Zambia edged closer to the quarterfinals of the Orange CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup after a 1-0 win over Ethiopia at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi this afternoon.
Herve Renard’s side now lead Group A with a maximum six points from their opening two matches after beating hosts Kenya 2-0 in their opening game last Saturday at the same venue.
Chipolopolo took the lead in the 30th minute through striker James Chamanga who finished off an effort after Ethiopian goalkeeper Assefa Dawit fumbled with the ball.
The goal was Chamanga’s third of the tournament following his brace against Kenya over the weekend as Chipolopolo head into their final Group A match against Djibouti tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the first half hour of the opening half against Ethiopia was an even affair.
Sebastian Mwansa also wasted a chance with a poorly taken free-kick in the 10th minutes from the edge of the penalty area.
Ethiopia had a chance to level scores five minutes before the break after an Emmanuel Mbola handball but goalkeeper Jacob Banda saved the resultant penalty.
And Kenya were by press time in action against Djibouti at the same venue in the second kickoff in Group A.
Both Kenya and Djibouti were on zero points after losing 2-0 and 5-0 to Chipolopolo and Ethiopia respectively in their opening Group A matches.
A documentary film The Silent Cry, produced by a team of young passionate British students, in partnership with African Rights Monitor, hosted a special screening in Toronto, on Saturday November 28, 2009. Over four hundred people from the Greater Toronto area attended the screening.
The Silent Cry is based on stories depicting the shattered lives of Somali refugees from the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. These stories were discovered by the Silent Cry producers when they visited Nairobi, Kenya, during their last Spring break. This group of students’ initial purpose to vacation in Kenya was fundamentally altered after they had met, “Omar” a local taxi driver, who shared with them his personal tragic story. Omar fled the Ogaden after losing his children and wife to the brutalities of the Woyanne regime soldiers in the Ogaden. This team of students then made a trip to Ifo Refugee Camp, in Northern Kenya, which is a destination for many survivors fleeing the devastating circumstances in the Somali region of Ethiopia.
A picture conveys thousand words, thanks to this team of students. We now can see images of the hidden truth about the suffering of the people of Ogaden shown through this powerful documentary, Silent Cry. The atrocities in the Ogaden have been compared to the atrocities in Darfur, with zero media attention due to the total lack of access by international media and NGOs, and as such been termed the “Hidden Darfur” of the Horn of Africa.
Three members of the Silent Cry team, Abdallah Abdi, Ahmed Abdalle, and Abdi-Shukri Omar who is the narrator of the documentary, were present in Toronto for the screening of the documentary. After a warm welcome by the a member of the Greater Toronto Community, Huda Yusuf, the Executive Director of the African Rights Monitor (ARM), a non profit group, presented a brief presentation on rights and responsibilities of citizens in democratic societies and some of the responsibilities and obligations on the part of governments to protect their citizen.
Then the Silent Cry team delivered passionate presentations before the screening, sharing with audience the impact filming this documentary had on them and how it changed their lives. Then when the audience watched Silent Cry, they were moved to tears by the stories of these refugees.
Followed by the Silent Cry team, highlighting some next steps, and emphasizing their commitment now to raising awareness and breaking the silence around the suffering of the people of Ogaden, and have asked the audience to join in this journey. The team have challenged the participants to join this campaign of advocacy and assist in bringing the attention of the international community to the plight of the people of this region. To drive the point home, Fowsia Abdulkadir, an independent researcher and human rights activist, put the Silent Cry stories in a historical context, underlining the fact that Somalis have historically been marginalized in Ethiopia. Somalis have been oppressed and discriminated against by successive Ethiopian regimes; however, under the current regime led by Meles Zenawi, human rights abuses and the suffering of Somalis in Ethiopia have reached a level it has never reached before.
The evening was concluded with poetry reading by young Somalis, who recited poems dedicated to some of the refugee children in the documentary. The screening of Silent Cry in Toronto was overwhelmingly successful, and the event was positively received by the Toronto community.
