meftih-newspaper_jan2014

Meftih The Life Line of Eritrean Community Award Winning Independent Monthly Newspaperwww.meftih.ca email: [email protected]

Volum 9 Issue 5 January 2013 መጀመርታ ዓርቢ ናይ ነፍስ-ወከፍ ወርሒ ትሕተም ወርሓዊት ጋዜጣ Printed the first Friday of every month Tel: 416-824-8124 Fax: 416-783-7850

please see page 2

ዋጋ ዓቕምኹም ገዛ ንምግዛእ ንምእዙዝ፡

ህርኩት በዓል ሞያ ማልኮም

ቻርለስ ተወከሱ!

ብዝቐልጠፈ መደብኩም ንምዕዋት ክሕግዘኩም ቅሩብ’ዩ!

Malcolm Ilelaboye (Charles)Sales Representative

Cell: 647-864-9191

Dir: 416-590-2444 [email protected]

17 Church Ave., Toronto, ON. M2N 4E7

Joel E. TencerLicensed & Certi�ed by Immigration

416-850-9851

Immigration & Refugee Cases

BA, LLB, RCIC

* Business Class Immigration (Investor, Entrepreneur)* Skilled Worker Application* Live-in Caregiver (Nanny)* Refugee Claim* Family Sponsorship* Visitor Visa* Invitation Letter* Immigration Appeals* Work Permit & Study Permit* Humanitarian & Compassionate Applications* And any other Immigration Services.

Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC)

Joel E. TencerBA, LLB, RCIC

ምኽሪ ኢሚግረሽን፡ ኩሉ ግዜ ንበዓል ሞያ ሕተቱ!

1018 Finch Ave. W., Ste. 223, Toronto, ON.www.jtimmigration.com

* email: [email protected]

ICCRC Member #: R420343

Call Zenab Warahfor the Best Fares

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TES AUTOUsed Cars Dealer & Services

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ንብሉጽ ኣገልግሎት መካኒክ ወይ መኪና ክትዕድጉ፡ ኩሉ ግዜ ነዚ ምኩር በዓል ሞያ ተስ ተወከሱ!

A frigid cold snap that can freeze exposed skin in a matter of minutes has swept across much of Canada, less than two weeks after hundreds

of thousands of people in parts of the country were left without power after a vicious ice storm.

Temperatures hit - 50 as cold snap hits central and

eastern Canada

Meftih January 2014 Volume 9 Issue 5: page 2

* Car Accident* Slip & Fall* Insurance Claim

* ሓደጋ መኪና* ምውዳቕን ሸታሕ ምባልን* ምሕታት ኢንሹራንስ

ጠበቓ ሓዝ ርቡሕ ካሕሳ ክትረክብ

ንኩሉኹም ምእመናን ርሑስ በዓላት ክኾነልኩም እናተመነና ዘለኩም ጠለባት መካይን ከነማልእ ድልዋት ከምዘለና ብሓጎስ ነበስር!


Do you know whom to contact when you wanted to buy a house

of your dream?Yes, you are right!

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ንዝደለኹሞ ዘወናውን ገዛ ንምግዛእ ኩሉ ግዜ ንራጅ ተወከሱ 905-783-1300

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Residents in Lynn Lake, Man., were dealing with frigid tempera-tures as low as - 44 C with the wind chill Thursday afternoon. Winni-peg was slightly warmer at - 33.“Most Canadian are saying it is only two weeks old -- winter -- but enough is enough,” Dave Phillips, Environment Canada senior clima-tologist, told CP24 Thursday after-noon.

“This bully that we describe as the cold air is engulfing all of Canada. Everyone is in this misery from coast to cost to coast.”

In Timmins, Ont., the mercury dipped to - 52 Thursday morning when the wind chill was factored in. The air was so cold it caused ice fog -- a type of fog seen in ex-treme cold weather that consists of ice crystals -- limiting visibility on many streets and roads. The nor-mal seasonal low in the city is -23.Southern Ontario was also under a wind chill warning Thursday, with the City of Toronto advising home-less people to seek shelter.

The temperature with the wind chill reached - 31 in the afternoon, and the mercury is expected to dip in the evening. The normal season-al low for Toronto is -9.

“It is a serious issue with these brutal wind chills where flesh can freeze in under a half hour,” Phil-lips said.

Less than two weeks ago, nearly half a million people in southern Ontario were left without power after an ice storm knocked down tree branches and power lines.

The latest bout of extreme weather comes just as Toronto Hydro offi-cials announced Wednesday eve-ning that all power outages had been restored.

But at one Toronto high-rise in the north end of the city, some resi-dents were still waiting for their heat to kick on Thursday, a day in which the temperature in the city was actually lower than in Iqaluit, Nunavut, which only reached -20 with the wind chill.

Deep freeze hits MontrealIn Montreal, where the tem-perature was nearly -40, the Dans la Rue homeless shelter was forced to open early in order for street youth to get relief from the cold.

“We extend our rules so they (youth) can stay lon-ger, an extra night, or two extra nights if possible,” Cecile Arbaud, the shel-ter’s director, told CTV Montreal.

“Of course we make sure every time they visit us they have enough warm clothes and warmers for their hands.”

Montreal was colder than Alert, Nunavut on Thurs-day, which is considered to be one of the northernmost permanent settlements in the world. The temperature in Alert was -35 with the wind chill.

Atlantic Canada was brac-ing for a blizzard expected to hit Thursday evening and continue overnight in some areas. The tempera-ture in Halifax was -32 with the wind chill Thurs-day afternoon.RCMP in northwest-ern New Brunswick said Thursday night that a 29-year-old woman was found frozen in the snow 150 me-tres from her front door.Warmer weather around the cornerThe cold snap is expected to last until the weekend when temperatures are expected to warm signifi-cantly.Toronto, for example, is expected to hit 0 on Sunday while Montreal is expected to hit a high of -4.With files from CTV Mon-treal, CTV Toronto and CTV Northern Ontario

Daniel Bitonti, CTVNews.ca

From page 1

Temperatures hit - 50 . . .


