(ABC Channel 7) OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — Three robbers with at least one gun, moved in on Skyline Pizza on Keller Avenue, just before closing time. “They looked confident, they were not nervous or anything this time, they looked like they knew what they were doing and they had no fear,” said Wondwossen ‘Woody’ Tadesse, owner of Skyline Pizza. See video below.
(BEIJING 2008) — The Ethiopian Olympic Committee (EOC) has a squad of 36 athletes bound for the Beijing Olympic Games, and the group glitters with gold medalists.
Kenenisa Bekele, 10,000-meter gold medalist at the Athens 2004 Olympiad, will be joined by countrymen Sileshi Sihine and Haile Gebrselassie in the same event at the this summer’s Olympics in the Chinese capital.
Haile Gebrselassie won gold medals in the 10,000-meter race at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. Sileshi Sihine was the 10,000-meter silver medallist at the Athens 2004 Games. Ethiopia’s elite 10,000-meter race team hopes to capture all three podium places in Beijing.
On the women’s side, two-time world 10,000-meter champion Tirunesh Dibaba, who won the bronze medal in the women’s 5000-meter race at the Athens 2004 Games, might attempt an unprecedented double gold in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter competitions in Beijing, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations. She will be challenged by compatriot Meseret Defar, a 5,000-meter gold medalist in Athens in the 5000-meter event.
All 36 athletes on the Ethiopian Olympic team will compete in mid-distance and long-distance running events at the Beijing Games.
By Saafi Labafidhin
The following is a real story of an Ogadeni woman. She is only one of the many unfortunate women in this region and if Victor Hugo of the nineteenth century was present in the eastern Ethiopian region of Ogaden, right now he would have written dozens, perhaps hundreds of Les Miserables about them!
It is about 01:30 pm local time and it is an unusually windy day in a dusty and dry village in one of Ogadens remotest areas. The temperature seems unforgivingly higher and the sun appears to have moved closer to the earth. The dry season has persisted longer than expected but people never give up looking at the barren sky; day in day out they pray for clouds of hope, clouds of rain. People and animals, and all other living things are competing for survival. Most importantly they are competing for scarce water and shade. Under an old acacia tree, lies a woman in her late fifties on a worn out mattress. She is a woman with a miserable life but with strong faith in God and that is why her smile is full of life and she repeats Alhamdulillaah. I Thank You Allah.
Ardo used to lead a normal nomadic life in one of the remotest and driest areas in the Ogaden. She had a large family consisting of 13 children and husband. They were not rich but compared to their community they were well off for they had a large number of camel herds and about hundred and fifty shoats and the children would at normal times consume milk at least two times a day. As a mother of more than a dozen of children, she had a busy life from taking care of the children, looking after some herds, managing the economy of the household, traveling long distances to the nearest town to sell animal products and buy needed items etc. She is well known in her locality by her hard work and strong sprit that keeps her rolling like a storm. All in al,l she was the engine of her large family.
Throughout her life, Ardo had came across many sad days as she struggled to make ends meet in the troubled land of Ogaden but none was as darker as the day she woke up without being able to see things! It was typical Jiilaal day where the violent temperature could be felt early in the morning. One night, she just came back from the nearby town where she sold two of her best goats to cope with the unforgiving dry season at which time survival of human beings is the biggest objective of every pastoralist in the area. After a long and tiresome journey by foot, she fell asleep late at that night after serving food to her family who depends on her for almost everything. Apart from the fatigue she remembers she had a severe headache which resembles migrin and locally known as Dhanjaf. Imagine if you suddenly wake up without your sense of sight! She could not believe her eyes! Shocked by the incident, she tried to verify that she is awake and not dreaming. She rubbed and rubbed her eyes with her fingers, she tried to reach and touch and feel things that were surrounding her. Yes she could feel things and hear the noise of the livestock just outside her traditional house –aqal Soomaali. But still she could not SEE!!!
