The power and peril of the middle name

Continue reading the main story

In today's Magazine

• How I gave the Taliban the slip
• The rise of Turkish soap power
• Quiz of the week's news
• The factory that refuses to die

As whistleblower Edward Snowden discovered this week, it pays to have another name to fall back on. Charles (William) Nevin looks at the power of the middle name.

Anyone who has ever wondered about the point, exactly, of a middle name will do well to note the case of the world's currently most famous whistleblower, Edward Joseph Snowden, or, possibly, Edward James Snowden, or Edward J Snowden. It was this confusion, says the Hong Kong government, that led to Snowden leaving the city despite a request from the United States for his arrest.

Whatever is to be made of the Hong Kong government explanation, there's no doubt that it adds a little irony to the already rich mix of leak, flight and debate, since the principal point, exactly, of a middle name is to distinguish bearers of the same first and last names.

Up until comparatively recently, most of the English-speaking world got along without a middle name. George Washington was plain George Washington, for example. The William Pitts, father and son, prime ministers, had to be distinguished by the suffixes, Elder and Younger.

Bertram Wilberforce Wooster (Hugh Laurie), and Jeeves (Stephen Fry)

But the great 19th Century population explosion in industrialised Britain and the rapidly growing United States led to more and more middle names, helped by the usual pursuit of fashion by the aspiring middle classes (in England, the nobility had become accustomed to numbers of names, probably because they were a much smaller group, but possibly because they had more time on their hands to think them up).

The choice of the name itself has become subject to various influences. The mother's family name is popular (although that is more and more often being employed to form a double-barrelled surname, with or without the hyphen). Or it might be a name that has been frequent within either branch of the family, or to honour a favoured kind aunt or jolly uncle, especially, in some circles, if they have an interesting will to make.

Parents of a whimsical turn might also want to commemorate something precious to them. Anyone old enough to remember the beautifully observed and very funny comedy series written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, The Likely Lads, will remember that the full name of one of them, Bob, was, much to his embarrassment, Robert Scarborough Ferris, after the place of his honeymoon conception.

The Likely Lads - Robert Andrew Scarborough Ferris and Terence Daniel Collier

Bertie Wooster's middle name was, you might remember, Wilberforce, in memory of, not the great reformer, but a racehorse which his pater had happily backed. Bearing the names of the 11 members of your dad's football team can be a highly amusing cross to bear, too, particularly if they have a number of foreign players that refuse to roll off the British tongue.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

I got my first name from my father, and I got my middle name from someone who obviously didn't think I'd ever run for president”

Barack Hussein Obama

The middle name has also come to serve another vital purpose: for use if the first name doesn't quite suit its bearer for the above or any other reason. Alex Johnson, for example, doesn't quite have the same distinctive appeal as Boris Johnson. (Similarly but conversely, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was originally named Gideon Oliver Osborne but put George in front when he was 13, cruelly neglecting Oliver Osborne, which has a fine ring to it.)

Actually, Boris, like many another member of the upper classes, has multiple middle names: Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is the full handle. But this is positively terse compared to that of his Conservative colleague, Richard Drax, MP, more properly Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax. To be fair, though, these are mostly surnames, although one of his forebears was Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.

Politicians, for some reason, seem more chary of the parental choice than most, as you can see with Maurice Harold Macmillan, James Harold Wilson, Leonard James Callaghan and several other prime ministers last century, including Arthur Neville Chamberlain. This is not quite so common in the US, where Barack Hussein Obama has said, "I got my first name from my father, and I got my middle name from someone who obviously didn't think I'd ever run for president." His vice-president, Joseph Robinette Biden, would most likely agree.

William Somerset Maugham and Joseph Rudyard Kipling both made sensible choices, as did Adeline Virginia Woolf. George Bernard Shaw hated his first name, but soldiered on. Others have retreated into initials - Clive Staples Lewis, for example, sounds more like a firm of chartered accountants than CS Lewis (who, even more confusingly, was known as Jack). The Kathleen in Joanne Kathleen Rowling is adopted. As for actors, I will give you, merely, Eldred Gregory Peck and Walter Bruce Willis. Walters, I would submit, with apologies for my nominativism, do not die hard.

"Where did I put my middle names?"

Less frequent here than in the US is the first-name/middle-initial combination, as in Harry S Truman or David O Selznick, the producer of Gone With The Wind. Official US records often contain "NMI" for "No Middle Initial" if parents had absent-mindedly or rebelliously failed to provide one, which is why Selznick's stood for O as in zero. (Truman's was only an initial, for both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young). But the last word, or initial, here should go to that hero of The A Team: "First name Mr, middle name 'Period', last name T!"

Finally, if you are of a very whimsical turn and expecting, I would remind you of Harper Seven Beckham, Rain Joan of Arc Phoenix, and Sir Elton Hercules John. Danger, though, as in "danger is my middle name", has already been given to their children by, at least, Mr and Mrs Wills of England and Mr and Mrs James of Australia. And National Middle Name Pride Day is 10 March.

The power and peril of the middle name

Continue reading the main story

In today's Magazine

• How I gave the Taliban the slip
• The rise of Turkish soap power
• Quiz of the week's news
• The factory that refuses to die

As whistleblower Edward Snowden discovered this week, it pays to have another name to fall back on. Charles (William) Nevin looks at the power of the middle name.

Anyone who has ever wondered about the point, exactly, of a middle name will do well to note the case of the world's currently most famous whistleblower, Edward Joseph Snowden, or, possibly, Edward James Snowden, or Edward J Snowden. It was this confusion, says the Hong Kong government, that led to Snowden leaving the city despite a request from the United States for his arrest.

Whatever is to be made of the Hong Kong government explanation, there's no doubt that it adds a little irony to the already rich mix of leak, flight and debate, since the principal point, exactly, of a middle name is to distinguish bearers of the same first and last names.

Up until comparatively recently, most of the English-speaking world got along without a middle name. George Washington was plain George Washington, for example. The William Pitts, father and son, prime ministers, had to be distinguished by the suffixes, Elder and Younger.

Bertram Wilberforce Wooster (Hugh Laurie), and Jeeves (Stephen Fry)

But the great 19th Century population explosion in industrialised Britain and the rapidly growing United States led to more and more middle names, helped by the usual pursuit of fashion by the aspiring middle classes (in England, the nobility had become accustomed to numbers of names, probably because they were a much smaller group, but possibly because they had more time on their hands to think them up).

