Late last Friday afternoon, the Appeal Court of Cassation at the Federal Supreme Court adjourned the case of Tewodros Kassahun, popularly known as Teddy Afro, to June 11, 2009, for a final verdict.
Teddy was jailed on April 16, 2008, for a charge of killing a homeless boy in a car accident and fleeing the scene. When the verdict was reached he was sentenced to six years in prison and fined 18,000 birr by the Federal High Court 8th Criminal Bench in December, 2008.
The appeal judge, Justice Dagne Melaku, at the Federal Supreme Court announced the court sustained the guilty verdict, but reduced the sentence, adjudicating that the deceased had a role in the accident that cost him his life. Because of this, the court cut the original sentence to two years and the fine to 11,000 birr in February this year.
The decision was based on the finding that the deceased was unconscious due to alcohol consumption and was sleeping in the middle of the road when the accident occurred. Due to a lack of lighting, the court reasoned it would be almost impossible for a driver to spot a person at night.
But Million Assefa, Teddy’s lawyer, opposed the court’s decision and he went to appeal at the Cassation Bench of the Federal Supreme Court.
Teddy has already served almost 13 months in jail and with a probable probation for good behavior he should be free in less than a year. If probation is given it is four months per year in jail, so the singer gets eight months of probation which slashes his stay in jail to six months from now.
However, the length of his imprisonment is dependent on the final verdict.
Teddy Afro entered the Ethiopian music scene in 2001, and has made three albums since and a number of singles. He was well accepted by the audience for his varied style and his powerful lyrics that he wrote himself.
His die-hard fans, however, still refuse to accept he could be guilty, continuing to maintain that he is the victim of a political vendetta because Teddy Afro’s music was identified with the opposition’s cause at the time of the controversial 2005 elections.
Britains oldest mother to be 66
This is Elizabeth Adeney - Britain's oldest mother-to-be. At 66, she is four years older than the previous record holder. Mrs Adeney, who is around eight months pregnant, is believed to have undergone IVF abroad because most British clinics will not treat women over the age of 50. Friends say that the divorcee, a wealthy businesswoman who is still working a five-day week, is in perfect health and looking forward to the birth of what is thought to be her first child. But her pregnancy will reignite the debate over late motherhood and the ability of science to enable women in their 50s and 60s to become mothers. Mrs Adeney will be just short of her 80th birthday when her child becomes a teenager. A friend said she had been desperate to conceive for years. Last year, she travelled to the Ukraine, where a controversial IVF clinic has helped countless women get pregnant using donor eggs and sperm.The friend added: 'She was desperate for a child. She was over the moon when she learned last year that she was pregnant and has been quite open about it - it's not the sort of thing she can hide. 'Elizabeth has had a pretty good pregnancy. She has been very well, considering her age - I'm amazed how she keeps going. 'She does get up a little later in the mornings than she used to and sometimes spends an hour or two at home before going to work but she is still at her business Monday to Friday.'Mrs Adeney, the managing director of a firm in Mildenhall, Suffolk, which produces plastic and textile products, is described by friends as 'very bright and single-minded'. Yesterday, she declined to discuss her condition. More after the break...
The divorcee is expected to give birth by elective Caesarean 'I am a private person and while I appreciate there may be some publicity I will just ignore it,' she said. 'This has been a very personal decision and I do not feel I have to give interviews or talk to anyone in the media about what I have decided to do and where I have done it.' Mrs Adeney is divorced from Robert Adeney, a former chairman of upmarket riding and leather goods firm Swaine Adeney Brigg, which was founded in 1750. Like most older mothers-to-be, she is expected to give birth by elective Caesarean. She has hired a live-in nanny, who will help her to cope after the birth. A room in her £600,000 detached house in Lidgate, a picturesque village a few miles outside Newmarket, has already been converted into a nursery.
The news of Mrs Adeney's pregnancy has led critics to question once more whether IVF should be given to women who are past the age where they could naturally conceive. The NHS will only consider women under the age of 40.
