Democrat Barack Obama expanded his fragile lead in delegates over rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday, picking up at least seven delegates as Iowa activists took the next step in picking delegates to the national convention.
Half the 14 delegates allocated to John Edwards on the basis of caucus night projections switched Saturday and Obama got most, if not all, of them.
Iowa Democratic Party officials said that with more than 86 percent of the delegates picked, Obama claimed 52 percent of the delegates elected at county conventions on Saturday, compared with 32 percent for Clinton. About 16 percent of the delegates picked at Saturday’s conventions were sticking with Edwards, even though he’s dropped from the race since Iowa held its caucuses in January.
Democratic Party projections said the results mean Obama increased by seven the number of delegates he collects from the state, getting a total of 23 compared to 14 for Clinton and seven for Edwards, with one to be decided.
Twelve automatic delegates bring the state’s total to 57. Obama has been endorsed by four of those and Clinton three, with the remainder uncommitted.
Also Saturday, California’s Democratic Party finalized the delegate counts from its Feb. 5 primary. Clinton picked up two more pledged delegates, raising her state total to 204; Obama gained five, raising his figure to 166.
Counting Saturday’s new figures from Iowa and California, an Associated Press delegate tally showed Obama with 1,615 delegates and Clinton with 1,498.
Obama won Iowa’s precinct caucuses in January with 39 percent of the vote, with Edwards narrowly edging Clinton to finish second. Projections on caucus night showed Obama getting 16 delegates, compared with 15 for Clinton and 14 for Edwards.
“It means the Obama people are very organized,” said Iowa Democratic Chairman Scott Brennan. “They have been working very hard for these conventions.”
Brennan said turnout was heavy, with more than 13,000 activists showing up at conventions in the state’s 99 counties.
“Today, Iowa Democrats again turned out in large numbers to reject the failed Bush-McCain campaign and its policies,” said Brennan.
Edwards finished second in the state’s leadoff precinct caucuses on Jan. 3, but those caucuses are only the first step in a complicated process of picking the state’s 45 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.
The next step in that process was Saturday with selection of delegates to congressional district and state conventions. Party officials said the results Saturday marked the election of 2,173 of the 2,500 delegates who will go to those convention.
The epic presidential race between Clinton and Obama has been reshaped since Iowa’s caucuses, but is no less intense with every delegate carrying weight.
“Every single one counts and that’s why we’ve been here organizing,” said Teresa Vilmain, a field organizer for Clinton.
“We’ve filled all of our slots,” said Gordon Fischer, a former Iowa Democratic chairman who is organizing for Obama.
Rob Tully, a Des Moines lawyer and prominent Edwards backer, sent an e-mail to supporters urging them to remain neutral, but there was clear movement to Obama when the results were tallied.
“Barack Obama stands for a lot of the same things that John Edwards stood for,” said Ro Foege, a state legislator from Mount Vernon who switched to the Obama camp.
The county conventions are traditionally sleepy gatherings where party leaders have trouble gathering a quorum to conduct business, largely because the party usually has a nominee by this point. With the race still up for grabs, activists jammed school gymnasiums, auditoriums and meeting halls across the state.
Former Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Clinton backer, spoke to more than 1,200 delegates jammed into a suburban high school gym.
“The reality is we are united on one thing today, we are Democrats, we are proud Democrats and we are going to elect a Democratic president,” said Vilsack, who dropped his own bid for the nomination even before the voting began. “Let us pledge that we will unite behind our nominee — be it he or she.”
(ST) BERLIN – An Ethiopian rights group based in Berlin, Germany has accused the United Nations refugee body (UNHCR) of delivering Ethiopian refugees in Khartoum to the Sudanese authorities.
Different rights advocacy groups denounced in the past months the narrow collaboration between the Sudanese and Ethiopian authorities against the political opponents to Addis Ababa government.
“Ato Dereje Ayele, a refugee who refused to open his door, was taken out by the UNHCR officials called in by other refugees but was handed over to the Sudanese police by the UNHCR officials,” said Solidarity Committee for Ethiopian Political Prisoners (SOCEPP) on Saturday. It is not known where he has been taken, SOCEPP added.
The same fate has fallen on Weizero Almaz Mitiku and At Genanaw Mengistu. The acting chairman of the Refugees’Association, Wondimagegn, is still being held in an unknown prison, the group claimd.
There is a serious and legitimate fear that the detained refugees and others may all be deported back to Ethiopia to be victims of repression there.
The Sudanese authorities have stepped up their harassment of Ethiopian refugees, especially in Khartoum. Recently, police have raided at night the houses of refuges and taken away a number of them.
On 27 September 2007, the Sudanese authorities forcibly returned 15 recognised refugees to Ethiopia. They were handed into the custody of Ethiopian security personal at the Ethiopia-Sudan border. Amnesty International said last year.
