NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands (AFP) — Ethiopian running great Kenenisa Bekele said on Sunday he was unsure as to which distance he would target for the 2012 Olympics in London.
The 26-year-old 5,000 metres and 10,000m Olympic champion said he was deliberating over whether to run the 10,000m or the marathon.
“Actually, I don’t know yet when I will turn my attention to road running,” said Bekele, who was speaking after finishing third in a 15 kilometres race here on Sunday.
“I still want to improve myself on the track.
“In London, I could run the marathon but it could well be the 10,000. At the moment, I just don’t know.”
Bekele owns one of the best records in athletics being a triple Olympic champion, a multi-world champion, double world record holder in the 5,000 and 10,000m and a five-time world champion in the cross country over short and long distance.
TEHRAN (ISNA)-Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said his country certainly supports Iran’s right for access to peaceful nuclear technology.
In a meeting with Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi, Ouyahia described Davoudi’s trip to Algeria as a turning point in boosting bilateral ties and said his country calls for employing Iran’s precious experiences on housing, medication and campaign against terrorism.
He also voiced support for bilateral cooperation on financial and energy domains.
Davoudi for his part said Iran has no border in sharing sanitary, industrial, energy and educational achievements with Algeria.
He emphasized Tehran and Algiers should try to run a gas OPEC to serve the two nations’ interests.
The Iranian Vice President said expansion of ties with Algiers is of high importance for Tehran and called for more banking, industrial, energy ties as well as rise in bilateral investment.
Meanwhile Davoudi described resistance as Iran’s key to achieve peaceful nuclear technology.
Parviz Davoudi along with a delegation left Tehran for Algiers on Saturday to hold talks with Algerian officials on raising bilateral relations.
During his tour he is to pursue agreements already made by the Iranian and Algerian presidents for expansion of ties.
Iranian and Algerian presidents have exchanged visits last year.
By Ryan DuVall
DINING OUT
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA – There is a sense of intimidation when trying a new restaurant, especially when it is one that serves something way outside the norm.
In the case of Ethiopian Restaurant, its simple name may fuel that intimidation with strong mental images of a country that not so long ago was marked by famine.
Fort Wayne has a lot of good ethnic restaurants, but they intimidate less because Thai, Korean and Vietnamese are easily comparable to Chinese food, which is very Americanized, and anything from south of the border falls under the Latin food umbrella and is easily compared with good old Americanized Mexican.
There is no comfortable comparison for African cuisine.
But what I found at Ethiopian Restaurant was anything but intimidating. It was simply prepared and seasoned food – much less exotic than much of the Latin and Asian fare I have had – made in a family setting much the same way I suspect it has been made for members of that family for years.
The hard-to-find restaurant, in a strip of stores near Parkview Hospital on State Boulevard, is small and has little character except for a few posters and knick-knacks from Ethiopia.
The menu is also quite small, with vegetarian, chicken, beef and lamb offerings, since most traditional Ethiopians do not eat pork for religious reasons.
The base for Ethiopian food is injera bread, which is made from fermented teff flour and is more like a cold crepe than actual bread. This bread is your eating utensil.
You can ask for flatware, but Ethiopians eat with their right hand and use pieces of the injera to grab the food. Injera has little flavor except for a touch of sourness, so it is truly more of a vehicle for other offerings.
It is also quite pasty, and all of the pieces, which included a huge layer covering the bottom of the huge family-style serving platter on which all of the food is served, were cold. So, no, this is not like Indian dosa, which is delicious plain.
The best dish I had was the lega tibs – lamb sauted in onion jalapeo, butter and spices. These big chunks of mild meat resembled beef tips and were just as moist and tender. The onion added a dash of sweetness, the jalapeo provided spice, and a few sprigs of thyme rounded the dish out.
The lamb, of which I received a large bowl, is available only on Fridays and Saturdays.
I also loved the yemisir wat – red split lentils in red pepper, onions, herbs and berbere sauce, which is a combination of chili pepper and other spices.
The dark red beans had the texture of chunky refried beans and had a wonderful hint of spice.
The doro alicha – chicken leg seasoned with onion, garlic, fresh ginger, a touch of butter and green pepper, all simmered in turmeric – was a bit disappointing. The turmeric gave the dish a unique fresh, zesty flavor, and the green pepper colored the sauce, which was a bit chunky like a chutney.
However, the chicken leg was small in spite of being fall-off-the-bone tender and juicy. The dish was minuscule in comparison to the huge portion of lamb, which was the same price.
The kitfo regular was similar in flavor and color but was a better option. Minced and seasoned beef was mixed with herbed butter, cardamom – which gave it a greenish-yellow color – and mitmita, which is a spice mix of chili peppers, cardamom seed, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, ginger and salt.
The tiny bits of beef were hearty but too small to really gauge quality, and the spice mix gave it a lot of depth.
All of the entres were joined on the serving platter with sides, which vary daily.
Stewed cabbage with carrot slices was served during both visits and was my favorite of the sides.
This slightly sweet, soft, cool cabbage salad of sorts was bright yellow from the addition of turmeric, but it had a nice palate-cleansing effect, which made you keep going back from more.
I also loved the super-sweet beets-and-carrots side, which was dark red and slightly spicy from a hint of jalapeo.
Most of the spicy dishes were pretty tame, and the woman who handled the kitchen duties said she has made them that way purposefully so the food is pleasing to all palates.