A spokesman for the Church of England said: 'A child is a gift not a right. 'For those who have never received that gift we can well understand their desire to have children but it is always important to think in those circumstances about what is really in the child's best interests.' However, Laurence Shaw, a consultant in reproductive medicine at London Bridge Fertility Centre, said: 'The truth is, anybody might not survive to raise their children. 'Until 100 years ago, our life expectancy was 50 or so, so if you had a baby at 30 you had 20 years with your child. Now life expectancy is 80, so is it not reasonable for someone to go through a process of fitness screening to decide whether they should have a child?'
The news of Mrs Adeney's pregnancy has led critics to question once more whether IVF should be given to women who are past the age where they could naturally conceive. The NHS will only consider women under the age of 40.
A spokesman for the Church of England said: 'A child is a gift not a right. 'For those who have never received that gift we can well understand their desire to have children but it is always important to think in those circumstances about what is really in the child's best interests.' However, Laurence Shaw, a consultant in reproductive medicine at London Bridge Fertility Centre, said: 'The truth is, anybody might not survive to raise their children. 'Until 100 years ago, our life expectancy was 50 or so, so if you had a baby at 30 you had 20 years with your child. Now life expectancy is 80, so is it not reasonable for someone to go through a process of fitness screening to decide whether they should have a child?'
One of the chief health risks to older mothers is pre-eclampsia, which can lead to blood clots and serious complications, or even death. However, the condition, which causes high blood pressure, can be detected by regular checks. Mrs Adeney is one of a growing number of older women who have sought IVF treatment abroad in the last few years. These include Patti Farrant, who was the previous oldest woman in Britain to give birth. The psychiatrist, who uses the professional name Dr Patricia Rashbrook, was 62 when she had a son in 2006 using a donated egg from Russia.
A shortage of women willing to donate eggs in Britain - where they cannot be paid - has also driven increasing numbers of younger childless couples into travelling for treatment. The Daily Mail has investigated the growing trade in 'fertility tourism' in countries such as the Ukraine. An undercover female reporter visited one of the best-known clinics, the Isida in Kiev, where women can receive IVF treatment for around £6,000. The 43-year-old was expecting 'a general chat' about IVF but instead the clinic's medical director, Victor Zinchenko, offered to start treatment straight away. Unlike clinics in Britain, the Isida does not impose an age limit for women who are prepared to use donor eggs. The clinic refused to say how much the egg donors were paid - it is thought to be a few hundred pounds - but simply said they were 'very well rewarded' for their trouble. Fertility experts in Britain have warned that donors in other countries are not always warned of the risks of egg donation, which can even cause infertility. The oldest woman in the world to give birth was 70-year-old Omkari Panwar from India, who had a twin boy and girl last year.
A shortage of women willing to donate eggs in Britain - where they cannot be paid - has also driven increasing numbers of younger childless couples into travelling for treatment. The Daily Mail has investigated the growing trade in 'fertility tourism' in countries such as the Ukraine. An undercover female reporter visited one of the best-known clinics, the Isida in Kiev, where women can receive IVF treatment for around £6,000. The 43-year-old was expecting 'a general chat' about IVF but instead the clinic's medical director, Victor Zinchenko, offered to start treatment straight away. Unlike clinics in Britain, the Isida does not impose an age limit for women who are prepared to use donor eggs. The clinic refused to say how much the egg donors were paid - it is thought to be a few hundred pounds - but simply said they were 'very well rewarded' for their trouble. Fertility experts in Britain have warned that donors in other countries are not always warned of the risks of egg donation, which can even cause infertility. The oldest woman in the world to give birth was 70-year-old Omkari Panwar from India, who had a twin boy and girl last year.
