Sunday, 22 February 2009
Ayalew's surprise, Gebremariam's comeback highlight Ethiopia’s World Cross Country trials
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - African 10,000m bronze medallist Wude Ayalew’s shock defeat of cross country specialists Gelete Burka and Meselech Melkamu in the senior women’s 8km was the highlight of the 26th Jan Meda International Cross Country- Ethiopia’s trials for the World Cross Country Championships- held at the Jan Meda race course in Addis Ababa this morning (22).
Gebregziabher Gebremariam produced a trademark sprint finish to take victory in the men’s 12km race. Ayele Abshiro and Sule Utura were comfortable winners of the men’s and women’s junior races respectively.
Ayalew stuns Melkamu for 8km victory
After a series of domestic cross country races throughout Ethiopia, the meeting at the Jan Meda brought together the finest Ethiopian hopes in this cross country season. With Ethiopia’s golden trio Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba, and Sileshi Sihine all missing the race due to injury, it gave the chance to the country’s upcoming and established runners to push for places in Ethiopia’s World Cross Country Championships squad.
Perhaps the biggest winner of the day was the 20-year old Ayalew who has looked impressive on the road in the 2008/09 season with victories in the Great Ethiopian Run (10km) and Sao Silvestre 15km road race in Brazil.
In her debut cross country race in 2009, Ayalew proved that she can not only compete against the so-called cross country specialists, but also beat them.
After a frenetic start to the race, a group of ten runners initially led by Burka started to push on the pace after the first lap (2km). But with the warm and windy conditions affecting the field, the runners were forced to slow down to a virtually walking pace that allowed lagging runners to catch up on the field.
Melkamu, Burka, Ayalew, and Koreni Jelila all exchanged leads at the head of the pack before Burka at the start of the final lap and looked comfortable for her second ever 8km victory at the Jan Meda race course.
With 200m of the race left, Melkamu was the first run to inject a serious pace at the head of the pack. But Ayalew covered that superbly and launched her own kick to take victory in front of an appreciative crowd.
Melkamu beat Burka for second place with Jelila, Sentayehu Ejigu (winner of the Boston indoor 5000m two weeks ago), and Mamitu Deska occupying the top six places.
The biggest disappointment of the race was defending world cross country silver medallist Mestawet Tufa, who aggravated a leg injury and dropped out of the content with laps of the race left.
“It was a very tough race and I am happy with the victory,” says Ayalew. “I am hoping for a medal in Amman. Although I have not run much recently, cross country is quite important for me. I want to win something this year and hopefully make the Ethiopian 10,000m team for the world championships in Berlin.”
Gebremariam outsprints young field in men’s 12km
In contrast, the men’s 12km had a great element of predictability with African 10,000m champion Gebregziabher Gebremariam taking a sprint victory over upcoming runner Feyissa Lelisa.
A thoroughbred of the course since he made his debut running for his Tigray regional team in 2001, Gebremariam has now won the senior men’s 12km race a whooping three times.
Gebremariam’s Yuriy Borzakovsky-esque-come-from-the-back is often a risk he happily takes. And in a course like Jan Meda where heavy winds prevent any emotional front running, such tactics do not have such pronounced effects always giving him the edge.
The only runner who tried to apply pressure to the field at various intervals was All-African Games 10,000m silver medallist Tadesse Tola, but with the likes of World indoor 3000m champion Tariku Bekele and Abebe Dinkessa following suit, his moves were always covered.
At the bell, Tola led the quartet in a scramble for positions at the head of the pack. Young runners Hunegnaw Mesfin and Habtamu Fekadu also tried their hand at the lead, but Gebremariam, who at this point was the back of the pack, made his move with 150m left. At the end, his burst of acceleration had taken a full 20m ahead of the chasing pack before he started celebrations way ahead of the finishing tape.
Lelisa, who has been the top domestic performer in the Ethiopian cross country circuit this season, beat Tola for second place, while Tariku Bekele, Mesfin, and Fekadu made up the other qualifying positions for Amman.
Utura beats Genzebe Dibaba in the battle of the future
Much like their older compatriots Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar, youngsters Sule Utura and Genzebe Dibaba who are widely hailed as the future of Ethiopia’s women distance running are developing into fierce rivals each time they come up against each other.
After Genzebe, youngster sister to Tirunesh Dibaba, defeated Utura in last year’s race, Utura gained revenge at the World junior championships last year when taking the 5000m title.
The outcome of the latest instalment of the Dibaba v Utura went the way of Utura who powered ahead of her archrival with 200m of the race left for victory. It was Utura’s second junior race title in three years, the last race she will compete as a junior before moving up the ranks in 2010.
Unlike Dibaba, Utura has never won a medal at the World cross and victory in Amman looks more likely following her impressive performance here.
In the men’s junior race, world junior cross country silver medallist Ayele Abshiro lived up to his pre-race billing taking a comfortable victory ahead of Yetwale Kinde and Dejen Gebremeskel.
Elshadai Negash for the IAAF
Leading Results -
Women’s Junior 6km
1. Sule Utura (Defence)
2. Genzebe Dibaba (Muger Cement)
3. Emebet Anteneh (Amhara region)
4. Meseret Mengistu (Oromiya Police)
5. Tsega Gelaw (Defence)
6. Frehiwot Goshu (Prisons Police)
Men’s Junior 8km
1. Ayele Abshiro (Unattached )
2. Yetwale Kinde (Unattached)
3. Dejen Gebremeskel (Ethiopian Banks)
4. Atalay Yersaw (Defence)
5. Debebe Woldesenbet (Omedla)
6. Legesse Lemiso (Defence)
Women’s Senior 8km
1. Wude Ayalew (EEPCO)
2. Meselech Melkamu (EEPCO)
3. Gelete Burka (Unattached)
4. Koreni Jelila (Defence)
5. Sentayehu Ejigu (Ethiopian Banks)
6. Mamitu Deska (Oromiya Police)
Men’s Senior 12km
1. Gebregziabher Gebremariam (Ethiopian Banks)
2. Feyissa Lelisa (Defence)
3. Tadesse Tola (Prisons Police)
4. Tariku Bekele (Muger Cement)
5. Hunegnaw Mesfin (Ethiopian Banks)
6. Habtamu Fekadu (Defence)
Sunday, February 22, 2009
UK lawyer: Guantanamo inmate release due Monday
UK lawyer: Guantanamo inmate release due Monday
LONDON (AP) — A human rights lawyer says former British resident Binyam Mohamed is due to be released from Guantanamo Bay on Monday.
The Ethiopian national has been held at the U.S. military prison since September 2004. Terrorism charges against him were dropped last year.
Britain's Foreign Office released a statement Friday saying Mohamed would be returned to the U.K. "as soon as the practical arrangements can be made" but has repeatedly declined to say when exactly they expect him.