After all her efforts were dashed by an undeniable fact, that she became blind, it was finally time to seek help. She called the names of some of her children. Her eldest daughter was the first to arrive at her mother´s side. When she learned what happened to her mother she could not help stop crying for the whole day. Indeed this was the saddest day on earth for the whole family. Her younger brother knew that something had to be done to save his mother´s sight. The first possible and less costly thing they would try was to call someone who could heal their beloved mother traditionally, but this proved to no avail. Sooner it was obvious that Ardo had to be checked by an eye specialist doctor.
The nearest hospital in the area lies in Godey, about 450 km from their vicinity and even if they can reach there, the Hospital is the best example of the extreme underdevelopment in the region as it lacks even the most basic equipment and supplies, it has no surgical ward or surgeon. People arriving in critical need of surgery are therefore unlikely to survive. In the Hospital, there is only one doctor –himself being medical practitioner –and no eye care center. By the way there is no a single Ophthalmology center in the whole Ogaden Region (or Somali Region –whatever you call it) and those who can afford the costs travel either to Dire Dawa or to neighboring Somalia for ophthalmologic and other treatments.
After some preparations Ardo and her family decided that she should travel to Dire Dawa where she had a sister whom she could rely on when traveling for medication. So her only hope was to contact her sister so that her sister could arrange accommodation and doctor appointments. Despite droughts and poor livestock market prices, they were forced to sell the best of her shoats and some camels to get enough cash for the costly journey and treatment. Two of her children followed her to Dire Dawa. Finally it was time to meet an Ophthalmologist but unfortunately, it was too late to help Ardo!!! After a long investigation the doctor finally informed Ardo through an interpreter that nothing could be done to restore her sight because the optic nerves of both eyes were dead!!! The only thing Ardo could say was Innaa Lillaahi wa Innaa Ilayhi Raaji´uun –We belong to Allah, and to Him we return.
Though her sister promised her to care for her, Ardo decided to go back to her isolated and remote home, yes nothing like home. Since she lost her sight Ardo´s life was complicated by insecurity and vulnerability. As if this was not enough, Ardo´s tragedy was to continue as those who would help her were themselves victims of natural and man made disasters. The last time she heard about her man was when he was imprisoned with four other men for an unknown reason and since then no one knows if he is alive or not! The eldest of her boys was arrested by Puntland army in Gaalkacyo and handed him over to the Ethiopian Army in Wardheer. Also his whereabouts is unknown to her. The second boy who was attending education in Jigjiga is now mentally ill and because of this he is chained by relatives in fear of harming himself or others. The only Mental Hospital is Amanuel Hospital in Addis Ababa –more than a thousand km distance. The latest and perhaps the worst tragedy Ardo heard is that of her daughter (who was the most helpful to her) who has passed away because of pregnancy complications, like her younger sister, when she was about to give birth to her third child. Her smile and content would make you think as if she is the happiest being in this universe in spite of losing the most important things in life: her sight, her family, her wealth (livestock) etc.
This is just a summary of the story but one thing is clear: There are thousand like her in the Ogaden whose lives could have been saved by a simple clinic or health post. However, TPLF´s war against civilians, economic blockade, expulsion of NGOs, lack of Basic health and other infrastructure facilities, recurrent droughts, media black-out, etc complicate the fate of Ogadeni ordinary people like Ardo.
We look at 10 sporting rivalries worth watching at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
1) JEREMY WARINER V LASHAWN MERRITT, 400 METRES
Olympic and world champion Wariner has dominated the 400 metres since before the 2004 Games. Compatriot Merritt has been in his slipstream throughout and is getting closer. Wariner remains favourite to retain his title but things have certainly got closer since Merritt bet him twice earlier in the season. The second of those victories came in the US trials when he said afterwards: “Once I got into the home stretch I was smelling Beijing and victory.” Only Michael Johnson, something of a mentor for Wariner, and Butch Reynolds have run faster than Wariner’s best time of 43.45.
