Worancha ወራንቻ

US President Barack Obama made history this week by becoming the first sitting president to visit Ethiopia and to deliver a speech before the African Union.

Obama's plan to visit Ethiopia was rebuked by human right advocates who argued that it would award undue praise to the Ethiopian government, which has pursued a crackdown on local media workers resulting in dozens of detentions and multi-year prison sentences, including the jailing of six members of the Global Voices community. The ruling party also secured 100% of parliamentary seats in the May 2015 elections, leaving Ethiopians suspicious that authorities had interfered with electoral systems.

The tone of the disappointment and anger began to ease after the release of several bloggers and journalists prior to the arrival of President Obama.

President Barack Obama and Ethiopia Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn hold a press conference at the National Palace
Barack Obama and PM Hailemariam Desalegn hold a press conference at …

By APF


US President Barack Obama's visit to Ethiopia, which saw him speak out against democratic restrictions, was positive but Washington must maintain pressure on the government, an Ethiopian opposition figure said Wednesday.



"I was not in favour of his coming, but (the visit) exposed Ethiopia and its government," said Merera Gudina, the vice-president of the opposition Medrek party, hailing the media and NGO interest generated by Obama's remarks.



"I think the cause of democracy benefited from this," Gudina said.



"But we have to wait for the follow-up. If the US really means business, they have a lot of leverage with the Ethiopian government. But the US needs Ethiopia on the war on terror. It's a major ally in the Horn of Africa," he said, adding that he feared Obama's comments were "only for public relations."



Obama was in Ethiopia on Monday and Tuesday, making the first-ever visit to the country by a US president.



On Tuesday…

Caroline White
Thursday, 30 July 2015


A planned caesarean section birth is ‘safest’ for breech delivery, but the absolute risks of vaginal delivery are small, reveals an analysis* of the available published evidence in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
The best way to deal with breech babies is the subject of ongoing debate, as C-section is not without risk. The researchers therefore pooled the data from 27 relevant studies, involving just short of 259,000 women, to find out the absolute and relative risks of death and complications associated with planned vaginal breech delivery up to seven days after the birth.
The analysis suggests that the overall perinatal mortality in the planned vaginal delivery and planned caesarean section groups for a term breech baby were 253 (0.3%) and 79 (0.05%), respectively.
In other words, the absolute risks of perinatal mortality in planned vaginal and planned caesarean deliveries were a…

The 5th Annual Good Food Awards Ceremony took place last night in San Francisco, honoring coffee roasters alongside craft producers in categories such as beer, cheese, spirits, oils and preserves. Sixteen winning single-origin coffees from 16 U.S. roasteries were deemed award-worthy out of a pool of 24 finalists. All but two coffees, both from Panama, came from either Ethiopia or Kenya.
The awards program has become one of the most influential in the coffee world, giving winners a chance to market the GFA seal and trumpet their coffees as the best of the best, both in terms of cup quality and sustainable and responsible practices. As its influence has grown and the growing program has gotten more competitive, so too has it taken some criticisms. (See our companion piece with GFA coffee awards committee chair Jen Apodaca to discuss how the program operates and what changes we might see moving forward.)
Without further ado, here are the 2015 Good Food Award Winning Coffee…

AllAfrica.com
Ethiopia has been named to be the World’s Best Tourism Destination for 2015. It was given the award by the the European Council on Tourism and Trade, who praised Ethiopia’s outstanding natural beauty, dramatic landscapes and ancient culture. Thirty-one …

Ethiopia has been named to be the World's Best Tourism Destination for 2015. It was given the award by the the European Council on Tourism and Trade, who praised Ethiopia's outstanding natural beauty, dramatic landscapes and ancient culture. Thirty-one countries were considered for the illustrious award this year, with Ethiopia coming top of the pile. Ethiopia has nine UNESCO World Heritage sites, which were heralded by the commission and the aim is to boost tourist revenues to USD three billion this year - in 2013 revenues from tourism were at USD two billion. But instead of beach holidays and safaris, Ethiopia is promoting its imperial past, its natural beauty and its cultural heritage, one of which is Sidama's New year, Fitche-Cambalala, writes Henok Reta. Ethiopia has long been known for its cultural diversity. Words such as multi-lingual, multi-cultural and a typical heterogeneous society have been used by many to express these massive contrasts.  However, this time, th…