The choice of the name itself has become subject to various influences. The mother's family name is popular (although that is more and more often being employed to form a double-barrelled surname, with or without the hyphen). Or it might be a name that has been frequent within either branch of the family, or to honour a favoured kind aunt or jolly uncle, especially, in some circles, if they have an interesting will to make.

Parents of a whimsical turn might also want to commemorate something precious to them. Anyone old enough to remember the beautifully observed and very funny comedy series written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, The Likely Lads, will remember that the full name of one of them, Bob, was, much to his embarrassment, Robert Scarborough Ferris, after the place of his honeymoon conception.

The Likely Lads - Robert Andrew Scarborough Ferris and Terence Daniel Collier

Bertie Wooster's middle name was, you might remember, Wilberforce, in memory of, not the great reformer, but a racehorse which his pater had happily backed. Bearing the names of the 11 members of your dad's football team can be a highly amusing cross to bear, too, particularly if they have a number of foreign players that refuse to roll off the British tongue.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

I got my first name from my father, and I got my middle name from someone who obviously didn't think I'd ever run for president”

Barack Hussein Obama

The middle name has also come to serve another vital purpose: for use if the first name doesn't quite suit its bearer for the above or any other reason. Alex Johnson, for example, doesn't quite have the same distinctive appeal as Boris Johnson. (Similarly but conversely, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was originally named Gideon Oliver Osborne but put George in front when he was 13, cruelly neglecting Oliver Osborne, which has a fine ring to it.)

Actually, Boris, like many another member of the upper classes, has multiple middle names: Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is the full handle. But this is positively terse compared to that of his Conservative colleague, Richard Drax, MP, more properly Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax. To be fair, though, these are mostly surnames, although one of his forebears was Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax.

Politicians, for some reason, seem more chary of the parental choice than most, as you can see with Maurice Harold Macmillan, James Harold Wilson, Leonard James Callaghan and several other prime ministers last century, including Arthur Neville Chamberlain. This is not quite so common in the US, where Barack Hussein Obama has said, "I got my first name from my father, and I got my middle name from someone who obviously didn't think I'd ever run for president." His vice-president, Joseph Robinette Biden, would most likely agree.

William Somerset Maugham and Joseph Rudyard Kipling both made sensible choices, as did Adeline Virginia Woolf. George Bernard Shaw hated his first name, but soldiered on. Others have retreated into initials - Clive Staples Lewis, for example, sounds more like a firm of chartered accountants than CS Lewis (who, even more confusingly, was known as Jack). The Kathleen in Joanne Kathleen Rowling is adopted. As for actors, I will give you, merely, Eldred Gregory Peck and Walter Bruce Willis. Walters, I would submit, with apologies for my nominativism, do not die hard.

"Where did I put my middle names?"

Less frequent here than in the US is the first-name/middle-initial combination, as in Harry S Truman or David O Selznick, the producer of Gone With The Wind. Official US records often contain "NMI" for "No Middle Initial" if parents had absent-mindedly or rebelliously failed to provide one, which is why Selznick's stood for O as in zero. (Truman's was only an initial, for both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young). But the last word, or initial, here should go to that hero of The A Team: "First name Mr, middle name 'Period', last name T!"

Finally, if you are of a very whimsical turn and expecting, I would remind you of Harper Seven Beckham, Rain Joan of Arc Phoenix, and Sir Elton Hercules John. Danger, though, as in "danger is my middle name", has already been given to their children by, at least, Mr and Mrs Wills of England and Mr and Mrs James of Australia. And National Middle Name Pride Day is 10 March.

Grass Valley Delivers Ethiopia's First Ever HDTV Experience

Grass Valley announced that Ethiopian government-owned Amhara TV has selected Grass Valley to provide several solutions to build Ethiopia's first HD terrestrial TV broadcast station. Grass Valley solutions will be used to outfit two HD studios and a master control room (MCR). Amhara TV is an important part of the developing media landscape in Ethiopia, and will be available both terrestrially and via the Nilesat free-to-air satellite service.
"This project with Grass Valley holds real importance for Ethiopia because it will offer our 50 million television viewers their first ever HD experience. With this in mind, it was crucial for us to select a partner we could trust and that could offer us the best HD solutions," said Leykun Mekonnen, Vice General Manager and Media Technology Head, Amhara TV. "Grass Valley's reputation precedes it as a provider of high quality, flexible, and cost-efficient solutions which enable broadcasters to give their customers premium services."
Amhara TV selected six HD LDK 3000+ cameras for their flexibility and high picture quality, and a Kayak™ HD video production switcher for its advanced HD capabilities. The master control room will be based around a Grass Valley Maestro™ SD/HD branding and master control system for multichannel control. At the heart of the HD infrastructure will be a Concerto™ Series routing switcher with Prelude router control. A GeckoFlex Signal Processing System will provide the necessary modular platform for signal control, complete with an integrated browser-based control system.
While the majority of Ethiopia's television viewers use standard definition televisions, they will be able to benefit from the oversampling of HD-to-SD down conversion for improved picture quality over SD-originated programming.
"Africa is a key area of growth for Grass Valley and it's exciting to see our solutions being used by customers like Amhara TV to deliver new and better quality services to viewers in the region," said Said Bacho, Regional Vice President EMEA at Grass Valley. "As broadcasters continue to look for ways to maximize efficiencies without compromising on quality, Grass Valley is uniquely positioned to offer its customers turnkey solutions that meet their requirements and offer integrated flexibility so that business models can be successfully built around them."
With the assistance of local partners, Grass Valley is providing Amhara TV full systems integration service, training, project management, and ongoing consultation to ensure a successful implementation.

The Nile belongs to Ethiopia too-Maaza Mengiste

The Nile belongs to Ethiopia too-Maaza Mengiste

Maaza Mengiste

 The increasing tensions with Egypt over the proposed dam reveal how fundamental the river is to both nations' identity
Tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia have grown at an alarming rate since Addis Ababa announced its plans to construct the Grand Renaissance dam across part of the Nile. The project will divert the flow of the river and give Ethiopia greater access.
Egypt claims the dam could lower the river's level in a country that is mainly desert, and reduce cultivated farmland. President Mohamed Morsi has called the river "God's gift to Egypt", and the country's politicians claim the reduced water flow could prove catastrophic. An Ethiopian government spokesman, Getachew Reda, says none of Egypt's worries are scientifically based, and that "some of them border on … fortune-telling".
As the debate continues, I am reminded of an encounter between my mother and an Egyptian man one afternoon in New York. My mother was visiting from Addis Ababa and we decided to go to a pizzeria. One customer, an Egyptian, recognised us as Ethiopians. After brief introductions, he made a passing comment about the age-old conflict between our countries over the Nile. My mother calmly stated there was no conflict: the Nile was ours. The man was not amused. What followed degenerated into verbal sparring that ricocheted between "historic right", ancient civilisations and colonial-era treaties. Finally, my mother, frustrated, claimed full ownership of the river – and he did the same. It wouldn't have ended if the pizza hadn't arrived.