IMMIGRATION /REFUGEE AGENT Needed

Seeking to hire persons, to refer clients to me, who may need Immigration or Refugee Services.* High commission paid.* Fluent in English.Joel E. Tencer B.A. LL.B. RCIC Licensed by Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC),

416-850-9851Member # R420343

NEW YORK -- Snapchat says it plans to put out a more secure version of its application following a breach that allowed hack-ers to collect the user-names and phone num-bers of some 4.6 million of its users.The disappearing-mes-sage service popular with young people said in a blog post late Thursday that the updated version of its app would allow us-ers to opt out of its “Find Friends” feature, which was apparently at the heart of the breach, and would stem future attempts to abuse its service.The breach occurred after security experts warned the company at least twice about a vulnerability in its system.

Before announcing its plans to update the app, Snapchat had been quiet. Its seemingly de-tached response caused some security specialists to wonder whether the young company can handle the spotlight that it’s been thrust into over the last year as its service has be-come enormously popular.In response to a warning by Gibson Security on Dec. 25 --which followed an earlier alert in August -- Snapchat said in a blog post last Friday that it had implemented “vari-ous safeguards” over the past year that would make it more difficult to steal large sets of phone numbers. Snapchat hasn’t detailed the changes it made.As Americans rang in the New Year, hackers reportedly published 4.6 million Snap-chat usernames and phone numbers on a website called snapchatdb.info, which has since been suspended. The breach came less than a week after the most recent warning from security experts that an attack could take place.The incident bruises the company’s image and may threaten its rapid growth. Los Angeles-based Snapchat has no source of revenue, but

its rapid rise to an estimated 20 million U.S. adult users prompted Facebook to extend a reported $3 billion buyout last year. Snapchat’s 23-year-old CEO Evan Spiegel turned down the overture. The user number estimate is based on census data and data from the Pew Research Center.What should users do? Gib-son Security, the firm that warned Snapchat of the secu-rity vulnerability on Christ-mas Day, has created a site, -- http://lookup.gibsonsec.org/ -- that lets users type in their username to see if their phone number was among those leaked. Of two user ac-counts that The Associated Press checked, one was found to have been compromised.Gibson Security did not pub-lish the last two digits of the phone numbers.Gibson says users can delete their Snapchat account if they wish, but “this won’t remove your phone number from the already circulating leaked database.” Users can also ask their phone company to give them a new phone number.“Lastly, ensure that your secu-rity settings are up to scratch on your social media profiles. Be careful about what data you give away to sites when you sign up -- if you don’t think a service requires your phone number, don’t give it

to them,” Gibson said.This was Gibson’s second warning to Snapchat, follow-ing one in August that the se-curity firm said was ignored.“Given that it’s been around four months since our last Snapchat release, we figured we’d do a refresher on the lat-est version, and see which of the released exploits had been fixed (full disclosure: none of them),” Gibson wrote on the Gibson Security website.The Snapchat breach comes just two weeks after Target was hit with a massive data security breach that affected as many as 40 million debit and credit card holders.Gartner security analyst Avi-vah Litan said phone num-bers are not considered “sen-sitive” personally identifiable information -- such as credit card or social security num-bers -- so they are collected by all sorts of companies to verify a person’s identity.A phone number is “not as bad as password or magnet-ic strip information, but it’s the piece of the puzzle that criminals need to imperson-ate identities,” she said.Christopher Soghoian, prin-cipal technologist with the American Civil Liberties Union, agreed.“The main problem was that they ignored a responsible

report by security research-ers,” he said, adding that his concern is not with the spe-cific database of information that was released, but that Snapchat has “demonstrated a cavalier attitude about pri-vacy and security.”Many people use Snapchat because it feels more private than other messaging apps and social networks. Users can send each other photos and videos that disappear within a few seconds after they are viewed. While the re-cipient can take a screenshot of the message, a big draw of Snapchat is its ephemeral nature.“This probably won’t be the last problem with Snapchat,” Soghoian said. Companies like Microsoft and Google, he added, actively court secu-

Snapchat to issue more secure app after network hacked

rity researchers and even pay bounties for people to expose flaws in their systems.“Snapchat may be too small to pay bounties, but they certainly should be treating researchers with respect and addressing issues as soon as they are told about them,” he said.In its blog post Thursday, Snapchat listed an email ad-dress that security experts could use to contact the com-pany “when they discover new ways to abuse our ser-vice so that we can respond quickly to address those con-cerns.”

Barbara Ortutay, The Associ-ated Press


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ናይ መጀመርታ ምሳና ትገብሮ ርክብ፡ ውልቃዊ ይኹን ናይ ቢዚነስ

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ንገንዘባዊ ጸገም ክትመልኦ ትደሊ እማመ ነጻ’ዩ

ኣይትጨነቑ፡ ዕዳኹም ከነቃልለኩም ንዓና ተወከሱ!

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Meftih January 2014 Volume 9 Issue 5: page 6ዜናታት

Please see page 8

መንግስቲ እስራኤል ኩሎም ዘይሕጋውያን ስደተኛታት እናገፈፈ ናብ ካምፕ ከእትዎም ጀሚሩ`ሎሺሻይ ገብረሃንስን ሃይለ መንግስተኣብን ሎሚ ንቪኦኤ ክገልጹ ኸለዉ፡ እስራኤላውያን ሰብኣዊ መስለና ይገፉ`ለዉ ይብሉ

ዝበዝሐ ስደተኛ ናብ ዓዱ ክምለስ ኣይደልን`ዩ ዝበሉ`ዞም ኤርትራውያን፡ እስራኤላውያን ግን፡ ከይፈ

ኣብ እስራኤል ዝርከቡ ኤርትራውያን፡ ኩነታትና ናብ ዝኸፍኤ ደረጃ ደይቡ ይብሉ

ኣብ መንጎ ተነሓናሕቲ ደቡብ ሱዳን ሎሚ ምሽተ ኣብ ከተማ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ክካየድ ተባሂሉ ዝነበረ ዝርርብ ሰላም ከምዘይተጀመረ ተፈሊጡ።ኩሎም ልኡዃት ተጠቓሊሎም ዝኣተው ሎም ምሸት ብምዃኖም እቲ ዝርርብ ፅባሕ ክጅምር እዩ ኢሎም ወሃቢ ቃል ምንስቴር ጉዳያት ወፃኢ ኢትዮጵያ ኣምባሳደር ዲና ሙፍቲ።

