TIME STAMP

NEWS INTRO

Good Evening, I’m Tinsae Michael with the news for the hour.

President Sahle-Work Zewde bid farewell to the outgoing Ambassador of Angola,

Francisco Jose da Cruz. She thanked the Ambassador for his contribution to strengthening
of the relations between the two countries and wished him all the best on his new assignment.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hailed the unwavering tie of Ethiopia and China. It
came when he welcomed the new Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang today. The Chinese
foreign minister was received at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport by Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen. Later in the day he discussed with Prime
Minister Abiy on the two countries shared strategic dev’t goals and commitment to continental
and global cooperation. On Twitter, Abiy said the relations b/n the two countries remains
steadfast, adding the discussion today has highlighted that. During his stay in Ethiopia, Foreign
Minister Qin Gang will visit the Africa (CDC) Headquarters Project site in the African Village,
Addis Ababa. After concluding his visit to Ethiopia, Foreign Minister Gang is expected to visit
Gabon, Angola, Benin, Egypt, and the League of Arab States Headquarters.

The new UK ambassador to EthiopiaDarren Welch presented a copy of his letter of

credentials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chief of Protocol at the Ministry
Ambassador Demeke Atnafu received the credentials. During their discussion, Ambassador
Demeke said that the two countries should further strengthen ties in tourism, ICT, mining, agro-
processing, pharmaceuticals, and other sectors. Ambassador Demeke aso expressed the
unwavering commitment of the Ethiopian Government to implement the Pretoria Peace
Agreement. Speaking about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Ambassador Demeke
reiterated Ethiopia’s position to use the dam for development objectives. On his part,
Ambassador Darren said his country would continue to be one of the leading countries
supporting Ethiopia's development efforts, further pledging to strengthen relations between the
two countries.

A diaspora grouping from the US have donated 27 million birr worth of medical
supplies to war-affected areas. Minister of Health, Lia Tadesse received the donation from
the representative of Northern California Health Professionals and members of the Ethiopian
community, Kidist Kidane Monday. Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Dr. Kidist said they
collaborated with Medshare, a nonprofit US based organization to sponsor and donate the
medical supplies worth 27 million Birr. Health Minister, Lia Tadesse on her part commended
the donation and called on all Ethiopians at home and abroad to support restoration efforts of
health centres damaged due to conflict. According to the report from ENA the donated medical
equipment will mainly be provided to four health centres located in Wag Hemra and North
Wollo.

Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure is restoring infrastructures destroyed by the

war in the northern part of Ethiopia. Minister of Urban and Infrastructure, Chaltu Sani
said the government has been restoring infrastructures, following the peace agreement. She told
ENA that all bridges that were destroyed by the war in the north have been repaired and become
fully operational. The minister further stated that encouraging results have been registered in
the reconstruction of institutions that were destroyed in the war. She said that the on-going
reconstruction will be intensified.

A delegation of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation arrived in Mekelle with

Tigrayan athletes born in the region. The aim is to reunite the athletes with their families,
who were unable to see them due to the war in the country. Athlete Derartu Tullu, President of
the Ethiopian Athletics Federation, led the delegation of Tigrayan athletes and members of the
Executive Committee.

1,171 Ethiopians have been repatriated from Saudi Arabia on Monday. Ministry of
Women and Social Affairs indicated that family reunification of the returnees is being
undertaken by providing appropriate support and care in makeshift centers. According to the
Ministry, more than 26,695 Ethiopians have returned home from Saudi Arabia since November
12, 2022.

Also in our stories this Evening, we will take a look at Mali pardoning the 49
Ivorian soldiers.

We will also look into Hundreds of Brazilian's storming into Congress

Sunday.

Yohannes Wondafrash has the details…

Stay tuned.

Short Drop

You’re listening to the news on 105.3 Afro FM.

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

AFRICA

Rwanda said it can no longer offer refuge to people fleeing violence in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda’s presidency has shared Kagame's remarks
in a tweet. President Paul Kagame told the upper house of parliament on Monday that Rwanda
cannot keep hosting refugees. Kagame said it is not Rwanda’s problem. In November, the UN
said about 72,000 Congolese refugees had crossed into Rwanda. Kagame said he is refusing that
Rwanda should carry this burden.”

Up Kagame

Rwanda is being accused of backing the M23 rebel group - which the country has always denied.
Rwanda has also accused the DRC – where presidential elections are due this December – of
using the conflict for political purposes as well as of “fabricating” a November massacre of at
least 131 civilians. The story is from Aljazeera.
South Africa has detected the new Coronavirus variant. President Cyril Ramaphosa is
on Tuesday scheduled to convene a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council to
discuss the new variant detected in the country this week. BBC reported that the new Covid sub-
variant, known as XBB.1.5, has also been recorded in the US and UK. It is reported to be an
offshoot of the globally-dominant Omicron Covid variant and is highly transmissible. President
Ramaphosa urged South Africans not to panic. According to the World Health Organization the
XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant that’s currently dominating the U.S. is the most contagious version
of Covid-19 yet, but it doesn’t appear to make people sicker.