The Nile, at 6,700km, is the longest river in the world. It begins in Ethiopia and ends in Egypt. It moves counter to what one might expect, flowing upwards on the map. This, as much as anything, reflects the river's mythological dimensions. It defies logic, its identity is as much a product of poetry as politics. Homer, in The Odyssey, called the body of water "Aegyptus, the heaven-fed river". The name alone gave Egypt symbolic rights, and bestowed religious qualities upon the water. Despite the fact that 85% of the Nile originates in Ethiopia, we still associate the river with Cleopatra and King Tut, with pyramids and the sphinx, with sophisticated belief systems and advanced scientific knowledge. The Nile is a metaphor for Egypt. It is a geographic location as much as it is shorthand for one of the most innovative moments in world history. In popular imagination, it is as far removed from poverty as one can get. It is the opposite of devastation and privation.
Perhaps what my mother and the Egyptian man were arguing for was an exclusive cultural identity that was synonymous with the Nile's rich past. Perhaps he didn't realise he was fighting for something he already had, or maybe he was trying to defend what he knew wasn't entirely his. Despite being the source for much of the Nile's water, Ethiopia uses very little of it. By asserting Ethiopia's ownership of the river in such a sweeping and unequivocal manner, maybe my mother was trying her best to redefine what the country had become to westerners: the barren land of begging children and dying cattle. This was not the life she had known – nor had it been mine. Maybe she wasn't decrying a historic wrong as much as trying to co-opt it. Both of them were too mired in pride and nationalism to find a way towards common ground.
Tourists like to speak of Ethiopia as a country of contrasts, as a place where time has stood still. They point to quaint hillside villages and farmers ploughing with oxen, they wave at children in ragged clothes, and photograph women bent beneath bundles of firewood. Somehow this represents a kind of existence free of the hassles of modernity. It feels old, in the way of our oldest stories, and somehow more authentic. But tucked behind those sentimentalised visions of an unfettered life are harsh realities. For as much progress as Ethiopia has made economically in recent years, an overwhelming majority of the population, particularly in the rural areas, still has no access to electricity.
Ethiopia is vulnerable to drought and climate change. It has unpredictable distribution of water. The country's "timelessness" has something to do with the lack of access to basic necessities. There is nothing romantic about this. The dam would generate electricity. It could produce surplus energy for export to neighbouring countries. And controlling water flow in the Nile could bring improved irrigation and water distribution.
Last week Morsi promised to "defend each drop of Nile water with our blood". The language emerging from the two nations evokes epic poetry; the clash of gods in the guise of men.
On a recent trip to Ethiopia, I travelled to Bahir Dar, a picturesque city close to the Blue Nile. I was eager to see this great river, to come as close to its point of origin as I could. As I crossed a bridge, a companion pointed eagerly to a group of young boys playing in a trickling stream of water. "There," he said, almost shouting. "That's our Nile!"
I looked out of the window, surprised. Not by the boys, but by the ordinariness of it all. There was nothing grand or mythic in this snapshot of daily life, but it contained everything that was most important about the debate. Regardless of our poetic allusions and historic references, when we talk about the Nile, we are talking about water: a fundamental right for all people, regardless of geography.
source:- guardian.co.uk

World Cup - South Africa get reprieve as Ethiopia admit ineligible player

Ethiopia officials have admitted fielding an ineligible player in a World Cup qualifier and are resigned to being stripped of three points, potentially handing South Africa and Botswana a 2014 lifeline.

• 

"We have evaluated the situation and we came across the issue that we made a mistake," Ethiopian Football Federation president Sahilu Gebremariam told Reuters.

Football's world governing body FIFA announced on Sunday it was investigating allegations that Ethiopia had fielded an ineligible player in a qualifier against Botswana on June 8.
The announcement came hours after a 2-1 win over South Africa in Addis Ababa secured them top place in Group A and a place in the final phase of the African qualifiers for the 2014 finals in Brazil.
That win also appeared to have ended the hopes of 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa and Botswana reaching next year's finals as Ethiopia had opened up what was an unassailable five-point lead in the group.
However, a place in the final round of qualifying will once again be up for grabs from Group A if, as expected, Ethiopia are docked three points for including a suspended player in their line-up on June 8.
If the points are redistributed, Ethiopia will have 10 points, South Africa will be on eight and Botswana on seven with each team having one match left to play in Round 2.
Ethiopia should not have fielded Minyahile Beyene in their 2-1 win in Botswana on June 8 as the midfielder was suspended for the match after picking up two yellow cards in previous qualifiers.
He was yellow carded in the 1-1 draw with South Africa last June, and then again in a 1-0 win over Botswana in March.
World Cup rules dictate that once a player has received two cautions in the qualifying campaign, he has an automatic one-match ban.
"We accepted the allegation, that this was inappropriate. There won't be an appeal from us being lodged," added Gebremariam.
'We are not frustrated at all since we are still leading the group. The only thing to do now is to concentrate for the next game. I am confident that we will do our best."
In their last Round 2 matches on September 6, Ethiopia play away against Central African Republic, while South Africa host Botswana.
Africa has seen an unprecedented number of disciplinary actions from FIFA against countries in the 2014 qualifying campaign.
Burkina Faso and Gabon lost points for fielding Cameroon-born players who were ineligible to play for their national teams and Sudan lost three points for using a suspended player.
There also cases pending against Equatorial Guinea, for using imported players from Brazil and Colombia in their recent World Cup qualifiers, and Togo, who played with an ineligible player when they beat Cameroon earlier this month.

IDF soldiers of Ethiopian descent are more likely to land in military prison or desert

At a Knesset session, officials outline efforts to better support the struggling soldiers, who are five times more likely to be jailed, go AWOL, or desert.

Ethiopian soldiers in the Israeli military. Photo by Doron Golan

The percentage of Israeli soldiers from the Ethiopian community that are in military prison, absent without leave or have deserted is five times that of the general population, according to a military officer who spoke at the Knesset on Tuesday in a session dedicated to the issue. 

The Israel Defense Forces classifies soldiers who were jailed, went AWOL or deserted as having “failed in service,” and they estimate that 10 percent of those soldiers are Ethiopian, compared to 2 percent in the general population. 