ናይ ቻይና ናይ ኣፍሪካ ጉጅለ ልኡኽ ሎማዕንቲ ሓሙስ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ምስ ምንስቴር ወፃኢ ዶ/ር ቴድሮስ ኣድሓኖም ምርኻቦምን ንናይ ኢጋድ መርገፂ ንምሕጋዝ ድልየት ምርኣዮምን ኣምባሳደር ዲና ሓቢሮም።

እቲ ግጭት ካብዘለዎም ከባቢታት ንኢትዮጵያዊያን ና

ይ ምውፃእ ስራሕ ብናይ ስቪልን ነፈርቲ ሓይሊ ኣየርን ብርክት ዝበሉ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ከምዝወፁን ብክልል ጋምቤላ ኣቢሎም ድማ ይኣትው ከምዘለውን ብምሕባር ዝተፀገሙ ሰባት ክሳብ ዝወፁ እቲ ፃዕሪ ከምዝቕፅል መሳርሕትና ሄኖክ ሰማእግዝሄር ዘዘራረቦም ኣምባሳደር ዲና ሙፍቲ ሓቢሮም።

ብዝተኣሳሰረ ኣብ ደቡብ ሱዳን ዝተፈጠረ ዘይምርግጋእ ሓላፍነት ክወስዱ ዘለዎም ፕሬዝዳንት ኪር እዮም፤ኣብ ትሕቲ መሪሕነቶም እውን ሰላ

ም ክርጋገፅ ኣይኽእልን ኢሎም ምኽትል ፕሬዝዳንት ዝነበሩ ሬይክ ማቻር ትማሊ ረቡዕ ንቪኦኤ ኣብዝሃብዎ ቃል።

ከምዚ ብምባል ‘’ነታ ሃገር በታኖምዋ ኣለው።ኣብ ጁባ ሂልቂት፣ናይ ነገዳት ምፅናፍ ይካየድ እዩ ዘሎ።ሳልቫ ኪር ድሕሪ ድጊም ሓድነት ህዝቢ ክፈጥሩ እዮም ዝብል እምነት የብለይን።’’ፕሬዝዳንት ሳል ቫኪር ብድልየት ካብ ስልጣኖም ዘይወርዱ እንተኾይኖም ብሓይሊ ንምውራድ ዜጋታት ደቡብ ሱዳን ምሳይ ሕበሩ ክብሉ ፀዊዖም ማቻር።

ብኻሊእ ናይ ደቡብ ሱዳን ዜና ይካየድ ብዘሎ ኵናት ልዕሊ 200 ሽሕ ደቡብ ሱዳናዊያን ኣብ ውሽጢ እታ ሃ

ገር ምምዝባሎ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ይግምት።ካልኦት 10 ሽሽ ሰባት ድማ ናብ ጎረባብቲ ሃገራት ተፈናቒሎም ኣለው።

ወሃቢ ቃል ትካል ስደተኛታት ሕቡራት መንግስታት ዝኾኑ ዳንኤል ማክ-ኣይዛክ UNHCR እንትወሓደ ኣብ ሸውዓተ ክፍለ ግዝኣታት እታ ሃገር ውግእ ይካይድ ዋላ እንተሃለወ እውን ናብቶም ዝተፀገሙ ንምብፃሕ እናፈተነ እዩ ኢሎም።

መብዛሕቲኦም ኣብ ጁባ፣ቦር፣ፒቦር፣ማላካልን ቤንቱን ኣብ ዝርከቡ ቐፅሪ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ተዓቒቦም ይርከቡ።እቲ ትካል ኣብቶም ማእኸላት ንዝርከቡ እናሓገዘ እዩ ኢሎም ማክ-ኣይዛክ።ኣስዒቦም ‘’ናብ 75 ሽሕ ዝግመቱ ሰባት ኣብ ዝተፈላለዩ ቦታታት እታ ሃገር ኣብ ዝርከቡ ናይ ሕቡራት መንግስታት ማእኸላት ተዓቒቦም ይርከቡ።ነዚኦም ንምሕላውን ንምፅላልን ዓብዪ ሓላፍነት እዩ’’ኢሎም።

ካብ ደቡብ ሱዳን ይሃድሙ ዘለው ብዝተፈላለዩ ትካላትን መንግስታዊ ምንስትሪታትን ጎረባብቲ ሃገራት ይሕገዙ ኣለው እውን ኢሎም ብምውሳኽ።

መንግስታት ኢትዮጵያ፣ኬንያ፣ኡጋንዳ ዋላ እውን ሱዳን ምስ ዘይመንግስታዊ ትካላት መሻርኽትና ፅቡቕ ምትሕብባር ይገብሩ እዮም ዘለው ኢሎም።ኣብ ደቡብ ሱዳን ዘሎ ኩነት በብዕለቱ ይለዋወጥ ስለዘሎ ብቐረባ ንከታተሎ ኣለና ኢሎም ወሃቢ ቃል UNHCR ማክ-ኣይዛክ።

Source: VOA

ዝርርብ ደቡብ ሱዳናዊያን ተመሓላሊፉ

ተወ ክምለሰሉ ናብ ዝኽእል ሕሱም ህይወት`ዮም ዝደፍእዎ ዘለዉ ይብሉ።

ኣብ ተልኣቪቭ ኣብ ዝርከም ኢምባሲ ኤርትራ ብዝተፈላለየ ምኽንያታት ዝመላለስ ኤርትራዊ ቁጽሩ ውሑድ ከምዘይኮነ`ውን ኣይከወሉን፡

Source: VOA

ዓበይቲ ከተማታት ዓለም ንምጅማር ሓደሽ ዓመት 2014 ብርችትን ሙዚቃን ተቐቢለንኦ ኣለዋ።ኣብ ከተማ ኒውዮርክ Times Square ተባሂሉ ኣብ ዝፅዋዕ ኣደባባይ ልዕሊ ሓደ ሚሊዮን ህዝቢ ተኣኪቡ ኣኺቢሩዎ።ከተማ ዱባይ ልዕሊ 400 ሽሕ ርችታት ብምውላዕ ክብረ ወሰን ሒዛ’ላ።