Via : Link
Related Post : -
Teen Ethiopian Beauty Crowned “Model of Africa 2009″
Miss Millennium Teen Intercontinental;Bewunetwa Abebe representing Ethiopia at the recently concluded International Beauty and Model Festival 2009 in Kunming China, has won the title of Model
United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland (Press Release) May 19, 2009 –
Miss Millennium Teen Intercontinental;Bewunetwa Abebe who was representing Ethiopia at the recently concluded International Beauty and Model festival 2009 in Kunming China, has won the title of Model of Africa,
19year old Bewunetwa Abebe was participating in her first event international event having been crowned Miss Teen Millennium Intercontinental as part of the Ethiopian Millennium Festival of Beauty, and did not only her nation proud but her family as well. Bewunetwa Abebe comes from a long line of Beauty Queens in her family as her two older sisters have also successfully represented Ethiopia in several National and International beauty contests over the years.
Current Washington DC based Model: Ferehiyewot Abebe her older sister was the first Ethiopian girl ever to participate at Miss Universe in 2004, she went on to participate in Miss Teen Model of the World, Miss Earth and World Miss University, eldest Sibling Tizita Abebe also took part in Miss Model of the World and Miss Bikini Universe.
The 2009 International Beauty and Model festival was organized by the World Beauty Congress and held in Beijing and Kunming from the 25th April until the 7th May 2009. Beauties of Africa Inc and the Ethiopian life foundation coordinated Ethiopia participation 43 International models took part in this event.
source: FPR
United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland (Press Release) May 19, 2009 –
Miss Millennium Teen Intercontinental;Bewunetwa Abebe who was representing Ethiopia at the recently concluded International Beauty and Model festival 2009 in Kunming China, has won the title of Model of Africa,
19year old Bewunetwa Abebe was participating in her first event international event having been crowned Miss Teen Millennium Intercontinental as part of the Ethiopian Millennium Festival of Beauty, and did not only her nation proud but her family as well. Bewunetwa Abebe comes from a long line of Beauty Queens in her family as her two older sisters have also successfully represented Ethiopia in several National and International beauty contests over the years.
Current Washington DC based Model: Ferehiyewot Abebe her older sister was the first Ethiopian girl ever to participate at Miss Universe in 2004, she went on to participate in Miss Teen Model of the World, Miss Earth and World Miss University, eldest Sibling Tizita Abebe also took part in Miss Model of the World and Miss Bikini Universe.
The 2009 International Beauty and Model festival was organized by the World Beauty Congress and held in Beijing and Kunming from the 25th April until the 7th May 2009. Beauties of Africa Inc and the Ethiopian life foundation coordinated Ethiopia participation 43 International models took part in this event.
source: FPR
Is 8ft Zhao Liang the world's tallest man?
At 8ft tall, Zhao Liang stands head and shoulders above the competition.Which is lucky, as the 27-year-old is in the running to be the world's tallest man. The current title holder is Bao Xishun ('the Mongolian mast'), who measures in at a measly 7ft 9in - a whole three inches shorter.
Record breaker: 27-year-old Zhao Liang is 8ft 0.7in tall, beating the current record holder by more than three inches, Mr Liang's claim came to light when he was admitted to Tianjin hospital, in China, for a routine operation on an old muscle tendon injury to his left foot. Doctors confirmed his height as 8ft 0.7in. But his claim to be the world's tallest man has not yet been verified by Guinness World Records. Mr Liang, who is now seeking official recognition, had been training as a basketball player when he sustained the foot injury over a decade ago.He remained unemployed until 2006, when an art troupe in Jilin province employed him to perform magic tricks and play the saxophone and flute.Mr Liang's parents are of normal height, with his father measuring 5ft 9in and his mother, 5ft 5in. More images after the break...
Hospital staff confirmed Mr Liang's height. He is now seeking official recognition from Guinness World Records His mother Wang Keyun said that her son had a big appetite, eating eight hamburger-sized steamed buns as part of a three-course dinner.'But I am so worried about his marriage, job and his health that my hair has turned white,' she added. Liu Yuchen, a surgeon at the hospital, declared the operation on Mr Liang's foot a success.
Mr Liang currently works with an art troupe, performing magic tricks and playing the saxophone and fluteHe said that he would be able to walk normally in two months' time, but advised against any intense physical exercise.Dr Yuchen said that Mr Liang was in good health and has no complications in relation to his height.
