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ArticleRaising Coffee in Ethiopia, With Help From HarlemFrom a 542-square-foot office above a bustling intersection in Harlem, the Rev. Nicholas S. Richards is building what he hopes will be a 7,000-mile bridge to the eastern highlands of Ethiopia. Rev. Nicholas RichardsThe Abyssinian Fund is working with 700 coffee farmers in Harrar, Ethiopia, like this woman, selling her beans.
It is a bridge more than 200 years in the making.  In that modest two-room office off East 125th Street, the Abyssinian Fund, the only nongovernmental organization in Ethiopia formed by an African-American church, the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, finally has a home. Mr. Richards, 26, an assistant minister at Abyssinian under the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, is the president of the recently formed Aby Fund, as he calls it, an international aid and development arm of the church. It will soon be joining forces with a co-op of 700 coffee farmers in the ancient Ethiopian city of Harrar, with a mission to improve the quality of the farmers’ lives by helping them improve the quality of their coffee beans. A US President with Ethiopian Background? A
tall man who is part white, part East African who is a lawyer from
Illinois ends up becoming the United States of America—I’m talking about
Obama right?Try again, what if I said the person I am talking about is really Abraham Lincoln. Sounds implausible right? Of course we will never know for a fact, but there have always been rumors and hearsay that Abraham Lincoln was part African-American. The story gets even more compelling. According to stories that date back to the 19th century, the father of Abraham Lincoln’s mother—Nancy Hanks—was Ethiopian. Has this been proven definitively? Not yet, but back then, admitting that you have black blood in you would have been a sure career-ender for coach driver let alone an aspiring politician. Of course, it was denied for generations that Thomas Jefferson bore children from a slave he owned, until it was proven eventually that he did just that. East African Leaders Pledge Urgent Military Help for Somalia
Photo: APSupporters of Al-Shabaab shout slogans during a demonstration in the Suqa Holaha neighborhood in Mogadishu, Somalia. The demonstration was organized by Al-Shabaab group which is fighting with the Somali government. The demonstrators were carrying placards written with slogans against African Union peace keeping Force, 5 Jul 2010. A hastily-called summit of East African leaders has ordered the
immediate dispatch of 2,000 additional troops to Somalia to reinforce
the beleaguered African Union peacekeeping mission. The other side of collegeBy Alemayehu Seife-Selassie
The chance to go to college, no matter how far away from home, is seen as a success for many Ethiopian families. But getting to college does not guarantee success in life; in fact it might just do quite the opposite, at least that is what Daniel Worku’s new film “Self Protrait” shows. This filmmaker, known for his previous Chebelew I and Chebelew II feature films, has been chosen as one of the few Africans to have his short film “Hope” premiered in China at the International Short Films Festival a couple of months back. Liya Kebede: star of Africa - The Guardian UKPublished: Jun 12, 2010 by bini
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 Flicking through Liya Kebede's pile of fashion magazine covers passes a calm and perfumed afternoon. In 2002, French Vogue declared May was "All About Liya" month, dedicating a whole issue to the African supermodel after the editor saw her in Tom Ford's Gucci catwalk show. Describing the day they first met, Ford recalls: "She looked me in the eyes, and I was quite literally stunned. Liya projects an aura of goodness and calm that outshines even her extraordinary physical beauty. Later in the day," Ford continues, "when trying to remember what she looked like, I could only remember her eyes." Rahel Tafesse: From Brazil to Norway in Ethiopia When Rahel Tafesse went from the Brazilian Embassy to work as the Norwegian Ambassador’s Secretary she expected to find Norwegians reserved and formal but was surprised to discover that her new colleges were friendly and welcoming – and often laugh out loud at work. When Rahel took up the position as the Ambassador’s Secretary her work profile did not contain surprises as she has years of embassy experience. Even tasks related to the recent visit by the Norwegian Minister of Foreign affairs went smoothly. She has however learnt a few things about Norway, about the Norwegian presence in Ethiopia, and about Norwegians. Electide HumorElectide Humor
