Ethiopia’s Economic Diplomacy Registers Success (25/06/08)

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27/06/08

The Foreign, Defense, and Security Affairs Standing Committee of the House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to further scale up achievements witnessed in economic and other fields of diplomacy.

The standing committee said the report of the ministry, which is clear and apt to the point, indicated success in most of the activities of the ministry.

The standing committee made the remark on Tuesday after hearing the 10-Months Performance Report of the Ministry presented by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ato Seyoum Mesfin at the 40th regular meeting of the parliament.

Especially, the standing committee said, the ministry has registered remarkable achievements over the last ten months in the field of economic diplomacy.

The committee said the Ministry shall intensify efforts toward ensuring peace and stability within the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD)-member states since Ethiopia holds higher responsibility in the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) presently.

Ethiopia shall make use of its current responsibility in the council to ensure dependable peace and stability in the horn of Africa since ensuring peace and stability in the region plays greater role toward bringing about rapid and sustainable development across the nation.

Presenting the report, Seyoum said the ministry in collaboration with the 42 Ethiopian Missions abroad has undertaken various activities this year toward creating conducive atmosphere abroad for the success of the poverty reduction strategy of the nation.

The Ministry has been undertaking various activities that focus on economic diplomacy to provide information and market intelligence service to customers besides efforts to improve its performance through implementing the ‘civil service reform sub-programs’, Seyoum said.

Seyoum said, the Ministry has already begun implementing the findings of the ‘Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Study’ in a bid to bring about ‘institutional change’ within the ministry.

He said the Ministry has carried out lot of activities and registered observable achievements toward encouraging Ethiopians and persons from Ethiopian origin living abroad to support on-going development efforts at home.

In the field of political diplomacy, the Ministry has carried out various activities during the reported time, especially in connection with Eritrea and Somalia, he said.

Accordingly, he said, the ministry was able to expose the disrupting activities of the Eritrean regime undertaken against the ‘Algiers Agreement’ besides ensuring Ethiopia’s interest in compensation negotiations.

Encouraging results were also witnessed in efforts geared toward strengthening the institutions of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and in ensuring peace and security in that country, according to the minister.

Responding to the questions raised by the standing committee, Seyoum said the UN, Arab League, AU, IGAD, and other regional and international agencies have passed decisions against the disrupting activities of the Eritrean regime.

In fact, Seyoum said, the international community and especially that of the UN shall impose sanction against Eritrea for its aggressive moves.

Couple jailed over toddler’s death

By Andrew Hough

27/06/08

LONDON (Reuters) – A couple who allowed their three year-old daughter to die in a house “not fit” to live in were jailed on Friday, in a case that shocked local authorities.

Tiffany Wright died of malnutrition in a bedroom littered with dirty nappies and clothes which also had dog excrement smeared over the walls, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

The little girl’s decomposing body was found upstairs in the Scarbrough Arms pub in Upperthorpe, Sheffield, on September 30 last year, the court heard.

She was found two days after she had died in the pub that was owned by her parents, prosecutors said, after becoming so weak she contracted pneumonia.

Police said they were shocked that no one reported the incident, as they revealed an investigation had been launched into the circumstances surrounding her tragic death.

Officers have said how members of the public would see Tiffany staring out of her bedroom window.

As Tiffany lived in squalor, people were partying downstairs and even having karaoke competitions, the court was told.

A post-mortem had revealed the young girl had not been fed or had a drink for more than 20 hours

On Friday her mother Sabrina Hirst, 22, was jailed for 12 years after she had admitted manslaughter at an earlier hearing.

Her husband, Robert Hirst, 44, was also jailed for five years after pleading guilty to child cruelty.

“It is a very, very sad case and you only have to think about (her) last few days… (where she) sat alone, unloved, uncared for in the bedroom when the most natural thing in the world for her to want and need is a mother’s love,” acting detective chief inspector Dave Powell told reporters outside court. “She didn’t get that love and that is tragic.”

He said the house was “not fit” to live in.

“People downstairs were having parties and karaoke downstairs enjoying themselves while the poor little girl was living in agony,” he said.