The world's current tallest man is Bao Xishun, who stands at 7ft 9in.
Tallest of them all...But no one has quite reached the dizzying heights of the tallest man in medical history - Robert Pershing Wadlow from Illinois, US, who stood at 8ft 11.1in. Robert Wadlow (1918-1940) - the tallest person in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence.
Via : Link
World Oldest And Largest Egg up for Sale
Its mother has long since departed the scene. As, indeed, has its entire species.But this giant egg is a great survivor. It was laid around 400 years ago by one of the great elephant birds of Madagascar.Before becoming extinct in the 17th century, the flightless creature was the world's largest bird, standing 10ft tall and weighing half a ton.World.
Duncan Phillips holds a Giant Elephant Bird of Madagascar egg, which went on sale in London todayThe egg, which is more than 3ft in circumference, was discovered by Victorian explorers and has since been held in private collections.Its current owner is antiques dealer John Shepherd, of Ashford in Kent, who bought the egg after seeing David Attenborough discover one while filming in Madagascar.Mr Shepherd, a trained palaeontologist, has decided to sell the egg, which is on display at the Chelsea Antiques Fair, which runs until Sunday.World. More after the break...
The egg is larger than a rugby ball and measures more than 3ft in diameterIt is expected to fetch at least £5,000. He said: 'The egg is a talking point. It's very eye-catching and it has a wonderful simplicity about it. It stands on its own.'It has a great social history. The Madagascan elephant bird was the only giant bird to exist with man and man caused its extinction.'It's nice to be able to show children today about environmental issues that have been going on for hundreds of years.'
Elephant birds became extinct after being hunted by the natives of Madagascar.Even though the bird weighed about half a ton, it also suffered at the hands of other predators such as pigs who ate their chicks and destroyed their eggs.The flightless bird, the largest to have ever lived, resembled a heavily-built ostrich. It had long legs, talons and stood at more than 10ft tall.But despite its fearsome appearance, it was a herbivore.World Largest Egg.
The bird as it would have looked 400 years ago, and right its skeleton reveals how much larger it was compared to its giant eggs.
Via : Link
Ethiopian Jazz on Display in London: Mulatu the Magnificent
Tadias Magazine
Tadias Staff
New York (Tadias) - One of the most anticipated music shows in London next week is Ethio-jazz inventor Mulatu Astatke’s collaboration with the Heliocentrics collective. “Even if the evening doesn’t live up to expectations, the Ethiopian bandleader’s new album is sure to make it onto my end-of-year-list of the best releases,” writes culture commentator Clive Davis on his Spectator blog.
Mulatu collaborates with Heliocentrics collective (VIDEO)
On his blog, Mr Davis also points out the amazing soundtrack of Jim
Jarmusch’s 2005 movie “Broken Flowers”, which featured Mulatu’s
music. Here is the video:
Tadias Staff
New York (Tadias) - One of the most anticipated music shows in London next week is Ethio-jazz inventor Mulatu Astatke’s collaboration with the Heliocentrics collective. “Even if the evening doesn’t live up to expectations, the Ethiopian bandleader’s new album is sure to make it onto my end-of-year-list of the best releases,” writes culture commentator Clive Davis on his Spectator blog.
Mulatu collaborates with Heliocentrics collective (VIDEO)
On his blog, Mr Davis also points out the amazing soundtrack of Jim
Jarmusch’s 2005 movie “Broken Flowers”, which featured Mulatu’s
music. Here is the video:
Each month, we highlight a celebrity’s work on behalf of a specific cause. This month we speak with supermodel, actress, WHO ambassador and mother, Liya Kebede, about her work on health issues related to childbirth. You may recognize Kebede as the former face of Estee Lauder or from the cover of magazines including Vogue’s May 2009 issue. Kebede, who is Ethiopian, founded her own organization to reduce mortality among mothers, newborns and young children and well as to help mothers and children stay healthy. The Liya Kebede Foundation promotes the use of low-cost technology and accessible medical care to help save lives during and after childbearing. The foundation also educates health-care workers and community members on children's health. Kebede also is a World Heath Organization ambassador, a position given to celebrities who advocate for health causes. In 2005, Kebede was named “Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.” Kebede also has a clothing line for children and women called “Lemlem,” which means to bloom or flourish in Amharic, the language of the Amhara people of Ethiopia. She hopes that the handwoven clothing from Ethiopia will continue native traditions as well as support local businesses and economies.
