The Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) has moved to a new office today in Addis Ababa’s Kirkos (ቂርቆስ) district… Read more by zikkir News Service

ቢሮ ከመከራየት ጋር በተያያዘ በወያኔ ካድሬዎች ከፍተኛ ፈተና ገጥሞት የነበረውና በቅርቡ ወሳኝ የላእላይ ም/ቤት ስብሰባውን ያከናወነው በወ/ሪት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ የሚመራው የቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ በቂርቆስ ክ/ከተማ ርቼ አከባቢ በተከራየው ቢሮ ዛሬ ስራ ጀመረ፡፡

ፓርቲው ከዚህ በፊት ይገለገልበት የነበረውን ቢሮ የወያኔ ካድሬዎች በአከራዩዋ ግለሰብ ላይ ያደርሱ በነበረው ማስፈራርያ ለመልቀቅ የተገደዱ ሲሆን የአዲሱ ጽ/ቤት አከራዮች በእንደዚህ አይነቱ ህገ ወጥ የማስፈራራት ተግባር ተሸንፈው የአቋም ለውጥ እንደማያደርጉ ቢሮውን ለተከራዩት የአመራር አካላት ገልጸዋል፡፡

አመራሩ የ6 ወር ክፍያውን በህጋዊ ውል ካከናወነ በኋላ በዛሬው እለት የቢሮ መገልገያዎችን በማስገባት ስራውን የጀመረ ሲሆን ይህም ድርጅታዊ ስራዎችን በአንድ ማእከል በማከናወን ይፈጠር የነበረውን እክል እንደሚቀንሰው አንድ የአመራር አባል ገልጸዋል፡፡

By Jessica Wang, The Beijinger

Beijing’s first Ethiopian restaurant, Ras Ethiopian Cuisine, is set to open out at Lido this coming Thursday, March 6. We talked to Danny, an Ethiopian-American, and his wife Marlo about the trials and tribulations of setting up a restaurant in Beijing. After selling their restaurants in Washington D.C., the couple arrived in Beijing with their family of five ten months ago.

“I came to Beijing two years ago and realized there is not one Ethiopian restaurant. So, I thought why not make history by opening the first,” says Danny. “It was time for a change and we figured this would be great exposure for our kids as well,” added Marlo.

The restaurant, which is open only for dinner, will hold live Ethiopian song and dance performances, and traditional coffee ceremonies. Guests will also be able to purchase fresh ground Ethiopian coffee at the gift shop along with other Ethiopian curios. Aside from knickknacks and Ethiopian coffee, the restaurant is decorated with photos of Ethiopia, traditional Ethiopian umbrellas and hide paintings.

The restaurant will offer guests no utensils, so expect to eat with your hands off a communal plate set on an hourglass-shaped Ethiopian table called a mesob (see image right). The primary dish is a pancake-like bread called injera made from a highly nutritional grain known as teff.

“We are importing all these things from Ethiopia. We even brought these tables and umbrellas ourselves,” says Marlo. “It’s a mom-and-pop operation here but we’ve poured all our soul and energy into it. It’s been such an adventure,” she says with a chuckle.

“Taking on this challenge wasn’t easy, especially when you don’t speak the language. Luckily, we’ve received a lot of support from the Ethiopian community here and have met lots of nice people,” says Danny. “I just hope the people of Beijing will like what we’ve done.”

Ras Ethiopian Cuisine
Beijing’s first Ethiopian restaurant to open this Thursday, Mar 6. 14 Jiangtai Lu, Chaoyang District. (8479 8388)
朝阳区将台路14号

Press Release, March 2, 2008
Little Rock Marathon Committee
Little Rock, Arkansas

“The members of the Little Rock Marathon Committee would like to offer our condolences and prayers to the family and friends of Adam Nickel, 27, of Madison, Wisconsin, the runner who died following his completion of today’s Little Rock Marathon” said race director, Gina Marchese-Pharis. “After collapsing at the finish line, the medical team addressed the needs of the runner, and he was then transported to UAMS for continuing treatment,” said Marchese-Pharis. “In addition, it is the policy of the medical staff who donate their time, talent and resources, to meet all of the needs and emergencies of those that attend and participate in this annual event.”

Tamrat Ayalew, a native of Ethiopia, who now lives in Marietta, Georgia, and Hellen Rotich, a native of Kenya who now lives in Austin, Texas, won the men’s and women’s categories of the sixth annual Little Rock Marathon held today in Little Rock, Arkansas. The sixth annual event featured a new course, a more than $20,000 cash purse for the top winners and Little Rock’s first bare foot runner in the 5K race. The Little Rock Marathon also holds bragging rights for the world’s largest finisher’s medal according to Runners Word Magazine, which measures 6 1/4″ x 4 1/2″.

Ayalew, 33, posted a time of 2:24:46. This was his seventh marathon and fourth win. He found the Little Rock Marathon course very challenging and had not expected it to be so hilly. His best marathon time was 2:12:00 however; he was very happy with his performance and knew that he had it won at mile 24. Says Ayalew, “All he can think about now is running the Boston Marathon in April.” Rotich, 28, was running her second marathon and takes home a second 1st place title with a time of 2:50:33. She previously won the San Antonio Marathon in 2007 and is a graduate of Harding University in 2005. She stated that she was so happy to have won the Little Rock Marathon and that it was like coming home.