Lawyer Clive Stafford Smith could not say on Sunday how or when his client would arrive in the U.K.
Mohamed's military lawyer Lt. Col. Yvonne Bradley says she has no confirmation of when Mohamed is due to return.
LONDON (AP) — A human rights lawyer says former British resident Binyam Mohamed is due to be released from Guantanamo Bay on Monday.
The Ethiopian national has been held at the U.S. military prison since September 2004. Terrorism charges against him were dropped last year.
Britain's Foreign Office released a statement Friday saying Mohamed would be returned to the U.K. "as soon as the practical arrangements can be made" but has repeatedly declined to say when exactly they expect him.
Lawyer Clive Stafford Smith could not say on Sunday how or when his client would arrive in the U.K.
Mohamed's military lawyer Lt. Col. Yvonne Bradley says she has no confirmation of when Mohamed is due to return.
Ethiopian Rebels Clash With Government Forces; at Least 45 Dead
Ethiopian Rebels Clash With Government Forces; at Least 45 Dead
By Jason McLure
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- At least 45 people died in clashes between Ethiopia’s army and the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front in the east of the country, government and rebel spokesmen said.
The ONLF said its ethnic Somali fighters killed 140 Ethiopian soldiers and allied militia members in battles over the past five days near the towns of Fik and Degehebur, according to an e-mailed statement from the group. In addition, 29 ONLF members died in the fighting, it said.
“The area around Degehebur is now completely in the hands of the ONLF, as is the area around the city of Fik,” it said.
Ethnic Somali rebels from the ONLF are seeking autonomy for Ethiopia’s Somali region, an arid tract of land twice the size of England, which is also known as the Ogaden. In June, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused the Ethiopian government of burning villages, executing civilians and raping women in an effort to quell the ONLF’s insurgency. Ethiopia denied the allegations.
Ethiopia’s government disputed the ONLF’s version of the latest fighting.
“This is completely wrong,” Ermias Legesse, Ethiopia’s state minister for communications, said in a phone interview today from Addis Ababa, the capital. “The regional peoples fought with the ONLF and they killed more than 45 ONLF soldiers.”
Legesse said three or four innocent people died in the fighting. He said he couldn’t respond to an ONLF claim that Ethiopian attack helicopters have been active in the region.
Opposition
Ethiopia claimed the Ogaden region in the late 19th century through a series of agreements with Italy and the U.K., which colonized much of modern-day Somalia. Ethnic Somalis from the Ogaden clan have opposed Ethiopian rule, and fighting in the region surged after the ONLF killed 73 Chinese and Ethiopian workers at an oil exploration site in the region in April 2007.
Ethiopia accuses neighboring Eritrea of backing the ONLF and has in turn backed Somali militias from rival clans to fight the rebel group.
Ethiopia has banned journalists from traveling independently in the region and rejected a United Nations call for an independent assessment of human rights atrocities.
By Jason McLure
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- At least 45 people died in clashes between Ethiopia’s army and the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front in the east of the country, government and rebel spokesmen said.
The ONLF said its ethnic Somali fighters killed 140 Ethiopian soldiers and allied militia members in battles over the past five days near the towns of Fik and Degehebur, according to an e-mailed statement from the group. In addition, 29 ONLF members died in the fighting, it said.
“The area around Degehebur is now completely in the hands of the ONLF, as is the area around the city of Fik,” it said.
Ethnic Somali rebels from the ONLF are seeking autonomy for Ethiopia’s Somali region, an arid tract of land twice the size of England, which is also known as the Ogaden. In June, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused the Ethiopian government of burning villages, executing civilians and raping women in an effort to quell the ONLF’s insurgency. Ethiopia denied the allegations.
Ethiopia’s government disputed the ONLF’s version of the latest fighting.
“This is completely wrong,” Ermias Legesse, Ethiopia’s state minister for communications, said in a phone interview today from Addis Ababa, the capital. “The regional peoples fought with the ONLF and they killed more than 45 ONLF soldiers.”
Legesse said three or four innocent people died in the fighting. He said he couldn’t respond to an ONLF claim that Ethiopian attack helicopters have been active in the region.
Opposition
Ethiopia claimed the Ogaden region in the late 19th century through a series of agreements with Italy and the U.K., which colonized much of modern-day Somalia. Ethnic Somalis from the Ogaden clan have opposed Ethiopian rule, and fighting in the region surged after the ONLF killed 73 Chinese and Ethiopian workers at an oil exploration site in the region in April 2007.
Ethiopia accuses neighboring Eritrea of backing the ONLF and has in turn backed Somali militias from rival clans to fight the rebel group.
Ethiopia has banned journalists from traveling independently in the region and rejected a United Nations call for an independent assessment of human rights atrocities.
The high price of drought and lack of family planning
The high price of drought and lack of family planning
By Helene Gayle
Special to The Times
FATUMA Abrahim's mother never has had much in the way of choices. She can't make it rain, force crops to sprout from the parched earth or bring down the high price of food. Consider that the cost of a sack of corn in the Ethiopian village where Fatuma lives has increased eightfold in just two years. As 8 million people now face starvation, mothers like Fatuma's are confronted with the worst kind of choice: which child gets the last piece of bread-like injera.
Last month, 11-year-old Fatuma came to a health clinic weighing half what she should. Whereas families in America spend about 10 percent of their household income on food, poor families in countries like Ethiopia spend approximately 75 percent on food alone. As crops failed and food prices rose, households like Fatuma's could not afford to buy enough food for the family. Malnutrition rates are rising among children and expectant mothers, fueling fears that child and maternal mortality will increase.
To alleviate the suffering, more immediate relief is needed in the short-run. But a greater focus must be placed on the underlying causes of poverty and a fix that endures. It's helpful sometimes to put aside what people have no control over, like the weather and commodity prices, and empower them with something in their reach — the size of a family, for example.
In a country where far too few women have access to family planning or a say in whether to space out their children, many mothers are facing their worst fear. They have dwindling resources and too many mouths to feed. As a result, 25 years after the mass starvation that prompted Live Aid, the stage is set for another hunger crisis in Ethiopia. Only now the population has nearly doubled to 80 million.
Much of that growth has come in the form of families such as Fatuma's. She's one of eight children. Or at least she was. Just after Fatuma's arrival at the CARE-supported clinic, one of her sisters died in their mother's arms. And despite the family's best efforts to ration, the sorghum they harvested is about to run out, portending more trouble ahead.
In Ethiopia, which has one of Africa's highest marriage rates, 19 percent of girls marry by the age of 15. Most are expected to give birth nine months later. At that age, girls are twice as likely to die during childbirth than a woman in her 20s. In Ethiopia, one in 24 women dies during pregnancy or childbirth. Unfortunately, it's still not acceptable to discuss family planning among adolescents or unmarried women.
