(AFP) Olympic champion Meseret Defar finished more than ten seconds ahead of her nearest rival to run the world’s fastest 3000 metres time in Stuttgart.
The Ethiopian 5,000 metres Olympic gold medalist blitzed the field with a world best time of 8 minutes 27.93 seconds, having set the world’s fastest time of 8 mins 23.72 seconds over the same distance at the same venue the year before.
It was a strong message to send to her rivals as she beat compatriot Ejegayehu Dibaba and Kenya’s Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet ahead of next month’s World Indoor Championships in Valencia and the Beijing Olympics in August.
In the men’s 1500 metres, Ethiopian Deresse Mekkonen also ran the fastest indoor time in the world this year with a winning time of 3 mins 38 seconds, beating compatriot Mekkonen Gebremehdin and German Stephan Eberhardt.
British teenager Craig Pickering was the fastest in the men’s 60 metres sprint as the World relay bronze medalist held off a strong field to win in 6.58 seconds.
European hurdles champion Swedish sprinter Suzanna Kallur warmed up for her assault on Valencia next month with a world leading time of 7.72 seconds.
The 26-year-old, who won gold at the 2006 European Championships, blitzed the field and also set a new meeting record in Stuttgart.
By Magali Rheault, Gallup
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the Horn of Africa, democracy is rather scarce. But in 2005, Ethiopian voters went to the polls in the country’s first multiparty parliamentary elections to pave the way for establishing democratic values. The opposition and the ruling party, however, claimed victory, thrusting the nation into political crisis and violence. After opposition leaders were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for “outrage against the constitution and incitement of armed rebellion” (although the government pardoned them last summer), Ethiopians’ hope for a peaceful political transition was shattered. In 2006, Human Rights Watch reported that the government used “excessive force” to repress any political dissent over the election outcome and jailed Ethiopians arbitrarily. Further, before Gallup started polling in the country, the government launched a military operation in the Ogaden, Ethiopia’s Somali region, to eliminate a separatist movement called the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). In the process, many Ethiopian civilians were killed. It is against this challenging backdrop that Gallup gauged Ethiopians’ confidence in their country’s institutions… Continue reading >>
Source: Ethiopian Woyanne News Agency
Guna Trading Houses [owned by the Meles crime family] envisaged to export 13,000 tons of sesame valued at 17 million US dollars to global market this Ethiopian Fiscal Year, its General Manager (GM) said.
In an interview with ENA on Friday, the GM, Mulualem Berhane said his company has already exported 3.2 million USD worth sesame in the last two months. Ethiopia is expected to get six million USD additional hard currency from the company’s export compared to that of last year.
Mulualem said the volume particularly the amount of foreign currency being generated from the company’s sesame export has been increasing since the last three years.
The company sesame export volume rose to 10,000 tons in 1999 EC from 9,000 tons in 1998 E while the amount export revenue increased from 9 million USD to 11 million USD same preiod, according to the GM.
Mulualem attributed the success to mainly to the improvement in the quality of sesame and rise in the volume of export.
The construction of a 13-million Birr modern store in Humera (Tigray State) and purchase of a 5-million Birr sesame-cleaning machine have helped the company to improve the quality of sesame, the GM mentioned.
Guina Trading Houses, whose share in the country’s total sesame export revenue accounts for 11.3 per cent last year, is determined to raise the figure to 15 per cent this year, Mulualem said.
He said his company was used to export mainly whitish sesame from Humera which he said is high quality until last year. But it expands its market horizon to Metema, North Gonder Zone.
According to Mulualem, Afar and Benishengul states are also found to be suitable for growing sesame, which was considered to be produced in Humera, Metema and Wollega localities alone. .
If appropriate inputs and technology are used in the two regions and the private sector involves, a significant amount of volume of sesame can be produced that would help accelerate in the nation’s the amount of foreign currency earning, he said.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Ethiopian businessmen are forced to compete with Guna and other mega corporations owned by Woyanne, Meles Zenawi’s criminal gang. After the competition are forced out of business, the farmers are forced to sell their products to Woyanne companies (vampires) at below market value.
DLA Piper — a lobbying firm in Washington DC that is hired by the Woyanne mass murderers in Ethiopia for $50,000 per month — has contributed $403,420 to U.S. Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton (see the list of Hillary contributors here). This is one more proof that Hillary would be a disaster to Africans, as her husband was.
A public meeting organized by Ato Moges Bruck in Los Angeles for Ato Hailu Shawel this coming weekend has been cancelled because of growing disagreement over Dr Taye Woldesemayat’s role, among other things.
Ato Moges is the former chairman of Kinijit Los Angeles and a close personal friend of Ato Hailu. He allegedly controls much of the money diverted by Shaleqa Yoseph Yazew from Kinijit’s account. Recently, Ato Moges has started to resent the way Hailu Shawel was single-handedly making decisions without consulting him. He is also unhappy with the increasing role Dr Taye has been playing in the Shawel gang, while he, Ato Solomon Bekele and others are being pushed aside. Dr Taye was also the main reason for the popular Tensae Radio to be closed down.
The Shawel gang is falling apart, leaving Abayneh Berhanu and others in Ethiopia out in the cold. Realizing what is going on, Ato Abayneh and friends in Addis Ababa have decided to mend relations with Wzt. Birtukan Mideksa and the Kinijit executive committee. Because there are elements on both sides who do not want reconciliation, the discussions are so far kept secret.
It would be great if Abayneh and Birtukan reach an agreement and start working together under the Kinijit umbrella and strictly adhering to the party’s rules and procedure. The door must not be closed to any one, even to Ayele Chamiso. There is a time for fighting, and a time for making peace.
Ato Hailu Shawel’s personal “envoy” in Addis Ababa Ato Abayneh Berhanu has invited Vice chairperson of Kinijit Wzt. Bertukan Mideksa for a secret meeting on Monday. It is reported that Wzt. Birtukan has accepted the invitation. Ato Abayneh decided to meet with Wzt. Birtukan after several of the delegates he had sent to various regions of Ethiopia came back last week and told him that the people are strongly opposed to Hailu Shawel’s dictatorial actions and the effort to regroup his former party, AEUP. Both sides have denied that there will be such a meeting on Monday.. Read more by zikkir News Service >>.
