Report in English by state-owned Ethiopian news agency ENA
ADDIS ABABA — US Secretary of Department of Health and Human Service Michael O Leavitt arrived here on Saturday [9 August] on a four-day working visit to Ethiopia.
While here, Leavitt would visit various activities being carried out in the health sector, particularly HIV intervention and health extension activities. The secretary is also expected to visit health research institutions and hospitals.
He was received on arrival at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport by Health Minister Dr Tewodros Adhanom.
Originally published by ENA website, Addis Ababa, in English 10 Aug 08.
SHELBURNE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS — For a day, Shelburne Falls was the running capital of New England. And for that day, three Ethiopians ruled that capital. In the largest field in the 30-year history of the always popular Bridge of Flowers 10K Classic, champion Genna Tufa and teammate Deniboba Derese ran together from nearly start to finish on the men’s side Saturday, while friend Buzhnesh Takekegl won the women’s division.
Tufa covered the challenging 6.2-mile course in 31 minutes, five seconds, crossing a chest ahead of Derese in a photo finish. Takekegl took the lead among the women in the second half, finishing in 35:59.
Under friendly, scattered white clouds, and in prime running conditions, runners from throughout New England and beyond congregated at cozy Shelburne Falls. Premier runners from elite New England running clubs donned their respective singlets for the race, which served as this year’s USA Track & Field New England 10K championship.
Combined with the Nathan Hale 2-Mile run, more than 1,000 runners made the trip along Interstate 91 and Route 2 to take to the starting line on the Iron Bridge. Kenya’s Shadrack Kiyni, who resides in Danbury, Conn., placed third in 31:43. William Christian of Newport, R.I., was fourth in 32 flat, followed by Jeff Freeman of New Hampton, N.H., in 32:06.
Eric Blake of New Britain, Conn., who won the 2008 Mount Washington Road Race, was seventh in 32:23. Former Agawam resident Nate Jenkins was eighth in 32:28.
Greenfield’s Avi Kramer was the first local finisher, placing No. 13 in 33:08.
Whitinsville’s Stephanie Reilly was the women’s runner-up in 36:32. Last year’s second-place finisher Heidi Westerling took third in 36:51. Belchertown’s Amy Nedeau, who led for part of the race, was the top local female, taking fourth in 37 flat. Leominster’s Janice Connor was fifth in 37:54.
After the leaders zig-zagged the opening 2-mile loop, a pack of nine runners tackled mighty Crittenden Hill at the same time. One kilometer later, at the peak of the most challenging part of the race, Tufa crossed under the balloon arch alone. His Westchester Running Club teammate followed, and Tufa encouraged him to catch up.
The rest of the pack was 22 seconds behind. The strongest group of elite runners in the history of the race had been reduced to two, and it stayed that way to the finish.
“I always like to let them go on the hill,” said Jenkins, now of Lowell, who was with the leaders at the base of Crittenden. “I think a lot of people attack that sucker, then usually you hope to come back on them in the second part of the race. But if you’re not 100 percent fit, that hill will find you out.”
Tufa and Derese respectfully ran stride for stride until the final 25 yards, when they both made a dash for the finish line, drawing loud applause from the rows of spectators. Tufa edged his friend at the finish line, but in reality, they were co-champions.
“We were going up together in a group, so I push us to go,” said Tufa, 24, the 2007 runner-up, referring to his move on Crittenden Hill. “That is why I push up the hill.”
“I run a good amount of hills for running,” the 25-year-old Derese said. “But this was too much. This was harder.”
On the women’s side, Nedeau held the lead at the crest of Crittenden Hill before Tarekegl, Reilly and Westerling surged on the backside.
“I won the cream to the top,” joked Nedeau, 33. “Around four (miles), those two went around me, and Heidi (Westerling). I hung on for as long as I could.”
Tarekegl gained the lead and maintained it the rest of the way.
“This (race) is very nice,” said Tarekegl, 28, who’s sponsored by Nike. “I like it. But it has a little bit of a hill. Had to be strong. But my training is good. I’m happy to win.”
“We tried to make a move (on Tarekegl), but we couldn’t close the gap,” Reilly said.
This is not the Ethiopian army. It is a gang of murderers, torturers and rapists who are currently terrorizing the people of Ethiopia, Somalia and the Horn of Africa under rule of Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (Woyanne). This army’s only purpose is to protect the Meles crime family from the people of Ethiopia.
(Addis Journal) ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — After an appeal to the Federal Higher Court, Teddy Afro’s lawyer, Million Assefa was released yesterday afternoon.
The lawyer was sent to Kaliti prison on Wednesday with 50 days’ sentence for contempt of court. The Federal Higher Court suspended the sentence.
While in prison, Million met Teddy Afro who was said to have wept when he saw him.
Addis Neger this morning reported that Teddy who was in a solitary confinement has now moved to what is called Zone 5 where there are other inmates
BEIJING (AFP) — Ethiopian star Tirunesh Dibaba tends to dominate most discussions when it comes to women’s long-distance running. But Dibaba’s team-mate Meseret Defar, the reigning Olympic and world champion in the 5,000 metres and triple world indoor champion in the 3,000m, comes to Beijing determined to tip the scales in her favour.
Defar saw Dibaba smash her world record over 5,000m this season at the Bislett Games in Oslo, but the 24-year-old fired back in Stockholm with a time just one second slower than the new mark.
“Those who thought I had disappeared should watch my performance in Stockholm,” said Defar, who has a 13-9 lead in head-to-head races with Dibaba.
“When I finished the race and saw the time, I was so disappointed. I was very depressed and cried. It is very painful to miss a world record by just one second.”