ፍርቂ ለይቲ ሰማያት ዓበይቲ ከተማታት ዓለም ብርችትን ሙዚቃን ደሚቐን፣ሰባት ንሓድሽ ዓመት 2014 ኣ/ፈ ብድሙቕ መንፈስ ተቐቢሎምዎ።

ኣብ ከተማ ኒውዮርክ Times Square ተባሂሉ ኣብዝፅዋዕ ኣደባባይ ንከቢድ ቁሪን ጥቡቕ ሓለዋ ፀ

ጥታን ተፃዊሩ፣ንስዓታት ተፀቢዩ፣ሓድሽ ዓመት ምእታው ዘበስር ግዙፍ ናይ መብራህቲ ኩዕሶ ኣብ ፍርቂ ለይቲ ክወድቕ ከሎ ንምርኣይ ናብ ሓደ ሚሊዮን ዝኸውን ህዝቢ ክፅበ ኣምስዩ’ሎ። ስልጣን ዘመን ከንቲባነቶም ዝወድኡ ቢሊየነር ማይክል ብሉምበርግ ይኹኑ ዝተክኡዎም ቢሊ ዲ ብላሲዮ እታ ኩዕሶ ንኽትወርድ ኣይገበሩን።እታ ኩዕሶ ንኽትወርድ ነታ መልጎም ወይም Button ናይ ምፅቃጥ ክብሪ ጓል ኒው ዮርክ ንዝኾና ንዳኛ ጠቕላሊ ቤት ፍርዲ ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ንሶኒያ ሶቶማየር እዩ ተዋሂቡ።

ዓለም ንሓድሽ ዓመት 2014 ብድሙቕ ተቐቢላታ


ጣና ማተሚያ ቤት


Editors: Grace CherianPhotographer: Mulugeta Zergaber Contributors: Mohamed Edris Naza HasebenebiMedhin Ghebreslasie, Amleset Tesfay, Bode Odetoy-inbo, Mimi Chandy, Ken NtiamoaSubscription Costs in Canada $39 for a year and $59 for two years. In USA, it costs $45 for a year and $69 for two years.Articles appearing in assorted columns of Meftih newspaper are intended to generate civil & informed public discussions. You don’t have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers. However, that should push you to express your own views. Through that way we generate lively & civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults & we want readers to adhere to these principles.

Editor-in-chiefAaron Berhane

260 Adelaide St. E. Toronto, ON. M5A 1N1 # 192

Tel: 416-824-8124Fax: 416-783-7850

[email protected]

Geneva, January 1st, 2014

Every year around 20,000 Eritreans aged between 17 and 50 years are forced to enroll in national service to serve the country’s po-litical regime. Citizens are required to work for un-specified periods, in slave-like conditions, or face incarceration in Eritrea’s notorious prison system, where detainees are sel-dom released.

The, Stop National Service Slavery in Eritrea Cam-paign launches today (Jan-uary 1st) in Sweden, Nor-way, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, UK and Italy. The campaign links Eritrean born activists across Europe and will call upon local governments to recognise the oppressive regime in Eritrea, which is responsible for the mass exodus of 18,000 citizens, who risk their lives trying to escape.

The campaign will last six months and will culminate in Geneva in June, where the group will appeal the UN Human Rights Coun-cil to intervene in Eritrea.

Organizers of the cam-paign state:‘ we have seen the boat disaster in Lampe-dusa in October, we con-tinue to be devastated by the heinous acts committed against our brothers and sisters in Libya and the Si-nai Desert, in Tel Aviv and the refugee camps across the region in the Horn of Africa young Eritreans continue to suffer, all this is because they can’t live freely in their own homes, we want the enslaving of young Eritreans to stop and we appeal for the world to recognize the National Ser-vice as the slavery it is’.

Elderly people, or those of ill health who are unable to leave Eritrea, have little means to support them-selves. Family members who remain in the coun-try are penalized for their relatives escape, and left financially destitute. Those who are unable to pay the extortionate fines face im-prisonment.

Campaigners believe that understanding the root cause of the exodus, is key to resolving the refu-gee crisis which claims

the lives of thousands of Eritreans every year. The campaigners come from six European countries and will be lobbying their respective governments before heading to Geneva in June. Speaking of some of the activities involved coordinators said: ‘we will obviously involve tradi-tional lobbying techniques such as, letters, face to face meetings with officials, but in reflection to our diverse backgrounds we have also got plans to utilize social media and arts to drive our message home’

The following organisa-tions are already signed up, but calls will go out for more Eritrean Youth Organisations to join the Campaign: Eritrean Youth Group in Swiss, United for Eritrea (Germany), Eri-trean Youth for National Salvation EYSNS (Italy), Eritrean Youth Solidarity for Change EYSC (UK), Young Wave Eritrea (Swe-den, Norway, Holland, Bel-gium, Switzerland and Ita-ly), Eritrean Youth Group in West London (UK).

Feruz Kaissy

Dire conditions and forced conscription hold the answers to Eritrea’s refugee crisis,

new campaign claims.

ሓድሽ ዓመት 2014 ንምቕባል ህዝቢ ኣብ ከተማታት ሞስኮ፣ዱባይ፣ለንደን ወዘተ እውን ጎደናታት ብህዝቢ ተጨናኒቖም ኣምሲዮም ኣለው።ኣብ ለንደን ኣብ ኣደባባይ ትራፍላገር ርችት ይትኮስ ኣብዝነበረሉ እዋን ተሳተፍቲ ካብ ሰማይ ብዝተበተነ ዘብለጭልጭ በራሪ ወረቐት ተሸፍኖም ነይሮም።

እቲ ኣዝዩ ዘደንቕ ምርኢት ዝተኻየደላ ዋና ከተማ ሕቡራት ዓረብ ኤመረት ዝኾነት ዱባይ እያ።ኣብቲ ካብ ዓለም ነዊሕ ዝኾነ ህንፃ Burj Khalifa ዝተወልዐን ኣሽሓት ዝተዓዘቡዎን ርችት ፍሉይ ነይሩ።ንናይ ዓለም ክብረወሰን ንምስባር 400 ሽሕ ርችታት ካብቲ ህንፃ ተተኲሱ’ሎ።ናይ ቅድሚ ሎሚ ክብረወሰን ኵዌት ዓሚ ዝተኮሰቶ በዝሒ ርችት ነይሩ፤77 ሽሕ ርችት።