There is good news, however. The use of modern contraception in 1,250 villages where CARE works has shot up from 5 percent in 1996 to 30 percent in 2005, well above the national rate of 14 percent. And one taboo has been broken. The mere mention of family planning once got some women beaten with a stick. Now couples are discussing options and the relationship between family size and quality of life. To build on this momentum, more champions must support the government's efforts to educate youth and help drive consensus to give family planning a chance, for everyone.
Educating families, providing access to contraceptives and challenging cultural norms will not provide immediate relief. These tools alone will not prevent history from repeating itself. But they will provide a critical element that is missing in Fatuma's life. They help provide choices. When people like Fatuma and her mother are empowered to make informed decisions, fewer lives will hang in the balance each time rain gauges go dry and food prices soar.
Helene Gayle, M.D., is the president and CEO of CARE. She previously was director of the Gates Foundation's HIV, TB and Reproductive Health program in Seattle.
By Helene Gayle
Special to The Times
FATUMA Abrahim's mother never has had much in the way of choices. She can't make it rain, force crops to sprout from the parched earth or bring down the high price of food. Consider that the cost of a sack of corn in the Ethiopian village where Fatuma lives has increased eightfold in just two years. As 8 million people now face starvation, mothers like Fatuma's are confronted with the worst kind of choice: which child gets the last piece of bread-like injera.
Last month, 11-year-old Fatuma came to a health clinic weighing half what she should. Whereas families in America spend about 10 percent of their household income on food, poor families in countries like Ethiopia spend approximately 75 percent on food alone. As crops failed and food prices rose, households like Fatuma's could not afford to buy enough food for the family. Malnutrition rates are rising among children and expectant mothers, fueling fears that child and maternal mortality will increase.
To alleviate the suffering, more immediate relief is needed in the short-run. But a greater focus must be placed on the underlying causes of poverty and a fix that endures. It's helpful sometimes to put aside what people have no control over, like the weather and commodity prices, and empower them with something in their reach — the size of a family, for example.
In a country where far too few women have access to family planning or a say in whether to space out their children, many mothers are facing their worst fear. They have dwindling resources and too many mouths to feed. As a result, 25 years after the mass starvation that prompted Live Aid, the stage is set for another hunger crisis in Ethiopia. Only now the population has nearly doubled to 80 million.
Much of that growth has come in the form of families such as Fatuma's. She's one of eight children. Or at least she was. Just after Fatuma's arrival at the CARE-supported clinic, one of her sisters died in their mother's arms. And despite the family's best efforts to ration, the sorghum they harvested is about to run out, portending more trouble ahead.
In Ethiopia, which has one of Africa's highest marriage rates, 19 percent of girls marry by the age of 15. Most are expected to give birth nine months later. At that age, girls are twice as likely to die during childbirth than a woman in her 20s. In Ethiopia, one in 24 women dies during pregnancy or childbirth. Unfortunately, it's still not acceptable to discuss family planning among adolescents or unmarried women.
There is good news, however. The use of modern contraception in 1,250 villages where CARE works has shot up from 5 percent in 1996 to 30 percent in 2005, well above the national rate of 14 percent. And one taboo has been broken. The mere mention of family planning once got some women beaten with a stick. Now couples are discussing options and the relationship between family size and quality of life. To build on this momentum, more champions must support the government's efforts to educate youth and help drive consensus to give family planning a chance, for everyone.
Educating families, providing access to contraceptives and challenging cultural norms will not provide immediate relief. These tools alone will not prevent history from repeating itself. But they will provide a critical element that is missing in Fatuma's life. They help provide choices. When people like Fatuma and her mother are empowered to make informed decisions, fewer lives will hang in the balance each time rain gauges go dry and food prices soar.
Helene Gayle, M.D., is the president and CEO of CARE. She previously was director of the Gates Foundation's HIV, TB and Reproductive Health program in Seattle.
Planting trees in Ethiopia
Planting trees in Ethiopia
The world is losing its natural forests. So much so that deforestation contributes more to global carbon emissions every year than the transport sector. Yet trees are a natural environmental power house. The oxygen they produce removes air pollution, lowers temperatures and adds moisture to the air. By holding soil in place and reducing run-off from streams, they prevent soil erosion, control avalanches and mitigate desertification.
With forests storing 283 gigatonnes of carbon in their biomass alone, curbing deforestation – and re-planting trees – is a highly effective way to reduce carbon emissions.
At the turn of the 20th century, 40 per cent of Ethiopia was covered by forest. Today that figure is just 3 per cent. As a consequence, deforestation is jeopardising livelihoods and taking its toll on children’s development, most especially in its remote and underdeveloped regions.
In 2007, as part of its millennium celebrations, the Government of Ethiopia pledged to plant more than 60 million trees across the country. UNICEF, a key partner in this highly ambitious initiative, is contributing to the planting of at least 20 million trees. The overall aim is to create a safer, healthier environment for Ethiopia’s future generations whilst taking action on the deforestation which is contributing to flash-flooding and the destruction of homes and crops.
UNICEF believes it is vital that children and young people are able to play a role in protecting their environment. To that end, Ethiopia’s Millennium Tree Planting Campaign has enlisted children and young people as major partners.
Two year-old seedlings – from five indigenous species – are being planted and nurtured by children and young people in school compounds and areas selected by local communities. The campaign is raising public awareness about broader environmental issues and with the children’s enthusiastic involvement is, quite literally, putting one aspect of environmental protection firmly in their hands.
Ethiopia’s Millennium Tree Planting Campaign is part of UNEP’s ‘Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign’. Individuals, children and youth groups, schools, community groups, NGOs, farmers, the private sector, local authorities and national governments are all encouraged to enter tree-planting pledges online. Each pledge can be anything from a single tree to several million trees.
Sources: UNICEF Country Programme, Ethiopia, “Climate Change and Children”, UNICEF 2007.
The world is losing its natural forests. So much so that deforestation contributes more to global carbon emissions every year than the transport sector. Yet trees are a natural environmental power house. The oxygen they produce removes air pollution, lowers temperatures and adds moisture to the air. By holding soil in place and reducing run-off from streams, they prevent soil erosion, control avalanches and mitigate desertification.
With forests storing 283 gigatonnes of carbon in their biomass alone, curbing deforestation – and re-planting trees – is a highly effective way to reduce carbon emissions.
At the turn of the 20th century, 40 per cent of Ethiopia was covered by forest. Today that figure is just 3 per cent. As a consequence, deforestation is jeopardising livelihoods and taking its toll on children’s development, most especially in its remote and underdeveloped regions.
