NEW DELHI: Deriba Merga of Ethiopia pipped Wilson Kipsang of Kenya by just one second to win the men’s race in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon here on Sunday.
On a pleasant winter morning, Merga survived the pressure of a nerve-wracking contest from Kipsang throughout the race.
Merga, thus, set a new course record of 59:15 to win the lucrative purse of $25,000. Kipsang clocked 59:16 for the silver and $15,000, while another Kenyan Wilson Chebet registered a timing of 59:34 for the bronze and $10,000. Merga’s time also equalled Haile Gebrselassie’s mark for the season.
Up to 10km, the top three had an identical timing of 27.30, but by the 19.5km mark Merga, at 54:10, took a two-second lead over Kipsang. Chebet, separated from the leader by five seconds, looked like losing the battle for the top spot.
Merga, who narrowly missed out on a medal and finished fourth at the Beijing Olympics this year, was over the moon with his effort.
The women’s competition was equally thrilling with another Ethiopian Mergia Aselefech winning the title by one second. Aselefech timed a caree-best 68:17 for the gold after a neck-and-neck fight with compatriot Genet Getaneh, who clocked 68:18.
The third place went to Kenyan Peninah Arusei, the World championship silver winner last month, who finished with a time of 1:08:20.
Good show by Indians
The Indian athletes’ performance was also equally commendable. Sandeep Kumar impressed in the men’s section by clocking 1:04:53 and his friend Kashinath Aswale finished a second later. The Indian women’s race was shrouded in confusion as some chips got mixed up and there was an uncertainty over the winner. However, Kavita Raut defended her title with a much improved showing of 1:17:12.
The results: Men: 1. Deriba Merga (Eth) 59:15; 2. Wilson Kipsang (Ken) 59:16; 3. Wilson Chebet (Ken) 59:34;4. Regassa Tilahun (Eth) 1:00:28; 5. Tadesse Tola (Eth) 1:00:45; 6. Dieudonne Disi (Rwa) 1:00:47; 7. Kiplimo Kimutai (Ken) 1:00:58; 8. Joseph Maregu (Ken) 1:01:03; 9. Eshetu Wondimu (Eth) 1:01:04; 10. William Chebon (Ken) 1:01:17.
K -v- Refugee Appeals Tribunal and Anor: High Court Judgment was delivered by Mr Justice McCarthy on July 31st 2008
Judgment
An asylum seeker from Ethiopia failed in his application to quash the decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, upholding a decision of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, to deny him {www:refugee} status on the grounds that he did not face persecution in his country of origin.
Background
The applicant’s father was a member of the Oromo Liberation Front and had been arrested and imprisoned in Ethiopia. The applicant and his brother were also detained by Ethiopian police and threatened that they would share their father’s fate. Subsequently the applicant fled the country and reached Ireland, where he applied for asylum.
This was refused by the Refugee Applications Commissioner, whose decision was appealed to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. The tribunal member upheld the original decision, referring, among other things, to the credibility of the applicant in relation to a number of matters, including his account of his and his brother’s arrest and release, doubts about his account of how he left Ethiopia, as the tribunal member stated he knew the border area with neighbouring Kenya did not have good roads, and the absence of any evidence that he would be persecuted if he returned.
In his application to the High Court, the applicant said the tribunal had taken irrelevant material into account when making his decision and added that he had given entirely consistent accounts of his arrest, torture and release after three days.
He said there was no evidence adduced of the state of the roads in the area and the tribunal member had regard to irrelevant material; the tribunal {www:member} invoked his personal knowledge of the area in impugning the applicant’s credibility as to how he fled the country, stating that the only international airport in Kenya was in Nairobi, 1,000 miles away, when there is an international airport in Mombasa from which the applicant could have flown.
