South Africa’s Smith wins first gold for Africa at Paris 2024 Olympic Games
PARIS (Reuters)-Tatjana Smith took South Africa’s first gold of the Paris Olympics on Monday and added the 100 metres breaststroke title to the 200 metres she won at Tokyo 2021 under her maiden name of Schoenmaker. China’s world champion Tang Qianting took the silver medal and Ireland’s Mona McSharry looked stunned, tears flowing, after an extraordinary three-way battle for bronze. That was 0.26 clear of Tang and made up for securing only silver in the event in Tokyo. The winning time was slower than the 1:05.00 Smith had clocked in the heats. She will also be a favourite for the breaststroke double by defending her 200 title to secure a place in the record books as her country’s most decorated Olympian, equalling Chad Le Clos’s four.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 30, 2024 07:01 UTC
US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas fondly remembered as she lay in state at Houston city hall
President Joe Biden also was scheduled to come to Houston Monday evening to pay his respects to Jackson Lee, according to the White House. Her body will lie in state in Houston’s city hall rotunda for 10 hours. Before being elected to Congress, Jackson Lee served on Houston’s city council from 1990 to 1994. She was only the second person to be granted the honor of lying in state in Houston’s city hall rotunda. Bobbie D. Nickerson, 71, a suburban Houston resident, said Monday’s crowd at city hall for Jackson Lee shows “how much she was loved and cared for and respected.”
Source:Ethiopian News
July 30, 2024 06:43 UTC
Airlines Suspend Flights To Lebanon Amid Fear Of Escalation Between Israel, Hezbollah
Beirut: Several airlines announced on Monday the suspension of their flights to Lebanon, while some Western countries urged their citizens to leave as soon as possible amid fears of the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. The French airlines, Air France, Transavia, and Royal Jordanian Airlines also suspended their flights to Beirut on Monday and Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported. Turkish Airlines canceled Sunday night flights, while Aegean Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines nixed their Monday flights to Beirut. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines, announced on Sunday that it had postponed the return of some flights to Beirut from Sunday evening to Monday morning as well as the take-off of some of its flights. In addition, the US embassy in Beirut called on its citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 30, 2024 04:10 UTC
At least 19 killed in boat accident in Ethiopia’s war-torn Amhara region
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — At least 19 people died in a boat accident in Ethiopia’s war-torn region of Amhara, according to the Ethiopian Press Agency. The incident happened Saturday as a group of 26 was traveling to a funeral on a homemade wooden vessel on the Tekeze River, near Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea. Efforts are underway to retrieve the victims’ bodies, with only two recovered so far, according to the Ethiopian Press Agency. The Tekeze is a gateway for illegal migrants and civilians escaping conflict in Amhara and the neighboring region of Tigray. An ongoing conflict in Amhara, pitting Ethiopian federal forces against an Amhara nationalist group known as FANO, has escalated the displacement of civilians.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 30, 2024 01:56 UTC
Exploring Pakistan-Ethiopia cooperative ties
While appreciating the Addis Ababa’s choice of formalizing the ambassadorial relations with Pakistan, and the government of Pakistan accepted the need for boosting multidimensional cooperative ties between Pakistan and African nations. The major turn in the bilateral ties occurred in 1973 with the formal opening of the Pakistan’s Embassy in Addis Ababa under Islamabad’s broader framework of Engage Africa Policy. However, Addis Ababa’s launching of formal ambassadorial services in Islamabad started facilitating the two-sided governments in exploring new platforms for trading collaborations. This step started leaving positive impacts on the shared interests of trade, tourism, and pleasant societal contacts between Islamabad and Ethiopia. This pattern of multidimensional cooperative bilateralism contains substantial potential for convincing two-sided leadership to work on certain strategic extents.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 30, 2024 01:44 UTC
Dori Media Group Opens First Offices in India
Dori Media Group (DMG), the studio behind such global hits as Losing Alice, Lalola, The New Black, In Treatment and Power Couple, has opened its first sales office in India, it was announced today by Nadav Palti, CEO & President of Dori Media Group. Dori’s new India office joins the company’s other global outposts, which include Israel, Spain, Switzerland and Argentina. “We’re thrilled to have someone with Devdatta’s tremendous industry experience joining our team at Dori Media and helping us further expand our global sales reach,” says Palti. So, I am really excited to be joining the team to help the company further grow its presence in India.”Potnis joins Dori Media with experience across multiple sectors of the media industry, including production, finance, marketing and development. Dori Media also recently announced the opening of sales for two of its big new action-drama series, Amia and Indal.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 29, 2024 16:49 UTC
Derna floods: Libyan officials jailed over disaster
Libyan officials jailed over deadly floodsGetty Images Thousands of people were killed in the floodsTwelve Libyan officials have received sentences ranging between nine and 27 years in prison for their role in catastrophic dam collapses that killed more than 4,000 people last September. Entire neighbourhoods in the city of Derna were swept away, and evacuation efforts were botched. The convicted officials were responsible for managing water resources and maintaining the dams. They were charged with crimes including negligence, premeditated murder and wasting public money, Reuters reported. A week after the disaster hit Derna, furious residents burnt down the mayor's home as they demanded answers.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 29, 2024 14:41 UTC
Ethiopia birr: Currency falls 30% amid IMF-friendly policy change
