U.S president Barak Obama is coming to Africa next week, on the continent where his father was born, for his first trip as president to Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Reuter’s Ross Calvin asks what Obama hopes to accomplish on the trip. Here is the start of the article.
Africa has not been high on Obama’s foreign policy agenda in his first six months in office as he wrestles with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea. As an African-American whose father was born in Kenya, Obama was anxious not to be seen as exaggerating the importance of Africa in U.S. foreign policy.
“He has not yet put his stamp on Africa. His visit to Ghana will be the start,” said Whitney Schneidman, a former Africa policy adviser to Obama during his presidential campaign.Read the rest here.

Head of the Dessie Diocese, Aba Gebre Silassie was arrested on charges of ‘inciting violence’ that caused the death of three people in the town last week, according to Addis Neger.
Police in Dessie town have shot and killed two young people who were among the crowd demonstrating to demand authorization to rebuild St. Arsema church, five kms away from the town. Another elderly woman reportedly fell off from a cliff.
Around ten thousand Orthodox Christian followers have been walking to the mayor’s office when the police started firing.Several other people were hurt in the violence.

The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is set to hold an emergency meeting Tuesday, Addis Neger reported.
The Synod is expected to look at recent actions taken by the Patriarch, Abune Pauols such as ‘disbanding the recently formed executive committee, suspending the bishop the Addis Ababa Dioceses and other unlawful hiring and dismissal of church leaders’.
The Synod would judge whether the actions of the Patriarch were within the rules or not.
Chair of the Executive Committee, Abune Timoties was said to have written letter to the Federal Police asking special protection to the session.
In the last Holy Synod session from May14 upto 21, a landmark resolution affecting the administration of the Church endowment was passed. It was decided that Abune Paulos was to hand over administrative power to the committee made up of seven bishops. But the committee was disbanded by the Patriarch weeks later.The decision, apparently without consultation with local churches, sparked doubt about the patriarch’s leadership.

Reporters and editors of three Amharic newspapers were brought to court today in connection with their coverage of the Ginbot 7 trial.
Awra AmabTimes, Ethio-channel and Mesenazeriya have been implicated on charges of disclosing names of the prosecutor’s witnesses who testified against the Ginbot Seven suspects on Monday. Prosecutors say disclosing the witnesses’ names would put their lives in danger.
Awara Amab Times and Mesanzeriya violated an order by publishing the witness’s names on their Tuesday issues, according the prospector.
Ethio-Channel also did the same on its Wednesday’s issue.
While Awra Amba Time’s editor and reporter Elyas Gebru, Mesanazerya’s editor Alemayehu Anbese were present, the reporter of the latter paper Fuad Jafar failed to show up at the court.
Ethio-Channel’s editor Biruk Mekonen and reporter Yonas Woldesenbet answered questions forwarded by the judge.
As the reporter for Mesanazeriya failed to show up this morning, all the journalists were told to come on Tuesday.
Around 40 people acused of plotting to topple the government are facing charges.

The eyes of the fashion world will be focused on the Germany’s capital as the fashion week kicked off yesterday.
The event which runs Wednesday through Friday gives young designers a better chance to grab attention with their collections.
“Germany’s Next Top model” winner Sara Nuru is in Berlin for the fashion week. The 19-year-old girl from Ethiopia was recently featured in the German issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. She has a series of lucrative contracts with top fashion brands worth € 200,000
Sara cat walked at the Fashion week wearing Gregor Clemens’s design which won her admiration.She was praised for her brown faced look and performance. Editor-in-chef the German issue VOGUE.COM, Doris Huber wrote that Sara looked young and romantic and she had super catwalk performance.