He also said the tribunal failed to take into account the fact that the applicant only knew the Amharic language in questioning his ignorance of his itinerary; the conclusion that he did not face any threat of persecution did not take into account relevant material and the implications for him of his father’s arrest when he was a child, depriving him and his brother of his only parent and breached his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Decision
Mr Justice McCarthy said it was submitted that a number of significant errors in the assessment of credibility arose, in particular manifest errors of fact. After reviewing the case law on the subject, he said that the decision must be read and taken as a whole.
Referring to the account the applicant gave of his arrest and release, he said the decision-maker was entitled to draw to his attention what he considered to be inconsistencies and to be influenced by what he conceived to be evasion or illegitimate denial.
While the tribunal member was {www:wrong} about the airport, it was one of a number of issues which influenced him on the credibility of the applicant and was severable from the others.
However, if he was wrong on this, he said that want of credibility was not the basis for the tribunal member’s conclusion, quoting from the decision: “I am not satisfied that the . . . inconsistencies are material and/or significant to his claim for asylum.”
Therefore the decision could not be impugned on any one of these grounds.
This left the assertion by the applicant that he risked being killed if returned to Ethiopia. Mr Justice McCarthy pointed out that the test was a forward-looking, not a backward-looking one.
“It seems to me that of most significance is the fact that, accepting the applicant’s version of events, one has, at most, a once-off incident and that element of persistent or constant wrong-doing does not exist.”
He said that reference had been made to the legitimacy of the actions of the Ethiopian police.
“The country of origin information indicates that the Oromo Liberation Front . . . is an organisation in armed opposition to the government which, inter alia, campaigns for boycotts of elections.” However, the tribunal did not address this issue and he did not consider it in adjudicating on the matter.
The full judgment is on www.courts.ie
Mel Christle SC and Patricia Brazil, instructed by Colm Stanley, appeared for the applicant; Anthony Moore, instructed by the Chief State Solicitor, appeared for the respondent.
Letter from Member of Ethiopian Parliament Ato Bulcha Demeksa
Chairman of opposition party Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement
The Government Woyanne has announced on [its state-owned] TV this evening that it has arrested many Oromos in connection with terrorist activities. OFDM can never never cooperate with OLF because OFDM is openly and legally carrying on political activities within the framework of the Ethiopian Constitution. We have evidence that the Government is preparing the ground to massively arrest and detain peaceful Oromos including law-abiding OFDM members. We do not understand the purpose of such a move because we know that the Government is fully aware of our activities which are entirely legal and political in nature.
The Government wants to intimidate and silence OFDM. OFDM has been speaking in Parliament on national issues such as famine, inflation, ethnic conflicts, etc.. and has even called on the Government to invite the Opposition to meet it at a round table discussion to find solutions for national problems.
What the Government has announced tonight is absolutely untrue as regards to what they said about OFDM. It’s a case of forcibly silencing a political party by implicating it in criminal activities for which it is absolutely impossible to find legal evidence. Of course, trumped up evidence can always be fabricated by a Government.
I, the leader of OFDM, have spent much of my life working for peace and international cooperation within the United Nations System. I could never head an organization which has anything to do with illegal activities, and EPRDF is fully aware of this, but wants to punish OFDM for speaking out honestly and forcefully always with the intention of the progress and growth of Ethiopia.
The arrest of Bekele Jirata who has been detained for the last eight days without having any visit by his lawyer, family and priest, is evidence that EPRDF has the intention of punishing unrelenting Opposition members, even though they are impeccably legal.
OFDM appeals to the Government, the International Community and the peoples of Ethiopia to support OFDM at all times and assure everybody that OFDM has never had any illegal intentions or done anything illegal by way of associating itself with OLF or any other group which operates outside of the Ethiopian Constitutional framework.
ADDIS ABABA (Xinhua) – Leaders of China’ top legislature and Ethiopian Federal Council said here Sunday that the two countries should strengthen {www:cooperation} between the two countries’ legislatures as part of their efforts to push for {www:improvement} of bilateral relations of the two countries as a whole.
Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo and Speaker of Ethiopian Federal Council Degefi Bula made the statements during their talks in the parliament {www:building} Sunday morning.