2) KENENISA BEKELE v HAILE GEBRSELASSIE, 10,000 METRES
The winners of the last three Olympic 10,000 metres titles go head-to-head with Ethiopia’s Gebrselassie hoping to roll back the years for a sign-off triumph over his compatriot. Gebrselassie won gold in 1996 and 2000, both times beating Kenyan Paul Tergat in terrific races. As world record holder and four-times world champion he was the undisputed 10,000 king before moving on to the marathon.
Bekele took the older man’s world records at 5,000 and 10,000 metres, succeeding him as Olympic champion and notching up three world titles. Gebrselassie, now 35, nine years older than Bekele, opted out of the Beijing marathon because of concerns over the air quality.
3) MICHAEL PHELPS v MARK SPITZ, SWIMMING
Phelps, born after his fellow American retired, is engaged in a battle with Spitz for the title of the greatest swimmer of all time. Spitz has held that mantle since he won seven gold medals, all in world record time, at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Phelps came close to matching his mark at Athens four years ago when he collected six golds but is chasing eight in Beijing. Phelps is due to swim the 200 and 400 metres individual medley, the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 freestyle and three relays in Beijing — and is favourite to win all of them. Australian head coach Alan Thompson says the American is more than capable of the record feat but his team mates Ian Crocker and Ryan Lochte could spoil the party.
4) KATIE HOFF v STEPHANIE RICE
American Katie Hoff and Australia’s Stephanie Rice will clash in women’s individual medleys. Hoff won both events at last year’s world championships before teenager Rice threw down the challenge when she broke the world records for both events at this year’s Australian Olympic trials. Hoff regained her record in the 400 during the US trials. Rice was romantically linked with Eamon Sullivan but they called off their relationship just before the Beijing Games. Sullivan broke Alexander Popov’s world record for 50 metres this year but lost it to Bernard a few months later before regaining it at the Australian trials.
5) ISABELL WERTH V ANKY VAN GRUNSVEN, EQUESTRIANISM
Dutchwoman Van Grunsven has stopped giving interviews so she can throw everything into beating her equestrian dressage rival of the past two decades, Germany’s Werth, and winning her third successive Olympic gold. She clinched her ninth World Cup title this year by beating Werth, who won silver in Barcelona and then captured the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games by edging out the Dutchwoman. Werth also won silver in 2000. Beijing is almost certainly the sixth and last Olympics for van Grunsven because her children are more important to her than a gold nowadays.
6) YANG WEI V THE HORIZONTAL BAR, GYMNASTICS
With no Paul Hamm in the field, the only obstacle standing in Yang’s way to winning the Olympic all-round title is likely to be the horizontal bar. Four years ago the Chinese favourite was leading the competition going into the final rotation but his Olympic dreams came crashing down when he lost his grip on the bar and finished out of the medals. At the 2007 world championships, Yang again failed to master his hold on the apparatus and suffered a crashed landing. This time, such was the lead he had built up over his rivals, the fall could not deny him a place on the top of the podium.
7) CHINA V US WOMEN’S TEAMS, GYMNASTICS
China reigned supreme at the 2006 world championships before being dethroned 12 months later by the United States, who won their first world team title on foreign soil in Stuttgart. The Americans will be relying on the dynamic skills of Shawn Johnson and the artistry of Nastia Liukin while the Chinese have a team packed with specialists led by vault and floor supremo Cheng Fei, fourth in the 2004 Olympics in the floor. Carly Patterson of the US won the individual all-round in Athens in 2004 and the American team were second behind Romania in the team competition.
8) TONY ESTANGUET V MICHAL MARTIKAN, CANOEING
France’s Estanguet is seeking a third successive gold in the C-1 and faces a serious threat from Slovak Michal Martikan, the 1996 champion. In 2004, Martikan was already celebrating the gold when a review showed he had hit a gate on the course. He took silver because of two penalties. Estanguet reckons the brutal conditions on the Beijing course could be decisive: “The force of the water means you have to fight.”