(ENA) – On Monday, March 17, 2008, the Federal President of Ethiopia, H.E. Mr. Woyanne puppet Girma Woldegiorgis will be received in Berlin, Germany by the Federal President of Germany, H.E. Mr. Horst Köhler.
The Ethiopian President is off to Germany after an official invitation from the President inviting him to Berlin to converse on issues of mutual concern for both nations.
It is to be recalled that President Köhler visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on December 12, 2004 and also visited the African Union. Furthermore, German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel also visited Addis Ababa on October 4, 2007.
Diplomatic relations between Germany and Ethiopia are 104-years-old, from the first diplomatic communications to the establishments of embassies in Addis Ababa and Bonn (later to Berlin).
The current Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia in Berlin is H.E. Mr. Kassahun Ayele; likewise H.E. Dr. Claas Dieter Knoop is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany in Addis Ababa.
(The Times) – Randlord-to-be? Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi, who has apparently already made an offer for the Elchim Estate
Kidnap drama: The Sunday Times of April 17 1966 tells the story of the Glazer family’s ordeal. The stolen baby, Sam, is now selling the property in which Al-Amoudi is said to be interested
The Glazers, owners of the site, made headlines in 1966 when they were involved in a kidnapping drama.
Sheikh Al-Amoudi could join a growing list of wealthy foreigners who own expensive SA land.
One of the richest men in the world has placed a bid for arguably South Africa’s priciest piece of vacant land in Sandton, north of Joburg.
Ethiopian-born Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi, who is ranked the 97th richest person in the world with a fortune of R72-billion, secretly flew into Joburg to view the 110000m² site, which is on the market for R200-million.
Owned by the Glazers, one of the city’s wealthiest families, Elchim Estate has been described as a developer’s dream.
Pam Golding Properties development manager Andre Dippenaar this week declined to comment on interested parties who had viewed the site.
He also said that, due to an agreement with the owners, he could not disclose the offers that had been made.
But Metro has established that Al-Amoudi is among a group of interested buyers who had offered in the region of R150-million for the land.
The site is earmarked for residential and hospitality rights. Council documents show that developments could range from a 35-unit townhouse complex to a 125- room hotel or a shopping complex.
The Glazer family, who earned their fortune in property development, made headlines in 1966 when they were involved in a kidnapping drama.
Etty Glazer, who lives in a 218m² apartment in the Michelangelo Towers in Sandton, was kidnapped with her then 22-month-old son, Sammy, now in his 40s.
The four kidnappers were paid a ransom totalling R140000. They were later arrested.
Sam now lives in the US, but he is heading negotiations for the sale of Elchim Estate.
Before his death in 1984, Etty’s husband, Bernard, had built hotels, bought land and acquired mineral interests across vast areas of Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rest of the family have remained low-key, avoiding public attention.
Although it is not known how much land the family still owns in Joburg, their site in Morningside is one of the most expensive properties in the northern suburb.
Deed records show that the highest price fetched for a piece of land for development was R138-million last year.
No details of that particular sale are available.
Although Pam Golding Properties has remained silent about people interested in acquiring Elchim Estate, the asking price is only a fraction of Al-Amoudi’s wealth, which he accumulated from a business empire that ranges from mining to hotels.
Al-Amoudi made his fortune in construction and property before branching out to buy oil refineries in Sweden and Morocco.
He is the largest private investor in Ethiopia, putting money into diverse assets, including property and a food-processing plant.
He has maintained a relatively low profile, but has expensive tastes and owns a 34m yacht worth more than R130-million. It boasts three double cabins, a guest cabin, a saloon with bar and a Jacuzzi on the upper deck.
The sheikh also bankrolls the Ethiopian national soccer team.
If Al-Amoudi snaps up the Sandton land, he could join a growing list of foreign billionaires who own property in South Africa.
I have the distinct pleasure of announcing that my photographic book on Ethiopia is now in print. The book is entitled:
An Ethiopian Album: A Photographic Journey Through Nature and Culture
In 248 pages and nearly 400 photographs, An Ethiopian Album covers all Ethiopia, from ancient to modern, from desert to mountaintop, from the Ogaden to Metema, and from the Omo Valley to Aksum. Uniquely among available photographic books on Ethiopia, An Ethiopian Album gives special attention not only to the rich history and culture of Ethiopia, but also to the country’s special biodiversity and natural history. The book was long in the making. I believe that it will please you very much. The book is only available from my publisher’s web site:
I lived in Ethiopia from 2000 to 2002 while my wife worked there for the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF). An Ethiopian Album is the product of our deep respect for Ethiopia’s history and culture, and our fascination with the visual beauty of the country and its people. I am honored to offer my book to you now.
