Africa shows a willingness to negotiate - COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

Rie Jerichow 16/12/2009 16:20 Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown met with Ethiopia's Prime Minister and African Union climate negotiator Meles Zenawi. On Wednesday Brown said that Zenawi would soon come up with a proposal that could be an important step forward. So he did. Meles Zenawi has announced that he supports 100 billion US dollars annual funds by 2020 from rich countries to help the poor world fight and adapt to climate changes. The EU has estimated that the developing countries will need 150 billion dollars. "On long-term financing, I propose funding for adaptation and mitigation (emissions curbs) should start by 2013, to reach up to 50 billion dollars per annum by 2015 and 100 billion dollars per annum by 2020," he said on behalf of the African group, according to Reuters. "No less than 50 percent should be allocated to adaptation to vulnerable and poor countries and regions such as African and small islands states," Meles Zenawi added. Meles Zenawi hinted that Africa would not insist on public money. In his proposal, funding would be financed by creative financing mechanisms including carbon taxes and sales of emissions rights, Reuters reports. "I know my proposal today will disappoint some Africans. My proposal scales back our expectation with respect to the level of funding in return for more reliable funding," the African Union climate negotiator said. (Photo: Scanpix/AFP) READ MORE Africa shows a willingness to negotiate - COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

“We will not repeat the mistakes committed in the 2005 elections”

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi By Kaleyesus Bekele Prime Minister Meles Zenawi yesterday said that his government would not repeat the mistakes committed in the May 2005 election in the May 2010 elections. At a press conference he gave yesterday at his office, Meles told local reporters that his government was not prepared for the election riots of 2005. “Starting from putting in place a sufficient police force to monitoring the activities of armed groups we were not well prepared to control riots. But the EPRDF is known for one thing - it could make mistakes but it will not repeat them,” Meles said. Asked about the possibilities of forming a coalition government with opposition parties, Meles said such ideas were floated by those who do not know about the country’s election law. He pointed out that the party which wins a majority seat forms a government. “If the EPRDF doesn’t win adequate seats, it will hand over power. It can not work together with opposition parties, which have a completely different objective. What has been done in Kenya and Zimbabwe is they tried to eliminate the ruling party from power though chaos and when they failed they said that they had established a coalition government. They said so after many lost their lives. This doesn’t work here,” he said. Read More...

Joke of the day

A salesman was demonstrating unbreakable combs in a department store. He was impressing the people who stopped by to look by putting the comb through all sorts of torture and stress. Finally to impress even the skeptics in the crowd, he bent the comb completely in half, and it snapped with a loud crack. Without missing a beat, he bravely held up both halves of the 'unbreakable' comb for everyone to see and said, "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what an unbreakable comb looks like on the inside."

Joke of the day

A biology teacher wished to demonstrate to his students the harmful effects of alcohol on living organisms. For his experiment, he showed them a beaker with pond water in which there was a thriving civilization of worms. When he added some alcohol into the beaker the worms doubled-up and died. "Now," he said, "what do you learn from this?" An eager student gave his answer. "Well the answer is obvious," he said "if you drink alcohol, you'll never have worms."

J'Accuse!

By Alemayehu G/Mariam No alternative in the opposition," they whispered anonymously. What a disgusting phrase to use in justifying support for a ruthless dictatorship? That is apparently the scuttlebutt on Embassy Row in Addis Abeba. Reuters' Barry Malone reported last week, "Most Western governments want Meles to continue because there is no alternative in the opposition. As long as the elections are semi-democratic, they'll probably stay quiet, keep giving aid, hope for liberalisation of the economy and leave full democracy for later." Is this the ultimate proof of the triumph of Western moral relativism, hypocrisy and skullduggery in Ethiopia and Africa? Is this the new 21st Century Western paradigm of moral capitulation and appeasement of evil? Is the West going to a moral hellhole in a hand basket?...Read more

Joke of the day

Two farmers were discussing politics and the first one says: "I believe in a share and share alike policy. One where we are all equal." "Well" replied the other farmer "I'm not sure about that. What you mean is that if you have two horses you'd give me one?" "Of course" says the first. The second farmer continued: "and if you had two cars, you'd give me one of them too?" "Absolutely" "So" says the second farmer, "if you had two pigs then you'd give me one of them?" "Ah, now hang on a minute" says the first, "you know I've got two pigs!"

