Pune, India (UNI) – Ethiopian runners, popular for their long distance running, will be taking part along with the top runners from Kenya and Tanzania in the 23rd edition of the Vodafone Pune international marathon, to be flagged off here on December 7.
The 28-member contingent, comprising 25 men, will run in the full marathon while the three women members will take part in the half-marathon.
The most impressive performers among the contingent are Derese Gashu Hilmneh and Wellay Amare, who have broken the 2:10:00 barrier.
Hilmneh has a time record of 2:09:52 in Frankfurt this year. Whereas Amare had finished the race with in 2:09:58 in the Amesterdam last year.
The three women runners of the squad– Wosen Bekele Desta, Firehiwop Tesfaye Gebereyesus and Birhan Aregawi Gebremichael, are expected to provide stiff challenge to their rivals from Kenya and Tanzania.
Teams from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) treated 164 refugees from Ethiopia and Somalia who arrived on a beach in southern Yemen on December 1, after they made a harrowing two-day journey in smuggler boats launched from northern Somalia.
At least 24 people did not survive the trip. Most of the bodies were collected from the beach yesterday, with several more discovered today, in Ahwar, Yemen.
A total of 195 refugees and migrants made the journey in two overcrowded boats that disembarked from the port city of Bossasso in the Puntland region of northern Somalia. People were forced overboard by the smugglers approximately 400 meters from the Yemeni shore. Some survivors were treated by MSF for knife wounds. The smugglers stabbed them when they refused to jump from the boat while still in deep water far from shore.
Sixty percent of the survivors of this latest journey came from Ethiopia, with the remainder from Somalia.
Boatloads of people routinely arrive on Yemen’s southern shores. The majority of the passengers are usually Somali people fleeing war and persecution at home. Some Ethiopians also report that they are fleeing persecution and violence in some areas of their country. Since the beginning of the year, 350 people have died attempting the journey; the figure is probably too low since some bodies are lost at sea and others a buried quickly and unannounced by local villagers.
A one-and-a-half year-old boy reached the shore with his twenty-year-old aunt. They had set off from Bossaso with the boy’s 24-year-old mother after journeying from the Oromo region of Ethiopia to northern Somalia in search of a better life in Yemen.
The boy’s aunt searched the beach in vain for her sister, who apparently did not survive after being forced from the boat. Seven hours later, Yemeni fisherman found the boy’s mother in the water, miraculously alive.
“The boat was very crowded,” said the boy’s mother. “We had no water or food. Only the smugglers did. If you move, they kick you. If someone dies on the boat, they throw them overboard. I witnessed someone being thrown into the sea.”
Twenty-four hours after her ordeal she was confused, exhausted, and could barely walk. “Yesterday I was in the sea,” she whispered. “I don’t know how I was saved. Only today can I talk. I don’t know where I am right now, but I would like to go to Yemen.”
Since the beginning of 2008, MSF teams in southern Yemen have treated over 8,000 people who have arrived by boat. Survivors are provided with immediate medical assistance on the beach and are given dry clothes, water, and nutrient-fortified foods. They are then transported to a United Nations reception center in the town of Ahwar, where MSF operates a medical clinic and provides counseling services. MSF began its project in southern Yemen in September 2007.
In June 2008, MSF released a report, titled “No Choice,” which documents the conditions of the perilous journey to Yemen and calls for increased assistance for the thousands of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants fleeing their home countries.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- The Ethiopian parliament has lifted the immunity from criminal prosecution of Shewaferahu Yitina, elected member of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) after a request from Addis Ababa City Administration saying he is a suspect in two robbery cases.
The letter the city administration wrote to the parliament specified that Shewaferahu was also caught committing a third robbery and is already under investigation.
According to the constitution of the country, though parliament members have full immunity, this will be taken away if they are caught committing a criminal act.
However, the letter of the City Administration says police have not been able to question Shewaferahu for the other two robbery cases because of his privileged status as a parliamentarian.
“I have nothing to do with any of the cases the police is charging me with,” said Shewaferahu when asked to defend himself before his immunity is taken away.
“I have written a letter both to the parliament and to the minister’s office about my innocence, but no one came to talk to me. I am becoming a victim of injustice,” he added.
Shewaferahu also explained to parliament members that he was sick and was getting traditional treatment at the time police accused him of being involved in a robbery and that many people can testify to that.
He also revealed the nature of the interrogation the police had subjected him to; “What the police had been asking me about was why I joined the parliament,” he said.