ኣብ ሞስኮ Red Square ተባሂሉ ኣብ ዝፅዋዕ ኣደባባይ ኣብ ዝርከብ Spass-kaya ህንፃ ፍርቂ ለይቲ ርችት ተወሊዑ።ቅድሚ ሎሚ ብዘይተለመደ ኣብታ ከተማ በረድ ኣይነበረን፤የግሳድ ሙቐት እዩ ነይሩ።

ቨረኑላ ቡክሻ ዝተብሃለት ነብሪት ሞስኮ ከምዚ ትብል ‘’እዚ ዓመት እዚ ንኹሉ ናይ ዕድልን ሰላም

ን፣ኵናትን ግጭትን ዘይብላ ዓመት፤ኩሉ ሕጉስ ዝኾነላ ዓመት ክትኸውን እምነ፤ሂልቂት የርሕቆ።’’

ኣብ ቤጂንግ ቻይና እቲ ናይ ርችር ምርኢት ንናይ ቻይና ዓብዪ መንድቕ the Great Wall of China ብኽፋል ሸፊኑዎ ነይሩ።

Kongን Yuን ዝተብሃሉ ሕፁያት ነቲ ብዓል ብምኽባሮም ሕጉሳት እዮም። ኮንግ ኣነን ሕፅይተይን ንዝለኣለም ብፍቕሪ ክነብር ተስፋ እገብር ክብል ሪኢቱኡ ሂቡ።ዩ ብወገና ኣብ ናይ ቻይና ዓብዪ መንድቕ ነኽብሮ ስለዘለና ደስ ዝብል እዩ ትብል።ኣብ ሆንግ ኮንግ እውን ብተመሳሳሊ ድሙቕ ናይ ርችት ምርኢት ነይሩ።ኣብ ቶክዮ ሓደሽ ዓመት ንምብሳር 108 ግዜ ደወል ተደዊሉ’ሎ።

ኣብ ስድኒ ኣውስትራሊያ ናብ ክልተ ሚሊዮን ዝፅጋዕ ህዝቢ ኣብ ውሽጢ ዝሓለፉ ዓሰርተ ዓመታት ንፈለማ ግዜ ኣብ ወሰን ማይ ካብ ዝርከብ ናይ ተዋስኦ መድረኽ ንዝተተኮሰ ርችት ንምርኣይ ተኣኪቦም ኣምሲዮም።

Source: VOA

ዓለም ንሓድሽ ዓመት . . .

From page 6


Debt AdviceBy Jordan Rumanek

Consumer Debt & How To Deal With It Learn What To Do & Who To Talk To

The average Canadian struggles to make ends meet on a monthly basis, while trying to pay their debts.

A solution is to prepare a detailed personal budget and stick to it to solve your debt problems.

However, there is often a need to seek Professional As-sistance and Advice to deal with your financial situa-tion.

Where I can turn for advice?Chartered Insolvency and Restructuring Profession-als (CIRP) are available for a free consultation to offer suggestions for solving your difficulties.

Some options that may be available to you, depending on your specific personal circumstances, include the following:• Proposal• Orderly Payment of Debts• Informal Arrangements with Creditors/Credit Coun-selling• Debt Consolidation Loans• Bankruptcy

Why should I choose a CIRP/Trustee for advice?Trustees are licensed by the Superintendent of Bank-ruptcy to administer proposals and bankruptcies, to act as receivers and to monitor restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. They are gov-erned by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and the Code of Ethics for Trustees.

The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) is an agency of the Canadian Federal Government un-der Industry Canada and is responsible for regulating the process and protecting the public interest.

The OSB is also responsible for ensuring that the BIA is administered properly and that all fees charged by the Trustees are in accordance with the BIA.

By choosing a Trustee in Bankruptcy who is also a CIRP you are getting more that a licence holder. A CIRP/Trustee must also comply with the bylaws, Rules of Professional Conduct, Standards of Professional Practice and Mandatory Professional Development re-quirements of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP).

The CIRP certification identifies insolvency and re-structuring professionals who are the leaders in provid-ing insolvency and business recovery services.

Jordan Rumanek, B. Comm., CIRP, Trustee, Rumanek & Company Ltd, [email protected]

Today I walked spontane-ously into the Higdef Em-bassy and delivered a mes-sage....

I still feel somewhat out of my comfort zone even just writing this...but when I had finished my shop-ping and stood in front of the underground station in North London at 12.25 PM being 5 mins early for my appointment, I looked up the small road in which the PFDJ embassy is locat-ed. I saw the Eritrean flag and all looked so peace-ful and I said to myself, I hope this is the final year for PFDJ and the end of the suffering. I guess I felt so strongly about it that I simply walked up to their door. I rang the bell and entered. I know most of the staff there. One barely responded to my greetings. I waited in the queue and then said to the staff that I am one of the deleyti fethi and that they should stand up and no longer represent this government (bedja-kum wekelti nayzi meng-isti aytekonu). I was asked

to leave or wait for a repre-sentative.I repeated my message with a respectful tone and then turned to the people sitting inside the embassy (about 10 of them). Please, I said addressing them all, our people are suffering and dying, don’t support this government - you need to stand up. I then wished everyone a happy new year and walked out.

I decided to share it here as this is a means to spread our messages further and motivate each other. We all have moments of fear or hesitation or exhaustion or questioning, but when you feel the pain of thousands or even of just one mother who has been locked up in Eritrea for over 10 years like a wild dog, it gives you strength to just contribute to this cause the little you can.

I heard Miriam Hagos’ sto-ry this Christmas. Miriam, Aster, Senait ...3 former freedom fighters, 3 mums, none of them said anything

against the government or challenged the regime in any way yet they all per-ished in prison. Miriam challenged her husband, a PFDJ member, over the phone and was taken from her house and locked up just days later. Aster re-turned to Eritrea after 4 years studying in the US to see her 4 children and was taken away by securi-ty guards from the airport. Senait Debessay wanted the custody for her chil-dren challenging her abu-sive husband, Beyene Rus-som PFDJ, ambassador to Kenya. Senait was locked up before the court hear-ing. 2 of them were said to be still alive yet in bad condition in solitary con-finement, Senait died in prison.