Joke of the day

My husband, Phil, and I had stopped by my father's house on the way to a friend's funeral. During the visit, my husband spoke about the man who had died, saying, "You know, I had a feeling I should have called him last week, but I didn't. The next time I have that feeling, I'm going to do it." Later Dad saw us to the door. As we said our goodbyes, he muttered to my husband, "And don't call me."

African Desert Rift Confirmed As New Ocean In The Making

African Desert Rift Confirmed As New Ocean In The Making Scientists from several countries have confirmed that a 35-mile-long rift in the desert in Ethiopia will eventually become a new ocean, according to LiveScience . Researchers discovered the gigantic crack in the desert in 2005 . At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart, but the claim was controversial. A new study, published in the latest issue of Geophysical Research Letters , suggests the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world's oceans, and the rift is indeed likely the beginning of a new sea...

Ethiopia opposition says nearly 450 members jailed

* Parties say arrests are politically motivated * One party says seven members murdered in a year * Government says it will investigate names By Barry Malone ADDIS ABABA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Ethiopian opposition parties say nearly 450 of their members have been jailed to stop them running as candidates in national elections in May next year. Documents given to Reuters by four opposition parties listed the prisoners' names, the dates on which they were arrested and the jails in which they were being held. One party, the All Ethiopia Unity Organisation (AEUO), has recorded seven murders of members over the last 12 months that it says were politically motivated. "These jailings are to stop our members running in elections," Gizachew Shiferaw, deputy leader of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party, told Reuters. "It has become a strategy for the ruling party. Ethiopia is a one-party state." Most analysts say the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) will easily win the 2010 elections -- but opposition parties say that is because government harassment will stop their members contesting. The authorities strongly deny the claims and say only criminals have been arrested. "Nobody has been imprisoned or killed for political activity, to my knowledge," Bereket Simon, the Ethiopian government's head of information, told Reuters, adding that the authorities would further investigate the documented names. "Our preliminary investigation indicates that these people are engaged in real crime," he said. "We can't release criminals because they are opposition members." NO CHANCE OF WINNING Bereket said the opposition was trying to discredit the electoral process because they realised they had no chance of winning in 2010. This week, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and three opposition parties agreed a set of rules for the elections. Police and soldiers shot dead about 200 protesters after the opposition accused the government of rigging elections in 2005. Along with the AEUO and the UDJ, the other two parties who gave Reuters lists of detainees were the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) and the Oromo Peoples' Congress, who have been refused permission to form an alliance. Most of those listed are ethnic Oromos who, despite being Ethiopia's largest group, have not held power in modern times. Meles comes from the Tigryan ethnic group, who make up only 6 percent of the population but dominate the political elite. Another three parties told Reuters members were regularly arrested and held briefly to scare them off registering for the polls. Those parties have not yet begun documenting the cases. Photographs seen by Reuters show vandalised buildings in small towns outside the capital Addis Ababa that the opposition says are their regional offices. Ethiopia has never had a peaceful transition of power. Meles took over in 1991 after a rebel group led by him and others overthrew a communist regime. (For related analysis, click on [ID:L1641132] For a factbox on the Ethiopian opposition, [ID:nLT93901]) (Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Alemayehu G. Mariam: Famine and the Noisome Beast in Ethiopia

Alemayehu G. Mariam: Famine and the Noisome Beast in Ethiopia

Posted using ShareThis It is hard to talk about Ethiopia these days in non-apocalyptic terms. Millions of Ethiopians are facing their old enemy again for the third time in nearly forty years. The Black Horseman of famine is stalking that ancient land. A year ago, Meles Zenawi's regime denied there was any famine. Only "minor problems" of spot shortages of food which will "be soon brought under control," it said dismissively. The regime boldly predicted a 7-10 percent increase in the annual harvest over 2007. Simon Mechale, head of the country's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency, proudly declared: "Ethiopia will soon fully ensure its food security." For several years, the regime has been touting its Productive Safety Net Programme would result in ending the "cycle of dependence on food aid" by bridging production deficits and protecting household and community assets. Famine and chronic food shortages were officially ostracized from Ethiopia. Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/famine-and-the-noisome-be_b_339467.html