Ethiopian currency falls sharply after big policy changeThe country has been struggling with chronic foreign currency shortages particularly in recent years. The value of Ethiopia's currency has fallen by 30% against the US dollar after the government relaxed currency restrictions, one the country's biggest banks, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, has said. Under the new policy announced by the central bank, the value of the Ethiopian currency - the birr - will be set by the market. Importers were often forced to turn to the parallel market to purchase dollars because of a chronic shortage of foreign currency, meaning that some of the higher costs have already been priced in. But there are fears that the value of the birr might now continue to fall below the rate it was fetching on the parallel market.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 29, 2024 14:34 UTC
Why the Israel-Hezbollah conflict is heating up again
The Gaza war has drawn in Iran-backed militants across the region. While linked to Gaza, the conflict has its own dynamics. Israeli airstrikes have pounded areas where Hezbollah operates in southern Lebanon and struck the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border. Any move by Israel to expand the conflict would be met by “devastation, destruction and displacement” in Israel, Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said in an interview with Al Jazeera in June. A ceasefire there could help bring about a rapid de-escalation of tensions in southern Lebanon.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 29, 2024 13:13 UTC
Ethiopia gets IMF relief after easing forex curbs
"The reform introduces a competitive market-based determination of the exchange rate and addresses a long-standing distortion within the Ethiopian economy," the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) said in a statement. The IMF board on Monday approved a four-year loan programme worth around $3.4 billion to support the reforms, with around $1 billion immediately disbursed. "This a landmark moment for Ethiopia" and the loan is a testament to the country's "strong commitment to transformative reforms", IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement. Analysts had said the IMF was demanding several reforms of Ethiopia's state-controlled economy, including floating the currency, in order to unlock the funding. Among other measures, it said it would allow foreign exchange to be retained by exporters and commercial banks to boost supplies to the private sector, and announced the introduction of non-bank foreign exchange bureaus.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 29, 2024 11:43 UTC
19 killed in boat accident in Ethiopia’s war-torn Amhara region
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — At least 19 people died in a boat accident in Ethiopia’s war-torn region of Amhara, according to the Ethiopian Press Agency. Efforts are underway to retrieve the victims’ bodies, with only two recovered so far, according to the Ethiopian Press Agency. The Tekeze is a gateway for illegal migrants and civilians escaping conflict in Amhara and the neighboring region of Tigray. Boats regularly capsize on the river as smugglers transport illegal migrants to the Gulf of Aden and onwards to Middle East and Europe. An ongoing conflict in Amhara, pitting Ethiopian federal forces against an Amhara nationalist group known as FANO, has escalated the displacement of civilians.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 29, 2024 11:04 UTC
Ethiopian National Bank Governor Speaks About Currency Devaluation
Governor of National Bank of Ethiopia, Mamo Mihretu, during press conference about the announcement of currency devaluation (Photo : PD)borkenaToronto – When there were rumors back in November 2023 that Abiy Ahmed’s Administration was introducing policy to further devalue Ethiopian Currency under pressure from the World Bank and IMF, the Ethiopian government denied that there was no plan to do so. For that reason, the introduction of the currency devaluation is announced as “Macro Economic Policy Implementation.”The devaluation of the Ethiopian currency is effective as of July 28, 2024. Financial and economic analysts seem to see an inevitable major price rise due the devaluation of the Ethiopian currency. It appears that the currency devaluation was a precondition. Mamo Mehretu, Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia, explains ( in Amharic) the government position on the new policy.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 29, 2024 10:53 UTC
Ethiopia Construction Industry Report 2024: Output to Register an AAGR of 8.9% During 2025-2028, Supported by Investments in Infrastructure, Energy, and Mining Sectors
Company LogoDublin, July 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Ethiopia Construction Market Size, Trends, and Forecasts by Sector - Commercial, Industrial, Infrastructure, Energy and Utilities, Institutional and Residential Market Analysis, 2024-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The construction industry in Ethiopia is expected to expand by 8.7% in real terms in 2024, supported by investments in the country's transport, industrial, and electricity projects. In the financial year (FY) 2023-24 (July 2023 to July 2024) Budget, the government allocated ETB203.9 billion ($3.5 billion) as capital expenditure. The analyst expects the Ethiopian construction industry to register an annual average growth of 8.9% from 2025 to 2028, supported by investments in the infrastructure, energy, and mining sectors. ScopeStory continuesHistorical (2019-2023) and forecast (2024-2028) valuations of the construction industry in Ethiopia, featuring details of key growth drivers.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 29, 2024 09:30 UTC
Beirut Flights Cancelled or Delayed Amid Fears of Israeli Attack
Lebanon's Middle East Airlines (MEA) said disruptions to its schedule were related to insurance risks. Beirut airport's flight information board and flight tracking website Flightradar24 show Turkish Airlines also cancelled two flights overnight on Sunday. It has been targeted in the country's civil war, and previous fighting with Israel, including in the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. On Sunday, MEA said it had delayed the departure of some flights set to land in Beirut overnight. Lufthansa has already suspended night-time flights to and from Beirut for July due to "current developments" in the Middle East.
Source:Ethiopian News
July 29, 2024 08:05 UTC