Ethiopia Sees Output at Africa’s Biggest Power Plant by 2015 (1)

Ethiopia will begin generating electricity within 18 months from what will be Africa’s largest power plant, the government said.

The sale of 7.1 billion birr ($367 million) of bonds over the past three years to domestic investors, has contributed to the 27 billion birr spent so far on the 75.5 billion birr Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam hydropower project, said Zadig Abraha, deputy general director of the GERD national coordination office. The central bank in April 2011 ordered banks to buy government bonds equivalent to 27 percent of their loans to help fund infrastructure projects.

Ethiopia’s funding of the 6,000-megawatt plant represents “the golden age of our history as far as economic development and public participation is concerned,” Zadig said by phone on March 18 from the capital, Addis Ababa. “If we’re to meet the power demand we have to construct these mega projects.”

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Africa’s second-most populous country after Nigeria is boosting electricity output to cater for increased demand as economic growth surges. The economy expanded at an average 9.3 percent over the past four years and the government is targeting growth of more than 10 percent, which may lead to annual increases in electricity demand of as much as 35 percent, Zadig said.

An increase in Ethiopia’s current generating capacity of 2,000 megawatts will also allow the country to reduce a trade deficit of $8.5 billion last year by selling excess electricity.

Power Exports

The government already exports power to Sudan and Djibouti. It’s also building a transmission line to Kenya and is in discussions with Yemen and war-torn South Sudan, Zadig said. Once GERD is finished, and other hydropower projects including the 1,870-megawatt Gibe III are on line, Ethiopia may earn $2 billion a year from the exports, he said.

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The construction of GERD is opposed by Egypt, which says it will reduce the flow of the Nile, the world’s longest river that provides almost all its water. Egypt’s opposition to the project blocked Ethiopia’s access to foreign credit, he said.

“The only option on the table was to construct the dam by our own capacity,” Zadig said, adding that the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corp. and public contributions would fund the rest of the project.

Sudan, the other affected nation, supports the project that’s scheduled for completion in 2018, partly because it will allow the country to import cheaper Ethiopian electricity. The dam is being built 18 miles (30 kilometers) from the Sudanese border on the Blue Nile River, the main tributary of the Nile.

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Production Start

Two turbines at the plant will start producing 750 megawatts of power during the Ethiopian calendar year that begins Sept. 11, depending on rainfall patterns, Zadig said.

In 2012, Ethiopia invited an international panel of experts to study the project, which the government says will help curb flooding and improve water storage.

The panel concluded in June that further assessments need to be made on GERD’s regional impact. It also advised modifications to the design to strengthen it structurally. Efforts by Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to form a committee to oversee the probes on the downstream effects have reached an impasse over the role of foreign experts.

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Egypt wants construction paused while the studies are done on an issue that is a matter of “national security,” Badr Abdelatty, a spokesman for Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, said in a phone interview on March 15.

‘Serious’ Talks

“We ask upon the other side to be serious and to move forward to accept having international experts imported to assess the impact,” he said. “Also for Ethiopians to provide more studies, more statistics.”

Ethiopia should also respect colonial-era agreements and a 1959 accord between Sudan and Egypt that allocates all of the river’s flow excluding evaporation to those two nations, Abdelatty said. By 2020, Egypt will require all of its assigned 55 billion cubic meters a year for vital use such as drinking, washing and sanitation, he said.

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Nile riparian nations including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda are in the process of ratifying a new agreement to create a joint commission to manage use of the river.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa at wdavison3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net Karl Maier

የአውስትራሊያ አሳሾች የጠፋውን የማሌዥያ አየር መንገድ በለራ MH370 አውሮፕላን የሚመስል ስብርባሪ ከሳተላይት ላይ አየን አሉ::

የአውስትራሊያ አሳሾች የጠፋውን የማሌዥያ አየር  መንገድ  በለራ MH370 አውሮፕላን   የሚመስል ስብርባሪ ከሳተላይት ላይ አየን አሉ::

Reuters) - Search aircraft and ships are investigating two objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean off Australia that could be debris from a Malaysian jetliner missing for 12 days with 239 people on board, officials said on Thursday.

Australian officials said the objects were spotted by satellite in one of the remotest parts of the globe, around 2,500 km (1,500 miles) southwest of Perth in the vast oceans between Australia, southern Africa and Antarctica.