Q: Can you tell us about the Liya Kebede Foundation and its purpose?
Kebede: Right now, we have about one woman every minute of the day dying from childbirth and pregnancy complications in the world, and this is sort of very unheard of in the West. This happens a lot in the developing world. The reason is because women don’t really have access to very basic medical care, so most of these women are dying from very preventable or treatable conditions — simple things like an infection during childbirth will just kill the mother.
What we do in the foundation is we try to raise awareness of this issue because a lot of people don’t really realize that the number one killer of women in the world, in the developing world, is childbirth. You know, childbirth is something that is supposed to be this really beautiful and joyous moment in your life. For a lot women in the developing world, instead being this joyous moment that we experience here, it's filled with pain and it's filled with fear that they might actually lose their lives giving birth. So, that is why we created this foundation. We really want to raise awareness and help programs that support these causes.
Q: What made you become interested in the topic of children’s health and mortality rates among mothers and children?
Kebede: I am a mom I have two wonderful children and I am also from Ethiopia. Growing up there, it was really very normal to see and to hear about women dying in childbirth. It was very, very common. At the time, I actually thought it was a normal thing. Later, I came here and I was lucky enough to have my children in New York and I had the best medical care. The gap is ridiculous. Here, you’re not only in the best care, you get to have sonograms and you get to see if the baby is a boy or a girl. In a developing country, women deliver in a hut by themselves, a lot of times with nobody around. They might not even have clean water by them so any little thing might jeopardize their life or the baby’s life. This is something that I thought any mom, any woman who would hear this story, would feel the importance of it. So, that’s kind of how I got involved.
Q: Please describe your role as the Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Heath.
Kebede: I’ve been with the WHO since 2005. I’ve been their Goodwill Ambassador and we’ve been working a lot on raising awareness of this issue so that more and more people can actually hear about it and put pressure on governments to put a lot of budget earmarks on maternal health, because one of the other problems that we have is this one area is completely underfunded. One of the other problems that we have is this one area is completely underfunded and mothers dying is not something that can be put on the backburner. It's something that’s completely important not just for her life but her children’s life, for her family's life, for the community, for the whole country.
With the WHO we try to get international communities — the West, for instance — to really allocate more funding specifically for maternal health and also the local governments to allocate more funding for maternal health. That’s the kind of work that we want to do and help promote programs that are already existing that help women and children around the world.
Q: How does your clothing line, “Lemlem,” relate to your work with health and mortality?
Kebede: Lemlem is a different kind of aid. It's kind of a social entrepreneurship. The reason why Lemlem was created is I really wanted to help our local artisans, give them economic empowerment, give them jobs, give them money they can earn for themselves so they take care of themselves, instead of just handing out money. This is something that they’re actually earning so its makes it more sustainable. The Lemlem is made from handwoven materials. It's kind of an incredible art. I saw that that art was dying and all these artisans were sitting around not having a market for their beautiful work.
At the same time I think it's kind of beautiful to infuse the West with these beautiful hand-crafted garments. It's kind of a new thing for the West to get used to and also to give trust to the West as well that they can eventually go to places like Ethiopia and all these other different African countries and start manufacturing there so that we can really then boost the economy of the country. I’ve been lucky enough because in a way Lemlem becomes this perfect balance that brings the level of fashion that I have as a model [and] at the same time this possibility to improve the lives of other people. It's kind of a great bridge for me.
Q: What was your most memorable experience working with either your foundation, as an ambassador, or with your clothing line?