The State Control Committee's session in the Knesset focused on integrating and advancing members the Ethiopian community in the wake of a report from the State Comptroller. The report addressed not only integration of Ethiopian soldiers in the IDF, but also activities of the educational system, the Immigrant Absorption Ministry, integration into civil service and more.

There are approximately 6,300 members of the Ethiopian community now serving in the IDF, with about 2,000 enlisting every year. They are considered highly motivated for military service and many are placed in combat units – 27 percent compared to 25 percent for all draftees. 

But Ethiopians are also overrepresented at what is considered the lowest level of military service, according to Lt. Col. Amir Vadamni, head of the personnel planning branch for the regular army in the IDF’s personnel directorate, who spoke at the session today. 

“We need to move people to more significant positions,” Vadamni told the committee. There is already “corrective preferential [treatment]” for community members in key positions in the intelligence corps, air force and navy; including “easing criteria so they can place more people in those positions,” he added. 

A 2011 Haaretz report found that a quarter of all Ethiopian soldiers flee at some point during their service – a figure three times higher than in the general population of draftees. The report also revealed that nearly one in eight soldiers who received financial support for their families during service are Ethiopian - double the figure for the entire IDF.

In light of these harsh statistics, the personnel directorate created a new department last year to help integrate Ethiopian soldiers. The department focuses on preparing soldiers for service, preparing their commanders to deal with them more effectively, and finding ways to better integrate the soldiers into Israeli society following service. 

But the IDF still has not succeeded in reducing the numbers of Ethiopian soldiers entering military prison. A fifth of all soldiers in military jails are from the Ethiopian community, said the IDF. Last year there was even a small increase in these figures, which Maj. Gen. Orna Barbivai, head of the IDF’s personnel directorate, called worrying. 

Despite the good will of Ethiopians volunteering for combat units, with special emphasis on the infantry, there is a significant dropout rate later. This dropout rate is higher among the soldiers from the Ethiopian community, mostly in later stages of service after the soldiers have completed basic training, Vadamni told the committee. During basic training and the initial stage of more advanced military training, the soldiers are well cared for, he added. 

In light of these figures, the IDF will provide special preparation for every Ethiopian recruit that ranks low in certain areas during preliminary screenings.  

"We already see a change among those who have received this preparation for the IDF and combat service, and we see the dropout and ‘failed service’ rates have fallen significantly as a result of this preparation,” said Vadamni. “We are expanding this activity so that every soldier who needs it will receive preparation. We also increased quotas for pre-military preparatory programs and today, in practice, there is no limit." 

Ethiopia: It Is Perhaps Time for the Ethiopian Authorities to Send a Delegation...

It is perhaps time for the Ethiopian authorities to send a delegation of wise men and women from their administration to Phnom Pen, Cambodia, in order to get a lesson or two on how to fend off the impending storm from the World Bank's Board of Directors, gossip advises. Very soon - September this year, to be precise - the Board of Directors will meet to review reports by an investigative panel on allegations of the violation of rights, gossip disclosed.
Three members of the panel were in Addis Abeba a few months ago, although not able to visit the locations where the Administration of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn have committed the alleged abuse of rights in indigenous communities, claims gossip. Nonetheless, they have had their share of tension with authorities on the manner in which regional governments are carrying out resettlements. The Administration accused members of the panel of being biased to the extent of being unable to carry out an impartial investigation on these allegations.
One of the regions - from the four where resettlement is taking place - is Gambella Regional State, which is attempting to relocate over 40,000 families through 'villagisation'. Staff at the Ministry of Federal Affairs are relatively pleased with the accomplishments of the program, although multilateral organisations, such as the World Bank (WB), never supported the idea of resettlements, according to gossip. Regardless, the government is determined to pursue it, at the same time denying allegations of human rights abuses.
That was what happened in Cambodia, back in 2009.
Its land management and administration project, financed by the WB and thought to have benefited over one million people situated by a lake, was found to be displacing residents without their consent, failing to pay adequate compensation and functioning in the absence of a dispute settlement mechanism. The country office of the WB was found to be complacent in the act of the Cambodian government, for failing to respond to complaints in good time. The result was a decision by the WB to suspend a little over 23 million dollars in aid for the reform and modernisation of land management, which the government was keen to implement.
Unlike Cambodia, where the complaints were filed by NGOs on behalf of the victims, the investigation ongoing in Ethiopia was provoked, a few months ago, after a large group of people from the regional state travelled into Kenya and filed their complaints from there. The WB has a rule that requires investigations to be conducted on complaints lodged by the alleged victims themselves, as a result of projects it is funding.
The WB is one of the donor countries (the Revolutionary Democrats like to call them development partners) that participates in a program developed as a result of the loss of trust between them following the 2005 electoral debacle. A large part of the 3.5 billion dollars in annual aid to Ethiopia comes in the form of protection of basic services (PBS), which simply implies that donors give as much money as in the past, but with policy tools and instruments to account for each penny; although the accountability component never worked as they had first intended, gossip claims.
Interestingly though, the WB's country office and its officials - who have grown hypersensitive to how the government feels and are determined to restore the relationship severed by Ken Ohashi, the former country director - are subject of the panel's investigation, thus restricted from speaking out, gossip disclosed. They will likely face as much wrath from the board as the government, claims gossip.
The objective that will be difficult for the panel to succeed in is the establishment of a link to the board, between the regional officials executing the resettlement program and those whose salaries are paid through the PBS program, claims gossip. It will be a daunting task, because the issue will be not whether the government has displaced people involuntarily. It will rather be whether the WB's fund was used in any way as part of this situation, claims gossip. If that is the case, the consequences for the Ethiopian government may not stop at withdrawing from the PBS, but could well be far more dire, gossip warns.

Egypt and Ethiopia agree to bridge dam divide

Foreign ministers try to quell tensions over Ethiopia's plans to divert Blue Nile in controversial dam project.