Rotich may run the Maui marathon in September but doesn’t feel that she is ready for Boston. She thanks God for her strength and stated that at mile 18 she looked up and said, “Let me go for it.” Ayalew’s and Rotich’s times were the first for this year’s course, which was altered to accommodate a growing number of registrants.

The Little Rock Marathon awarded a purse worth more than $20,000 in cash and prizes to top finishers in male and female divisions of the marathon, half marathon, master’s marathon and master’s half marathon. First place in the marathon received $2,000 each, second place received $1,500 each, third place received $1,000 each, fourth place received $750 each and fifth place received $500 each.

In the half marathon, first place received $750 each, second place received $500 each and third place received $250 each. In the master’s marathon (age 40 and older), first place received $500 each, second place received $250 each and third place received $100 each. In the master’s half marathon, first places received $250 each, second place received $200 each and third place received $100 each.

Rounding out the top five in the Men’s division of the marathon were (2) William Serem with a time of 2:25:08, (3) Richard Kandie with a time of 2:29:07, (4) Gilbert Kiptoo with a time of 2:29:26 and (5) Krzysztof Balbyga with a time of 2:32:34.

Rounding out the top five in the Women’s division of the marathon were (2) Leah Thorvilson with a time of 2:52:29, (3) Melissa Gillette with a time of 3:08:57, (4) Bethany Walker with a time of 3:14:02 and (5) Debbie Cropper with a time of 3:16:14.

Richard Vaughn won the marathon wheelchair division with a time of 4:36:31 followed by (2) Asish Bahakta with a time of 4:56:05.

In the men’s marathon masters division Titus Mutinda placed first with a time of 2:33:43 followed by (2) Daniel Hay with a time of 2:52:52 and (3) Jim George with a time of 2:59:52. In the women’s marathon masters division Kris Huff placed first with a time of 3:20:54 followed by (2) Jill Sandoval with a time of 3:30:29 and (3) Danna Middleton with a time of 3:30:30.

In the men’s division of the half marathon Ezkyas Sisay placed first with a time of 1:07:24, followed by (2) Sammy Kiplagat with a time of 1:07:25 and (3) Raphael Kuto with a time of 1:07:31. In the women’s half marathon division Whitney Kerth placed first with a time of 1:23:31 followed by (2) Joy Johnson with a time of 1:30:23, and (3) Peggy Panzer with a time of 1:31:52.
In the 5K men’s division, the winner was Aaron Armstrong with a time of 18:34, (2) Peter Zaragari with a time of 18:48, and (3) Wil Norris with a time of 19:16. In the women’s division of the 5K Haley Filat placed first with a time of 23:20, followed by (2) Ann Works with a time of 24:00, and (3) Joan Brucha with a time of 24:16.

The 7th annual Little Rock Marathon is set for March 15, 2009. For more information go to Little Rock Marathon.

By Elizabeth Blunt
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Ethiopians will soon be getting their first chance to vote since the general election in 2005, which ended with violent protests and the jailing of most of the leaders of the opposition.

The opposition CUD party won far more seats than any opposition party had ever won before, but they were convinced that the true result should have been even more in their favour.

The CUD leaders were eventually pardoned and released from jail last year, and the government announced that their rights were being fully restored and they were free to vote and stand for office.

But their seats were declared vacant while they were in prison.

There will be by-elections for their old seats in April, and also elections for Addis Ababa city council, which the opposition won, but which has had an appointed caretaker administration since 2005.

But it now appears that none of the imprisoned party leadership will be standing for election again, or trying to get their old seats back.

Conspiracy claim

The leader of the CUD parliamentary party, Temesgen Zewde, said they had told the Ethiopia National Electoral Board that they were ready and willing to take part in the April elections.

But, he said, the board had chosen to award their party name to a CUD breakaway group, and their party symbol – the “V” for Victory sign – to another party altogether.

“Even if they wanted to stand,” he said, “there is now no party name they can associate with, nor any election symbol”.

The CUD allege a conspiracy by the ruling party and the government, but their own party has been riven with internal feuds, making it possible for a CUD dissident, Ayele Chamiso, to make a successful bid for the party name.

Many of the most prominent members of the old CUD went abroad as soon as they were released rather than staying in Ethiopia and cultivating their constituencies.

The chairman, Hailu Shawal, and the man who was chosen as mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005, Berhanu Nega, are both still in the United States.

Even without the party name, some of the CUD leaders could have stood as independent candidates, but they have chosen not to do so.

‘Disorientated’

Political analyst Desalegn Rahmato points out that although the government said publicly that those released from prison had had their full civic rights restored, there may have been conditions in the agreement which secured their release which were never made public.

Also, he said, the former prisoners, as individuals, “might be feeling a bit disorientated after two years in jail”.

“Perhaps they feel they no longer have the momentum and excitement that they felt in the 2005 elections. That momentum is lost now,” he said.

Without that excitement, voter registration and turnout may well be lower than in 2005.

The ruling party, the EPRDF, will be bidding to recover its dominance of the political scene in areas where it did badly last time, like Addis Ababa.

It is not clear whether any of the remaining