In 2007, as part of its millennium celebrations, the Government of Ethiopia pledged to plant more than 60 million trees across the country. UNICEF, a key partner in this highly ambitious initiative, is contributing to the planting of at least 20 million trees. The overall aim is to create a safer, healthier environment for Ethiopia’s future generations whilst taking action on the deforestation which is contributing to flash-flooding and the destruction of homes and crops.
UNICEF believes it is vital that children and young people are able to play a role in protecting their environment. To that end, Ethiopia’s Millennium Tree Planting Campaign has enlisted children and young people as major partners.
Two year-old seedlings – from five indigenous species – are being planted and nurtured by children and young people in school compounds and areas selected by local communities. The campaign is raising public awareness about broader environmental issues and with the children’s enthusiastic involvement is, quite literally, putting one aspect of environmental protection firmly in their hands.
Ethiopia’s Millennium Tree Planting Campaign is part of UNEP’s ‘Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign’. Individuals, children and youth groups, schools, community groups, NGOs, farmers, the private sector, local authorities and national governments are all encouraged to enter tree-planting pledges online. Each pledge can be anything from a single tree to several million trees.
Sources: UNICEF Country Programme, Ethiopia, “Climate Change and Children”, UNICEF 2007.
Ethiopian pop star jail term cut
Ethiopian pop star jail term cut
By Elizabeth Blunt
BBC News, Addis Ababa
Ethiopia's most famous pop singer, Teddy Afro, has had his sentence for manslaughter reduced on appeal.
He was jailed for causing the death of a young homeless man through dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of the accident.
The sentence was reduced from six years to two years, which means that - allowing for time already served - he could be free very shortly.
The singer has always denied committing the crime.
As news of the decision rippled out across Addis Ababa, groups of young people gathered in the streets, cheering and hugging each other at the news that their favourite singer would soon be free.
Victim 'was drunk'
Teddy Afro, charged under his real name of Tewodros Kassahun, had originally received a six-year jail sentence, after a car identified as belonging to him hit and killed a young homeless man in the centre of Addis Ababa and then failed to stop to offer assistance.
The performer has always said that he was not driving at the time.
The appeal judge, Mr Justice Dagne Melaku, in a careful and detailed decision, upheld the guilty verdict but reduced the sentence from six years to two - on the grounds that the victim had been seen lying drunk and unconscious in the road before the accident - and that the police had failed to move him to safety.
The singer has already spent nearly a year in jail and with an allowance for good behaviour he should now be free in less than a year.
His die-hard fans, however, still refuse to accept he could be guilty, continuing to maintain that he is the victim of a political vendetta because Teddy Afro's music was identified with the opposition cause at the time of the controversial 2005 elections.
By Elizabeth Blunt
BBC News, Addis Ababa
Ethiopia's most famous pop singer, Teddy Afro, has had his sentence for manslaughter reduced on appeal.
He was jailed for causing the death of a young homeless man through dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of the accident.
The sentence was reduced from six years to two years, which means that - allowing for time already served - he could be free very shortly.
The singer has always denied committing the crime.
As news of the decision rippled out across Addis Ababa, groups of young people gathered in the streets, cheering and hugging each other at the news that their favourite singer would soon be free.
Victim 'was drunk'
Teddy Afro, charged under his real name of Tewodros Kassahun, had originally received a six-year jail sentence, after a car identified as belonging to him hit and killed a young homeless man in the centre of Addis Ababa and then failed to stop to offer assistance.
The performer has always said that he was not driving at the time.
The appeal judge, Mr Justice Dagne Melaku, in a careful and detailed decision, upheld the guilty verdict but reduced the sentence from six years to two - on the grounds that the victim had been seen lying drunk and unconscious in the road before the accident - and that the police had failed to move him to safety.
The singer has already spent nearly a year in jail and with an allowance for good behaviour he should now be free in less than a year.
His die-hard fans, however, still refuse to accept he could be guilty, continuing to maintain that he is the victim of a political vendetta because Teddy Afro's music was identified with the opposition cause at the time of the controversial 2005 elections.
Nigerian Accused in Scheme to Swindle Citibank from Ethiopia Account
February 21, 2009
Nigerian Accused in Scheme to Swindle Citibank
By BENJAMIN WEISER
Swindles in which someone overseas seeks access to a person’s bank account are so well known that most potential victims can spot them in seconds.
But one man found success by tweaking the formula, prosecutors say: Rather than trying to dupe an account holder into giving up information, he duped the bank. And instead of swindling a person, he tried to rob a country — of $27 million.
To carry out the elaborate scheme, prosecutors in New York said on Friday, the man, identified as Paul Gabriel Amos, 37, a Nigerian citizen who lived in Singapore, worked with others to create official-looking documents that instructed Citibank to wire the money in two dozen transactions to accounts that Mr. Amos and the others controlled around the world.
The money came from a Citibank account in New York held by the National Bank of Ethiopia, that country’s central bank. Prosecutors said the conspirators, contacted by Citibank to verify the transactions, posed as Ethiopian bank officials and approved the transfers.
Mr. Amos was arrested last month as he tried to enter the United States through Los Angeles, a prosecutor, Marcus A. Asner, said in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
Mr. Amos, who was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, told a federal magistrate judge, “I’m not guilty, sir.” The judge, Andrew J. Peck, ordered him detained pending a further hearing. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison, prosecutors said.
The fraud was uncovered after several banks where the conspirators held accounts returned money to Citibank, saying they had been unable to process the transactions, and an official of the National Bank of Ethiopia said that it did not recognize the transactions, according to a complaint signed by an F.B.I. agent, Bryan Trebelhorn.
A Citigroup spokeswoman said: “We have worked closely with law enforcement throughout the investigation and are pleased it has resulted in this arrest. Citi constantly reviews and upgrades its physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to detect, prevent and mitigate theft.”
A spokesman for the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington said, “We are aware of this unfortunate story.” He said the embassy was not involved in the legal proceedings, and declined further comment. Officials at the National Bank of Ethiopia could not be reached by phone for comment.
Prosecutors said the scheme began in September, when Citibank received a package with documents purportedly signed by officials of the Ethiopian bank instructing Citibank to accept instructions by fax. There was also a list of officials who could be called to confirm such requests. The signatures of the officials appeared to match those in Citibank’s records and were accepted by Citibank, the complaint says.
In October, Citibank received two dozen faxed requests for money to be wired, and it transferred $27 million to accounts controlled by the conspirators in Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, Cyprus and the United States, the complaint says.
Citibank called the officials whose names and numbers it had been given to verify the transactions, prosecutors said. The numbers turned out to be for cellphones in Nigeria, South Africa and Britain used by the conspirators.
Citibank, in its investigation, later determined the package of documents had come via courier from Lagos, Nigeria, rather than from the offices of the National Bank of Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa.