Both foreign ministers said relations between the two countries remain "brotherly" [Dereje Berhanu/Al Jazeera]

Ethiopia and Egypt have agreed to hold further talks on the impact of a huge Ethiopian dam project to quell tensions between the two countries over water-sharing. "We agreed that we will start immediately on consultations at both the technical level... and the political level," Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr told reporters after meeting in Addis Ababa with his Ethiopian counterpart Tedros Adhanom on Tuesday. The countries have been embroiled in a heated dispute after Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile River last month for the construction of the 6,000 megawatt Grand Renaissance Dam. The Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi had said earlier that "all options are open" over construction of the dam because of concerns about the impact on downstream water levels. But Amr and Tedros said relations between the two countries remained "brotherly" and that they would continue engaging on the impact of the dam. Amr said previous statements had been made "in the heat of the moment". 'Swim together'  "Both ministers stressed the need to continue the dialogue and communication with each other," they said in a joint statement. We have two options, either to swim or sink together. I think Ethiopia chooses, and so does Egypt, to swim together. Tedros Adhanom, Ethiopia FM "We have two options, either to swim or sink together. I think Ethiopia chooses, and so does Egypt, to swim together," Tedros said. An international panel has issued a report outlining the dam's impact on water levels. The report has not been made public, but Ethiopia has said the report confirms that the impact on water levels are minimal. Both nations agreed to "ask for further studies to ascertain the effects of the dam, not only the safety of the dam, the environmental effects, but also the effects of the dam on the downstream countries," Amr said, adding that consultations involve Sudan as well as Ethiopia and Egypt. About 86 percent of Nile water flowing to Egypt originates from the Blue Nile out of Ethiopia, and Cairo has said the construction of the dam is a security concern. Ethiopia's parliament ratified a controversial treaty last week ensuring its access to Nile water resources, replacing a colonial-era agreement that granted Egypt and Sudan the majority of water rights. Biggest hydroelectric dam The new deal allows upstream countries to implement irrigation and hydropower projects without first seeking Egypt's approval. Ethiopia is building the $4.2bn Grand Renaissance Dam in order to generate electricity for export to neighbouring countries, including Kenya and Djibouti. The Blue Nile joins the White Nile in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to form the Nile, which then flows through Egypt. Politics over Nile waters are complex, with its basin including 11 countries with the river travelling about 6,695 km from headwaters in Rwanda and Burundi to the Mediterranean, according to the regional Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). Ministers from the 10-nation NBI are due to meet on Thursday in the South Sudanese capital Juba for annual talks "on the status of the Nile cooperation and how to move it forward", according to a statement from the organisation.

Egypt sees Ethiopian dam as risk to water supply

Vital resources … a fisherman on the Nile. Photograph: Kevin Fleming/Corbis

Since long before the Pyramids towered above the rich soil of this riverside town, Egyptians have given thanks to the muddy waters of the Nile. "Plants, animals, humans," said Ibrahim Abdel Aziz, a 45-year-old farmer, "we all come from this river." Trace the Nile about 2,250km upstream and there's a rising colossus that threatens to upset a millennia-old balance. There, in the Ethiopian highlands, one of the world's largest dams is taking shape. For Ethiopia, the dam promises abundant energy and an escape from a seemingly permanent spot in the lowest rungs of the world's human development index. But for Egypt, the consequences could be dire: a nationwide water shortage in as little as two years that causes crop failures, power cuts and instability resonating far beyond even the tumult of the recent past.
For a country facing daily domestic crises in the aftermath of its 2011 revolution, the dam is a foreign threat Egypt can ill afford. And that may be the point. Analysts say Ethiopia is seizing on Egypt's distraction and relative fragility to plunge ahead with plans that have long been on the drawing board but have always been thwarted by Egyptian resistance.
To Egyptians accustomed to thinking of their country as a powerhouse of the Arab world, the idea of bowing to a historically weaker African rival has been a sobering reminder of their nation's diminished clout. It has also been an early test for the year-old government of President Mohamed Morsi – one that critics say he has badly mishandled.
"Now the options are very few," said Talaat Mosallam, a retired major general in Egypt's army. Diplomacy is the first, but Egypt's leverage is "at rock bottom", he said, and if talks fail, Egyptian military commanders may decide that "it is better to die in battle than to die in thirst".
Indeed, the prospect of a water war has become a regular feature of Egyptian newscasts and front pages in recent weeks, ever since Ethiopia announced that it was diverting the river's course immediately after a meeting between Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Morsi in late May.
The announcement, which marked a milestone in the dam's progress, was seen in Egypt as a humiliating slap and an indication that Ethiopia has no intention to negotiate over the dam's construction.
Morsi responded last week by convening an emergency meeting of leaders from across Egypt's political spectrum, a move that backfired wildly when the presidency decided to broadcast the session live on television without telling most of the participants.
Thinking that they were conspiring in secret, the politicians hatched plans to arm Ethiopian rebels, launch a whispering campaign about Egypt's military might and send fighter jets to knock out the dam with one swift shot.
Morsi has not been so explicit, but he warned in a speech last Monday night that "all options are open" in protecting the river, which accounts for 95% of Egypt's water needs. The country, he told a crowd of cheering supporters, is ready to sacrifice blood to ensure that "not one drop" of the Nile is lost.
In an interview with Ethiopian state media last Tuesday, Hailemariam dismissed that as warmongering meant to distract from Egypt's domestic issues.
"I don't think they will take that option unless they go mad," he said. The same day, the Ethiopian foreign ministry said in a statement that the nation "will not even for a second" stop the dam's construction.
The standoff reflects the critical importance of controlling the region's water resources at a time of rapidly rising populations. Egypt and Ethiopia each have more than 80 million people, double the population that existed just 30 years ago. By 2050, the combined population of the two countries is expected to rise by 100 million, even as climate change could reduce the supply of water.
Nonetheless, Ethiopia has said repeatedly that the Grand Renaissance Dam won't cause a problem for Egypt. Ethiopian officials say the dam will be used to generate electricity, not to irrigate fields, meaning that all the water will eventually make its way downstream to Egypt.
Those officials see the dam as a chance to make right a colonial-era wrong that has preserved most of the Nile's water for Egypt while leaving little benefit for upstream countries.
Egypt may be the gift of the Nile, as the Greek historian Herodotus once remarked, but the Nile is not Egypt's alone. Eleven countries share the basin of the world's longest river, which winds through much of east Africa before emptying into the Mediterranean in northern Egypt.
Ethiopia has won the majority of those countries to its side with the promise of electricity exports for a region that desperately needs new sources of energy. It has even offered to sell some of the dam's 6,000 MW to Egypt.
Far from being soothed by Ethiopia's promises, however, Egyptians have become increasingly panicked. And with good reason, according to Mohamed Nasr Allam, a former water minister of Egypt.
Allam said that if Ethiopia goes ahead with its plans to build the dam on the Blue Nile – which accounts for the majority of the Nile's flow after converging with the White Nile in Sudan – Egypt could lose a quarter of its water.
"It will be a disaster for Egypt," Allam said. "Large areas of the country will be simply taken out of production."
Experts see the greatest peril for Egypt when Ethiopia fills the massive reservoir behind its dam, a process that could begin in 2015 and last as long as six years. Even afterwards, however, the creation of the dam will mean that Egypt no longer has direct control over its primary water source, a troubling prospect for a country that receives negligible rainfall and is considered the world's largest oasis.
Allam said Egypt should try to persuade Ethiopia to lower the 168-metre height of the dam, which would mitigate the effect. Ultimately, he said, international powers, including the United States, may be called in to help mediate.
The US state department has said that Egypt and Ethiopia, both American allies, should resolve the dispute through dialogue. But that dialogue would come at a time when Ethiopia's influence in the region appears to be rising and Egypt's is waning.
Hani Raslan, who heads the Nile Basin studies department at Cairo's al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said it is no coincidence that Ethiopia announced plans to massively expand the dam and forge ahead with its construction just weeks after Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in early 2011.
"Ethiopia has aspirations to be a regional power at Egypt's expense," Raslan said. "It is taking advantage of the instability after the revolution, especially now that there's a weak Muslim Brotherhood president with no experience whatsoever who is not in sync with the institutions of the state."
That's a common sentiment on the streets of Egypt, and on the Nile, where fishermen, farmers and boat operators remember the country's pre-revolutionary history with a heavy dose of nostalgia.
"When Mubarak was running the country, we didn't hear about electric outages or fuel shortages. And no one would dare say that they would cut the water of Egypt," said Abdel Arabi, 39, who sat on a tour boat watching sundown's rays glint off the Nile as birds swooped in for the evening's final catch.
For Abdel Aziz, a 45-year-old farmer, Ethiopia's plans mean that his extended family of 28, which supports itself on a 10th-of-a-hectare plot of corn, okra and eggplant fields, may go hungry.
"The water goes down, and it goes up," he said. "But now it may go lower and never come back again."
If it does, he said, there's no question of the outcome: "An even bigger revolution, worse than the last one."

Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan Plan Further Studies on Nile-Dam Impact

 

Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan agreed to conduct further studies on what impact a hydropower dam on the main tributary of the Nile River will have on downstream countries, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said.
Ethiopia also assured Egypt that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia is being built in a way that will address Egypt’s water-security concerns, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom said at a joint press conference with Amr today in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
“We are embarking on a period of mutual cooperation,” Amr said. “We’re looking to the future and I think the future will be very good for both of us.”
Ethiopia is building the $4.3 billion, 6,000-megawatt dam about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Sudanese border. The facility is set to be Africa’s largest hydropower plant when it is completed in 2017. Ethiopia is the source of 86 percent of the water that flows into the Nile, the world’s longest waterway, which Egypt relies on for almost all its water.

Nile Dam Politics: Egypt, Ethiopian Officials Meet

 

The foreign ministers of Egypt and Ethiopia met in Addis Ababa on Monday in hopes of defusing tensions over a huge dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River.
Egypt and Ethiopia began a sharp exchange of words after Ethiopia last month started to divert Nile waters as part of the construction of its massive $4.2 billion hydro-electric project dubbed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Egypt fears the dam will mean a diminished share of the Nile, which provides almost all of the desert nation's water needs.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr arrived in Addis Ababa on Sunday, where he is meeting counterpart Tedros Adhanom.
Dina Mufti, a spokesman for the Ethiopia's foreign ministry, said Ethiopia wants Egypt to understand that the dam is not going to harm Egypt.
But in a possible sign that the talks are not sailing smoothly, the two ministers cancelled a scheduled news conference Monday morning.
"I cannot anticipate the outcome of the meeting . but our wish is that they would understand that the construction of the dam is not going to harm them in any way. We have always sought a win-win cooperation and relationship with Egypt," Dina told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Relations between the nations have quickly grown tense over the last two weeks.
In a televised meeting June 3, Egyptian politicians suggested attacks against Ethiopia to sabotage the dam. A week later, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi warned that "all options are open" to challenge Ethiopia's Nile project.
In response, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn vowed "nothing" and "no one" will stop the dam's construction.
Then, last Thursday, Ethiopia's parliament unanimously ratified a new accord that replaces colonial-era deals that awarded Egypt veto powers over Nile projects.
The tensions are causing international concern. The head of the African Union urged dialogue and cooperation and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon telephoned both Morsi and Hailemariam.
Ethiopia downplays the prospect of military confrontation with Egypt. The president said Egypt would not attack unless its leaders "go mad." Ethiopia insists it "will not bow to pressure" by delaying the construction of the dam.
The Renaissance Dam has been under construction for two years on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region near Sudan.
Currently more than 22 percent complete, the dam is expected to produce 6,000 megawatts, which will make it Africa's largest hydroelectric power plant. The dam is expected to have a reservoir of around 70 billion cubic meters, which is scheduled to start filling next year.

CNN Features Ethiopian Rock Band Jano

 CNN’s Errol Barnett recently interviewed members of the new Ethiopian rock band Jano and their manager, Addis Gessesse, in Ethiopia. The group is scheduled to launch its upcoming tour in the United States at the historic Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C. on July 4th.
“I felt that each generation has its own sound, so I talked to a few people around and I just decided that if I bring the younger generation together, educated young kids, I felt that I can come up with something very unique and different from Africa,” Addis, who talent-spotted the 20 somethings ensemble, told CNN.
Three of the ten-person team were also featured at the band’s group-home in Addis Ababa.
Click here to watch the video at CNN.

World Cup: Fifa probe puts Ethiopia and Tunisia progress in doubt

Ethiopia and Tunisia's progress to the final round of African World Cup qualifying are in doubt as Fifa opened three probes  into player eligibility.

On Sunday, Ethiopia beat South Africa 2-1 in Addis Ababa to seemingly reach the African play-offs.
Tunisia also believed they had gone through but Fifa is investigating a case involving Equatorial Guinea which could affect the Group B standings.
Togo are the third team in question, meaning Group I could also change.
Fifa rules state guilty teams "will be sanctioned by forfeiting the match".

Fifa rules on player ineligibility

Article 55 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code states:

• If a player takes part in an official match despite being ineligible, his team will be sanctioned by forfeiting the match and paying a minimum fine of CHF 6,000

Ethiopia face accusations they fielded an ineligible player in the 2-1 win over Botswana on 8 June in Group A.

