Ethiopia's long wait for the return of the Axum obelisk neared its end yesterday as a plane carrying the first of its three massive pieces arrived here from Italy, where the stele was taken as a prize of conquest by fascist troops nearly 70 years ago.
Applause, cheers and sighs of relief greeted the landing shortly after dawn at Axum's small airport as the giant Russian-built Antonov 124-100 cargo plane touched down with its precious 60-tonne load after four fly-bys.
"I am excited, overjoyed and delighted," said Ethiopian Culture Minister Teshome Toga, one of some 40 officials waiting on the tarmac for the arrival along with about 50 students wearing obelisk T-shirts.
"This is a very historical moment for us, we have waited so long to have the obelisk back," he said. "This operation is a wonderful example of preservation of Ethiopian culture."
The 2,500-year-old, 24m granite funeral stele weighing some 160 tonnes was stolen by Italian troops in 1937 on the orders of dictator Benito Mussolini during his brief attempt to colonize Ethiopia.
Despite a 1947 agreement that called for its return, the monument had remained in Italy, much to the anger of Ethiopia which had accused Rome of stalling on the deal for the past 58 years.
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
Former Lima mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a Peruvian presidential hopeful, gathered hundreds of supporters in Lima on Tuesday and gave authorities 24 hours to annul the first round of the country’s election over allegations of fraud. Lopez Aliaga is locked in a tight three-way race with two other candidates for second place in Sunday’s vote. The election runner-up wins a ticket to June’s presidential run-off against front-runner Keiko Fujimori. “I am giving them 24 hours to declare this electoral fraud null and void,” said Lopez Aliaga, surrounded by a crowd of several hundred supporters. “If it is not declared null and void tomorrow,
PAPAL RETORT: Pope Leo told reporters that he has ‘no fear, neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel’ US President Donald Trump has feuded with Pope Leo XIV over the Iran conflict — setting off an unholy row that could have serious political implications for the Republican leader back in the US. Trump has drawn barbs even from some allies over the attacks on the US-born pontiff, who has criticized the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown, the intervention in Venezuela and the Iran war. The president risks alienating the religious right in November’s crucial US midterm elections. So far the unprecedented clash between the leader of the most powerful military on Earth and the head of the world’s 1.4 billion
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship, the US Department of Justice said on Monday. Timothy Hudson was initially charged in February and subsequently indicted on March 10, but the breadth of the case was not known until a seal was lifted on Friday last week, weeks after US District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami said that he would be prosecuted as an adult at the request of the government. Anna Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November last
RSS