Citibank has credited back the lost funds to the National Bank of Ethiopia, said one person who was briefed about the situation.
Nigerian Accused in Scheme to Swindle Citibank
By BENJAMIN WEISER
Swindles in which someone overseas seeks access to a person’s bank account are so well known that most potential victims can spot them in seconds.
But one man found success by tweaking the formula, prosecutors say: Rather than trying to dupe an account holder into giving up information, he duped the bank. And instead of swindling a person, he tried to rob a country — of $27 million.
To carry out the elaborate scheme, prosecutors in New York said on Friday, the man, identified as Paul Gabriel Amos, 37, a Nigerian citizen who lived in Singapore, worked with others to create official-looking documents that instructed Citibank to wire the money in two dozen transactions to accounts that Mr. Amos and the others controlled around the world.
The money came from a Citibank account in New York held by the National Bank of Ethiopia, that country’s central bank. Prosecutors said the conspirators, contacted by Citibank to verify the transactions, posed as Ethiopian bank officials and approved the transfers.
Mr. Amos was arrested last month as he tried to enter the United States through Los Angeles, a prosecutor, Marcus A. Asner, said in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
Mr. Amos, who was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, told a federal magistrate judge, “I’m not guilty, sir.” The judge, Andrew J. Peck, ordered him detained pending a further hearing. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison, prosecutors said.
The fraud was uncovered after several banks where the conspirators held accounts returned money to Citibank, saying they had been unable to process the transactions, and an official of the National Bank of Ethiopia said that it did not recognize the transactions, according to a complaint signed by an F.B.I. agent, Bryan Trebelhorn.
A Citigroup spokeswoman said: “We have worked closely with law enforcement throughout the investigation and are pleased it has resulted in this arrest. Citi constantly reviews and upgrades its physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to detect, prevent and mitigate theft.”
A spokesman for the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington said, “We are aware of this unfortunate story.” He said the embassy was not involved in the legal proceedings, and declined further comment. Officials at the National Bank of Ethiopia could not be reached by phone for comment.
Prosecutors said the scheme began in September, when Citibank received a package with documents purportedly signed by officials of the Ethiopian bank instructing Citibank to accept instructions by fax. There was also a list of officials who could be called to confirm such requests. The signatures of the officials appeared to match those in Citibank’s records and were accepted by Citibank, the complaint says.
In October, Citibank received two dozen faxed requests for money to be wired, and it transferred $27 million to accounts controlled by the conspirators in Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, Cyprus and the United States, the complaint says.
Citibank called the officials whose names and numbers it had been given to verify the transactions, prosecutors said. The numbers turned out to be for cellphones in Nigeria, South Africa and Britain used by the conspirators.
Citibank, in its investigation, later determined the package of documents had come via courier from Lagos, Nigeria, rather than from the offices of the National Bank of Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa.
Citibank has credited back the lost funds to the National Bank of Ethiopia, said one person who was briefed about the situation.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Farmers donate wheat crop to Ethiopia
Sylvia Macbean
The Leader-Post
Monday, September 29, 2008
MARYFIELD -- Farmers from the Crossborders Community Project in Maryfield in southeastern Saskatchewan and Kola, Man., came together recently to harvest fields of wheat to be shipped to Ethiopia -- before harvesting their own crops.
"These farmers that were harvesting were doing so with their own crops out on the field,'' said Jan Neufeld of the Kola area of southwestern Manitoba. "As soon as they get these fields finished, they will be going back to finish their own harvest.
"My husband Don and my son Miles put the crop in," she said.
Other farmers helped to sow the crop last spring for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. All the farm work was donated by farmers.
The crop recently received heavy rains and was downgraded to feed. The wheat was sold to a livestock producer and was being ground into feed after it was delivered to the Kola, Man., mill.
Proceeds from crops are used to provide food for the hungry in developing countries around the world.
This year, crops are being grown by many volunteers groups across Saskatchewan.
Cameron Wiebe and his neighbour, Neil Mehrer, grew Canadian Prairie Spring (CPS) white wheat in the Churchbridge area. The CPS wheat will be sold for either ethanol production or to make flour.
"One neighbour provides the land and one neighbour provides the work. We grew 160 acres in the Churchbridge area. We try and get as much support for the fertilizer and inputs as we can. Some of it will go to an ethanol plant and there are local markets at the elevator as well for this wheat. When you deliver it locally, they just take care of it," Wiebe said. Wiebe plans to harvest their crop next week.
The Wiwi Growing Project in the Gravelbourg-Shamrock area has 10 growers who have signed up to grow and designate several acres of their crops for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
"We had asked growers in the area to commit some acres to the project. It should amount to a good donation for the Canadian Foodgrains bank this year," said Mervin Costley, with the Wiwi Growing Project.
"Farmers wanting to donate grain for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank can do so at their local elevator or grain terminal," said Janelle Peterson, resource officer with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
A Canadian Foodgrains Bank shipment of 6,400 metric tonnes of Canadian wheat arrived in Ethiopia in August and is being distributed to people impacted by the growing food crisis in Africa.
According to the Famine Early Warning System Network, nearly nine million people in the Horn of Africa need immediate humanitarian assistance in the next three to six months. About four million of those people live in Ethiopia.
The Leader-Post
Monday, September 29, 2008
MARYFIELD -- Farmers from the Crossborders Community Project in Maryfield in southeastern Saskatchewan and Kola, Man., came together recently to harvest fields of wheat to be shipped to Ethiopia -- before harvesting their own crops.
"These farmers that were harvesting were doing so with their own crops out on the field,'' said Jan Neufeld of the Kola area of southwestern Manitoba. "As soon as they get these fields finished, they will be going back to finish their own harvest.
"My husband Don and my son Miles put the crop in," she said.
Other farmers helped to sow the crop last spring for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. All the farm work was donated by farmers.
The crop recently received heavy rains and was downgraded to feed. The wheat was sold to a livestock producer and was being ground into feed after it was delivered to the Kola, Man., mill.
Proceeds from crops are used to provide food for the hungry in developing countries around the world.
This year, crops are being grown by many volunteers groups across Saskatchewan.
Cameron Wiebe and his neighbour, Neil Mehrer, grew Canadian Prairie Spring (CPS) white wheat in the Churchbridge area. The CPS wheat will be sold for either ethanol production or to make flour.
"One neighbour provides the land and one neighbour provides the work. We grew 160 acres in the Churchbridge area. We try and get as much support for the fertilizer and inputs as we can. Some of it will go to an ethanol plant and there are local markets at the elevator as well for this wheat. When you deliver it locally, they just take care of it," Wiebe said. Wiebe plans to harvest their crop next week.
