Ethiopia News Blog

U.S. popularity highest in Africa

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:09 +0000

LAGOS, Nigeria — Uncle Sam has some African fans.

As first lady Laura Bush tours the world's poorest continent, a new report charting global attitudes shows America's image sagging around the globe — but not in Africa.

"The American society is a model of success that is a dream to Ivorian youth," says Mohamed Diarra, a 30-year-old in Ivory Coast, where some 88 percent of the population holds a favorable view of the United States — the highest in the world according to Pew Global Attitudes report released this week.

1st Lady Targets Malaria in Africa Tour

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:09 +0000

Fighting malaria as well as AIDS is on First lady Laura

Bush's agenda as she tours Africa. While the former doesn't

grab the same headlines, it far outstrips AIDS as the

Growing in the Caribbean, Inspiring Artists Over the Centuries

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:09 +0000

If plants and politics seem to be entwined lately, what with genetically modified food, the payment of coffee-bean pickers, deforestation and drugs, a stroll through ?Paradise in Print? at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is a reminder that plants have long played a major role in the human story. This is particularly true in the Caribbean, where, as an exhibition handout puts it, ?plants grow at such a quick pace that the gardener?s most useful tool can be a machete.?

A selection of watercolors, folio editions, rare books and prints from the 18th through the mid-20th century ? organized by Jane Dorfman, Marie Long and Stephen Sinon of the Botanical Garden ? illuminates a number of historical events through tales about plants.

Consider ?The Breadfruit Story,? a display of late-18th- and early-19th-century French and English engravings of a breadfruit specimen, a wired shipping case and a cross section of a ship that illustrate how the plant could be transported. It turns out that these all relate to William Bligh and the infamous 1789 mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty. The plan had been to export the breadfruit plant from Tahiti so that a cheap crop could be cultivated in the West Indies to sustain plantation slaves. (The plan was given up after the mutiny in Tahiti.)

Man faces a mental evaluation

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:09 +0000

PROVO — The mental health of a man who bought high-powered guns illegally and told his roommates he wanted to kill police officers and U.S. soldiers will be reviewed against his wishes.

Kiddus Yohannes

During an appearance Thursday in 4th District Court, prosecutor Donna Kelly asked Judge Gary Stott to order a mental-competency review for Kiddus Chane Yohannes, 20, who was arrested June 8 after police learned he had purchased guns illegally and was threatening violent attacks if given a chance.

New trial urged in Lockerbie case

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:09 +0000

A former Libyan intelligence agent convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, "may have suffered a miscarriage of justice" and should be granted a new appeal, a Scottish judicial panel ruled Thursday.

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was found guilty of murder in the December 1988 bombing, which killed 270 people, including 189 Americans. He was convicted in 2001 and has been serving a life sentence in a prison near Glasgow, Scotland. At the original trial, three Scottish judges convicted al-Megrahi of planting an unaccompanied suitcase containing a bomb-laden radio-cassette player aboard the flight. His co-defendant, Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted.

The independent Scottish Criminal Cases Review considered the reliability of testimony from one witness and doubts relating to clothes al-Megrahi allegedly bought in Malta on Dec. 7, 1988, that were inside a suitcase containing the bomb. The panel said there was insufficient evidence to conclude the purchase took place.

Plenty of beach options closeby

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:09 +0000

I WALK ON the Pajaro Dunes beach as pelicans glide silently overhead. Delighted, I spy sand dollars. These aren't the broken, bleached white ones. These are brown and fuzzy. They are alive. I methodically reach down to "save" each sand dollar and heave it back into the blue abyss. Such is the life of a beachcomber.

Fifteen-year-old Sara Kaiser has been returning to Pajaro Dunes since she was nine. Her Moraga family rents a condo from friends every summer. In addition to excellent birding opportunities and day trips to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, the nearby Elkhorn Slough (elkhornslough.org) offers kayak and water-based touring. And if you like affordably priced seafood, a visit to Phil's Fish Market on Moss Landing is in order. Bring your own container and order the cioppino to go.

"It's very secluded," notes Kaiser. "The scenery is gorgeous. We always watch the sunset and you get to see pelicans."