Defar’s performance in Stockholm ensured she will attend the Beijing Games as a potential major thorn in the side of Dibaba in her quest for a 5,000 and 10,000m double.
“I am happy with improving my personal best and using the race to get ready for Beijing,” said Defar, who has not raced against Dibaba since the World Athletics Final in September 2006.
Despite losing to compatriot Meselech Melkamu in the African Games for her first 5,000m defeat since September 2006, Defar otherwise enjoyed an outstanding season in 2007.
“My focus this year was always going to Beijing,” she said in reference to her time out from international competition this year.
“I just had two bad races this year in Addis Ababa (in the African Games) and Eugene (Oregon in the Prefontaine Classic),” Defar said, quoted by the IAAF, athletics’ world governing body.
“It was not a bad year at all, but I am happy to go the Olympics in good form after illness earlier in the year.”
In anticipation of some withering weather conditions in Beijing, Defar and her long-distance running team-mates have changed their training routines to include warm-weather sessions in Debrezeit, 45 kilometres from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
And Defar, who won gold in the 2004 Games despite being giving a starting spot only when Berhane Adere was dropped for disciplinary reasons, acknowledged a second Olympic title would not come easy.
“Nothing I have achieved so far compares to my victory in Athens four years ago,” she said. “It has changed my career and my life. It has also inspired many girls from Addis Ababa to take up the sport.
“But it is as difficult to win it for the second time. I know the world will be watching and everyone will be preparing to peak in these Games.”
However, Defar added she had not tired of top-class athletics.
“I want to win these titles over and over again. I want to win everything that is on offer and break every record there is to break.”
Wondwossen Tadesse makes pizzas at his pizzeria in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. Tadesse’s Skyline Pizza restaurant was robbed earlier this week. (Paul Chinn / The Chronicle)
As Oakland reels from a string of takeover robberies at restaurants, police promised Friday to beef up patrols and use Guardian Angels in commercial areas, while merchants were asked to increase security with cameras and vigilance.
In the past month, hooded or masked gunmen have burst into eight restaurants from Piedmont Avenue to East Oakland, stealing money from customers and clerks. The holdups, on the heels of a similar wave of robberies in North Oakland earlier this year, have residents fearing that no place in the city is immune to brazen crime.
“I’ve avoided dining out at night because it’s unsafe,” said Kevin Quan, who lives in the city’s San Antonio district near the King of King Restaurant on East 12th Street, which was hit by three robbers Wednesday night.
Hans Hiller, who works in Oakland and was having lunch at the King of King on Friday, said he is so uncomfortable that he has stopped taking BART to work from his home in Concord because he doesn’t feel safe walking from his office to the station at night.
“In the daytime, it’s OK. It’s light, and people are out,” he said. “Once it gets to be dark, it’s a different story.”
The King of King restaurant and two other businesses have been robbed this week by gunmen wearing dark-colored, hooded sweatshirts. On Tuesday, a pizza parlor in the East Oakland hills was hit by robbers a day after three men robbed the Kerry House bar on Piedmont Avenue shortly before it closed.
Police say the same three men might be responsible for all of the recent robberies. They were described as African American, in their late teens to early 20s, between 5-foot-4 and 6-foot-2 and wearing black hooded sweatshirts and masks. At least one is armed with a handgun.
“With the M.O. (modus operandi) and the suspect descriptions, we’re able to say they’re probably linked,” said Officer Ryan Goodfellow, who is leading the robbery investigations.
Nobody has been injured in the robberies, but police and residents fear the criminals are becoming bolder each time they get away.
On Friday, police released a surveillance video of Tuesday’s robbery at Skyline Pizza on Keller Avenue. Police also offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the eight robberies.
Wondwossen “Tony” Tadesse, a native of Ethiopia who owns the pizza parlor, said that while security cameras and guards help deter criminals, thieves who are determined to get money are hard to stop.
Still, he is taking precautions: He never keeps more than $100 or $200 on hand, putting the rest in a safe. He urges his customers use ATM and credit cards rather than cash.
Mayor Ron Dellums, speaking with reporters Thursday, urged people not to develop a siege mentality and said police and city officials are moving swiftly to make the city’s commercial areas safe.
“There’s no magic answer,” Dellums said. “There’s no silver bullet. When people are desperate, they take desperate acts. We’ve got to keep trying as diligently as we can. … We’ve got to solve this problem. We can stop it.”
Christina Trieu, owner of King of King Restaurant, said she wants Dellums and Chief Wayne Tucker to send more officers to patrol the neighborhood where her business is located, especially after dusk.
She also wants city officials to take more seriously merchants’ and residents’ concerns about neighborhood safety. A streetlight has been broken in front of her business for several months, she said. She’s been in contact with city officials, who have promised to fix the light as soon as possible.
“We hope for no more of this to happen,” Trieu said Friday. “We want it to be safer. We want to bring our customers back.”
Capt. Rick Orozco urged merchants and patrons to be vigilant in watching for and reporting suspicious people or behavior, such as groups of young men lurking in dark clothing.
He said officers will be out in marked and unmarked vehicles, and city officials will work with merchants to install surveillance cameras and reduce the amount of cash on hand.
Police would not say when or where the Guardian Angels would be out in commercial districts in their trademark red windbreakers and berets, but they hope the added security presence will make merchants and customers feel safer doing business in Oakland.
“Any time you’re in a restaurant, and you’re having dinner with your family, and somebody comes in and robs it, that’s a serious situation, and we’re taking it extremely seriously,” said Sgt. Roland Holmgren.