Sara in arrival at the Rome Hotel in Berlin

Vogue
Vogue German

Described as an ‘Ethiopian Obama’ and a brilliant speaker and organizer, Birtukan Mideksa has become a symbol of democracy in her own country, compared with figures like Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi.” (Independent: 3 Feb 2009), writes journalist Daniel Howden. Birtukan the first woman leader of a major political party in Ethiopia, a former judge, a mother of a four year-old-daughter, a care giver of a 74 year-old mother, a woman of peace and justice that espoused non-violence and peaceful struggles has been placed in solitary confinement for more than 6 months and locked up in the notorious Kaliti prison.

As Newsweek Jonathan Tepperman reported, her “apparent crime is organizing a democratic challenge to the increasingly iron-fisted rule of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.”
As Birtukan Mideksa, a symbol of democracy and peaceful struggle, is taking on heavy burdens and psychological tortures, it is our moral duty and responsibility to speak out against injustice.
Therefore, to complement and re-enforce existing efforts, the Free Birtukan Mideksa and Other Political Prisoners Task Force has been established. The Free Birtukan Mideksa task Force is a grassroots organization of individuals who are deeply concerned and alarmed by the unjust and barbaric arrest of Ms Birtukan Mideksa by regime of Meles Zenawi. The organization has committed to work collectively for securing the unconditional release of Bertukan and other prisoners of conscious in Ethiopia.
Free Birtuakn Mideksa

The popular Ethiopian singer Teddy Afro has appeared before Court of Cassation this morning to hear a decision on an appeal filed by the prosecutor protesting the reduction of his prison terms from six to two years.
But Teddy left the courtroom without hearing a final word and his case was adjourned for July 16, 2009.The presiding judge said the document was presented to them only today and they need extra days to examine.
The singer who was convicted on charges of hit and run incident began serving a six-year prison term on December 5, 2008 but the term was later cut to two years.
Prosecutors filed an appeal saying the review resulting in the sentence imposed by the judge was inappropriate and the two-year term was too lenient for the offense.
If the two year term decision is upended, Teddy is expected to leave the Kaliti jail on September 2009.

Ethiopian police have shot and killed two people who were helping to build a church at a site which is also claimed by Muslims, officials say. Violence broke out when police tried to stop the construction in Dessie, 250km (155 miles) north-east of Addis Ababa. The police say they were responding to an attack on them by the Christians, but campaign groups say the police ambushed the workers.
The population of Dessie is about two-thirds Christian, one-third Muslim.
Read the full story at the BBC.

A letter from Abune Samuel in response to his suspension.

A letter from Abune Paulos stating the issue of Abune Samuel’s suspension.

Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Paulos denies making any statement that the Holy Ark of Covenant would be unveiled to the public.
At a press conference that he gave at his office this morning, Abune Palous said that the statement disseminated by the Italian News Agency was wrong and he hasn’t said anything of that sort.
“The Holy Ark of covenant is placed in a very respected and secluded place. And I’ve never been taught to carry it with my bag and go to the European market,” said the Patriarch.
The Italian News Agency quoted the Ethiopian Patriarch as saying that the Ark will be placed on display in a museum in the city of Axum.Other reports have that Patriarch would be taking the Ark abroad for display.

But speaking this morning to a local and international journalists, the Patriarch said “those who have made this statement and those who have welcomed such kind of false statements without verifying, well it is their choice, it is their own rights. But this isn’t what I’ve said. And what I’ve said was when I was asked whether it exits in Ethiopia, and I said yes. I confirmed that. Because I’m supported by the Holy Scriptures itself, by the history of the Church, by the tradition of the Church. The Ark isn’t not only the respected object but also a holy one. It has never been unveiled. It has never been allowed to touch it, or get nearer to it.”
Abune Paulos said an even replica of the Ark of Covenant which is found in around 50,000 churches of Ethiopia isn’t allowed to be seen.
‘It is only being carried and get nearer by the people who have been ordained and consecrated. Perhaps the might have been a barrier of language.”
The Patriarch refused to answer questions about the recent suspension of two high ranking church officials, saying there is nothing to say at the moment.
‘Ark fo the covenant’ about to be unveiled?
photo by Anteneh Aklilu