Wu, chairman of China’s National People’s Congress, said that cooperation between the legislatures of the two countries have been an important driving force for further improvement of bilateral ties in general. China’s National People’s Congress is willing to enhance cooperation with the Ethiopian Federal Council at various levels and to exchange views on {www:important} issues of common concern.
“We should make concerted efforts in this filed,” Wu said.
The Ethiopian Speaker said that bilateral ties of the two countries are built on a very solid basis and that the cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries has been playing an indispensable role in between.
He also thought highly of China’s policies on national minorities, saying that they can serve as good examples for Ethiopia in dealing with the similar issues since Ethiopia is, too, a country with many national minorities.
Ethiopia is the third leg of Wu’s five-African nation tour. He visited Algeria, Gabon last week and is to visit Madagascar and Seychelles.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – The Queen of Sheba’s palace isn’t what it used to be. Its roof is long gone. Its grand entrance is but a memory. Yet the 3,000-year-old ruins remain, sprawling over thin-grassed farm fields in Axum — once the capital of a great world power and today a dusty Ethiopian town where cows and children, goats and donkeys roam free.
The Queen lived well. It is still possible to stride across her vast flagstone-floored throne room, just one of 50 excavated chambers. The sophisticated drainage system features fish-shaped granite gargoyles. Several brick ovens line the large kitchen, and multiple stairwells indicate that there were many more rooms above.
Here, according to Ethiopians, a great dynasty was born. And, as all great dynasties should, this one begins with a love story. As they tell it, the Queen of Sheba left Ethiopia only once, to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem. Solomon, despite being married, became smitten with the beautiful Queen. She reciprocated his desire and upon her return to Axum she gave birth to his son, Menelik.
Menelik I took the throne when his mother died, roughly a thousand years before the birth of Christ, and began a line of Solomonic rulers that endured with only a brief interruption until Emperor Haile Selassie, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, was deposed 31 years ago.
Menelik I is also, according to the Ethiopian Orthodox church, responsible for that country’s possessing the greatest relic of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It seems that the king went to visit his father, and somehow brought back the original Ark of the Covenant, previously kept in the great temple in Jerusalem.
The Ark is believed to hold the original tablets containing the Ten Commandments that God handed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and it is now said to be kept in Axum’s Church of St. Mary of Zion. Only one elderly monk guards this treasure, which no one else may see.
St. Mary of Zion is one of thousands of Christian churches that dot the Ethiopian landscape. Christianity came early to Axum, and soon after A.D. 300 this new faith became the country’s official religion. It has evolved little over the years, and its vivid churches are unlike any found elsewhere in the world.
This town’s greatest attractions, however, are not its churches, but its stelae — towering obelisks piercing the bright blue sky, the largest nine stories tall and cut from a single piece of granite. An even taller one, the height of a 13-storey building and weighing some 500 tonnes, lies on its side, broken. It fell, according to a written account, in about 850 AD.
Each stele has an altar for sacrificial offerings and a false door. No one knows exactly when or why they were built. Some say they were meant to house spirits.
Axum today shows much and hides much. Only about three per cent of this once vast city has been excavated. Kids routinely pull ancient coins from farm fields. It is a place rich with the feeling of unsolved mysteries.
In fact, mysteries and miracles abound all along Ethiopia’s Historic Route, with each of the three remaining stops reflecting a different era in the county’s rich life.
The 11 rock-hewn churches in the town of Lalibela have often been called the Eighth Wonder of the World. Like the monoliths at Axum, they are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And, according to legend, they were each carved out of a single piece of rock at record speed, as angels worked on them during the night.
The churches, many carved in deep trenches with only their roofs exposed, others cut directly into the rocks of caves, are all connected by a labyrinthine series of tunnels, paths and steep steps. Each has been used continuously since the beginning of the 13th century. Most are decorated with a Star of David, underscoring the church’s close kinship with King Solomon. One displays a very old painting of a black Jesus.