After looking at the letter of request from the city administration, the legal and administration affairs standing committee in the parliament forwarded a recommendation to the parliament asking for the removal of Shewaferahu’s immunity.
“The standing committee isn’t giving a verdict that Shewaferahu is guilty and should be sentenced. We are saying he should be questioned by the police for the crimes he is suspected of,” said Asmelash, a member of the standing committee.
With a majority vote of 245 in favor, 73 opposing and 20 abstentions, the parliament accepted the recommendation of the standing committee to remove Shewaferahu’s immunity.
This is PART 7 of a seven-part in-depth look behind the scenes of the campaign, consisting of exclusive behind-the-scenes reporting from the McCain and Obama camps assembled by a special team of reporters who were granted year-long access on the condition that none of their findings appear until after Election Day.
The Final Days
Obama was leading in the polls, even in red states like Virginia. But McCain almost seemed to glory in being the underdog.
The Obama campaign ran the biggest, best-financed get-out-the-vote campaign in the history of American politics. It wanted to turn out minorities and the young, groups that traditionally stay away from the polls. For the cautious, self-consciously virtuous Obamaites, this worthy goal posed some special challenges.
The campaign wanted to reach out to young black men, but in a way that would not antagonize white voters. The rap artist Jay-Z offered to perform in concert for Obama in October, but the campaign was “nervous,” recalled Jim Messina, the campaign chief of staff. Black leaders from the community in Detroit and Miami pleaded with Obama headquarters, Messina recalled, saying, in effect, “You keep saying to us, ‘Go produce sporadic African-American young voters.’ Give us the tools. Jay-Z is a tool and you have to give him to us.”
Warily, the campaign agreed but still called the rap star’s management to ask him not to say anything about McCain or Palin onstage, for fear that the rapper would make crude or incendiary remarks that would wind up on Fox News. Jay-Z agreed not to riff on the Republican candidates, but he said he wanted to perform a song, “Blue Magic,” that includes the line “Push, money over broads, f––– Bush/Chef, guess what I cooked? Made a lot of bread and kept it off the books.”
At a concert on Oct. 5 in Miami, Jay-Z decided to skip the line about Bush, but the crowd, familiar with the words, roared it out anyway, as giant portraits of Bush and Obama lit up the backdrop. The incident passed largely unnoticed by the media—and the Obama campaign registered 10,000 new voters in Miami.
“Walking-around money” is an old and somewhat disreputable political practice of dispensing cash to local pols, grass-roots community leaders and preachers to get out the vote on Election Day, particularly in poorer areas inhabited by racial and ethnic minorities. As money changes hands, a certain amount of winking is typically involved; not all of the funds go to, say, hiring drivers or passing out leaflets, and the recipients are not shy about asking. (During the Robert F. Kennedy campaign for president in 1968, Kennedy operatives made sure not to bid up the going rate for walking-around money, or to hand it out too early, lest they have to pay twice.)
On Oct. 21, Michael Strautmanis was riding, along with a NEWSWEEK reporter, through the streets of Philadelphia in an aged Honda Accord driven by a baby-faced law grad who had volunteered for the campaign 10 days earlier. Strautmanis had been a close friend of Michelle and Barack Obama since he worked at the same Chicago law firm in the late ’80s. He was on his way—or so he thought—to a one-on-one meeting with a local Democratic congressman. But word arrived that the meeting had been expanded to include the Democratic city committee, a local power center in Philadelphia’s Democratic politics. One of the city committee’s roles was as collector and dispenser of walking-around money. Obama had refused on principle to hand out walking-around money during the Pennsylvania primary, which he lost by eight points.
“I’m not doing that,” Strautmanis said, to no one in particular. He quickly called a friend to arrange a place where he could meet with the congressman—alone. Next was a meeting with a state senator, who greeted Strautmanis like an old friend, even though they had never met. The state senator said he was in awe of Obama. “He’s the greatest bulls–––ter in the world!” the politician exclaimed. “I know he’s bulls–––ting me, but it feels good!” Sensing he was perhaps being a little too frank, the state senator said, “I want to be as helpful as I can.” Strautmanis said the campaign planned to “overwhelm the system” with a massive turnout. They planned to have volunteers knock on every door of every likely voter in Philadelphia, three times—on Saturday, Monday and Election Day. The trick then was to get them to the polls. The state senator suggested buses “with AC and a health-care worker onboard” for senior citizens. “And street money,” the senator said. “I know you guys didn’t do it in the primary, but…”
Strautmanis continued, asking, “What about the churches?” The senator became a little vague, or perhaps coy. “The churches are …” he began, pausing. “They’re in a different place.” He suggested some churches might hold out support if they’re not courted, but, the […continued on page 2]
This is PART 6 of a seven-part in-depth look behind the scenes of the campaign, consisting of exclusive behind-the-scenes reporting from the McCain and Obama camps assembled by a special team of reporters who were granted year-long access on the condition that none of their findings appear until after Election Day.
