A technology service center working on international brand name computers is coming to Addis. Crescent Tech, a computer consultancy and sales company has launched a Hewlett Packard (HP) service center with a total capital of USD 80 million to serve organizations with large networks. Linda Koyonzo, Marketing Manager of Crescent Tech, told Capital that they have supplied the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED) with technological equipment worth 88,000 dollars and they have taken a contract with Ethiopian Airlines for another two years after serving them for the previous two.

If you’ve ever spotted a handwoven item in a high-end store — say, a tablecloth made of Ethiopian cotton at Erica Tanov in New York City, or a Bolivian alpaca throw at Anthropologie — there’s a fair chance it got there by way of Ellen Dorsch of Grand Isle.

Dorsch opened her Burlington textile-import business, Creative Women, eight years ago. Since then, she has carved out an upscale U.S. market for beautiful textiles individually woven by women in Ethiopia, Swaziland, Afghanistan, Senegal and Mali. Last spring, she expanded to South America. Dorsch currently imports from three Ethiopian weaving businesses and one each in Bolivia and Peru.

As the wheeling and dealing intensifies at the increasingly divided and nonfunctional United Nations Security Council, during the Arab spring era, Ethiopia says it is confident there will be enough votes favoring passage of a draft resolution currently under negotiation to sanction Eritrea’s mining sector and Diaspora tax over reports the country supports terrorism in the region. “One thing that I can tell you is that it is a foregone conclusion the resolution will be adopted. Precisely when that might happen is very difficult to say as we are not a member of the council,” said Ambassador Dr Tekeda Alemu, Ethiopia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, in an exclusive interview with Capital.

The U.S. government through its President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has contributed 1.4 billion USD for implementation of HIV programs in Ethiopia, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Booth said. Launched in 2003, PEPFAR is the U.S. Government initiative to help save the lives of those suffering from HIV/AIDS around the world. In a press conference held here on Wednesday, Ambassador Booth said nearly one quarter of a million Ethiopians are currently receiving life-saving antiretroviral treatment.

Religious leaders and government authorities in Ethiopia have ended a meeting on November 29, with an apparent dispute over how to and whether or not ban an upcoming continental gay conference scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa. Just a day before the 16th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STIs) in Africa (ICASA) opens, about 200 gays as well as UN and U.S. officials are expected to gather at Addis Ababa’s Jupiter International Hotel, on December 3 to discuss what the organizers call men having sex with men (MSM) issues.