It is a remarkable place, as priests and monks in brilliant brocade vestments carry on a religious life that has gone on here, hidden among the hills and caves, for nearly a thousand years.
If the rock churches of Lalibela impress with their stark simplicity, the 29 churches and monasteries scattered over the islands of Lake Tana, headwaters of the Blue Nile River, delight with their vivid paintings in primary colours.
Abba Hailemariam Genetu, Head Priest at Azwah Maryam — a circular church with a grass roof, located on an isolated peninsula — greets visitors.
This church, he says, dates back to the 14th century. It is younger than most.
The handsome Abba, or Father, Genetu, speaks a Semitic language related to Hebrew, doesn’t eat pork and performs ritual circumcision. He, like all Ethiopian Orthodox, practices a Christianity that is older, closer to Judaism, and far more exotic — complete with ritual dancing and drumming — than you’ll find anywhere in North America.
His remote church was constructed to protect the faith, but also to reserve Ethiopia’s ancient religious treasures — ornate silver and bronze crosses, prayer sticks that recall Moses’ staff and centuries-old illuminated manuscripts.
The church walls are covered with paintings which, over time, have also become treasures. One shows the child Jesus zooming down a board from a second story window, while less sacred children, who have tried and failed, lie scattered around the ground. Others illustrate the Holy Trinity: three identical dark-skinned, white-haired, white-bearded men.
If the rock churches are marvels of construction, and the churches of Lake Tana delight with their vivid paintings, the castles of Gondar simply astonish. Getchu Eshetu, my guide throughout Ethiopia, calls this site Africa’s Camelot, and he does not overstate the case. This palace complex looks as though it has been airlifted from medieval Europe.
In fact, the castle construction was begun by Emperor Fasiladas in 1632, when he declared the town of Gondar to be Ethiopia’s first official capital.
His brown basalt palace was assembled using mortar and boasts four domed towers and battlements.
A Yemeni merchant who visited in 1648 wrote that it was one of the most marvelous of buildings he had ever seen, mentioning rooms trimmed in ivory and jewels, courtiers in fine brocade and thrones embroidered in gold.
Succeeding rulers constructed their own palaces. The 18th-century Empress Mentewab built a lovely one, where it is said she hosted Scotsman James Bruce (for five years!) when he came through searching for the headwaters of the Nile.
Other Europeans were less kind to the castles. Mussolini’s Italians, who occupied Ethiopia from 1935 to 1941, used them as barracks. The British found out and bombed the buildings. Restoration is a slow process in a poor country, yet much of the complex remains, a reminder of the days when Gondar ruled a great empire.
As travellers complete the historic circle, it becomes abundantly clear that this mountainous country in the Horn of Africa contains treasures that should be on every history buff’s wish list. Someday they will be, but for now it’s still possible — and lovely — to experience Ethiopia’s great sites without being jostled by hoards of tourists.
There are lots of reasons to envy residents of Northern Europe. Each day they get to take in raw, dramatic landscapes, stunning architecture and world-class shopping. But, more important, they know a thing or two about health and wellness.
Forbes.com has found that the region is home to some of the world’s healthiest countries, including top-ranking Iceland, Sweden and Finland.
Others that fared well include Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Austria and the Netherlands.
“Historically, these countries had an ethic of having more of a nationalized health care system,” says Kate Schecter, a program officer for the American International Health Alliance, a nonprofit that works to advance global health by helping nations with limited resources build sustainable infrastructure. “There’s this mentality that health care should be a given right for citizens.”
Despite the fact that an estimated 47 million Americans lack health insurance, the U.S . ranked 11. Rounding out the list, were Israel, the Czech Republic, Spain and France.
Behind The Numbers
To determine our list of the healthiest places to live in the world, Forbes.com looked at the latest available health and environmental statistics for every nation, from sources such as the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the UN.
But due to incomplete data, we ranked only the 138 nations with statistics in every measure. That’s why you don’t see countries such as Monaco, Norway, Malta, Belgium, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Ireland and Andorra–all of which had a shot of cracking the top 15 were they not missing information.