9) CHINA V REST OF WORLD, TABLE TENNIS
Will anyone stop the host country from sweeping all four table tennis golds? The odds are stacked against the world — China has taken 16 of the 20 golds since the sport debuted at the Olympics. The host country is most vulnerable — in relative terms, at least — in the men’s singles competition. South Korean Ryu Seung-min won in Athens in 2004. Germany’s Timo Boll or Belarusian Vladimir Samsonov could play spoilers in Beijing. However, the top four in the men’s rankings and the top five in the women’s are Chinese.
10) MAHE DRYSDALE V OLAF TUFTE, ROWING
Tufte of Norway, who took silver in doubles sculls in 200, won the 2004 single sculls gold medal and it was after those Games that Drysdale decided to try his luck at the event. Drysdale has won the last three world championships and had to fight off a challenge from Rob Waddell, who won gold in 2000, for the New Zealand Olympic spot after his compatriot came back from a seven-year retirement. Drysdale said that challenge affected his preparations for Beijing
Source: Reuters
By Eskinder Nega
Source: Abbay Media
ADDIS ABABA — Judge Luel Gebremariam sentenced Teddy Afro’s defense attorney Milllion Assefa, to a month and twenty days imprisonment, while also imposing a suspended one month imprisonment on the editor of Addis Neger, Mesfin Negash.
The sentencing was for a news report that appeared on the July 26 issue of Addis Neger, which carried a story about the controversial trial of Teddy Afro. The story quoted the defendant’s attorney, Million Assefa, who spoke of his intention to press charges against the presiding judge at the judicial administration commission; which screens the judiciary.
The defendant’s attorney deemed the last ruling by the court, which mandated for the continuation of the trial after the finale of the dubious evidences presented by the state prosecutor, as illegal.
The judge conceded that the statement was made out of court and that disciplinary complaints could be filed against him, but insisted that both his and the court’s reputations have been compromised.
Judge Leul also chastised and imposed the suspended sentence on Mesfin Negash, even though he and two other journalists, Abiy Teklemariam and Girma Tesfaw, offered an audio recording of the defendant’s attorney interview for evidence.The judge maintained that they are compelled by law not to run the story because “it infringes on the reputation of the court.”
By Douglas McGill, TC Daily Planet
When Bulcha Demeksa, an opposition member of the Ethiopian [rubber-stump] Parliament, feels compelled to denounce the Ethiopian Prime Minister dictator, he doesn’t bother to organize a political rally in Ethiopia or search for journalists eager to publish his rhetorical thunderbolts.
That’s because opposition rallies are banned in Ethiopia, and the press is government-controlled down to the last pixel and drop of printer’s ink.
Plus, Ethiopia’s jails are filled these days with people brave or foolhardy enough to speak out publicly against the regime of Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi.
By some estimates, as many as 30,000 political prisoners are presently being held in Ethiopian jails. Human Rights Watch and other watchdog groups over the past decade have documented thousands of cases of arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings and torture of political dissidents.
Suppressing Opinion
So instead of risking life and limb to speak at home, Demeksa travels to Minnesota. He did so last Thursday, speaking to a crowd of Ethiopian immigrants at a sometimes boisterous human rights conference at the University of Minnesota.
“We are ruled by a dictator who wants to cheat the U.S. and Europe by saying he is trying to democratize the country,” Demeska railed, pounding the air with his fists. “But he is not trying to democratize at all. He is suppressing the nation brutally, and he is suppressing difference of opinion. If you want to say something against him, somehow you will be silenced.”
Demeksa has visited Minnesota frequently over the years to build support and raise money for initiatives that he presses back home. Four years ago, following consultations in this state and elsewhere, he founded the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), a political party representing 30 million members of the Oromo tribe, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.
Educated People
Freedom of speech is only one reason Demeksa likes to make political stump speeches in Minnesota. Even more important is that perhaps his wealthiest, most media savvy, and most politically influential constituency lives right here. Minnesota is home to around 20,000 immigrants from Ethiopia.