The larger of the objects measured up to 24 meters (79 ft), long and appeared to be floating on water several thousand meters deep, they said.

"It's credible enough to divert the research to this area on the basis it provides a promising lead to what might be wreckage from the debris field," Royal Australian Air Force Air Commodore John McGarry told a news conference in Canberra.

No confirmed wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been found since it vanished from air traffic control screens off Malaysia's east coast early on March 8, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

"I can confirm we have a new lead," Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, where the investigation into the missing airliner is based.

Another official in Malaysia said investigators were "hopeful but cautious" about the Australian discovery.

The fate of Flight MH370 has been baffling aviation experts for nearly two weeks.

Investigators believe that someone with detailed knowledge of both the Boeing 777-200ER and commercial aviation navigation switched off the plane's communications systems before diverting it thousands of miles off its scheduled course.

Exhaustive background checks of the passengers and crew aboard have not yielded anything that might explain why.

An Australian air force AP-3C Orion plane was already at the scene, and more aircraft were on the way, John Young, general manager of the emergency response division of Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), told the news conference in Canberra.

A merchant ship diverted for the task was due to arrive in a few hours, he said. A Royal Australian Navy ship equipped to recover any objects was also en route, but was still "some days away".

China, whose citizens made up about two-thirds of the passengers on board the flight, said it was also sending ships to the area of the sighting, but it was not clear how long it would take for the vessels to reach the scene.

POTENTIAL BREAKTHROUGH

The huge potential breakthrough in an investigation that had appeared to be running out of leads was revealed by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who told parliament the objects had been located with satellite imagery.

"New and credible information has come to light in relation to the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean," Abbott said.

He added that he had already spoken with his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak, and cautioned that the objects had yet to be identified.

"The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out they are not related to the search for MH370," Abbott said.

Young, the Australian official, said it could be some days before authorities have anything to report and added that poor visibility reported in the area could hamper the search.

"It's probably the best lead we have right now but we have to get there, find them, see them, assess them, to know whether it's really meaningful or not," he said.

The dimensions given are consistent with at least one of the objects possibly being the major part of a 777-200ER wing, which is around 27 metres (89 feet) long, though Australian officials cautioned the first images were indistinct.

The relatively large size of the objects would also suggest that, if they do come from the missing aircraft, it was intact when it went into the water.

FBI HELPING PROBE

Investigators piecing together patchy data from military radar and satellites believe that, minutes after its identifying transponder was switched off as it crossed the Gulf of Thailand, the plane turned sharply west, re-crossing the Malay Peninsula and following an established commercial route towards India.

What happened next is unclear, but faint electronic "pings" picked up by one commercial satellite suggest the aircraft flew on for at least six hours. That would be consistent with the plane ending up in the southern Indian Ocean.

The methodical shutdown of the communications systems, together with the fact that the plane appeared to be following a planned course after turning back, has focused particular attention on the pilot and co-pilot.

The FBI is helping Malaysian authorities analyze data from a flight simulator belonging to the captain of the missing plane, after initial examination showed some data logs had been deleted early last month.

A Malaysian official with knowledge of the investigations into the pilots said three simulator games that 53-year-old pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, had played were being looked at.

"We are following up on the data logs being erased," the source said. "These could be logs of the games that were erased to free up memory, so it may not lead us to anything. He played a lot of games, going into hundreds and thousands of hours."

An unprecedented multinational search for the plane has focused on two vast search corridors: one arcing north overland from Laos towards the Caspian Sea, the other curving south across the Indian Ocean from west of Indonesia's Sumatra island to west of Australia.

Australia is leading the search in the southern part of the southern corridor, with assistance from the U.S. Navy.

The depth of the water where the possible debris has been sighted would likely make recovering the "black box" voice and data recorders that may finally unlock the mystery of what happened aboard Flight MH370 extremely challenging.

University of Western Australia Professor of Oceanography Charitha Pattiaratchi said that, based on currents in the area, if the debris is from the plane it probably would have gone into the water around 300-400 km (180-250 miles) to the west.

The search area covered an ocean ridge known as Naturalist Plateau, a large sea shelf about 3,500 metres (9,800 feet) deep, Pattiaratchi said. The plateau is about 250 km (150 miles) wide by 400 km (250 miles) long, and the area around it is close to 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) deep.

"Whichever way you go, it's deep," he said.