The Wiwi Growing Project in the Gravelbourg-Shamrock area has 10 growers who have signed up to grow and designate several acres of their crops for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
"We had asked growers in the area to commit some acres to the project. It should amount to a good donation for the Canadian Foodgrains bank this year," said Mervin Costley, with the Wiwi Growing Project.
"Farmers wanting to donate grain for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank can do so at their local elevator or grain terminal," said Janelle Peterson, resource officer with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
A Canadian Foodgrains Bank shipment of 6,400 metric tonnes of Canadian wheat arrived in Ethiopia in August and is being distributed to people impacted by the growing food crisis in Africa.
According to the Famine Early Warning System Network, nearly nine million people in the Horn of Africa need immediate humanitarian assistance in the next three to six months. About four million of those people live in Ethiopia.
Seboka smashes record in win
JAMES CHRISTIE
September 29, 2008
TORONTO -- Mulu Seboka didn't listen to the advice from the master of the marathon, Haile Gebrselassie, but both wound up champions and record-setters on the same day.
The 22-year-old Ethiopian woman set a course record of 2 hours 29 minutes 5 seconds, smashing the previous best for the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon yesterday morning in a romp across the shores of Lake Ontario. Her time was more than four minutes better than the mark set last year by fellow Ethiopian Asha Gigi, this year's third-place finisher. Olena Shurkhno of Ukraine finished second in the women's race.
"Haile always watches us train in Addis Ababa and he tells me don't practise a lot," said Seboka, who puts in a phenomenal load of roadwork at 280 kilometres a week. Each of her five training days in a week starts with 40 km in the morning, then she runs for another hour in the afternoon.
"He's a father figure to us. He told me to reduce the work level."
Print Edition - Section Front
Enlarge Image
More Stories
Bosh expands his horizons
Brewers wild about first playoff trip in 26 years
Winning the West no easy task
Canadian fans will be able to watch the entire playoffs this year
Gathering momentum, Montreal rolls to second lopsided win in a row
Seboka smashes record in win
Go to the section
But Seboka thrives on the high volume. She never has run any distance but the marathon, following her sister into the sport. She said it's the way of women's sport in Ethiopia to take up after a family member. The Olympic 5,000- and 10,000-metre gold medalist, Tirunesh Dibaba, 23, followed a sister, who had followed an aunt in distance running.
Dubbed the "baby-faced destroyer," Dibaba's Olympic prowess has paid of for her with a promotion to the rank of superintendent on her prison police club. She actually outranks the legendary Gebrselassie, who is a major with another police unit.
The winner of the Mumbai Marathon in India earlier this year, Seboka said she runs only two or three competitive races in a season, but the daily workload is the equivalent of more than a marathon.
Her course record and personal best time yesterday was the highlight of the Toronto race. She won by almost a minute over Shurkhno's 2:30:12. Seboka, from the town of Sululta, near Addis Ababa, figures she has more left in her, aiming to take her time down to the 2:22 or 2:23 range by the year's end. She said she came to Toronto because she heard about a flat, fast course where she could post her best time.
Gebrselassie, Ethiopia's 35-year-old running machine, knows about the wear and tear on the body from running.
The multiple Olympic gold medalist at 10,000 metres worked his way up gradually to the classic distance of the marathon (41.195 km) and, hours before the Toronto race, lowered his own world record for the men's race to 2:03:59 for his third consecutive Berlin Marathon win.
Gebrselassie has set 26 world records in his lifetime, "and seeing him break the record today on television was an inspiration just before we went out," Seboka said.
Toronto Waterfront race director Alan Brookes had hoped to see the men's course record fall for the second consecutive year. Organizers invested about $35,000 of the $350,000 budget in rabbits who kept the race at a record pace through the first half. However, hard winds slowed the field coming up the Leslie Street spit in the second half of the race. No one came close to the 2:09:30 notched last year when John Kelai of Kenya ran the fastest marathon ever run in Canada.
This year Kelai finished fifth, while fellow Kenyan Kenneth Mungara won in 2:11:09. "I tried to go for a 2:09, but I didn't make it," Mungara said.
"At around 30 kilometres the wind was so strong we couldn't keep the time," said second-place finisher Peter Kiprotich of Kenya, who clocked 2:11:02, holding a lead twice but losing touch on the final sprint to Nathan Phillips Square. Ethiopia's Amersisa Ketema was third in 2:11:51.
The top Canadian finishers were Suzanne Evans of New Westminster, B.C., ninth among the women in 2:44:22, her first sub-2:45 run, and Dylan Wykes of Kingston, Ont., who placed 11th among the men at 2:16:20.
Wykes said his goal is to get to next year's world championship marathon in Berlin.
"It would be my next big step ... If I am selected, I'd stay away from marathons for the next year and get back to 10 km and half marathons."
September 29, 2008
TORONTO -- Mulu Seboka didn't listen to the advice from the master of the marathon, Haile Gebrselassie, but both wound up champions and record-setters on the same day.
The 22-year-old Ethiopian woman set a course record of 2 hours 29 minutes 5 seconds, smashing the previous best for the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon yesterday morning in a romp across the shores of Lake Ontario. Her time was more than four minutes better than the mark set last year by fellow Ethiopian Asha Gigi, this year's third-place finisher. Olena Shurkhno of Ukraine finished second in the women's race.
"Haile always watches us train in Addis Ababa and he tells me don't practise a lot," said Seboka, who puts in a phenomenal load of roadwork at 280 kilometres a week. Each of her five training days in a week starts with 40 km in the morning, then she runs for another hour in the afternoon.
"He's a father figure to us. He told me to reduce the work level."
Print Edition - Section Front
Enlarge Image
More Stories
Bosh expands his horizons
Brewers wild about first playoff trip in 26 years
Winning the West no easy task
Canadian fans will be able to watch the entire playoffs this year
Gathering momentum, Montreal rolls to second lopsided win in a row
Seboka smashes record in win
Go to the section
But Seboka thrives on the high volume. She never has run any distance but the marathon, following her sister into the sport. She said it's the way of women's sport in Ethiopia to take up after a family member. The Olympic 5,000- and 10,000-metre gold medalist, Tirunesh Dibaba, 23, followed a sister, who had followed an aunt in distance running.
Dubbed the "baby-faced destroyer," Dibaba's Olympic prowess has paid of for her with a promotion to the rank of superintendent on her prison police club. She actually outranks the legendary Gebrselassie, who is a major with another police unit.
The winner of the Mumbai Marathon in India earlier this year, Seboka said she runs only two or three competitive races in a season, but the daily workload is the equivalent of more than a marathon.
Her course record and personal best time yesterday was the highlight of the Toronto race. She won by almost a minute over Shurkhno's 2:30:12. Seboka, from the town of Sululta, near Addis Ababa, figures she has more left in her, aiming to take her time down to the 2:22 or 2:23 range by the year's end. She said she came to Toronto because she heard about a flat, fast course where she could post her best time.