Fiche Chambalaalla 2008 celebration DireTube Video by Awramba Times

የሲዳማ ተወላጅ የሆኑት ዶክተር ኣንበሴ ተፈራ በቴልኣቪቪ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የመጀመሪያው ኢትዮ_እስራኤላዊ ሲኒዬር ሌክቸሬር ሆኑ ።

የወራንቻ ኢንፎርሜሽን ኔትዎርክ በእስራኤል ኣገር የሚታተመውን ዘ ታይምስ ኦፍ እስራኤን ጠቅሶ እንደዘጋበው፤ ዶክተር ኣንበሴ የኢትዮጵያ ተወላጆ የሆነ ሰው በእስራኤል ዩንቪርስቲዎች ታሪክ የsenior lectureship ቦታ ሲያገኝ የመጀመሪያው ናቸው። ዝርዝሩ እንደምከተለው ቀርቧል፦




Teferra’s a soft-spoken, modest academic in his early fifties, quick to laugh and with a talent for languages. He immigrated to Israel in 1990 after completing his master’s degree in linguistics in Addis Ababa and has taught Ethiopian languages in various capacities in Israel since 1993. He earned the rank of senior lecturer, the equivalent of associate professor in the US, in June. “This is one kind of advancement for Ethiopians” in Israel, he said in an interview with The Times of Israel, in his office overlooking the northeast corner of the campus in Ramat Aviv. “It’s really a great achievement for Ethiopian-Israelis.” He called it a “first step” for the integration of the community in Israeli society. His appointment came during a…

China Civil Engineering Corporation (CCECC) sealed a USD 246 million deal with the Industrial Corporation on July 1, 2015, for the construction of Hawassa Industrial Park, according to Addis Fortune. The project focuses on garment manufacturing and agro-industry constructions and it will be completed within nine months. MH Engineers is a consultant to the project. The first phase of the construction includes 35 factory sheds and 19 buildings which will be used as exhibition halls, food courts, dormitories and other purposes. The first phase of construction will cover 100 hectare, where as extra 200 hectare of land will be added for the second phase. Currently, there are four industrial zones in Ethiopia, three foreign, one government owned. Eastern at Dukem, Lebu and Modjo are the private industrial parks. Bole Lemi Industrial Zone is the only government owned Industrial Park in Ethiopia.

Source: Addis Fortune

DENVER  July 9, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marley Coffee (OTCQB:JAMN), the sustainably grown, ethically farmed and artisan-roasted premium coffee company, today announced the launch of its new My Cup series, a small batch, single origin, limited release specialty coffee available exclusively on the company's online store as part of its recurring subscription or one-time product purchase. The first My Cup batch will be available in whole bean format in 10-ounce bags, hand-labeled and hand-numbered before being shipped with love from the company's corporate headquarters in Denver, CO. The first batch in the series, Congo Kivu, is a top-grade bean sourced from the Eastern Congo chosen for the complex flavor notes and unique story behind the coffee from this exceptional growing region. Future My Cup series will be sourced from renowned coffee regions around the world to highlight diverse offerings and create positive change in coffee regions globally. Subscribers to the My Cup serie…

Eight Ethiopian journalists have been released after more than a year in prison. They’d been accused of attempting to destabilize the state. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) tweeted the news:The first three were released on Wednesday. On Thursday CPJ said charges against five more journalists had been dropped.“The release of these five journalists is a welcome turn of events in Ethiopia, where the number of journalists in prison has steadily increased in recent years,” said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes in a statement.

 The cybersecurity firm Hacking Team has itself been the victim of a major hack. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PAAlex Hern @alexhern Monday 6 July 2015 12.46 BSTLast modified on Monday 6 July 201515.36 BST Share on FacebookShare on Twitter