A mealy scoop of split peas, which were also quite yellow from, again, turmeric, was my least favorite of the sides as the texture was too mushy, and it was refrigerator-cold. I would have rather had more of the potatoes and carrots stewed in tomatoes, which was hearty and more familiar in flavor.
The Ethiopian coffee was familiar in that it was stout and hot, but it also had a wonderful nutty, spicy background that made it unique. It is believed that coffee originated in Ethiopia, so it is a serious undertaking.
The coffee was served in beautiful traditional black pots, and the cook said she adds clove and cardamom to create the unique taste. I enjoyed every drop and would encourage anyone who tries Ethiopian Restaurant to try some.
That said, my coffee, which was the first thing I ordered during both visits, arrived more than halfway through my meal. Although I was served water and I appreciated that the coffee was brewed fresh, I would have liked to receive it sooner. I also was never able to try the home salad with homemade dressing because the folks there forgot about it both times I visited.
The courteous, gracious family members that run Ethiopian Restaurant did their best, it seemed, but I got the feeling they are new to the service industry.
But the food was unique and satisfying for the most part, and the experience of eating with your hands and trying food of a much different color and flavor than any other ethnic restaurant makes it well worth checking out.
Restaurant: Ethiopian Restaurant
Address: 2805 E. State Blvd.
Phone: 483-9787
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday
Cuisine: Ethiopian
Handicapped accessible: Yes
Alcohol served: None
Credit cards accepted: Yes
Kid-friendly: Yes, but no menu options
Menu: Ethiopian coffee ($2.95), yemisir wat ($7.95), lega tibs ($9.95), doro alicha ($9.95), kitfo regular ($9.95)
Note: Restaurants are categorized by price range: $ (less than $20 for three-course meal), $$ ($20-$29); $$$ ($30-$39), $$$$ ($40-$49), $$$$$ ($50 and up).
Ryan DuVall is a restaurant critic for The Journal Gazette. This review is based on two unannounced visits. The Journal Gazette pays for all meals. E-mail him at [email protected], call at 461-8130, or go to the “Dining Out” topic of “The Board” at www.journalgazette.net. DuVall’s past reviews can also be found under the Web site’s Food tab.
– FortWayne.com
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Ethiopian authorities arbitrarily arrested 94 opposition members and Oromo nationals in different towns of Oromiya region but mainly in the capital Addis Ababa, confirmed two oppositions parties today.
Recently the Oromo Parliamentarians Council in a joint statement said that Meles-led government has put under unlawful detention to more than 100 Oromo’s of different background using the pretext of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) as of October 30, 2008.
The council also said it has received the list of some of the arrested Oromos including university lecturers and opposition members who has been detained over twice in the past, and tortured to the level of disability.
Two Oromo opposition parties, The Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) and the Oromo Peoples Congress party confirmed the mass arrest of opposition members and Oromo nationals in different town of Ormiya region mainly in the capital, Addis Ababa.
“So far we have confirmed the illegal arrest of 94 Oromo nationals including our opposition members” Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement chairman Bulcha Demeksa told Sudan Tribune.
Bulcha says what going on now is an attempt to jeopardize Oroms people political movement in such away and close their legal political institutions by such means” he further said
“Few says ago our parties higher representative was illegal snatched by government agents from his friend’s car out side Addis in the highways of Nazeret ,south of Addis & kept in Jail for hours received threats as well” he Added
There are unconfirmed source putting the number of detained Oromos to at least 200
“Though we couldn’t confirm it at this point, medias are putting the figure to over 200” says Merarra Gudina, Oromo Peoples Congress party’s chairman but says the report is likely and has no surprise.
“It is very easy to illegal arrest any Oromo national” Merarra said adding “If you are an Oromo ethnic and you don’t support or oppose the ruling government in a way then you are considered as illegal and linked to “terrorists” like Oromo Liberation Front so you are always in the hunt list by government agents”
The Oromo Parliamentarians statement called on the international community to take action in no time.
“It is the high time for all the concerned body to interfere in the gross human right violation against the Oromos from all walks of life and secure their constitutional freedom,” it said
The opposition board urged a number of governments, international institutions and human rights organisations as: European Parliament, European Commission, USA, AU, UK and the human right groups Amnesty International, Human Right Watch, International Red Cross, UNPO, UNHCR “to speak up on the injustice carried against the Oromo people for being Oromo alone by the Meles Zenawi government.”
Recently, Ethiopian authorities warned of a possible terrorist attack and urged citizens to collaborate with security forces. The caution has led into the arrest of a number of suspects including opposition members.
– ST
GODE, ETHIOPIA (APA) – Floods washed away at least 11 people and displaced thousands in Gode (700km from capital) in the eastern part of Ethiopia, APA learnt in Addis on Saturday.
According to Ethiopian authorities, the flood occurred late on Friday in Gode town due to the overflow of the Wabi Shebele River in the southeastern Somali regional state, one of the nine regional states in Ethiopia.
Heavy rains in the area resulted in the overflow of the Wabi Shebele River, which is one of the largest rivers in Ethiopia.
According to the Somali regional state Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau, the flood also affected 116 districts in the regional state.
“The flood also washed away 6,000 various animals that belong to the farmers in the area. The regional state is trying to deliver food assistance to displaced people,” said the bureau.
Since few weeks, unusual rains have been affecting Ethiopia’s harvest in various areas of the country. This is feared to damage this year’s harvest.
