By James A. Everett  

Because of a heavier than anticipated workload it was necessary for me to overstay my time in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by a full week.  That means that, after a full 48 hour air trip in order to arrive back home, I find myself on deadline for this week’s column.  

 September 12th marked the formal start date of Ethiopia’s Millennium Celebration which will continue for one full year.  Addis was lit up as never before.  Traffic in the city, which is normally terrible, was worse than ever.

Oct. 29, 2007 (MINNEAPOLIS) At the end of October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Minneapolis Police Department is launching a new initiative in domestic violence prevention. A pilot gun surrender program, created in conjunction with the Hennepin County court system is the first of its kind in Minnesota.

Three agencies have been chosen to receive state HIV prevention funding for programs designed to reach foreign-born residents in Minnesota who are most at risk for HIV. The grants were made by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) in response to legislation passed in 2007.

Kofi Annan announces the former President of Mozambique as the winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership

Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique, has been announced today as the winner of the inaugural Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The largest individual award in the world, it comprises:

• US$5 million over 10 years and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter

• Up to US$200,000 a year for 10 years towards the winner’s public interest activities and good causes.

By Ray McDonald 
 
Paris Hilton's philanthropic trip to Rwanda has been postponed. "Due to the restructuring of the Playing For Good Foundation, the philanthropic trip to Rwanda that the foundation had previously planned with Paris has been postponed," the children's charity said in an October 25 statement.

A staffer for the organization's spokesman Andy Gelb said he was unavailable for comment.

A World Health Organization evaluation of West African countries’ progress in controlling malaria has recommended that donors allocate more funds to indoor spraying and to helping countries purchase the latest anti-malarial drugs.

“For the control of malaria vectors, we had previously recommended the use of mosquito nets,” said Stephan Tohon, WHO focal point on malaria in West Africa, speaking to IRIN on the sidelines of the UN agency’s malaria evaluation meeting in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou.

Yesterday, Midtown Global Market announced the winners of the inaugural Global Chili Cook-Off. The cook-off was held Saturday, October 20 at Midtown Global Market. Sam Wadi, chef of Holy Land Deli, was awarded the "2007 Public's Choice Award" for his White Chicken Chili. The Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts prize was awarded to Jamal Hashi, chef of Safari Express, for his "Serengeti Chili."

Hennepin County Library (HCL) has launched a new African web page on its website (www.hclib.org/worldlinks), geared largely to new African immigrants and their families who are searching for resources and services to assist their transition to Minnesota. 
The new web page is partly in response to the recent influx of Africans to Minnesota.  According to U.S. Census reports, the number of Africans emigrating to Minnesota has increased 85% in the past six years.

In his address to the 34th session of UNESCO’s General Conference, today the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya, highlighted the need for solidarity between North and South.

After declaring that “Cameroon and UNESCO maintain fruitful and exemplary cooperation ties,” President Biya turned to the many dangers – natural disasters, global warming, major pandemics, poverty, war and terrorism, - threatening humanity.

 "we demand an appology from the Senator." said Solomon Gashaw, Associate professor of University of Minnesota and Birhane Meskel, Former Judge & diplomat (Photo).

"This is a racist, degrading and offensive statements from the Senator" said by Judge Birhane. " I understand his support for the current goverment in Ethiopia and certainly the Senator is entitled to his views but saying that Ethiopians throw away their baby girls to the dogs is an unacceptable." Birhane added.
 

By Issa A. Mansaray , Special to the TC Daily Planet

The wrestling match lasted for almost a minute. Two young men from Somalia and Ethiopia respectively, locked into each other’s arms, test each other’s strength while their friends watch and cheer. A group of elders, mostly from Somalia, stood outside the building discussing recent changes on Green Cards, and the latest news from home. A couple of Asian elders dropped some clothes into laundry machines located on the main floor of the building. This is 1247 St. Anthony Avenue in St. Paul.

By Dan Bernard

A St. Paul man is trying to arrange a long-distance rescue of his two young nieces after learning they were abducted by gunmen in Southern Sudan last week. Gabriel K. Solomon, 27, a University of Minnesota graduate student who lives in the Mac-Groveland neighborhood, is contacting officials in southern Sudan by phone and email to urge them to take action to find the men who abducted 1-year-old Ajak Aciek Mading and her 3-year-old sister Yar on Oct. 3 in Southern Sudan's Jonglei state.

By Basildon Peta and Tabby Moyo

White Zimbabwean farmers have turned to the low-key and untested tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in a last-ditch bid to stave off their impending evictions from their farms or to receive compensation.

But legal experts doubt that the farmers, who believe they have exhausted their options in the Zimbabwean judiciary, will get a much better deal from the tribunal.