Gebrselassie, Ethiopia's 35-year-old running machine, knows about the wear and tear on the body from running.
The multiple Olympic gold medalist at 10,000 metres worked his way up gradually to the classic distance of the marathon (41.195 km) and, hours before the Toronto race, lowered his own world record for the men's race to 2:03:59 for his third consecutive Berlin Marathon win.
Gebrselassie has set 26 world records in his lifetime, "and seeing him break the record today on television was an inspiration just before we went out," Seboka said.
Toronto Waterfront race director Alan Brookes had hoped to see the men's course record fall for the second consecutive year. Organizers invested about $35,000 of the $350,000 budget in rabbits who kept the race at a record pace through the first half. However, hard winds slowed the field coming up the Leslie Street spit in the second half of the race. No one came close to the 2:09:30 notched last year when John Kelai of Kenya ran the fastest marathon ever run in Canada.
This year Kelai finished fifth, while fellow Kenyan Kenneth Mungara won in 2:11:09. "I tried to go for a 2:09, but I didn't make it," Mungara said.
"At around 30 kilometres the wind was so strong we couldn't keep the time," said second-place finisher Peter Kiprotich of Kenya, who clocked 2:11:02, holding a lead twice but losing touch on the final sprint to Nathan Phillips Square. Ethiopia's Amersisa Ketema was third in 2:11:51.
The top Canadian finishers were Suzanne Evans of New Westminster, B.C., ninth among the women in 2:44:22, her first sub-2:45 run, and Dylan Wykes of Kingston, Ont., who placed 11th among the men at 2:16:20.
Wykes said his goal is to get to next year's world championship marathon in Berlin.
"It would be my next big step ... If I am selected, I'd stay away from marathons for the next year and get back to 10 km and half marathons."
Ethiopia blames Islamist group for weekend blast
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopian police on Monday blamed an Islamist rebel group for a weekend explosion that killed four people and wounded 22 others in the country's eastern region.
The police chief of the Somali province in eastern Ethiopian, where the incident occurred, said a suspect had confessed to being a member of the Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya operating in the region.
"We are in the process of hunting down two other suspects identified by the individual in charge of the blast who is already under our custody," Yusuf Mahmoud Mussai told AFP.
"He has confessed that he is a member of al-Ittihad al-Islamiya."
Al-Ittihad al-Islamiya was formed in 1984 in northern Somalia which borders Ethiopia's restive eastern region, where another rebel group -- also formed the in same year -- operates.
The government has also repeatedly blamed the Islamist group for earlier attacks in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Somali province has been hit by a series of attacks attributed to separatist rebels in recent years.
Last year, the army launched an offensive against the Ogaden Nation Liberation Front after they attacked a Chinese-run oil venture and killed 77 people.
The police chief of the Somali province in eastern Ethiopian, where the incident occurred, said a suspect had confessed to being a member of the Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya operating in the region.
"We are in the process of hunting down two other suspects identified by the individual in charge of the blast who is already under our custody," Yusuf Mahmoud Mussai told AFP.
"He has confessed that he is a member of al-Ittihad al-Islamiya."
Al-Ittihad al-Islamiya was formed in 1984 in northern Somalia which borders Ethiopia's restive eastern region, where another rebel group -- also formed the in same year -- operates.
The government has also repeatedly blamed the Islamist group for earlier attacks in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Somali province has been hit by a series of attacks attributed to separatist rebels in recent years.
Last year, the army launched an offensive against the Ogaden Nation Liberation Front after they attacked a Chinese-run oil venture and killed 77 people.
Ethiopian breaks own world marathon mark
Haile Gebrselassie smashed his marathon world record by 27 seconds, winning the Berlin Marathon in a city where he has had so much success. Gebrselassie, 35, of Ethiopia, took advantage of excellent conditions on a flat course to finish in 2hours, 3minutes, 59seconds. Despite an ailing calf, he shattered the mark he set in Berlin last year and became the first man to win this race three times. Gebrselassie thanked the crowd of about 1 million for helping him set his 26th world record. Gebrselassie first ran in Berlin in 2006 and clocked 2:05:56 before breaking the world record last year. In three years, he has improved nearly two minutes on his time. "Berlin is my lucky city," Gebrselassie said.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Zethiopia: The Ethiopian Newspaper to Believe In
Zethiopia: The Ethiopian Newspaper to Believe In
New America Media, Media Profile, Uzo Nnabuihe, Posted: May 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- When Dereje Desta left Ethiopia seven years ago, he hoped the United States would afford him the press freedom he lacked as a journalist in his country. Today as the publisher, editor, marketing manager and reporter for Zethiopia, he does have that freedom, but it has come at a price.
Sitting in the Mocha Hut on 14th street with his coffee in one hand and a muffin in the other, Desta stares at his computer screen waiting to get connected to the coffee shop’s wireless Internet service. As blues music blasts in the background, he talks about his life as a one-man production show. He says he has a newfound respect for the news industry. Since he launched Zethiopia six years ago, he has had to become a jack of all trades: he is not just focused solely on the stories, but also on the production, marketing and visual appearance of the paper.
Zethiopia publisher Dereje Desta speaks before congressional
staffers at a NAM briefing on reaching ethnic audiences.
Once again he stares at his computer screen and frowns; he still can’t get connected to the Internet. Even though he now has the freedom to write the stories he cares about, he finds a lot of difficulties in running the newspaper on his own. Desta says too many Ethiopians and Africans, who have migrated to the United States due to political unrest and economic reasons, say being a journalist does not fit in with the American dream because it is not profitable.
“It’s very, very hard to convince people; it’s hard to convince yourself.”
Unfortunately, because it has been hard to convince people of the merits and importance of journalism, it has been hard for Desta to get investors and business partners. Zethiopia is free, so he depends on advertisements to fund the everyday running of the paper. Desta says because he focuses more on the stories, the business side of running the paper suffers.
“Sometimes I’m busy with the stories and not too bothered with the business side, and advertisers are mad at me because they feel I don’t do my job.”
Unlike other Ethiopian newspapers, Zethiopia caters to the community and not advertisers, according to its publisher. The paper is filled with stories about life and the economic climate in Ethiopia and the issues that the Ethiopian community in America faces. Readers appreciate it.
Tigi Abebe, a cashier at an Ethiopian-owned dollar store on U Street, says she likes Zethiopia and reads it occasionally.
“I like how they write about everything -- about love, comedy, Ethiopian culture and life in America and Ethiopia.”
Desta says his main concern right now is getting the visibility and attention that will attract investors and bring in more revenue for the paper. He puts the paper’s circulation at 10,000 a month; he says it is available in most Ethiopian stores, restaurants and travel agencies. The paper is supposed to be in circulation and easily accessible to anyone interested in reading it, yet there are some Ethiopians who are unaware of the paper’s existence.