As a result, while he is straitjacketed and muzzled in Ethiopia, Demeksa’s political efforts here can inspire Ethiopian-born Americans to push U.S. officials to exert pressure on Ethiopia. He can get his central message — that Ethiopia today is ruled by a de facto dictator and a brutal one — into the international media. And sometimes he can raise more money in Minnesota than he could in Ethiopia.
“Our educated people are concentrated here,” Demeksa said. “If these people do not help us, who else will help us? First, by providing leadership, and secondly, with financial help. I come, and other politicians come, to allow people here to see problems developing in their country; to see if they accept our proposals; and to listen to their suggestions and proposals.”
Most Evicted
Yet things never go as smoothly in Minnesota as Demeksa would surely like. The same rancor and divisions that split Ethiopian politics are also present here in the state’s Ethiopian immigrant population.
Passions and grudges break in Minnesota along many fault lines. One of those is over whether opponents of the present Ethiopian regime should ever use more than words to fight the present regime. That topic was noisily debated at a political discussion Demeksa hosted with a group of young Oromo immigrants — mostly college and graduate school age — ahead of the conference’s academic lectures.
“The Oromo people are the most evicted, the most displaced, the most repressed and the most occupied people in Ethiopia!” one man in the audience exploded after Demeksa’s talk. “You are the advocate of an occupier! You are aiding this belligerent power! I ask you, are you defending the occupiers or standing with the Oromo people?”
Fever Pitch
Up on the dais, Demeksa blinked under the onslaught, paused for a moment and then pointedly answered his interrogator.
“Baloney!” he barked. “This is the same propaganda that has held us back and kept us down for so many years. You cannot say that I am a friend of the government. They think I am an enemy. They want to kill me.
“I don’t believe you can take power by force,” he added. “If you do, another force will take power from you, and it will go on endlessly like that.”
Whether conditions in Ethiopia are now so bad that only violent resistance will change them has been argued at fever pitch in Minnesota’s Ethiopian population in recent months.
Frustration has been fueled by one after another atrocity in Ethiopia, especially since 2005 when government troops killed more than 200 demonstrators at a rally protesting the national elections that year. Local elections earlier this year have also been widely dismissed as fraudulent by Demeksa and international monitors.
Fault Lines
Recent crackdowns by Ethiopian troops in the eastern Ogaden region and the western Gambella region of Ethiopia; total press censorship and control; and the widespread jailing and torture of political dissidents across all ethnic lines have all added urgency and credibility to the Oromo’s longstanding complaints against the regime’s brutally oppressive tactics.
By virtue of its enormous size – comprising roughly 40 percent of Ethiopia’s population – the Oromo have an especially strong claim to deserving a greater voice in Ethiopian politics and culture. Yet Demeksa’s OFDM party holds only about 2 percent of the seats in the Ethiopian parliament.
At the discussion with young Oromo immigrants, Demeksa’s insistence on non-violent resistance hardly mollified the crowd.
“Demeksa has good ideas but no way to get to his goal,” said Sena Jimjimo, an Oromo student who traveled to Minneapolis from Chicago to attend the conference. “He calls for peaceful demonstrations, but there are no such things in Ethiopia. It’s impossible. So my question to him is, ‘If I go to demonstrate, what guarantee do I have that I will come back alive?’”
Apartheid Parallel
I chatted with several of the young people during a break. None of them agreed with Demeksa’s insistence on using only non-violent means to establish democracy in the country of their birth.
Instead, they cited the American Revolutionary War and the sabotage and other violent tactics used by the African National Congress in its long struggle against South African apartheid, as possible models for Ethiopia.
“Martin Luther King needed Malcolm X to pave his way,” one Oromo woman said. “I agree with that. We have reached the point where we need change in Ethiopia by any means necessary.”
Douglas McGill has reported for the New York Times and Bloomberg News—and now the Daily Planet. To reach Douglas McGill: [email protected]