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.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a