalia’s president and prime minister have been negotiating about how to work together, the opposition has been mobilising.
On Friday, fighters took over the key southern port city of Kismayo, after a week of fierce fighting with local clans who had control of the city.
Al Jazeera gained exclusive access to Kismayo. Rosie Garthwaite has our report.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — Kenenisa Bekele was philosophical about the lack of publicity given to his own brilliant Olympic double compared to the exploits of Usain Bolt.
Bekele 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres victories in the Bird Nest’s stadium in Beijing, both in Olympic record times, saw him become the first athlete to achieve the feat since fellow Ethiopian Miruts Yifter 28 years ago in Moscow.
But Bekele, despite his delight at winning the 5,000m title for the first time and retaining his 10,000m crown, insisted today Bolt fully deserved all of the accolades that made him the Games’ track and field golden boy.
Talking about Bolt’s 100m and 200m successes, both in world record times, Bekele said: “Ours were different races and we can’t be compared.
“(But) he’s very strong and he really ran special races in Beijing. To break two world records that is very special. (They) were very tough to make, but he did it.”
Bolt, not surprisingly, is grabbing the headlines again before tomorrow night’s AF Golden League meeting in Zurich, where over 100m he will meet six of the opponents he thrashed in Beijing when roaring to the world’s quickest time ever of 9.69seconds.
Whether the 22-year-old Jamaican can, for the third occasion this year, lower the record even further cannot be ruled out despite his strenuous Olympic schedule, where he was also in Jamaica’s world record-breaking 4x100m relay team.
“It was a long trip to get here, but I’m not tired at all,” said Bolt. “I’ve done a little training since I got here.
“I’m trying to get the blood pumping again in preparation for Friday evening.”
Bekele revealed chasing his four-year-old 5,000m world record does not figure in his plans because of tiredness.
After arriving back home early yesterday morning, he and other Ethiopian medallists celebrated with their fans – more than a million turned out for the trip from Addis Ababa airport to the capital’s city centre.
“It’s very different,” said Bekele, who then rushed off to Zurich. “I don’t think about world records. After Beijing I’m too tired for a fast race. Maybe I will just go for winning.”
However, teenager Pamela Jelimo, the 800m gold medallist, plans to have a shot at Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 25-year-old world record of 1min 53.28sec.
“I’m going to try for the world record here, I’m not feeling tired after the Olympics,” said the 18-year-old Kenyan, who in Beijing set a third world junior record of 1:54.87sec.
Jelimo, who along with Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic is the only contender to win the IAAF Golden League US dollars 1million jackpot, will be paced in the early stages of the attempt by the experienced Russian Svetlana Klyuka, who finished fourth in China.
Vlasic, who lost her unbeaten streak of 34 victories and the Olympic gold medal to Tia Hellebaut, will renew her rivalry with the surprise Belgian winner.
Cuba’s Olympic 110m hurdles champion, Dayron Robles, also insisting he is in top shape, could make an attack on the world record of 12.87sec he achieved in mid-June.
By David Martin, PA Sport
EDITOR’S NOTE: This seems to be a drama orchestrated by Amare Aregawi’s own party, Woyanne. The company, Dashen Brewery, that sued Amare is owned by the ruling party, Woyanne. Even the car that transported him to Gondar is not a police car. He was taken bay a car owned by the company that sued him. But if any thing, this incident exposes how repressive the new press law is. Any individual or company can cause the arrest of a newspaper editor.
AFP — Ethiopian authorities Woyanne released a newspaper editor detained last week after it reported on a labour dispute at a local brewery, a media watchdog says.
Amare Aregawi was held for five days in a prison 750 kilometres north of Addis Ababa, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a statement.
He was released yesterday on bail of 300-birr (around 31-dollars).
RSF urged Ethiopian government to “amend the newly-adopted media law in order to eliminate prison sentences for press offences.”
Aregawi’s private Amharic language weekly Reporter published an article last month citing two former employees of the brewery as saying they were wrongfully dismissed.
The brewery company had sued the paper for libel.
Ethiopia was only removed from RSF’s blacklist of media offenders in May, having been labelled “an enemy of the internet” along with Zimbabwe.