The statistics we examined included estimated air pollution in world cities; the percentage of a country’s population with access to improved drinking water and sanitation; infant mortality rates; the rate of prevalence of tuberculosis; the density of physicians–generalists and specialists–per 1,000 people; undernourishment rates; and healthy life expectancies for men.
Beyond high marks for drinking water, sanitation and nourishment, which many countries achieved, Iceland and Sweden had some of the lowest levels of air pollution, infant mortality and rates of tuberculosis prevalence. They also both had the highest healthy life expectancies for men: 72 years.
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Healthy life expectancy statistics, in particular, say a lot about the welfare of a country’s inhabitants, says Yohannes Kinfu, a statistician for the World Health Organization. Those nations with the highest numbers tend also to have high gross domestic products, as well as accessible health care systems and lower rates of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS.
Research has shown that long-term exposure to air pollution can affect lung function and lead to premature death. Other nations with estimated low particulate matter concentrations, according to the World Bank, include France and Australia.
Countries’ success in combating pollution is likely due to a mix of policies addressing the problem, enforcement of standards and the use of clean fuel, says Kiran Pandey, a senior environmental economist for the Global Environment Facility, an organization affiliated with the World Bank, and an author of the research. But some places, such as those located along coastlines, are simply luckier than others, since crosswinds can dilute air pollution, Pandey says.
Low infant mortality rates are indications of socioeconomic factors, such as household incomes, which can influence the kind of nutrition and health care a child receives and whether a family is knowledgeable about protection against infection, Kinfu says. The Czech Republic also had one of the world’s lowest infant mortality rates.
And while a high number of doctors located in an area might not necessarily mean its residents are healthy, due to questions of access, it’s generally a positive sign. Israel has a relatively high doctor density rate, according to the World Health Organization’s World Health Statistics 2007.
While the average resident of any of these countries might take for granted or pay little attention to something like access to health care, these factors make a healthy nation, says Jen Kates, vice president and director of HIV/AIDS Policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, private foundation focused on major U.S. health care concerns, as well as global health.
“Everyone,” Kates says, “needs to be aware that how we provide health care to people in a country is a critical issue.”
1. Iceland
Icelanders enjoy one of the world’s highest healthy life expectancies (72 for men and 74 for women), giving them plenty of time with the country’s mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, waterfalls and coastal lands. The country is also one of the world’s least polluted. Ensuring Iceland’s top position is the country’s TB prevalence (2.2 per 100,000 people) and infant mortality rate (two deaths per 1,000 live births), both the world’s lowest. The country also has one of the highest physician densities, 3.62 per 1,000 people.
2. Sweden
Sweden’s strong environmental policies helped it land the No. 2 spot on our list. Sweden’s air is clean enough to place the country in the top three. Its infant mortality rate, three deaths per 1,000 live births, and TB prevalence, 4.6 per 100,000 people, are the lowest in the world. Keeping the country from first place is its physician density (3.28 physicians per 1,000 people), relatively high worldwide but lower than the top-spot country, Iceland.
3. Finland
Thirty years ago, this low-polluting country had the highest death rate from heart disease for men (around five deaths per 1,000). This drove local governments to encourage healthy living. Fruit and vegetable intake more than doubled since then and the number of smokers has dwindled. The death rate from heart disease is now down to one, on average, for the region. The country also has one of the world’s lowest infant mortality rates, or three deaths per 1,000 live births, and a low TB prevalence, or 4.8 per 100,000 people.
4. Germany
In Germany there is no waiting for appointments, no need for referrals to see a specialist and, until recently, you didn’t even pay for your taxi ride to the hospital. All this plus state of the art facilities come at a high price. The German health care system, one of the best in the world, is also one of the most expensive. The country’s total expenditure on health is 10.6 % of its GDP and pays for one of the highest physician densities on our list, 3.37 physicians per 1,000 people. Germany’s clean air solidified its position in the top.