Bekele Hemancho, an Ethiopian immigrant and Maryland resident, has never heard of or seen Zethiopia.
“Zethiopia? Is it like a newspaper with many advertisements? I had never known about it. Thank you for telling me, I will look for it.”
Hemancho later said he searched for the paper in more than four Ethiopian stores and restaurants, but could not find it. At two of the Ethiopian restaurants on U Street, neither the servers nor the manager of the restaurants had heard of or seen the paper either.
This is why Desta is focused on building a name for Zethiopia. He says that since his paper is the only bilingual paper serving the Ethiopian community -- the paper is published in English and Amharic -- it is important to expand its circulation.
However, expanding the circulation is only the beginning. Desta wants to build a media institution that will better serve the Ethiopian community.
“I’m not done yet; I’m not even started. I’m still trying to convince people to start believing. That’s my goal, but in order to do that you have to start somewhere.”
For Desta, this job goes beyond reporting stories, but helps him keep in touch with his community. It goes beyond being part of a profession and extends to using the profession as an avenue to achieve objectives. Zethiopia, he says, is a way for Ethiopians to take pride in their language, culture and heritage, especially in a different country.
New America Media, Media Profile, Uzo Nnabuihe, Posted: May 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- When Dereje Desta left Ethiopia seven years ago, he hoped the United States would afford him the press freedom he lacked as a journalist in his country. Today as the publisher, editor, marketing manager and reporter for Zethiopia, he does have that freedom, but it has come at a price.
Sitting in the Mocha Hut on 14th street with his coffee in one hand and a muffin in the other, Desta stares at his computer screen waiting to get connected to the coffee shop’s wireless Internet service. As blues music blasts in the background, he talks about his life as a one-man production show. He says he has a newfound respect for the news industry. Since he launched Zethiopia six years ago, he has had to become a jack of all trades: he is not just focused solely on the stories, but also on the production, marketing and visual appearance of the paper.
Zethiopia publisher Dereje Desta speaks before congressional
staffers at a NAM briefing on reaching ethnic audiences.
Once again he stares at his computer screen and frowns; he still can’t get connected to the Internet. Even though he now has the freedom to write the stories he cares about, he finds a lot of difficulties in running the newspaper on his own. Desta says too many Ethiopians and Africans, who have migrated to the United States due to political unrest and economic reasons, say being a journalist does not fit in with the American dream because it is not profitable.
“It’s very, very hard to convince people; it’s hard to convince yourself.”
Unfortunately, because it has been hard to convince people of the merits and importance of journalism, it has been hard for Desta to get investors and business partners. Zethiopia is free, so he depends on advertisements to fund the everyday running of the paper. Desta says because he focuses more on the stories, the business side of running the paper suffers.
“Sometimes I’m busy with the stories and not too bothered with the business side, and advertisers are mad at me because they feel I don’t do my job.”
Unlike other Ethiopian newspapers, Zethiopia caters to the community and not advertisers, according to its publisher. The paper is filled with stories about life and the economic climate in Ethiopia and the issues that the Ethiopian community in America faces. Readers appreciate it.
Tigi Abebe, a cashier at an Ethiopian-owned dollar store on U Street, says she likes Zethiopia and reads it occasionally.
“I like how they write about everything -- about love, comedy, Ethiopian culture and life in America and Ethiopia.”
Desta says his main concern right now is getting the visibility and attention that will attract investors and bring in more revenue for the paper. He puts the paper’s circulation at 10,000 a month; he says it is available in most Ethiopian stores, restaurants and travel agencies. The paper is supposed to be in circulation and easily accessible to anyone interested in reading it, yet there are some Ethiopians who are unaware of the paper’s existence.
Bekele Hemancho, an Ethiopian immigrant and Maryland resident, has never heard of or seen Zethiopia.
“Zethiopia? Is it like a newspaper with many advertisements? I had never known about it. Thank you for telling me, I will look for it.”
Hemancho later said he searched for the paper in more than four Ethiopian stores and restaurants, but could not find it. At two of the Ethiopian restaurants on U Street, neither the servers nor the manager of the restaurants had heard of or seen the paper either.
This is why Desta is focused on building a name for Zethiopia. He says that since his paper is the only bilingual paper serving the Ethiopian community -- the paper is published in English and Amharic -- it is important to expand its circulation.
However, expanding the circulation is only the beginning. Desta wants to build a media institution that will better serve the Ethiopian community.
“I’m not done yet; I’m not even started. I’m still trying to convince people to start believing. That’s my goal, but in order to do that you have to start somewhere.”
For Desta, this job goes beyond reporting stories, but helps him keep in touch with his community. It goes beyond being part of a profession and extends to using the profession as an avenue to achieve objectives. Zethiopia, he says, is a way for Ethiopians to take pride in their language, culture and heritage, especially in a different country.
Hope for Children US - Event in Washington, DC
Please Join Us For
"A Night in Ethiopia"
To Support Hope for Children's
Youth Learning Center
Friday, September 26, 7 PM
The Ethiopian Embassy, 3506 International Drive, NW, Washington, DC
Hosted by Carol Rhees, Bonnie Harkness, Freda and Gary Temple,
Ruthann Bates, Catie Dupont
Please bring your friends and family!
RSVP carhees@aol.com / 301.229.9591
For more information, go to www.hopeforchildrenus.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We hope that you can join us on September 26 for a fun-filled and informative evening. If you are unable to attend but wish to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be made payable to Hope for Children US and should be mailed to 5801 Searl Terrace, Bethesda, MD 20816. You can also donate on-line at our website, www.hopeforchildrenus.org.
Parking: Parking in the evening is available in any of the reserved Embassy spots along International Drive. There is also a parking garage on Van Ness where you turn onto International Drive.
We hope to see you on the 26th!
"A Night in Ethiopia"
To Support Hope for Children's
Youth Learning Center
Friday, September 26, 7 PM
The Ethiopian Embassy, 3506 International Drive, NW, Washington, DC
Hosted by Carol Rhees, Bonnie Harkness, Freda and Gary Temple,
Ruthann Bates, Catie Dupont
Please bring your friends and family!
RSVP carhees@aol.com / 301.229.9591
For more information, go to www.hopeforchildrenus.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We hope that you can join us on September 26 for a fun-filled and informative evening. If you are unable to attend but wish to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be made payable to Hope for Children US and should be mailed to 5801 Searl Terrace, Bethesda, MD 20816. You can also donate on-line at our website, www.hopeforchildrenus.org.
Parking: Parking in the evening is available in any of the reserved Embassy spots along International Drive. There is also a parking garage on Van Ness where you turn onto International Drive.
We hope to see you on the 26th!
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