A team of experts from France Telecom commenced their pre-assessment on structural, technical and service management of Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC). The team arrived in Addis Ababa a week ago and started its assessment residing at the ETC’s rented building on Mickey Leland road. The experts will evaluate ETC’s operation systems until the end of July and expect to submit their report before France Telecom starts its management operation in mid-August 2010.

It signed an agreement with ETC three months ago after winning over the other two final bidders from South Africa and India. The agreement will enable France Telecom to take 49 percent of ETC’s management on a revenue-sharing scheme for the next four years, according to sources.

The company will be responsible for introducing new practices on how the state-run telecom company carries out its key operations ranging from service providing to infrastructural maintenance, according to the source.

An international film festival is taking place in Addis Ababa.

'Images that Matter' festival director, Maji-da Abdi said the film festival will help to enable Ethiopian short films become competitive at the international level

The director told ENA that the festival will also help to increase demand for Ethiopian short films in the external world.She said the festival will also help to build images of the country.Festival Executive Zelalem Woldemariam on his part said film is one of the ways to build images of a country.

He said film creates job opportunity thereby generating income for the country.In a message delivered through a representative, President Girma Woldegiorgis said at the opening of the festival that film contributes share toward development of a country.

The biggest opposition group Medrek is contemplating calling a public demonstration to voice its protest at the last month’s election it said was rigged by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Capital has learnt.

In results released by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), Medrek, which fielded the second most candidates after the ruling front for the 547 federal parliament seats, won only a single seat in Addis Ababa, Woreda Six.

The seat is the only one won by all opposition parties. One went to an independent candidates and the rest to the EPRDF and its affiliates in emerging regions.
Medrek and All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP) the other major opposition party, called for a fresh vote shortly after provisional results were declared, claiming the poll was flawed.

Based on the title, I know what you are thinking. Here he goes again on his “soap box” talking about Ethiopians who sip buna right? Well today, I am going to throw you a curve ball. In this article, I will do no such thing; I write today not out of frustration, I write today out of a place of hope.

So now you are asking yourself, “OK, so what’s up with the title of the article”. Well I speak of Buna today because I have done my fair share of criticizing some in our community of being “buna sippers”. And this statement has been taken out of context and perceived by some as defaming people who enjoy a cup of buna. So first and foremost, let me admit, I am a big “buna sipper” myself. There is nothing more I enjoy in the morning than a cup of steaming hot coffee and enjoying it as I read the Washington Post, and no not the dot com the real live newspaper.

So lest you think I am blasting people for enjoying a beverage that was discovered in Ethiopia—and happens to be the number one commodity that we export—I am here to say that is the furthest thing from my mind. But the defense of my past articles will be left for another day, or maybe no need to defend it at all. Today, as I am currently sipping some buna at my laptop as I write this article, I am writing about buna precisely because that is one way for our community to be empowered.

The Yemeni government put across a couple of days back that it had settled on expelling Ethiopian immigrants inside the country. However, its decision has roused exasperation in many human rights activists and the Ethiopian diaspora.

Various news outlets reported that Ethiopian expatriates in the States were against Yemen’s resolution to deport 320 Ethiopians who immigrated to the country on different occasions. Amnesty International and other human rights advocates are in opposition to the Yemini government. They argue that many amongst the deportees are political asylum seekers.

BEIRUT — An Ethiopian Airlines plane was forced to return to Lebanon after takeoff early on Thursday when crew noticed a door was rattling, a Beirut airport official said.

"The door had not been closed properly and some five minutes after takeoff, the pilot was able to return and land in Beirut safely and without having to signal an emergency," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The Boeing 737-800 -- the same model as an Ethiopian Airlines jet which crashed off the Lebanese coast in January killing all 90 on board -- took off at around 4:30 am (0130 GMT) bound for Addis Ababa.

"The flight was delayed another six hours before it was cleared for takeoff," the official said.

The Ethiopian Federal Democratic Forum (Medrek) and All Ethiopian Unity Party (MEAD) publicized on previous occasions that they would file an appeal against the decision of the Ethiopian Electoral Board which did not welcome their petition for a rerun of the May 2010 elections. Their appeal to the Federal Supreme Court was said to be delayed.

The National Electoral Board addressed the issue in a meeting convened for 4 June 2010. The board let the parties know what it had decided three days later in the evening via telephone call. On the word of Nigussie Newtie, Unity for Democracy and Justice Party’s head of Legal Affairs, the parties had received the letter from the board the next day-8 June 2010.

Ethiopians have more than 3000 years old historical journey; and yet, they are the last undemocratized citizens in the world.

The historic moments are gone, knowing Ethiopian history is one basic thing and learning from the history is another key factor. So far, a lot of well-built things have been labelled to individuals, but pointing out our current political party leader’s few short-falls got to be the place where we start learning from our past.