According to the team lists published on Fifa's website Minyahil Teshome Beyene received a second yellow card of the group campaign at home to Botswana in March.
This should have theoretically earned a suspension, the midfielder then played Ethiopia's next match - away to the same opponents - in June.
However, the Ethiopian federation has yet to reveal the identity of the ineligible player in question for that fixture.
If the East Africans are found guilty, it would hand a lifeline back to 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa.
For should Ethiopia forfeit the victory against Botswana, then Bafana Bafana would only trail the group leaders by two points going into the final round of matches in September.
South Africa host Botswana in their final Group A qualifier, while Ethiopia travel to face Central African Republic.
Despite the potential setback, the president of the Ethiopian Football Federation, Sehilu Gebremariam, is still confident his side can progress.
"This is shocking news - but the point is that we are still leading the group and we believe that we shall still qualify for the next stage," he told the BBC's Newsday programme.
"We are scrutinizing the situation and we will give information to Fifa and to the public."
He said they would be consulting the coaching staff to get their views on the situation before reacting further.
Football's world governing body is also investigating Togo and Equatorial Guinea for the same reason.
Tunisia's progress is on hold as Equatorial Guinea allegedly fielded an ineligible player in their 4-3 defeat of island nation Cape Verde in March.
Fifa says they recently ruled on that matter and that the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosts have appealed the decision.
The Carthage Eagles drew 1-1 in Equatorial Guinea on Sunday to seemingly book their place in the play-offs, but a technical victory for Cape Verde would change the complexion of Group B.
Should island nation Cape Verde receive the points from a match they originally lost it would lift the islanders up to nine points - just two behind the North Africans.
Tunisia host Cape Verde on the final day of the current qualifying stage.
Group I could also change as Fifa also look into whether Togo used an ineligible player in their 2-0 home win over Cameroon earlier this month.
The Togolese federation has not discussed the identity of their ineligible player - although on the Fifa website's team lists Alaixys Romao also picked up two yellow cards in qualifying before playing in the Lome victory against Cameroon on 9 June.
The Indomitable Lions, who are six-time World Cup qualifiers, now stand to gain the three points should the Togolese be found guilty.
Such a scenario would move Cameroon, who currently trail Group I leaders Libya by two points, a point clear in the table.
The West Africans host Libya in what is both sides' final encounter in September.

Egypt and Ethiopia vow to defuse Blue Nile dam row

Ethiopia says the dam project will not affect countries downstream

Ethiopia and Egypt have agreed to hold further talks to quell tensions over the building of a new dam on the Blue Nile, their foreign ministers say.

Ethiopia's Tedros Adhanom said the two nations have chosen to swim rather than sink together, AFP news agency reports.
He met his Egyptian counterpart Kamel Amr after Egypt opposed Ethiopia's plans for a hydroelectric dam.
Egypt is worried that the dam will reduce the water supply vital for its 84 million people.
Last week, Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi said he did not want war but he would not allow Egypt's water supply to be endangered by the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

“Start Quote

We're looking to the future and I think the future will be very good for both of us”

End Quote Kamel Amr Egypt's foreign minister

Sudan's role

Mr Morsi said he was keeping "all options open".

Previous statements about the dam had been made "in the heat of the moment", Mr Amr said, at a joint press conference with Mr Tedros in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, AFP reports.
"We are embarking on a period of mutual cooperation," Mr Amr is quoted by Bloomberg news agency as saying.
"We're looking to the future and I think the future will be very good for both of us."
In a joint statement, Mr Amr and Mr Tedros said that relations between Egypt and Ethiopia remained "brotherly" and talks to assess the impact of the dam would continue.
"We have two options, either to swim or sink together. I think Ethiopia chooses, and so does Egypt, to swim together," Mr Tedros said, AFP reports.
Mr Amr said Sudan would also be involved in the talks.

"[We agreed to] ask for further studies to ascertain the effects of the dam, not only the safety of the dam, the environmental effects, but also the effects of the dam on the downstream countries," he added, AFP reports.
Ethiopia's parliament ratified a controversial treaty last week to replace colonial-era agreements that gave Egypt and Sudan the biggest share of the Nile's water.
The treaty had earlier been signed by five other Nile-basin countries - Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Burundi.
It is intended to replace the 1929 treaty written by Britain that awarded Egypt veto power over any project involving the Nile by upstream countries.
Ethiopia says the $4.7bn (£3.1bn) dam will eventually provide 6,000 megawatts of power.
Egypt was apparently caught by surprise when Ethiopia started diverting the Blue Nile - a tributary of the Nile - last month.
Addis Ababa says the river will be slightly diverted but will then be able to follow its natural course.
Mr Morsi said Egypt had no objection to projects in Nile basin states "on condition that those projects do not affect or damage Egypt's legal and historical rights".
Earlier this month Egyptian politicians were inadvertently heard on live TV proposing military action over the dam.

Egypt crisis delayed Ethiopia’s approval of Nile water deal, says Bereket Simon [Interview with Al Arabiya]

Al Arabiya
Ethiopia’s Communication Minister Bereket Simon told Al Arabiya on Sunday that his country will resume its plan to build the controversial Renaissance Dam and explained the reasons behind the Ethiopian parliament’s delay in approving the Nile River Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA).
“Ethiopia had to approve the CFA through the parliament two years ago but we saw it was unfair to work on approving it whilst Egypt is in a crisis so we told the leadership that we must wait until a new government is elected,” Bereket said.
He added that since President Mohammed Mursi has been in power for almost a year now, “the time has come for [Ethiopia] to approve of the agreement through the parliament.”
Ethiopia’s parliament on Thursday approved the Nile River CFA, replacing all colonial-era deals that granted Egypt and Sudan the majority of water rights to the Nile, the world’s longest river.
Bereket also referred to previous efforts to hold talks with Egypt about cancelling the colonial-era agreement.
“We’ve previously attempted to negotiate with Egypt to cancel the old agreement and work on making a new ones. It has been like that for 20 or 30 years. The Egyptian party was strict and it refused to confront the new reality,” the minister said.
He added that both downstream nations, Sudan and Egypt, had been invited to attend meetings to discuss new agreements but “when the point of signing new agreements that guarantee equal shares of the Nile reached, both of them refused to sign.”
This is no longer the case with Sudan, however, added Bereket.
Regarding Ethiopia’s insistence to build the Renaissance Dam, Bereket cited increased demand and the urgent need to provide electricity.
“We could no longer wait until the Egyptian government agrees and signs the new agreement,” he said, adding that Ethiopia made all efforts possible to include Egypt in its policy shift.
“Despite Egypt’s stalling and despite the fact that it is not convinced (of the CFA plan), we had contacted it [Egypt] and invited it and tried to convince it of our attempts. This does not mean that Egypt will continue to hold its right of appeal that it possessed as per the old agreement,” Bereket said.