By Gubae Gundarta Well. Well. Well. My title may not sound sound or familiar. I am not referring to the whole phrase, though. Wait a minute. Are you gonna google it? Or you think you can look it up in an English dictionary? I’d love to wish you luck but I’m afraid, you are not gonna find it. You know why? It’s technical. Speaking which, you know, there was this friend of mine. We studied together. And you know what? Oops, well, you don’t know but I’m gonna tell you now anyway. Don’t worry, you will know soon. It is really nincompoop of me to ask. Without further ado, then, he would utter a word or something, “What the heck is that?” I’d ask. “It will be hard for you to understand because it is technical.” Then, I’d fall down laughing. And more so when I come to learn that there is nothing that ‘technical’ about it. American Scientists make 'Artificial Life'
The synthetic cell looks identical to the "wild type" Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first synthetic living cell. The researchers constructed a bacterium's "genetic software" and transplanted it into a host cell. The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species "dictated" by the synthetic DNA. The advance, published in Science, has been hailed as a scientific landmark, but critics say there are dangers posed by synthetic organisms. You can now upload Mp3s and Videos on DireTubePublished: May 14, 2010 by bini
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Ethiopian News
Dear DireTube fans, We’ve got some good news for you. Because of the huge demand from fans around the world In a couple of days you’ll be able
to upload your favorite Mp3's and Videos on Diretube.  This new update will bring important features such as video upload for members, support for new video types and audio files, a few new video sources and quite a few improvements for the Article and we are planning to focus on Entertainment News. DireTube is currently ranked the #1 Most Visited Ethiopian Video Site according to the World Alexa Traffic Rank and we want to keep this with all your support During upgrade You might experience some inconsistencies on the video and it will be for just a few hours during the upgrade time and we will appreciate your patience during those upgrade times. Hope the change will bring an easier interface to diretube.com We strongly advise you to upgrade your browser and Flash player to the latest version for security reason plus for a clean enjoyment on diretube and also send us a message here if you in case can't view the videos after upgrade. Thank you very much for all your support and comments. If you have something to say, drop me a comment below this message. Bini N, Founder 30 Ethiopian Artists rock London with spiritual songs - First of its kindPublished: Apr 15, 2010 by bini
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The first in Europe in its Kind
30 Ethiopian Artists rock London with spiritual songs By Tamiru Geda  Ethiopian
Artists performed an impressive and magnificent thanks giving
spiritual songs in London , on Sunday April 11th 2010 .It aimed
,raising money to buy the building of St. Virgin Mary . The artists
are also about to release a new DVD album compiled by high Tec and
Ethiopian Camera men photographers The Spiritual songs and Artistic Event, organized and performed by thirty London based artists, said the first in European soil in its kind being organized by Ethiopian artists. Singer Girma Tefera , the son of the late and famous singer Tefera Kassa is the main coordinator of the show, along with his colleagues . According to Melake Tsion Kommos Aba Girma Kebede, head of St Virgin Mary Church, such fund raising event entitled: “Ynate Lante “ ( yours to you) would be a role model for all Ethiopians , as a brain storming of how to be concerned and get involved in our common problems . “During their training and meeting sessions , we have seen their(the artists ) high quality of respect , harmony and working as team .”Aba Girma added. The Artists, on their behalves said that in order to rehabilitate and rejuvenate their sprit with wisdom that once inhabited by the earthly hustle and bustle of artist life , some of them gather and made proclamation some five months ago, to: first and foremost, to have their (Ethiopian) own Church building for the dwelling place of St. virgin Mary. And give back what they are given” yours to you” as they said and believed that nothing can be accomplished with out God command, the creator of all.” Hence, we are happy, ready and willing to offer our songs(praise) to our creator God with the congregations.” the artists said . According to artist Behailu Neka Tebebe’s opining speech , for many,five months ago thinking and doing such heavenly things was impossible. Behalilu , author of one short spiritual drama and performer on the show ( that dealt about the value of Faith as means of remedy to get ride of from the stressful exiled life among Ethiopian community ) influences several audiences to cry , emotionally . . The comeback story:The revival of Princess Wolete Israel Seyoum’s PalacePublished: Mar 26, 2010 by Helly
