VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org) — Benedict XVI appointed the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples to represent him in Ethiopia at ceremonies commemorating the new Christian millennium and the national Eucharistic congress.
A Latin-language letter to Cardinal Ivan Dias, dated March 27, was made public Saturday. In the message, the Pope names the cardinal his envoy to the millennium ceremonies and the May 2-4 Eucharistic congress, which will be held in Addis Ababa.
Father Tsegaye Kenini of the archdiocese of Addis Ababa, former secretary-general of the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat, and Father Tesfaye Tadesse, superior-general of the Combonian Missionary Fathers in Ethiopia and president of the conference of religious superiors-major of Ethiopia, will accompany the cardinal.
Ethiopia uses a calendar that marks New Year on Sept. 11 — or on Sept. 12 in a leap year — and has an eight-year difference with the Gregorian calendar used in the West.
(PM News) — Fifty four athletes and 10 officials will fly the colours of Nigeria at the African Athletics Championship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The African meet holds from tomorrow, Wednesday 30 April to 4 May, 2008.
Some of the athletes and officials left for Addis Abba, venue of the competition yesterday. They will be joined by their foreign-based counterparts before the commencement of the championship tomorrow.
Sunday Bada, the Technical Director of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) said he is expecting good a good outing from the contingent at the end of the tournament on Sunday.
Meanwhile, corporate organisations in the country have once again come under the hammer, following their apathy towards sports development. The latest swipe came from Bada, who said in an interview with brilafm that it is odd that companies and corporations are yet to support various sporting associations in an Olympics year.
He noted that the federations are groaning under financial constraints in preparing teams for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, while the business sector is not lending a hand.
“It’s such a really bizarre situation that companies and multi-nationals in this country are still not coming out to support sports, not even in this year of the Olympics.
“Normally, one would have thought that the companies would have used the opportunity to cash in on the milage they are bound to get from supporting associations for the Olympics.
“Lavish attention should be coming for sports at a time like this, but we are facing a different situation. It’s very strange and rather discouraging,” he lamented.
The AFN performance director stated further that countries like Bahamas and Jamaica are doing well in the Olympics because they are serious in their approach to development.
“It’s such issues like development and funding that we are facing. We intend to face them squarely and confront them, as we march towards the Olympics in China,” he declared emphatically.
Several Ethiopians had gathered in front of the Woyanne-occupied Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC on Monday to demand freedom for Teddy Afro, a popular singer who appears to have been thrown in jail on trumped up charges. The protesters chanted “Free Teddy!” as heavy rain poured down on them.
Teddy Afro is currently being held at the infamous Kaliti prison inside a dark room. He is charged by the Woyanne government with hitting and killing a homeless man with his car about two years ago.
Listen to the VOA report for more on Monday’s protest rally at the Ethiopian embassy in DC. Click here.
(AFP) — Moses once parted the Red Sea and now Osama bin Laden’s half-brother is planning to build a bridge over it.The proposed bridge would link Yemen to Djibouti, creating a man-made link between the Middle East and Africa.
Costing 14 billion euros ($23.5 billion), stretching around 28.5 kilometres and encompassing a six-lane motorway and a four-track railway, the bridge would be of Biblical proportions.
Meanwhile, the man behind it bears a familiar name, too – Tarek bin Laden, half-brother of the Al Qaeda leader.
Tarek, a Saudi construction magnate, has been lobbying the Yemen and Djibouti governments to back the project, which would create a direct link between Arabia and east Africa, without the need to travel by the Sinai peninsula.
Djibouti Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita said his government was not actively involved.
“The project fell on us from the sky with the proposal by Osama bin Laden’s brother, who has a construction company in Saudi Arabia,” Mr Dileita told AFP.
“People are talking about it a lot here – the Yemenis are convinced the project will be carried out with Saudi and Emirates’ funds to connect the Arab world to Africa.”
New cities
The plan envisages building new cities at either end of the bridge, which would itself in fact be a combination of bridges, with a stop-off point in the centre of the “Bab ed Mandeb” (Gates of Hell) straights at Perim Island.