Kebede: There is this one story that I think says it all in a way. I was in Ethiopia visiting this town in Bahir Dar. We went to visit this woman who lives in her little hut with her five kids. She also had a granddaughter. She was about 30 years old but she looked like she was about 50. She was carrying her granddaughter with her and her daughter was away working. She had all these little kids at home who were hers. Her village was under a program that the Ministry of Health had started [where] they have two young girls who have graduated from high school and who had two years of intensive study and basic medical care take care of the village.
They come to the houses and talk to the women. They help them with prenatal and postnatal care. They make sure that if there’s a pregnancy at risk, they refer them to a hospital. So they’ve been doing this program with this woman and she’s not literate. She’s never gone to school. I was sitting and talking to her and I asked her what was happening with her daughters and if they were attending school. She said yes, absolutely, they’re going to school.
The daughters were about 11 or 12 years old. There’s a lot of early marriage issues in some of those areas. She said to me, "Absolutely not. I’m not going to have my daughter marry anybody. I want her to finish school and if she wants to marry then it's her choice to marry." I was stunned to hear this coming from her, this woman who in her life was married early and had her children young. She really had no choice. It was the most unbelievable moment.
Then I asked her, "Are you going to have any more children?" She said, "Absolutely not." So I said, "Well, how are you going about not having children anymore?" She said, "I’m going to take my pill." She said to me, "All my life, you know, I thought I was there to give birth and now all of the sudden I have this choice and this power to not have a child if I don’t want to because I can't afford to." For her it was an incredible thing. I was just sitting there and thinking, "Oh my God, this is amazing." I always think about that story.
Q: How can people become involved?
Kebede: The biggest thing that people can do is let their governments know that saving mothers' lives should be a priority. Governments aren't going to invest unless we let them know that we care about this issue. There is a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives right now, H.R. 1410, that would make saving mothers' and children's lives a priority for U.S. foreign aid. Call or write your representative and tell them that you expect them to support this bill. If politicians know their constituents care about this issue, they will care too. Or people can visit the Web site of the Mothers Day Every Day campaign and see how they can take action in their communities.
Part Two of Ethiopians in Hollywood Featuring Filmmaker Zee Mehari (VIDEO)
Tadias TV
Published: Monday, May 4th 2009
New York (Tadias) - Part two of Tadias TV’s Ethiopians in Hollywood series features writer and director Zeresenay (Zee) Berhane Mehari, who worked as Cinematographer and Second Unit Director on Aida Ashenafi’s highly acclaimed new film Guzo (Amharic for Journey).
The film, which won best picture at the 2009 Addis International Film Festival, chronicles the interaction between two young residents of Addis Ababa and their peers in the Ethiopian countryside. Over the course of 20-days both the urbanites and country folks are forced to confront stereotypes about each other and grapple with issues of gender and privilege. The film is scheduled to premier in Washington DC on May 9th at the Lisner Theater (GWU).
Zee first appeared on Tadias on our June-July 2004 print issue. The following interview was taped in Los Angeles last month. Part one of this series highlighted Academy Award nominee Leelai Demoz, who discussed his role as one of the judges at the 2009 Addis International Film Festival and his experience as a filmmaker.
Published: Monday, May 4th 2009
New York (Tadias) - Part two of Tadias TV’s Ethiopians in Hollywood series features writer and director Zeresenay (Zee) Berhane Mehari, who worked as Cinematographer and Second Unit Director on Aida Ashenafi’s highly acclaimed new film Guzo (Amharic for Journey).
The film, which won best picture at the 2009 Addis International Film Festival, chronicles the interaction between two young residents of Addis Ababa and their peers in the Ethiopian countryside. Over the course of 20-days both the urbanites and country folks are forced to confront stereotypes about each other and grapple with issues of gender and privilege. The film is scheduled to premier in Washington DC on May 9th at the Lisner Theater (GWU).
Zee first appeared on Tadias on our June-July 2004 print issue. The following interview was taped in Los Angeles last month. Part one of this series highlighted Academy Award nominee Leelai Demoz, who discussed his role as one of the judges at the 2009 Addis International Film Festival and his experience as a filmmaker.
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