On Wednesday, the BBC reported that millions of dollars in gold at the central bank of Ethiopia has turned out to be fake: What were supposed to be bars of solid gold turned out to be nothing more than gold-plated steel. They tried to sell the stuff to South Africa and it was sent back when the South Africans noticed this little problem.
This is an amazing story for two reasons. First, that an institution like a central bank could get ripped off this way, and second that the people responsible used such a lousy excuse for fake gold.
Related Articles
I consider myself something of an expert on fake gold (I’m not really, I just think I am) ever since I was asked to give advice on the subject to the author Damien Lewis for his recent thriller, Cobra Gold. I worked out in detail for him how you could make really convincing fake gold, and ended up as a minor character in the novel, where I am known as “Goldfinger Gus”.
The problem with making good-quality fake gold is that gold is remarkably dense. It’s almost twice the density of lead, and two-and-a-half times more dense than steel. You don’t usually notice this because small gold rings and the like don’t weigh enough to make it obvious, but if you’ve ever held a larger bar of gold, it’s absolutely unmistakable: The stuff is very, very heavy.
The standard gold bar for bank-to-bank trade, known as a “London good delivery bar” weighs 400 troy ounces (over thirty-three pounds), yet is no bigger than a paperback novel. A bar of steel the same size would weigh only thirteen and a half pounds.
According to the news, the authorities have arrested pretty much everyone involved, from the people who sold the bank the gold, to bank officials, to the chemists responsible for testing and approving it on receipt.
The problem is, anyone who so much as picked up one of these bars should have known immediately that they were fake, no fancy test required. The weight alone is an instant dead giveaway. Even a forklift operator lifting a palette full of them should have noticed that his machine wasn’t working hard enough. I think they must have been swapped out while in storage: Someone walked in each day with a new fake gold bar and walked out with a real one. If they were fake on arrival then everyone who handled them in any way must have either had no experience with gold or been in on the scam.
Now, for me the more interesting question is, how do you make a fake gold bar that at least passes the pick-it-up test? The problem is that there are very few metals that are as dense as gold, and with only two exceptions they all cost as much or more than gold.
The first exception is depleted uranium, which is cheap if you’re a government, but hard for individuals to get. It’s also radioactive, which could be a bit of an issue.
The second exception is a real winner: tungsten. Tungsten is vastly cheaper than gold (maybe $30 dollars a pound compared to $12,000 a pound for gold right now). And remarkably, it has exactly the same density as gold, to three decimal places. The main differences are that it’s the wrong color, and that it’s much, much harder than gold. (Very pure gold is quite soft, you can dent it with a fingernail.)
A top-of-the-line fake gold bar should match the color, surface hardness, density, chemical, and nuclear properties of gold perfectly. To do this, you could could start with a tungsten slug about 1/8-inch smaller in each dimension than the gold bar you want, then cast a 1/16-inch layer of real pure gold all around it. This bar would feel right in the hand, it would have a dead ring when knocked as gold should, it would test right chemically, it would weigh *exactly* the right amount, and though I don’t know this for sure, I think it would also pass an x-ray fluorescence scan, the 1/16″ layer of pure gold being enough to stop the x-rays from reaching any tungsten. You’d pretty much have to drill it to find out it’s fake. (Unless, of course, central bank gold inspectors are wise to this trick and have developed a test for it: Something involving speed of sound say, or more powerful x-rays, or perhaps neutron activation analysis. If bars like this are actually a common problem, you certainly could devise a quick, non-destructive test for them, and for all I know, they have. Except, apparently, in Ethiopia.)
Such a top-quality fake London good delivery bar would cost about $50,000 to produce because it’s got a lot of real gold in it, but you’d still make a nice profit considering that a real one is worth closer to $400,000. A lower budget version could be made by using the same under-sized tungsten slug but casting lead-antimony alloy around it (to match the hardness, sound, and feel of gold), then electroplating on a heavy coating of gold. Such a bar would still feel and sound right and be only very slightly underweight, while costing less than $500 to produce in quantity. It would not pass x-ray fluorescence, and whether it passes a chemical test would depend on how thick the electroplating is.
This is the solution I recommended for Cobra Gold, because they only needed their fake gold to pass a field inspection, which is to say, someone picking it up and knowing what gold should feel like when you lift it. You may quibble for other aspects of the plot if you like, but I think the fake gold would have worked.
And let me tell you, it’s a sad day for criminal masterminds when my fictional fake gold, designed only to trick a terrorist cell, is so much better than the real fake gold used to rip off a real government bank for millions of real dollars.
The Ethiopian President is off to Germany after an official invitation from the President inviting him to Berlin to converse on issues of mutual concern for both nations.