International: Aide says Bush plans 'significant changes', Chavez wins in a landslide , Stars face court action over kiss and more of today's top stories
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Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006 - Ethiopian distance legend Haile Gebrselassie crosses the finish line of the Fukuoka International Marathon at Fukuoka. Gebrselassie has added the Fukuoka International marathon title to his collection, nine weeks after setting the year's best time in Berlin. Photo:/AFP
Somalia’s Islamists deny they met with Ethiopian minister
In an effort to put reconciliation between two foes, Somalia’s Union of Islamic Courts and Ethiopian government, Djibouti put its shoulder to the wheel to put the two sides together in the Djibouti capital Djibouti.
Ethiopian state minister of foreign affairs Tekedda Alemu said , while briefing to the press, that there was ongoing effort on the Ethiopian side to negotiate with the Union of Islamic Courts to soothe the tension between Ethiopia and Islamists.
Islamic Courts chair for foreign affairs has told Shabelle that they did not meet with Ethiopian minister. “We demanded that all Ethiopian forces in Somalia should be withdrawn; only then will talks with Ethiopia be possible”, said Adow.(More...)
Sheikh Alamoudi
THE INDIAN OCEAN NEWSLETTER N°1203 - 02/12/2006
The Saudi- Ethiopian magnate Mohamed Hussein Al Alamoudi has had a 34 metre (112 foot) yacht built to sail on Lake Malaren in Sweden. This Custom Line 112’ worth 13 million euros was ordered from the Swedish company Airboats. It has three double cabins, a guest cabin, saloon with bar and Jacuzzi on the upper deck. Al Amoudi also bought a smaller boat, Al Riva, for his daughter. The yacht will be moored at the landing stage at Alamoudi’s property Hackholmssund castle on the banks of Lake Maalaren. He generally goes there by private jet, landing at the nearby airport of Bromma.
Isayas A fewerki rebuffs Condoleeza Rice
THE INDIAN OCEAN NEWSLETTER N°1203 - 02/12/2006
The deputy secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer, confided to the 49th annual convention of the African Studies Association in San Francisco, held from 16 to 19 November, that Condoleeza Rice had twice telephoned Eritrean president Isayas Afewerki and each time his secretary had told her he was too busy to take the call.
Interview with members of THE CITIZENS’CHARTER GROUP
Professor Berhanu Abegaz and Ato Abate Kassa, members of THE CITIZENS’CHARTER GROUP responsible for co-authoring Citizens’ Charter for a Democratic Ethiopia, sat down with the VOA’s Amharic service this week to answer questions concerning the charter. The CITIZENS’CHARTER GROUP is not affiliated with any political party and is comprised of Ethiopians from a variety of ethnic backgrounds 
Read: Citizens’ Charter for a Democratic Ethiopia
Dr. Paulos Milkias on the Somali issue
Dr. Paulos Milkias is a professor of Political Science at Marianopolis College/Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
Ruth Negga, a star without a label
The half Irish, half Ethiopian Ruth Negga, 23, burst onto the cinema scene as an emotional and promising talent during the 2006 Berlin Film Festival
Ruth Negga, an Irishwoman, is part of this promising generation of European big screen stars. Living in Dublin, Negga, a mixed-race girl with dark, curly hair, took a BA in Acting Studies from Trinity College. She has already garnered critical praise for her work in classical, as well as contemporary, drama.
Talking about the theatre, she says, ‘they pay you like shit and it requires total commitment, mentally, physically and emotionally.’ Born in Addis Ababa, to an Irish mother and an Ethiopian father who she lost in a car accident when she was just seven, she decided not to spend her whole life empty-handed. (More...)
Today's Top Stories
-Somalis rally against U.S. peacekeeping plan-Aide says Bush plans 'significant changes'
-Chavez wins in a landslide
-Annan reflective as UN term ends
-Stars face court action over kiss