“I don’t think any sentence in these circumstances will be long enough. As a parent myself I would have liked to have seen a much more lengthy and appropriate prison sentence.”

The couple had also admitted child cruelty in relation to a one-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons.

(Editing by Matt Falloon)

Today in History

By The Associated Press

27/06/08

Today is Friday, June 27, the 179th day of 2008. There are 187 days left in the year.

On June 27, 1957, more than 500 people were killed when Hurricane Audrey slammed through coastal Louisiana and Texas.

In 1844, Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Ill.

In 1944, during World War II, American forces completed their capture of the French port of Cherbourg from the Germans.

In 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York‘s Greenwich Village; patrons fought back in clashes considered the birth of the gay rights movement.

In 1977, the Republic of Djibouti became independent of France.

In 1988, Mike Tyson retained the undisputed heavyweight crown as he knocked out Michael Spinks 91 seconds into the first round of a championship fight in Atlantic City, N.J.

Ten years ago: During a joint news conference beamed live to hundreds of millions of homes across China, President Clinton and President Jiang Zemin offered an uncensored airing of differences on human rights, freedom, trade and Tibet. An earthquake in Ceyhan, Turkey, killed 144 people.

One year ago: Former Treasury chief Gordon Brown became British prime minister, succeeding Tony Blair. In her first televised interview since being released from custody, a demure Paris Hilton told CNN‘s Larry King she would never again drink and drive and that her time in jail was “a time-out in life.”

Thought for Today: “The highest purpose is to have no purpose at all.” — John Cage, American composer (1912-1992).

Food Crisis Alarming, African Union

harm El Sheikh, Egypt, June 27

(Prensa Latina) Jean Ping,

President of the African Union Commission, demanded today political will and collective solutions to face the food and fuel crisis.

Cuban Foreign Minister in Egypt

Ping, in the opening cabinet sessions of the 11th AU summit, warned that the world is facing an alarming increase in basic food prices and needs joint actions to revert the situation.

Those figures rose almost 50 percent between 2007 and 2008, with a particularly negative effect on African importing countries.

He mentioned the principal causes of the increase are the spectacular drop in world cereal production in recent years, the weak level of natural reserves and the close correlation between oil and food prices.

Ping warned that a number of African oil-importing countries will not be able to face the increase if brave and strict measures are not taken on time and collectively.

To solve the problem, stated, the AU Commission, helped by the international community, has conceived long, medium and short-term measures.

He also proposed lifting barriers on agricultural exportations of developing countries, and the launch of food programs with fast impact in areas like seeds, fertilizers and credits.

Long-term global strategies must help implement the agricultural development program in Africa, the Common African Market for food products, and the Pan African Initiatives for Property and Nutrition Policy in particular.

Ping reminded that in the recent conference on weather changes and bio energy, held in Rome by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a promise was made to assign 10 billion dollars to promote agricultural development and reduce hunger.

To the AU, Ping said, if funds are used properly, countries deeply affected by the crisis could benefit, since it will help them grow enough to be self-sufficient and invest in agriculture and research.

AU sends team to probe Eritrea-Djibouti clashes

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters)

27/06/08

The African Union has sent a team to investigate fighting this month between Djibouti and Eritrea close to strategic Red Sea shipping lanes, the top AU diplomat said on Friday.

Djibouti accuses neighbouring Eritrea of moving troops across the border, triggering several days of fighting that killed a dozen Djiboutian soldiers and wounded dozens. Eritrea denies making any incursions.

Addressing African Union foreign ministers meeting in Egypt, the chairman of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, said he was concerned by the hostilities.

“I have sent a fact-finding mission to Djibouti that is also mandated to go to Eritrea as well,” Ping said. “I hope both parties will do everything to find a happy solution to this situation.”

The U.N. Security Council has also called for a U.N. fact-finding mission to visit both countries.

France has one of its largest overseas military bases in Djibouti. The United States also has a military base there.

Last week, Djibouti said the situation on the border had calmed, but that French warships would arrive off its coast soon. Paris signed a mutual defence pact with Djibouti after the Red Sea state’s independence in 1977.