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 ADDIS ABABA,
Ethiopia – The 1970s set its mark in Ethiopia’s political history. With a
military government taking power from the long standing ruler of
Ethiopia, Emperor Haileselassie the country has witnessed lots of
killings and serious instability. For Esther Silassie Antohen, the time
strikes personal painful memories as well.Being the grand daughter of Princes Wolete Israel Seyom she has been forced to flee her motherland at a young age. “Six months after, my mother passed away in prison, an escape has been organised for us by a philanthropists via Langano along with my six siblings and four cousins. All of our parents were in prison”, she remembers on how she fled her country at age of 17 via a small airplane, which took her to Kenya then to Europe and finally to America. The Impact of Education on Children's Lives in EthiopiaPublished: Mar 26, 2010 by Helly
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 Constructing schools closer to
children's homes in rural EthiopiaNine-year-old Aster Arba lives in the remote village of Duguna Fango, about 450 kilometers southwest of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Before Concern Worldwide intervened, Aster and her friends had to walk eight kilometers every day back and forth to school. In fact, they walked barefoot in extreme heat and risked being raped, abducted or attacked by wild animals. When I first saw the area, I was humbled by how difficult it was for a young child to travel to school in this extremely hot climate over such long distances. The Chinese are Angry, YouTube is Down! Early this
afternoon East African time the Internet giant Youtube along with others
ceased to function. Because of this sites associations with Google it
can only be inferred that there is a possible Cyber attack in
retaliation for Google's non compliance with Chinese censorship orders. We have evidence of some other websites and servers that have been attacked in the United states. Whether or not these are all part of a larger coordinated effort can only be assumed at this time and can not be confirmed, however, the possibility is real. The Youtube home page seems to have stopped working at the moment. Video links are responding without a problem as of this time. We have reports that Facebook and Twitter are facing the same problem. Musical journey through EthiopiaPublished: Mar 5, 2010 by bini
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Entertainment
 The name Nick Page might not be as well-known as Paul Simon, Damon Albarn or Ry Cooder. But the British music producer, who was best known as one of the main players in world fusion dance band Transglobal Underground from the early 90s, has a similar intrepid spirit when it comes to discovering music from around the world. While Simon went to South Africa to record 1986's Graceland, and Albarn travelled to Mali, with Cooder making world-wide stars of the Cuban players of Buena Vista Social Club, Page went to Ethiopia. Has Khat Officially Become Compulsory On Campus? The
month of January usually finds university campus grounds eerily empty.
It’s a time of the year when first semester exams are just around the
corner. Sometimes referred to as Ye’Genna Maebel (Christmas Storm), this
time of year is feared because the outcome of the exams can decide
whether a student stays in school or has to leave. So there is no time
for conversation, relaxation or socialization; it’s time for all
students to button down and study like there’s no tomorrow to ensure
their survival on campus for another year.Even the campus cafeteria – normally the scene where the hottest campus news and gossip (also known as PD or ‘Personal Data’) is freely dispensed – is unusually empty. The joteni (foosball) and ping-pong tables have fallen silent and the dama (checkers) gurus have also taken leave of their stands. When you do see the occasional student on a campus pathway, it is quite likely that he may be heading back to his dorm with a zurba (roll of khat) hidden under a shirt. There are those students who are normally referred to as sekayochu (those who achieve high grades on their exams), some of whom are thought to rely heavily on khat (a narcotic stimulant) to help keep them awake during long nights of studying. This is especially true for the procrastinators who feel like they need every bit of advantage that the alertness and increased ability to concentrate that are known to be effects of chewing khat, can bestow. But its use on college campuses, goes far beyond just a select group amongst those who achieve the best results on campus.
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