This government does not have weaknesses, as some claim. It is criminal. Praying for all the mums and sisters suffering badly under PFDJ.Please feel free to share.

Miriam Septembe

Message to PFDJ


አብ 2001 ዓ.ም ዳዊት ተስፋማርያም (ኣዛን) ምስታ ካብ አስመራ ናብ ሰሜን አሜሪካ ዝመጸት ጉጅለ ባህሊ ህግደፍ አባል ኮይኑ ይመጽእ። እዛ ጉጅለ ባህሊ ናይ ሕ.መ.አን ናይ ካናዳን ምርኢታታ ዛዚማ ናብ ኤርትራ ንኽትምለስ አብ እትሸባሸበሉ ዝነበረትሉ እዋን ዳዊት አብ ልዕሊ ስርዓት ውልቀ መላኺ ኢሰያስ ብዝነበሮ ጽልኢ አሜሪካ ክተርፍ ይውስን። ነቶም ምስኡ ዝመጹ ብጾቱ ድማ መዓሰላማ ኢሉዎም ካብ ሆቴሉ ወጺኡ ናብቲ እንዳ ሓበሻ ባራት ገጹ ይምርቀፍ።

ሻንጥኡ ሒዙ አብ እንዳ ኤርትራውያን ቤት መግቢ ይበጽሕ እሞ ሰባት ረኺቡ ኩነታቱ ሓቢሩዎም ክዘናጋዕ የምሲ። አብ ጁቡኡ ገንዘብ አይነበሮን እንትርፎ እምነትን ተስፋን። እዋን ይዓርብ አዛን መሕደሪ ስለዘይነበሮ ቁሩብ ይሻቐል። የግዳስ እቲ ካብ ሳሕል አትሒዙ መጋድልቱ ብጻዩ አባል ጉጅለ ባህሊ ህ.ግ ዝነበረ አብ ዲሲ ዝነብር ሰብ አብ ጎኑ ስለዝነበረ ሻቕሎቱ ብመጠኑ እዩ ኔሩ። የግዳስ እቲ ዝአመኖ ብጻዩ ንዳዊት ምሳይ ክትከይድ አይትኽእልን ኢኻ ኢሉ ራሕሪሕዎ ይዕዘር። ንሱ ንባዕሉ ንህግደፍ ራሕሪሑ ዝጠፍኤ ሰብ ክንሱ ንዳዊት ገጹ አዚሩሉ አብ ጸልማት ራሕሪሕዎ ይኸይድ።

አብ ክንደይ ሓራድን ቀታልን ዘለዎ ቦታ አብ መሬት ዳዊትን አብ ሰማይ ድማ ወርሒ ይተርፉ። አብ ከምዚ ኩነታት ንዳዊት ብገለ መጺኡ ሓደ ወዲ አስመራ አዝማሪኖ ኢህታ አዛን ኢሉ ይጽውዖ። ዳዊት ድማ ናብ ዝኸዶ ከምዘይብሉ ይሕብሮ። ናይ ነገር አዝማሪኖ ንአዛን አጆኻ ቅሰን አነ አለኹኻ ንዓናይ ምሳይ ኢሉ ንገዝኡ ይወስዶ። አየወ ከምዚ ሎሚ ከይኮነ ወዲ አስመራ ከምቲ ባርያ ዝበሎ ብማዕዶ ሰላምታ፡ ዳዊት አብ ኢድ ሓላል አዝማሪኖ ወዲቑ። ነ

ዛ ዕለት ድማ ስጋብ ሎሚ ይዝክራ አሎ።

ዳዊት አብ አሜሪካ ምስ ተረፈ ብኢምባሲ ስርዓት ህግደፍ አብ ዝኾነ ይኹን ንኸይጻወት እገዳ ተገይርሉ። ደገፍቲ ህግደፍ አብ መርዕኦም ኮነ ሓጎሶም ንዳዊት ንኸየጻውትዎ ተነግሮም። ዳዊት ግና ብኸምዚ ዝምብርከኽ አይኮነን። ካብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ሰውራ ጀሚሩ ብድርቅንኡ እዩ ዝፍለጥ። ዳዊት ንማንም እሺ ክብል ሕልንኡ አየፍቅደሉን እዩ። ከምቲ ክእለቱ ደአ ሰጋዲ ኔሩ እንተዝኸውን ህግደፍ ሰማይ ሰቒሎሞ ምስሃለዉ። ዳዊት ግና ካብ ባርነት ንሓርነት እዩ መሪጹ። እወ ነቲ ንእስነቱ ዝኸፈለሉ፡ አሓዋቱን ብጾቱን ቀያሕቲ ደቂ ቤት ትምህርቲ ሰውራ ዝኸፈለሉ ሓርነት።

ዳዊት ንገንዘብ ዘየፍቅር ብረብሓ ዘይታለል ክሳብ ሕጂ ቀዳድ ዝጅብኡ ተጋዳላይ እዩ ዘሎ። ንገንዘብ አይኮነን ዝነብር የግዳስ ንስለ ምንባር እዩ ገንዘብ ዘድልዮ። ዳዊት ካብ ህግደፍ ምስተፈልየ ከምቶም ስርኦም ዝፈትሑ ስቕታ አይመረጸን። ከምይ ጌሩ ህዝቢ ይጉስጉስ ካብ ምሕሳብ ዓዲ አይወዓለን። ምስ ዳዊት አብ አስመራ ብዝነበረኒ ሃሳስ ሌላ አብ አሜሪካ ምስ ተረፈ ብዝፈጠረለይ ባህታ ቀጻሊ ክንራኸብ ጀሚርና። አንጻር ህግደፍ እንታይ ክንገብር ከም እንኽእል መዓልታዊ ካብ ም

