The Lebanese Ministry of Public Works & Transport released their investigation progress report regarding the January 2010 fatal accident involving a Ethiopian Flight 409 off the coast of Beirut.

On January 25, 2010 a Boeing 737-8AS (WL) passenger jet, registered ET-ANB, was destroyed in an accident 6 km southwest off Beirut International Airport (BEY), Lebanon. All 82 passengers and eight crew members were killed. The airplane operated on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET409 from Beirut International Airport (BEY) to Addis Ababa-Bole Airport (ADD).

The Dutch government recently announced that it will ban the use of khat, a narcotic leaf widely chewed in the Horn of Africa and Yemen.

I've written about khat before. I've spent four months in Ethiopia, especially Harar, a city in the eastern part of the country where chewing khat (pronounced "chat" in the local languages) is part of many people's daily lives. It's a mild drug that makes most people more relaxed, mildly euphoric, and talkative. It also helps concentration and is popular among university students.

Radisson, the third international hospitality chain for Ethiopia, started part of its luxury services including partial, restaurant, cafe and bar services.
The nine storey global brand located at Kazanchis, in the heart of the city and close to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and national palace has 204 bedrooms including 44 business classes, 16 luxury suites including one presidential suite.

According to officials at Radisson Blu, the luxury hotel cost over 500 million birr, although that has not officially been disclosed by the hotel.
The hotel has one bar, ‘The Signature’, with a capacity of serving 52 people inside and 80 people on the terrace located on the first floor of the hotel.

ADDIS ABABA — Gunman killed five European tourists and kidnapped two other foreigners as they visited the famed Erta Ale volcano in the remote northeast of Ethiopia, the government said on Wednesday.

Officials in Addis Ababa said the attack on Monday had been carried out by gunmen who had been armed by Eritrea, an accusation fiercely denied by the government in Asmara.
The five, from Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Italy and Austria were all visiting the Erta Ale volcanic site in the remote Afar region near the Ethiopia-Eritrea border, Ethiopia government spokesman Bereket Simon told AFP.