ትንሿ ወሻ።

ትንሿ ወሻ።
ቦታው ባንክ ቤት ነው። ባለ ውሻዋ ሶፋ ላይ ቁጭ ብላ ተራዋን ሰትጥብቅ ነበር የአንዱ ሰውዬ ድምጽ ወደ ውሻዋ እንዳይ የገፋፋኝ። ሰውዬው(ፈረንጁ) የሚያወራው በጣም ተድንቆ ስለነበር ሁሉም ባንክ ቤት ያለ ሰው ሁሉ ይሰማው ነበር። የመጀመሪያው ጥያቄ ውሽዋ ገና የተወለደች ስለምትመስል "ስንት ቀኗ ነው?" ነበር።  እኔም ወደ ውሽዋ ዞር ብዬ ሳይ ልክ ከዚያው ከባንክ ቤቱ ውስጥ የተወለደች ነው የሚምስለው። የሚገርመው እርጥብ መስላኝ ነበር። የውሻዋ ባለቤት ይህንን አይነት ጥያቄ በየጊዜው መጠየቁን በጣም የወደደችው ይምስልላ። እኔም መጠየቁን ፈርቼ ነበር ግን ያ ሰውየ የዋዛ አልነበረም ሁሉንም ጠየቃት። ምን የምታክል መሰለቻሁ? ከመዳፋ እኮ ትልቅ ነው የምትበልጠው። በቃ ትልቅ አይጥ በሏት። ከሁሉ የሚገመው አይኗ የትልቅ ውሻ ነው። ችዋዋ (Chihuahua) ከምትባለው ውሻ አንድ ሶስተኛ እንኳ አትሞላም። በቃ ሽል ነው የምታክለውም  የምትምስለውም።  ያው ይች ውሻ ውሻ ሳይሆን አይጥ በሏት። ከሁሉ የሚገርመው የስውየው ጥያቄ ነበር ነገሩማ የኔ ጥያቄ  ነበር። ምን ጠየቀ መሰላችሁ? ምንድ ነው የምትበላው?
ባለቤቷም እንዲህ ብላ እርፍ።
ሚጢጢ ውሻ ስምንት (8) አመቷ ሰለሆነ ጥርሷ እረግፎ አልቋል ሰለዚህ የምትበላው ገንፎ ነው አለች።
አይ ውሾ

ሰውዬው እንደ አሞራ አበራለሁ ብሎ ተከስክሶ ሞ.....ተ!::

ሰውዬው እንደ አሞራ አበራለሁ ብሎ ተከስክሶ ሞ.....ተ!::

Wingsuit Flight Ends in Death for Hungarian Daredevil

ኒዘርላንድ ስደተኞች ደች ካልተማሩ ከአገር እንዲዎጡ ሊደረግ ነው። The Netherlands Tells Immigrants to Learn Dutch or Get Out

 ኒዘርላንድ ስደተኞች ደች ካልተማሩ ከአገር እንዲዎጡ ሊደረግ ነው።

The Netherlands Tells Immigrants to Learn Dutch or Get Out

የ2 ማይሉ ታክሲ መሳፈር $787.33 አስከፈለ

Woman charged $787.33 for two-mile cab ride የሁለት ማይሉ ታክሲ  መሳፈር  $787.33  ዋጋ አስከፈለ

ነገሩ እንዲህ ነው። ችካጎ ውስጥ አንዲት ወጣት ታክሲ ትሳፈራለች፣ በአሁኑ ወቅት ጥሬ ገንዘብ መክፍል ለማይፈልጉ ሰውች በስልክ ላይ የምትሰካ እስኮር (square) የምትባል ካርድ ማንበቢያ መሳሪያ አለች። ታዲያ አቶ ታክሲ ሾፌር  ተሳስቶ ሂሳቡን ተጭኖ ኖረ  የልጅቷ ወላጆች ወርሃዊ የባንክ ሂሳባቸውን ሲያወራርዱ ነበረ ያ ሁሉ ክፍያ ብቅ ያለው። ሰዎቹ ወዲያው ቪዛ(VISA) የሚባለውን ኩባንያ ቢደውሉ መልሱ አይሆንም ነበር። ገንዘባቸው የውሃ ሽታ መሆኑን የተረዱት ሰወች ለፖሊስም ቢያስታውቁ ክፍያው ልጅቷ ተስማምታ ፈርማ የከፈልችው ስለሆር ምንም አናደርግም ነበር። በስንት መከራ የታክሲ ሾፌሩ ተፈልጎ ሲትየቅ ሁኔታውን ለቪዛ ቢያስታውቅም  የካርዱ ሙሉ ቁጥር ስላልነበረው ምንም ነገር ማድረግ አልቻለም ነበር። ለዝርዝሩ የእግሊዘኛውን ዘገባ ያንብቡ።

A college student from Winnetka, Illinois jumped into a cab for a short ride to a restaurant in downtown Chicago, but instead of a couple dollars, she was charged almost $800.