ዝታይ ዓዲ አይወዓልናን። ምስ በዓል አሮን ሃይለን ካልኦት መንእሰያት ዝርከቡዎም ኤርትራዊ ህዝባዊ ፎረም ቤይ ኤርያ አቑምና ህዝቢ ናብ ህግደፍ ዘዳለዎ በዓላት ንኸይከይድ ዝገበርናዮ ሓያል ጎስጓስ ከምቲ ዝድለ ስለዘይከደ ካልእ ክንበላሓት ተገዲድና።

አብ 2008 ዓ.ም ነቲ ታሪኻዊ ማሕበር ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ንለውጢ ቤይ ኤርያ ምስ መስረትና ህዝባዊ በዓላትና ባዕልና ንኽንውንኖ ትልሚ ነውጽእ። “ገረብ ብሓኽላ” ከምዝበልዎ ንህግደፍ ብብልሓቱ ብኽእለቱ ክንገጥሞ ንውስን። ዳዊት አዛንን ከበደ ደሞዝን ትሑዛት ሙዚቀኛታት ስለ ዝነበሩና ናብ ካልኦት ሃሰው ንብል። ብሓገዝ ዳዊትን ወዲ ደሞዝን ድማ ንሚኪኤል ባህታን ንሎሬንዞ መሓርን ምሳና ንኽጻወቱ ነእምኖም። ጊታሪስት ዮሴፍ ባህታ’ውን ቀጺሉ ይጽንበረና። ደምበ ተቓዉሞ ሰሜን አሜሪካ ድማ ንፋልማይ ጊዜ EYC ብዝሓንጸጾ ትልሚ አብ ወርሒ ግንቦት 2009 ዓ.ም ነዞም ህቡባት ደረፍትን ሙዚቀኛታትን ሒዝና ቦኽሪ በዓል ናጽነት ብደለይቲ ፍትሒ አብ Washington INN Hotel down town Oakland ነዳሉ። ይዝከረኒ ህግደፍ አብቲ ከባቢ ካሜራ ሒዞም ንኸፈራርሑ ዘወን ክብሉ፡ ንሕና ድማ ነቶም ሰገጥ ዝበሉ ቁልፎም ሸጥ እንዳበልና አጆኻ ናይ አቦታትካ

ውሰድ እንክንብሎም።

ህግደፍ አዝዮም ተሻቒሎም ከመይሲ አመጻጽአና አዝዩ ሓደገኛ ምዃኑ ስለዝፈለጡ። “ፋይዳ’ብሉን ምኩሕ ሓናኒ ንቕሓት እዩ ወሳኒ” ዝብሉኹም ደርፊ ገድሊ ከምዚ ምስተረኽበ እዩ። ካብታ ዕለት አትሒዙ ዳዊት ስርሑ አየቋረጸን። ንኽንደይ ነአሽቱ ደረፍቲ አተባቢዑ ናብዚ ቃልሲ ከም ዝጽንበሩ ጌሩ። እቲ ምስ ሓደ ባህግና ምስ በዓል ስውእ ተጋዳላይ የማነ ባርያ፡ በረኸት መንግስትአብ፡ ዑስማን ዓብደልርሒም፡ አልአሚን አብደልለጢፍ፡ ተስፋይ መሓሪ(ፊሒራ)፡ እድሪስ መሓመድ ዓሊን ካልኦት ባህራት ደረፍትን ሓደ ባህግና ንዓለም ዝዞራ ዳዊት ምስቶም ምንም ዝና ኮነ ስም ዘይነበሮም ደረፍቲ ኮይኑ ክቃለስ ሞራሉ አየውደቐን። የግዳስ ቃልሱ እንዳሕነነ መጺኡ።

እታ ብዳዊት እትምራሕ ጉጅለ ባህሊ ንህቡብ ጊታሪስት ረዘነ ሃብተ ወሲኻቶ። ቀጺላ ንዮናታን ሃብተ ሸኾርተቲኖ፡ ንሑሴን መሓመድ ዓሊ ንህቡብ ሙዚቀኛን ደራፋይን መምህር ተወልደ ረዳ እውን ሒዛ ናብ መድረኽ መጺአ። ምስ ዳዊት አዛንን ከምኡ’ውን ከበደ ደሞዝ ነዚ ጉዳይ ብንጥፈት ሰሪሕናሉ። ኦክላንድ ጩራ ብርሃን ወጋሕታ መጻኢት ኤርትራ ምዃና ብግብሪ አመስኪራ። ኦክላንድ ልክዕ ከም ግንባ

ር ጊንዳዕ ቦታ ምርብራብ ደለይቲ ፍትሕን ህግደፍን ካብ ትኸውን ነዊሕ እዋን እዩ ኮይኑ። ሎም ዘመን ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ምስ ወዲ ትካቦ ኮይንና “ኤረይ ንሓድነትና ሸጥ መዓንጣና” ክንብል ተዳሊና አለና።

ህግደፍ ድማ አብዛ ናይ መወዳእታ ምርኢቶም ንወዲ ዛግር ሒዞም ፍሽኽ ኢላ አስመራ ክብሉ ይዳለው ምህላወም ሰሚዕና። ግርምባ ሉቸ መብራህቲ፡ ማይ ዝስተ ኾነ ባኒ ዝብላዕ ዘይብላ አስመራ ሒዝካስ ፍሽኽ አሎ እዩ። ንርኢ በለት ዕዉርቲ። እንተ ዳዊት አዛንን ከበደ ደሞዝን አዝየ ዝፈትወኩም አሕዋተይን የዕሩኽተይን እንቋዕ ሓጎሰኩም። ምስቲ እትብህግዎን እተድንቕዎን አቦ ግጥሚ ደርፊ ትግርኛ ወዲ ትካቦ አራኸበኩም። እቲ ስለ ሓድነትን ሓቢርካ ምስራሕን ንዕለት 29ን 30ን ታሕሳስ እንገብሮ ዓውደ መጽናዕትን ንድሮ ሓድሽ ዓመት እንገብሮ ባህላዊ ምሸትን ብዓወት ከምዝዛዘም ጥርጥር የልቦን። እቶም ንስለ ስቓይ ህዝብኹም ኢሂን ሚሂን ክንበሃሃል ካብ ርሑቕ ክትመጹ እትዳለዉ ዘለኹም ብደሓን የራኽበና ሰብ ኦክላንድ ክልተ ኢድና ዘርጊሕና ንጽበየኩም ከም ዘለና አይትረስዑ።