The Great Debates
Later, after McCain’s ride to the rescue had been mocked in the press, some of his advisers blamed Steve Schmidt for the fiasco. The campaign’s chief strategist was forever searching for the bold stroke, the instant game changer, but by urging McCain to go to Washington, he had impetuously and blindly steered the candidate into a trap. “McCain never saw it as a stunt,” insisted one aide. But to most commentators, the bizarre rush back to Washington seemed gimmicky—one more tactical gambit in a campaign that seemed to lack any coherent or consistent strategy.
The Obama team never took seriously McCain’s announcement that he was suspending his campaign and putting off the first debate. They noted that McCain never canceled his hotel reservations (or most of his ads) or informed the Commission on Presidential Debates that the candidate would not be attending. Some McCain staffers later confessed they didn’t think for a second he’d skip the debate. Obama’s attitude toward the whole strange interlude was one of mild exasperation. When he first learned that McCain was heading for Washington, he had just silently thrown up his hands. He seemed slightly annoyed that he had to go along with the charade at the White House, which meant missing out on valuable debate-prep time, but he did not complain too loudly. There was no point; he realized soon enough that McCain had stepped on a banana peel.
Obama prepared scrupulously and relentlessly for the debates. He knew that he had delivered a mediocre to weak performance at the Saddleback forum in August. In what amounted to a preview of the formal presidential debates, the two candidates had agreed to be interviewed back to back by the Rev. Rick Warren, the bestselling evangelist, at his megachurch in California. McCain delivered short, punchy answers, and most pundits declared that he had won the day. Obama plowed along in his ponderous professor mode. Warren had asked the same questions of both candidates, and the Obama aides complained that McCain must have cheated by seeing the questions beforehand, likely furnished by aides with BlackBerrys who had watched Obama go first. McCain’s advisers retorted that McCain was kept in the dark, in part because he wanted to honor the rules and also because his aides didn’t want him to be distracted by trying to match Obama’s answers.
Never one to wing it, Obama studied for the three official presidential debates, scheduled for roughly once a week from late September to mid-October, as if he were taking the bar exam. He memorized details on new weapons systems so he wouldn’t look like a neophyte on national defense. But the real challenge, he knew, was not in the details of policy or his mastery of defense-spending arcana. He would need to show something more ineffable but profound—a true command presence. As his aides never ceased to remind him, he would have to look “presidential.”
The topic of the first debate was meant to be foreign policy, McCain’s strong suit. Obama did not object. Better to get it out of the way—to deal with his perceived weakness right away, to outperform expectations. Inevitably, given the crisis in Washington, the first questions from the moderator, Jim Lehrer of PBS, were bound to focus on the proposed bailout and the economy. But that was all right, too. Obama’s burden was to show that he was ready to step up to crisis, that he would not be learning on the job in the Oval Office.
In debate prep, Obama’s advisers repeatedly instructed him: Do not get personal. Stay calm and in control. Stay presidential. The voters know you represent change; now you’ve got to persuade them to see you as president.
“Command and control: we told him, ‘Write it down on your pad when you go in’,” said Joel Benenson, a pollster who was on the debate-prep team. The candidates were not allowed to bring notes in with them, but they could take notes once they got onstage. Benenson later told a NEWSWEEK reporter that he doubted that Obama took their advice to write it down. The candidate didn’t need to: “He knew that was the mission,” said Benenson.
Obama was up against McCain’s strength and experience in the national-security realm, but he was also confronting a deeper stereotype, a curse that had kept the Democrats out of the White House for 20 of the last 28 years. Ever since the days of Jimmy Carter, a majority of Americans had consistently told pollsters that they trusted the Republicans more on the issue of security—not just abroad, but at home. To use ancient and more or less discredited (but still potent) clichés, the Democrats were the Mommy party, comforting the needy and weak, while the Republicans were the Daddy party, keeping the family safe from threats. In the debates, it was critical that Obama come across as looking like Dad. His hope was that McCain would appear to be the crotchety uncle who lived up in the attic. […continued on page 2]
This is PART 5 of a seven-part in-depth look behind the scenes of the campaign, consisting of exclusive behind-the-scenes reporting from the McCain and Obama camps assembled by a special team of reporters who were granted year-long access on the condition that none of their findings appear until after Election Day. This story is based on reporting by Daren Briscoe, Eleanor Clift, Katie Connolly, Peter Goldman, Daniel Stone and Nick Summers. It was written by Evan Thomas.