“Numerous American, Yemeni and even French businesses are taking part in the project,” the Prime Minister said.
“But the big advantage will be to take millions of African Muslims to Mecca, by train or by bus.”
Indeed, on top of the commercial and logistic aspects, one of the key attractions of the bridge is spiritual – serving as an easier crossing for millions of African Muslims who make the pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, each year.
One of the new cities at either end of the bridge would be called the City of Light (Medinet an Noor) and at 600 square kilometres would be six times the land mass of Paris and serve as a trade, commercial and tourist hub for anticipated traffic.
“We don’t yet know if it will be in the north of Djibouti or in Yemen,” Mr Deleita said.
The bridge would in total measure around 28.5 kilometres, including a 3.5 kilometre link to the island and a final 13 kilometre crossing to Africa — the longest suspension bridge in the world.
That, the developers say, could create 100,000 construction jobs over the 10-year build time.
Major obstacles
However, there are major obstacles in the way, both man-made and natural.
The bridge will cross a site known for intense seismic activity.
In 1978, massive tectonic plate movement triggered an eruption from Djibouti’s Ardoukoba volcano and an earthquake measuring between three and 5.3 on the Richter scale.
The lava flows radically altered the seabed.
Yet the Ministry which looks after Djibouti’s environment says it is confident the project design can plan for such acts of nature.
The general secretary of the Ministry for the Environment, Towns and Urban Planning, Aboubakar Douale Waiss, says such tectonic plate shifts are not something that happens suddenly, but are generally predictable.
“So the key is for architects to come up with plans which take into account these movements,” he said.
Port trade
Another potential dilemma is the fate of Djibouti’s port, which currently handles more than 120,000 vehicles a year, mostly on business to and from Ethiopia.
A road bridge would seriously dent that trade.
But Mr Waiss insisted the increased economic and political stability of Djibouti will be enough to support both bridge and port.
“The bridge and the port are complementary,” he said.
“There are huge populations in the areas behind Djibouti – 80 million in Ethiopia alone – and the traffic will just continue to grow.”
Finally, as the United States and France have substantial military bases in Djibouti, there are fears the new link will prove a tempting terrorist target, or simply provide easier access to some of the impoverished states in the Horn of Africa for Islamic extremists.
(Press TV) — The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) has captured ninety percent of south Somalia, a leader of the body, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed says.
In an interview with Aljazeera TV on Monday, he said that the union has taken 90% of south Somalia under its control to date.
The comments are made as the southern parts of the country have been engulfed in flames of war and unrest.
On Monday, a clash erupted between two clans near port city of Kismayu, leaving 5 civilians dead and 13 others injured, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Also on the same day, 8 civilians and 4 government soldiers were killed as armed man attacked a government check point in northern Mogadishu’s Siinay district.
In another incident, Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers were hit by land mine explosions in Baidoa in the country’s south-central region, 256 kilometers northwest of the capital, Mogadishu.
The explosions left several soldiers killed and injured but the number of casualties have not yet been known.
Seven civilians are reportedly killed as the soldiers opened fire after the explosions.
Until the end of 2006, the Islamic Courts Union controlled most of southern Somalia and the vast majority of its population, including most major cities such as Kismayo and Mogadishu.
Ethiopia’s popular singer Teddy Afro is held in isolation inside a dark room at Kaliti prison. Also, unlike other prisoners, he is not allowed to go outside of his cell for fresh air, according to close family members who have visited him over the weekend.
Several friends of Teddy were prevented from visiting him for the Ethiopian Easter holiday (Fasika) on Sunday. Only 5 family members were allowed to see him. The opposition UDJ vice-chaiperson Birtukan Mideksa was one of those who were turned away by prison guards yesterday.
The harsh treament Teddy is getting in prison gives credence to the suspecion that his arrest is politically motivated.
Ethiopians in the Washington DC area are holding a protest rally today in front of the Ethiopian embassy demanding the release of Teddy Afro.