5. Switzerland
Switzerland spends over 11 % of its GDP on universal health coverage, the second-highest health spending per capita of all the countries considered. It has one of the world’s highest healthy life expectancies, or 71 for men and 75 for women. Its physician density, 3.61 per 1,000 members of the population, is also one of the highest on the list. Preventing the country from ranking higher is its air pollution estimate, the highest of the countries in the top five.
6. Australia
Australia’s health care system is one of the best in the world. Got a less than squeaky-clean medical history, numerous past claims or just plain old age? No worries, mate! Down under, insurance companies are required to charge policyholders the same premiums regardless of one’s status or past. Australia also received high marks for its air, among the world’s cleanest. Keeping Australia from making into the top five is its TB prevalence: 5.9 per 100,000 people.
7. Denmark
Danes pay between 42% and 59% of their incomes in taxes; about 8% of taxes goes to pay for the country’s universal health care coverage. Sadly, the Danish health care system isn’t super efficient. Long waits to see a doctor are common. The country’s physician density, 2.93 per 1,000 people, is one of the lowest on the list. Preventing the country from ranking higher but solidly placing it in the top 10 is the country’s healthy life expectancy, or 69 for males and 71 for females.
8. Canada
The Great White North has the list’s lowest number of doctors per capita, or 2.1 for every 1,000. Still, Canadians enjoy one of the world’s longest life expectancies and one of the lowest TB rates, or 3.6 per 100,000 people. A relatively high infant mortality rate, 5 deaths per 1,000 live births, also lands Canada in spot eight.
9. Austria
Austria’s ranking was negatively affected by the fumes and smog polluting its air. The country’s TB prevalence, 8.8 per 100,000 people, also kept the country from scoring higher. Austria did have a good infant mortality rate (4 deaths per 1,000 live births) and physician density (3.38 per 1,000 people) solidifying its position in the top 10.
10. Netherlands
Though the Netherlands is thought by many to offer one of the world’s highest standards of living, the country failed to crack the list’s top five. Its ranking was adversely affected by high pollution rates. The highly urbanized, densely populated nation suffers from water, air and soil contamination. Working in its favor, the country has a low TB rate, or 5.4 for every 100,000 people. The country’s healthy life expectancy, 70 for men and 73 for women, is average for the countries on the list.
11. United States
The U.S. spends over 15% of its gross domestic product on health care–with little to show for it. In 2006, almost 16% of the population lacked health insurance. Still, of the 15 countries on the list the U.S came out on top when measuring infant mortality rate. The country also has the second-highest healthy life expectancy. What’s more, air pollution is relatively low, and the U.S. boasts one of the world’s lowest TB rates.
12. Israel
Plagued by respiratory problems or concerned about clean air? Steer clear of Israel. It’s got one of the highest levels of air pollution of the countries on our list. You won’t be lacking vitamin D in this sunny country, however; it’s one of the world’s leaders in solar energy use. Also working for it: the list’s highest physician density rate, or 3.37 for every 1,000 people. Israel’s healthy life expectancy stood at 70 for males and 72 for females, average for the countries on our list.
13. Czech Republic
The Czech Republic has one of the list’s lowest healthy life expectancies–66 for men and 71 for women. The country’s less than stellar sanitation coverage and its TB prevalence rate, 10.8 per 100,000 people, prevented a higher ranking. Working in its favor? One of the world’s lowest infant mortality rates. In 1990, the number of deaths per 1,000 live births stood at 13. It’s now 3.
14. Spain
The country’s tuberculosis rate is the highest of all 15 countries, at 21.7 for every 100,000 people. Spain also has one of the highest air pollution estimates on the list. Its physician density, healthy life expectancy and infant mortality rate are average when compared with other countries on the list.
15. France
A stellar health care system and clean air landed France on the list. Working against it: the worst wastewater treatment standards of the top 15. Its tuberculosis rate–11 cases per 100,000 people, one of the highest on the list–also held it back. But there’s good news for the country’s chronically ill; France’s high physician density measurement: 3.37 per 1,000 people.