Senior Living June 28-July 3

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:09 +0000

Research Group. The Lee Genealogical Research Support Group at Lee Senior Center will meet at 1 p.m., 5722 Lee Highway. Guest speaker Diane Gatchell will present a slide show on the iconography and types of cemeteries, monuments and memorials dedicated to veterans. No fee; newcomers welcome. Call to register, 703-228-0555.

State Tour. Langston-Brown Senior Centers All Around America series continues with a video tour and discussion about the state of Illinois, at 11 a.m., 2121 N. Culpeper St., Arlington. No fee; newcomers welcome. Call to register, 703-228-5321.

Walking Club. The Walking Club of Arlington for seniors will walk in Kenilworth Garden, Washington, D.C., 9:30 a.m. Cost is $3; newcomers welcome. Group leaves from Culpepper Garden Senior Center, 4435 N. Pershing Drive, 703-228-4403.

Sicko leaves Canadian feeling ill

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:09 +0000

Starbucks, Ethiopia Reach Coffee Deal

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:54:09 +0000

Starbucks Corp. and the Ethiopian government said last week they will work together to promote three of the African nation’s prized specialty coffees under a deal that supports the country’s bid to win trademarks it believes would benefit farmers.

The world’s largest coffeehouse chain and Ethiopia’s intellectual property office said their licensing, distribution and marketing agreement acknowledges the country’s ownership of three coffee names — Yirgacheffe, Harar and Sidamo — regardless of whether they are trademarked.

The deal will not reap Ethiopia any royalty payments, officials said.

5 Dead in Angolan Plane Crash

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:29:50 +0000

An Angolan Airlines plane crashed on landing at an airport in northern Angola on Thursday, killing five people on the same day the European Union said it was blacklisting the airline due to safety concerns.

The Boeing 737 plane crashed and broke in half when it landed at an airport in M'banza Congo, a town about 180 miles north of the capital, Luanda, national airports chief Celso Rosas said.

The airline, known by its Portuguese acronym TAAG, said in a statement that 79 passengers had been on board when the accident occurred at 1:40 p.m.

In the Neighborhood

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:29:50 +0000

CALHOUN COUNTYHealth dept: Water samples show no gasoline

A majority of water samples taken from wells surrounding Logan' Gas & Deli in Bedford Township show no evidence of gasoline contamination, county health department officials said.

Lucy fossil approved for U.S. tour

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:29:50 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) A fossil tour doesn't have to mean an aging rock band's reunion concerts. The State Department gave final approval Wednesday for one of the world's most famous fossils - the 3.2 million-year-old Lucy skeleton unearthed in Ethiopia in 1974 - to tour the U.S. on exhibit for the first time.

The Smithsonian has objected to the idea, however, because museum experts don't think the fragile remains should travel. So Lucy won't be stopping at the National Museum of Natural History, but in other U.S. museums instead.

Smithsonian scientists feel that certain artifacts, such as Lucy, are too valuable for the stresses of travel and should remain in their homes, according to National Natural History Museum spokesman Randall Kremer.

Lucy's trip to Houston

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:29:50 +0000

The Smithsonian says she should stay home. The Houston Museum of Natural Science says she should come visit. Earlier this week, the State Department issued the final decision: Lucy, the famous 3.2-million-year-old Ethiopian fossil, is coming to Houston for her first international exhibition.

Now that everybody else has weighed in, I can't help but wonder what Lucy must think of her impending journey. (I know, she's a sack of bones. She doesn't think much of anything. But try to play along.)

Before Houston called, Lucy was just a homebody hominid, stuck in a stuffy vault in Ethiopia, with no hope of seeing the world. And while Ethiopia may be an exciting country the cradle of mankind and all that I bet any place gets old after 3 million years.

U.S. still cherished in Africa, where might remains right - World & Nation

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:29:50 +0000

As first lady Laura Bush tours the world's poorest continent, a new report charting global attitudes shows America's image sagging around the globe - but not in Africa, where the Stars and Stripes still symbolize strength and wealth. In fact, America is more popular in several African nations than even in America.

"The American society is a model of success that is a dream to Ivorian youth," says Mohamed Diarra, a 30-year-old in Ivory Coast, where some 88 percent of the population holds a favorable view of the United States - the highest in the world according to Pew Global Attitudes report.

Ivory Coast, Ghana and Kenya hold America in higher regard than the fourth-highest national admirer of America: The United States itself, where about 80 percent of respondents held a favorable view of the country.

Lucy Fossil Approved for US Tour