Nigeria's electoral commission (Inec) warned Monday that the election scheduled
for late February could be cancelled or postponed if the current level of insecurity
persists in the country. Nigerians are due to choose a successor to President Muhammadu
Buhari, with eighteen candidates vying to succeed him. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, one of the heads
of the Inec said if insecurity is not monitored and reduced, it could lead to the cancellation
and/or postponement of the elections in enough constituencies to prevent the announcement of
the results. He stressed on the need to avoid this scenario, because he said it could then "cause a
constitutional crisis". In view of the February 25 vote, he underlined all security forces and
election officials must be equipped to deal with "any challenge at any time. Nigeria's electoral
commission recently warned of the threat of increased violence during the election campaign,
adding that it had recorded at least 50 attacks, including some on its offices, since the exercise
began nearly two months ago. The report is from Africanews.

International

At least 17 people have been killed in clashes in southern Peru after protests
demanding early elections and the release of jailed former President Pedro
Castillo resumed. The dead in the city of Juliaca, where protesters were attempting to take
control of the airport, included two teenagers, the country’s human rights office said on
Monday. According to the Associated Press news agency another person was also reported killed
in the nearby city of Chucuito, where protesters blocked a highway. It was the highest death toll
since the unrest began in early December following Castillo’s removal and arrest in the wake of a
widely condemned attempt to dissolve Congress and head off his own impeachment. Castillo is
serving 18 months of pre-trial detention on charges of rebellion, which he denies. Castillo’s
successor, his former running mate Dina Boluarte, has supported a plan to push up to 2024
elections for president and Congress originally scheduled for 2026. Nationwide, protests were
reported in about 13 percent of Peru’s provinces on Monday, many of them consisting of
roadblocks.

China has stopped issuing short-term visas to South Koreans, in retaliation to

Seoul’s travel restrictions on travelers from China amid concerns about the
outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. It is Beijing’s first retaliatory move against countries
that have introduced new measures on arrivals from China. The announcement comes a day
after Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang expressed concern about the restrictions in a telephone
call with his South Korean counterpart Park Jin, according to China’s foreign ministry. South
Korea’s Park told Qin the new border restrictions were “based on science and objective”. The
Chinese embassy in Seoul announced Chinese embassies and consulates in Korea will suspend
the issuance of short-term visas for Korean citizens, adding that the measures would be
“adjusted again in line with South Korea’s removal of the discriminatory entry restrictions on
China”. As to the report from Aljazeera South Korea is among countries including Australia,
France, and the United States that have introduced measures targeting travelers from
China amid a surge in COVID cases.

Business

Ethiopian Airlines will increase frequencies to Chinese cities as of February 06,

2023. As of February 06, 2023, Ethiopian Airlines will operate daily flights to Guangzhou while
increasing its weekly flights to Beijing and Shanghai to four each and maintains the trice weekly
operation to Chengdu. Starting from March 01, 2023, the flights will surge back to the pre-
COVID19 levels with daily flights to Beijing and Shanghai as well as ten and four weekly flights
to Guangzhou and Chengdu respectively. Ethiopian will operate a total of 28 weekly passenger
flights to China when the services are fully restored. Ethiopian Group CEO Mesfin Tasew said
the Airline is ramping up the frequencies of its flights to Chinese cities due to the easing of
flight restrictions by the Government of China. He added that the the increase in flight
frequencies will help revive the trade, investment, cultural and bilateral cooperation between
Africa and China in the post-Covid era.

Ethiopia and Somalia signed a revised Air Services Agreement which was enacted
on December 3rd, 1988. Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics Dagmawit Moges and
Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Somalia witnessed the signing the signing today.
According to Dagmawit aeronautical authorities of the two countries further signed a
Memorandum of Understanding along with a technical cooperation agreement in view of
enhancing the cooperation between our two sisterly countries in the aviation sector. Somalia’s
Transport and Civil Aviation Minister arrived in Addis Ababa Monday for a working visit to
Ethiopia.

TIP

A new United Nations report says Earth’s protective ozone layer is slowly but
noticeably healing at a pace that would fully mend the hole over Antarctica in
about 43 years. Two years after the discovery of the dire state of the ozone layer, international
bodies adopted a global agreement called the Montreal Protocol. This established the phaseout
of almost 100 synthetic chemicals that were tied to the destruction of the all-important ozone. In
the latest report on the progress of the Montreal Protocol, the U.N.-backed panel confirmed that
nearly 99% of banned ozone-depleting substances have been phased out. If current policies stay
in place, the ozone layer is expected to recover to 1980 values by 2040, the U.N. announced.
Experts said that 1980-level recovery over Antarctica is expected by around 2066 and by 2045
over the Arctic.

Bridge

I’m Tinsae Michael with our technician Bereket W/hana with the evening news for
the 10th of January, 2023.

You can reach us through our SMS line 0944 33 52 52.

Or email us through our email address waltafm105.3@gmail.com

Thank you for choosing 105.3 Walta FM as your news and entertainment station
and once again Merry Xmas.

OUTRO