መምህራን በሕፃናት ላይ ግብረሰዶም በመፈጸም ወንጀል ተጠርጥረው ተከሰሱ 

በቦሌ ክፍለ ከተማ ልዩ ቦታው ሩዋንዳ ተብሎ በሚጠራው አካባቢ በሚገኘው ካራክተር ሆልማርክ አካዳሚ በሚባል ትምህርት ቤት ግቢ ውስጥ፣ በሁለት ወንድ ሕፃናት ላይ ግብረሰዶም ፈጽመዋል የተባሉ ስድስት መምህራን ተጠርጥረው ክስ ተመሠረተባቸው ሲል ሪፖርተር ጋዜጣ ዘገበ።
ተጠርጣሪዎቹ የአካዳሚው ዳይሬክተር አቶ ደሳለኝ ኃይለየሱስ፣ የአካዳሚው ሱፐርቫይዘር አቶ የኔዓለም ጌታቸው፣ መምህር ዓለማየሁ ገብሬ፣ መምህር ደበበ ጥሩነህ፣ አቶ መልካሙ ቀለብና አቶ ሳምሶን መኩሪያ ሲሆኑ፣ አካዳሚው ካራክተር ሆልማርክ አካዳሚ አክሲዮን ማኅበርም መከሰሱን የፌዴራል ዓቃቤ ሕግ ለፌዴራል የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ፍርድ ቤት ልደታ ምድብ ለሰባተኛ ወንጀል ችሎት ያቀረበው ክስ ያስረዳል ያለው የሪፖርተር ጋዜጣ ዘገባ ጨምሮም ተጠርጣሪዎቹ የ10 እና የ11 ዓመት ዕድሜ ያላቸውን ሁለት ወንድ ሕፃናትን ከጥቅምት ወር መጀመሪያ 2005 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ በምሳና በዕረፍት ጊዜ ተማሪዎች ከክፍል ሲወጡ፣ ወደ ባዶ ክፍል በመውሰድ በተደጋጋሚ እየተፈራረቁ የግብረሰዶም ድርጊት እንደፈጸሙባቸው ክሱ ያስረዳል፡፡ በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ዳይሬክተሩንና ሱፐርቫይዘሩን ጨምሮ ሌሎቹም መምህራንም በየካቲት ወር ሁለት ቀናት፣ እንዲሁም በሚያዝያ ወር በሕፃናቱ ላይ ድርጊቱን ፈጽመዋል በሚል ተጠርጥረው፣ የሕፃናት ክብር ድፍረት ወንጀል ተካፋይ በመሆን መከሰሳቸውን ክሱ ያብራራል ሲል ዘግቧል።
ካራክተር ሆልማርክ አካዳሚ አክሲዮን ማኅበር በሥሩ ያሉትን ሠራተኞችና ኃላፊዎች በአግባቡ መቆጣጠርና የሕፃናትን ጤንነትና አካልን በአግባቡ መጠበቅ ሲገባው ባለመፈጸሙ፣ በወንጀል ድርጊቱ ተካፋይነት ተጠርጥሮ መከሰሱን ክሱ እንደሚገልጽ ያስታወቀው ጋዜጣው ተጠርጣሪዎቹ ፍርድ ቤት ቀርበው ድርጊቱን አለመፈጸማቸውን በመግለጽ የዋስትና መብታቸው እንዲጠበቅላቸው ቢጠይቁም፣ ድርጊቱ ከባድ መሆኑን በመግለጽ ፍርድ ቤቱ የዋስትና መብታቸውን ውድቅ በማድረግ፣ የዓቃቤ ሕግ ምስክሮችን ለመስማት ለሰኔ 14 ቀን 2005 ዓ.ም. ተለዋጭ ቀጠሮ ሰጥቷል፡፡ ተጠርጣሪዎቹም በማረሚያ ቤት እንዲቆዩ አዟል ሲል ዘገባውን ቋጭቷል።

Safa waiting on FIFA's Ethiopia decision

 The President of the South African Football Association (Safa), Kirsten Nematandani, on Monday told Eyewitness News that they'll wait patiently on FIFA's decision on the Ethiopian Football Association.

The world governing body will investigate the Ethiopian FA for allegedly fielding an ineligible player during a World Cup qualifying match.

In their match against Botswana last week, they allegedly fielded a player who should have sat out with suspension.

On Sunday Ethiopia beat Bafana Bafana 2-1 to end their chances of going to Brazil, but this development could see them back in with a chance.

Nematandani said they'll keep a close eye on proceedings.

“We’ll wait until they finalise the process and if the result is us still being in the race and if it’s not positive then we’ve played the game.”

FIFA also opened disciplinary proceedings against Togo and Equatorial Guinea.

There are a number of options open to Bafana and it’s possible they could be docked the 3 points.
If that were to happen it would leave Ethiopia on 10 points in Group A, Bafana on 8 with one round of fixtures remaining.

Ethiopia: Egypt's Stance On Gerd Is Unacceptable - Ethiopian Officials 

Egypt is abusing the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to resolve its internal political standoff, Bereket Simon, Minister of Government Communication Affairs Office, has said.
Minister of Water and Energy, Alemayehu Tegenu for his part rejected said Egypt's demand for the reduction in the generation capacity of the dam as "unacceptable".
Bereket who is also Director of the Public Coordination National Council for GERD snubbed the stance held by certain Ethiopian opposition parties on the grand project.
Bereket who illustrated the six strategies designed by Egypt to disrupt construction of dam said it is unlikely that Egypt would opt for the option of war.

Ethiopia: Demeke Calls On Ethiopian Diaspora to Strengthen Participation 

Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnin has called on Ethiopian diaspora to strengthen their participation on the ongoing development efforts at home.
He made the call on a recognition program held following the launching of the diaspora policy on Saturday. The over 2.5 million Ethiopian diaspora has a huge potential for development of the nation, he said.
The government has been working to create enabling environment for the diaspora in understanding of their development capacity, Demeke said.
The participation of the diaspora is advancing in investment, job creation and the building of democratic system, he added.
He urged the Ethiopians and Ethiopian origins to strengthen their contribution in mega projects like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, assuring them the construction of the Dam would not be stopped.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Tedros Adhanom for his part stressed the need to reinforce the support of the diaspora to nullify the negative acts of some Egyptian politicians against the Renaissance Dam.
Tedros also said that Ethiopia would continue to work with Egypt to overcome the negative mission of some politicians regarding the Dam.