In December, 20-year-old Becky Siegel was running late to meet friends at the Sweetwater Tavern and Grille, so she went immediately from the Metra train to a cab at the Ogilvie Transportation Center.
The restaurant was less than two miles from the station and Becky’s mother, Susan Siegel, told WFLD Fox 32 News, "He was apparently very friendly and chatty, and was talking about pedestrians crossing where they shouldn't." Once she arrived at her destination, the student asked the cab driver if she could use her credit card for the fare. “He gave her a price and she thinks it was, you know, under ten dollars,” explained Susan. “And so she said, ‘Can I use a credit card?’ And he said, ‘Oh, my swiper isn't working. Here give it to me and I'll do it on my Square."
The Square device and app allow merchants to charge customers through a mobile device. Becky handed over her credit card, told the driver to add a $2 tip, and signed the app. Becky told the Chicago Tribune, "I guess I didn't pay attention or I didn't look…I just signed my name with my finger and I left."
The problem was, as Susan Siegel found out while reviewing her transactions, instead of a charge under $12, the card was charged a whopping $787.33. Ms. Siegel contacted Visa customer service to dispute the charge, but because Becky had signed off on the transaction, a refund was refused. The Chicago Police department told Siegel that there was nothing they could do about it either. Angry about what transpired, Siegel contacted the driver, Ali Ghazanfari, for a resolution. Instead the cab driver stood behind the nearly $800 charge.
Ghazanfari’s tune changed when Siegel got in touch with the Chicago Tribune’s, “What’s Your Problem?” problem solvers. They reached out to the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. "I remember exactly what happened,” the driver told the Tribune. I made a mistake on the fare." Ms. Siegel said, "He called me two or three times, and he was in a panic. What I do know is that he is really sorry that he got caught."

Ghazanfari said he made efforts to contact Square and his bank to refund the Siegels’ money but because the company had only the last four digits of their credit card, that was not possible. Another request to Visa by Ghazanfari and Siegel working together, was unsuccessful.Mika Stambaugh, a spokesperson for the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, said that they contacted Square and the company promised to send Siegel a check for $787.33 by the end of this week. Stambaugh added, "Our department has suspended his public chauffeur license pending this investigation… He cooperated with us but he's not in the country so we still have a few unresolved issues pertaining to this case.”

So how can you avoid incidents like this from happening to you? Ms. Stambaugh explained that, "The problem here was that Square is a non an approved device. So we want to urge people to use the front and back mounted credit card device payment systems in our cabs and that's it." She also said that passengers should never allow their credit card to leave their hands and if it does, to contact 3-1-1. Finally, a lesson that Becky Siegel learned the hard way, always double check the final charges before signing a credit card receipt.

Video and more info: WFLD, Chicago Tribune

የሰው መግደያው መርዝ እጥረት ምክንያት ሞት ፍርድ የተፈረደባቸው 2 እስrኞች የመሞቻ ቀናቸው ተራዘመ

የሰው መግደያው መርዝ  እጥረት ምክንያት ሞት ፍርድ የተፈረደባቸው 2 እስረኞች የመሞቻ ቀናቸው ተራዘመ:: ወይ  የእግዜር ስራ?
An Oklahoma court has rescheduled executions so that state prison officials have more time to find a supply of lethal drugs. While two inmates had sued, challenging Oklahoma’s execution procedures, the Court of Criminal Appeals declared on Tuesday that their request for a stay was moot because the prison system did not have enough drugs to execute them. In their brief order, the judges moved the execution of one of the inmates, Clayton Lockett, to April 22 and the one of the other, Charles Warner, to April 29. They had been set to die this week and next week. The Oklahoma attorney general’s office told the court on Monday that prison officials did not have enough doses of lethal drugs on hand and that it was unlikely they could find some in time to execute Mr. Lockett on Thursday.

የሰው መግደያ መርዝ