MICHIGAN (AP) — A 15-year-old Michigan boy admitted raping a 3-year-old girl, so enraging his father that the man couldn’t control himself when witnesses say he forced the teen to strip, marched him to an empty lot and shot him through the head, a defense lawyer said Tuesday.
The lawyer for Jamar Pinkney Sr., 37, said he will pursue an insanity defense as a judge in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park ruled Pinkney should stand trial on first-degree murder, assault and firearms charges in his son’s Nov. 16 death.
Defense attorney Corbett O’Meara said Pinkney’s son’s confession would have driven anyone crazy.
“There is no rational response to the rape of a child,” O’Meara said after the hearing. “He was immediately remorseful and didn’t seek to hide. He turned himself in to the police.”
Pinkney acted “under heat of passion,” O’Meara said, and should be found “not guilty by reason of insanity” or found guilty of manslaughter.
During questioning of witnesses, Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Christine Kowal tried to establish that Pinkney had time to think about what he was going to do as he forced his son out of the boy’s mother’s home on North Street before killing him.
No evidence of sexual penetration was introduced at the hearing, despite testimony about the girl being taken to Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit a day before the shooting.
O’Meara said the defense would introduce medical reports that indicate the girl had evidence of vaginal tearing. He said Jamar Jr. had at first denied he molested the girl, then later said he only lay on top of her but they had their clothes on.
O’Meara said after the hearing that the teen finally admitted to his father that he had sex with the girl, causing his father to snap.
He said his client is now devastated and under the care of a psychiatrist at the Wayne County Jail, where he is being held without bond.
“He doesn’t understand how any of this could have happened,” O’Meara said.
Authorities haven’t said if they believe the teen raped the girl, his half-sister, and police have said the matter is not part of their investigation. Wayne County prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Maria Miller declined to comment Tuesday on the nature of the sexual contact.
Pinkney’s confrontation with his son came a day after the 3-year-old underwent an examination at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Results of the exam haven’t been released, but the teen’s mother said they indicated her son “had molested” the girl. The Associated Press is not naming the girl or detailing her relationship to the teen to avoid identifying a victim of sexual assault.
Lazette Cherry testified Tuesday that her son talked to her about his contact with the girl after her exam. Cherry said her son called his father about 3 a.m.
“Daddy, can you please forgive me in your heart, forgive what I did?” she quoted Jamar Pinkney Jr. as asking his father.
The mother said the elder Pinkney agreed to come to the house later to talk further. Cherry’s sister, Yolanda Cherry, testified that Jamar Pinkney Sr. arrived about 10 a.m.
Yolanda Cherry said she and her sister talked about getting help for the teen, while Pinkney Sr. said he spoke with the 3-year-old’s mother and she wanted to press charges.
“Jamar, is there something you want to tell me?” Yolanda Cherry quoted Pinkney Sr. as asking his son.
“He got on his knees in front of his dad and said, ‘I’m sorry,'” the aunt said.
“What did you do?” she quoted the father as asking.
“I humped (the girl),” the teen replied. “I need counseling.”
Pinkney Sr. didn’t immediately respond, Yolanda Cherry said, and she left to visit her mother’s upstairs apartment. She later heard screaming and banging and rushed down to find Pinkney Sr. holding a handgun and beating his son.
Both sisters testified Pinkney Sr. ordered his son to undress and marched him outside. The teen’s mother said Pinkney Sr. ordered the boy to kneel in the grass, ignoring his pleas for mercy.
“I said, ‘Jamar, stop. Don’t do this. Think about what you’re doing,'” Lazette Cherry testified.
She said Pinkney Sr. stood behind the boy and shot him in the head, then walked around still grasping the gun.
“He didn’t want anybody to go back and help him,” the mother said. After Pinkney Sr. left, she rushed to her son’s side.
“He’s bleeding, blood coming out of his mouth,” she said. “Somebody said, ‘Get some covers, cover him up, keep him warm.’ So that’s what we did.”
Jamar Pinkney Sr. is being held in the Wayne County Jail without bond, charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 16 shooting. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.
Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital (AAFH) in Ethiopia is in the process of building 5 new centers around the country to extend the work to those unable to get to the city. To do this the Hospital seeks increase the number of available trained doctors.
The Hospital was started over thirty years ago by Drs Reg and Catherine Hamlin. It was the first hospital of its kind and is a world leader in the treatment of Obstetric Fistula. AAFH has greatly expanded over the past 5 years, treating over 1300 patients per year at the hospital and at other sites around the country.
Currently in Ethiopia there are only 104 registered OB/Gyn doctors for a population of 80 million.
The Hospital’s strategy is to attract doctors from overseas who will train at the AAFH for 3-4 months, and then spend time in one of the regional centers, assisting to ensure that there is quality care and systems in place, while AAFH sponsors the training of local people to take up these roles.
All patients are treated completely free of any charge and the hospital is dependent for its finance on the generosity of its donors and Partner Trusts.
Zambia and Ethiopia teams will face each other at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi today. The winner will move one step closer to the Orange CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup quarterfinals.
Victory for second-placed Chipolopolo over Group A leaders Ethiopia will see Herve Renard’s side through to the quarterfinals to be played on December 7 with a game to spare.
Both Chipolopolo and Ethiopia are level on three points from their opening Group A matches following their 2-0 and 5-0 wins over Kenya and Djibouti on Saturday and Monday respectively.
The meeting will be the two side’s first clash since the 2006 edition of the event when Chipolopolo beat Ethiopia 1-0 in the quarterfinals in Addis Ababa.
Assistant coach George Lwandamina has said his charges are ready but wary of Ethiopia who are aiming to qualify to the last eight this year following their first round elimination in the last edition held in Uganda in January.
“It will not be an easy game but we have to fight and sail to the next round,” Lwandamina said.
Striker James Chamanga who scored a brace against hosts Kenya on Saturday is yet again expected to lead Chipolopolo’s charge for a quarterfinal place.
Another inspiring display from Chamanga will help exorcise Chipolopolo’s dismal show in the 2008 tournament held in Uganda, when like Ethiopia, Zambia too were eliminated in the preliminaries.
However, Renard has decided to take a gamble with preference of defence over offence after leaving Zanaco winger Allan Mukuka at home.
In Mukuka’s place is his Zanaco teammate and former Under-23 defender Eugene Shamakamba.
The unavailability of injured midfielder Stopilla Sunzu will mean Kebby Hachipuka should play a more prominent role in the holding role after being a peripheral figure in the Chipolopolo team over the last year.
Renard meanwhile is set to keep faith in the backline of Thomas Nyirenda, Denis Banda, and Emmanuel Mbola with either Charles Siyingwa or Shamakamba to complete Renard’s defence this afternoon.
Sebastian Mwansa and Henry Banda should again be favourites to start in midfield while Jacob Banda keeps his place in goals. And Chipolopolo will face Djibouti in their final match on Friday at the same venue.
DUBAI — Ethiopia’s superstar athlete Haile Gebrselassie is looking to break the world record on his return to Dubai in January to defend the title he has won for the past two years at the 2010 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon.
The current world record holder, Gebrselassie met with race officials in his home town of Addis Ababa last week to confirm he will return to Dubai for a third crack at breaking one of the most celebrated world records in sport on January 22.
“There are few, if any, greater names in athletics history than Haile Gebrselassie so once again we are proud and delighted that he has chosen to make his next marathon appearance in Dubai in three months time,” said event director Peter Connerton.
Dubai Marathon saw Gebrselassie make his Dubai debut in January 2008 with a winning time that was the second fastest in history.
“I still can’t believe I didn’t break the world record in 2008 — everything was perfect except the pace for the first half of the race, which was too fast — for me, Dubai is a perfect racing venue,” he said.
The lawyer for Jamar Pinkney Sr., 37, said he will pursue an insanity defense as a judge in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park ruled Pinkney should stand trial on first-degree murder, assault and firearms charges in his son’s Nov. 16 death.