In midsummer, the Obama campaign’s computers were attacked by a virus. The campaign’s tech experts spotted it and took standard precautions, such as putting in a firewall. At first, the campaign figured it was a routine “phishing” attack, using common methods. Or so it seemed. In fact, the campaign had been the target of sophisticated foreign cyber-espionage.
The next day, the Obama headquarters had two visitors: from the FBI and the Secret Service. “You have a problem way bigger than what you understand,” said an FBI agent. “You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system.” The Feds were cryptic and did not answer too many questions. But the next day, Obama campaign chief David Plouffe heard from White House chief of staff Josh Bolten. “You have a real problem,” Bolten told the Obama aide. “It’s way bigger than you guys think and you have to deal with it.”
By late afternoon the campaign’s chief technology officer, Michael Slaby, was on the phone with the FBI field agent who was running the investigation out of Los Angeles. Slaby was told that the hackers had been moving documents out of Obama’s system at a rapid rate. Potentially, Obama’s entire computer network had been compromised.
The campaign brought in a top tech-security firm to scrub its system. On Aug. 18 an Obama official was summoned to FBI headquarters in Chicago for a briefing, only to be told that the White House had ordered the FBI not to give the briefing. The Obama official asked why, and was told that three hours earlier the Feds had learned that the McCain campaign had been compromised as well.
The security firm retained by the Obama campaign was finally able to remove the virus. (The campaign’s fundraising records were kept on a different computer system and were never compromised.) On Aug. 20 the Obama campaign got its briefing from the FBI. The Obama team was told that its system had been hacked by a “foreign entity.” The official would not say which “foreign entity,” but indicated that U.S. intelligence believed that both campaigns had been the target of political espionage by some country—or foreign organization—that wanted to look at the evolution of the Obama and McCain camps on policy issues, information that might be useful in any negotiations with a future Obama or McCain administration. There was no suggestion that terrorists were involved; technical experts hired by the Obama campaign speculated that the hackers were Russian or Chinese.
Obama himself was briefed, and his personal laptop was examined and found not to have been hacked. The Obama campaign took steps to better secure its computer system, including encrypting any documents used by the policy and transition teams. The Feds assured the Obama team that it had not been hacked by its political opponents, which was sort of reassuring. A senior McCain official confirmed to NEWSWEEK that the campaign had been hacked and that the FBI had become involved. White House and FBI officials had no comment earlier this week.
To David Axelrod, the stretch of August between Obama’s triumphal tour abroad and the Democratic convention were “lost weeks.” Looking back after the convention, Obama’s chief strategist felt that the campaign had been in a “rut.” Though the campaign publicly scoffed at McCain’s “celebrity” ad as a bit of desperate fluff on the part of the McCainiacs, the more honest Obama advisers conceded that Obama had been knocked a little off stride, made more cautious. Axelrod decided to tone down the rock-star aspect of the campaign. The candidate was no longer scheduled into mega-rallies but rather performed at smaller, more-subdued events. Axelrod was a little uneasy about the coming Democratic convention in Denver. The campaign had already declared that Obama would address a football stadium full of supporters in Denver on the last night. The intention was to mimic John F. Kennedy, who in 1960 had departed the crowded convention hall to deliver his acceptance speech under the lights at the massive Los Angeles Coliseum. (The Obamaites also wanted to use the event to create a giant phone bank—everyone who attended was supposed to use their cell phones to call friends and family. Extra cell towers were brought in to accommodate the avalanche of calls and texting.) At Invesco Field in Denver, the production staff of the Democratic National Committee proposed erecting enormous white columns on either side of the podium with all sorts of lights and adornments. To Axelrod, the whole setup looked like an over-the-top version of ancient Greece—or, more likely, a scene set from the movie “Star Wars”—and he asked for something more modest and sober, simple but presidential. The designers came back with some white columns that vaguely resembled the arcade between the West Wing and the White House, still a little presumptuous, perhaps, but better than trying to re-create Mount Olympus.
The Obama campaign had always prided itself in staying away from the Washington hothouse of party hacks and lobbyists. But the nominating conventions are traditionally giant celebrations of the party establishment. Inevitably, there was some tension between Democratic regulars and the Obama insurgents on the road to Denver. Delegates and congressmen, normally showered with free tickets, were allotted relatively few in order to […continued on page 2]