እንተ ዳዊት አዛን ዓርከይ ዝያዳ ኩሉ ነዚ መዓልቲ ተጸቢኻዮ ኢኻ እሞ፡ ከምቲ “ሽም ይመርሕ ጥዋፍ የብርህ ዝበልዎ” ከምቲ ዳዊት ንጎልያድ ዝቐብኦ ንስኻ’ውን ነቲ ጎልያድ ዝነበረ ህግደፍ ቀሪብካ ኢኻ ከተቃብጾ። ንዓመታ በዓል ናጽነት ንስኻ አብ መድረኽ ፈተውትኻ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ድማ አብ ባይታ ሳዓሳዒት አብ ኤክስፖ ወይ አብ ክዋ የራኽበና።

ሰሎሙን ገብረእየሱስ

ኦክላንድ – ካሊፎርንያ

ሽም ይመርሕ ጥዋፍ የብርህ


ናብ ገጽ 13 ይቕጽል

ትዝክሩ ዶ ቀደም በዓል ጥምቀት ምስ ኮነ ታቦታት ናይ አብያተ ክርስትያናት ኩሎም ንጎይታና እየሱስ ክርስቶስ ከጠምቑ ተአኪቦም ናብ ማይ ጥምቀት ክውሕዙ። አማስየኦም ድማ ነናብ ዝመጽሉ ይፋነው እሞ፡ ታቦት ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ግና አብ ማይ ጥምቀት ይሓድር ኔሩ። ንጽባሒቱ አዴታትና ገሊኤን ምስኡ ይሓድራ እተን ካልኦት ድማ አብ ማይ ጥምቀት አንጊሄን ድሕሪ ምምጻእ አራፊደን አቐዲሰን ንምኪኤል ሒዘንኦ ካብ ማይ ጥምቀት ናብ ሰኒታ ገጸን ጉዕዞ ይጅምራ። ይዝከረኒ እተን አዴታትና ወርቂ መንበሩ ወርቂ መንበሩ’የ ሚኪኤለይ ወርቂ መንበሩ እንዳበላ ብጥዑም ላዛ እንዳተማህለላ ክኸዳ።

ናይ እንዳመን ድያቆን እዩ ከይትብሉኒ አይትተሃወኹ። ሃይማኖትን ኤለክትሪክን አዝየ እየ ዝፈርሀን። አስላማይ ዲኻ ክስታናይ ኢሎም ክሓቱኒ ከለው ከማን ንኽምልስ ጊዜ ይወስደለይ እዩ። ዝከአል እነንተዝኸውን አስላማይን ክስታናይ ብማዕረ ምስኮንኩ። ምኽንያቱ አብ ዓለም ካብ ምፍልላይ ዝረብሕ ድያብሎስ ጥራይ እዩ። እንታይ ደአ ታቦት ወዲ ታቦት አምጺኻ እንተትብሉኒ ግና መልሲ አለኒ። አብ ሃይማኖት ንመላእኽቲ ታቦት ካብ እተባህለ፡ አብ ስነ ጥበብ ንዮውሃንስ ወዲ ትካቦ ታቦት ስነ ጥበብ ዘይበሃለሉ ምንም ምኽንያት የልቦን ኢለ ስለዝአምን እየ። ሰብ አብ ምድናቕ በቃቕ እየ። ንወዲ ቲካቦ ግና ዝበቀሉ ምንም ምኽንያት የብለየን። ግጥምታቱ ፈትየ ስጋብ ዝጸልእ ንአእሙሮይ ተቖጻጺርዎ እዩ።

እስከ ሕሰቡሞ ገሊኦም ደረፍቲ ሓሙሽተ ሲዲታት፡ ነፍሲ ወከፈን ዓሰርተ ደርፊ ዝሓዛ አሕቲሞም አብ ዩ-ቲዩብ(you tube) ይዝርግሕዎ። ነዘን ሓምሳ ደርፍታት ብድምር አብ ሓሙሽተ ዓመት ክን

ደይ ጊዜ ሰማዕቲ ዋላ’ውን ተጋግዮም መሪጾመን ኢልካ ፒሮን ወረቐትን አውጺኻ እንተደሚርካ ኩሉሙሉ ሚእቲ ሽሕ አይበጽሕን እዩ። ወረግ እቲ ደራፋይ ባዕሉ ደሃየን ክገብር ኢሉ ዓሰርተ ጊዜ ስለዝኸፍተን እዩ ከማን ናብኡ ገጹ ዝገማገም። እንተ ናይ ወዲ ትካቦ ግና ንአዳም ገረሞ ተአምር እዩ። ንሓንቲ ደርፊ ኤረይ ንሓድነትና ምስ ዝርግሔ አብ ናይ ቋሕ ሰም ጊዜ ልዕሊ ሚእቲ ሽሕ ሰብ ሰሚዕዋ። ማንም ኤርትራዊ ስነጥበበኛ ድማ ነዚ ናይ ወዲ ትካቦ ክብረ ወሰን ዝዳረግ የልቦን።

እንዳ በዓል ንሕና ንሱ ጀነራል እንተኾብለለ ዕዳ ቐለለ፡ ሚኒስተር ዕቑባ እንተሓተተ ዳርጋ ምውት ዳግማይ ከም ዝሞተ እዮም ዝርእይዎ። ናይ ወዲ ትካቦ ግና አዝዩ መዓንጣኦም አሕሪርዎም እዩ። ዝሕዝዎን ዝጭብጥዎን እዩ ጠፊእዎም። እንተ ንሕና እሞ መቕሊ እኮ አይኽላእካ ዝበሃል አባጅጎ ንየማነ ባርያ ወሲዱ ንወዲ ትካቦ መቕሊ እዩ ገዲፉልና። ህዝብና ብግጥሙን ቅኒቱን ዝአሊ ጓሳ እዩ ሲኢኑ ኔሩ። ሕጂ ግና ወዲ ትካቦ ህዝቡ ክጓሲ ተዳልዩ አሎ። ናይ ወዲ ትካቦ ፍሉይነቱ ዋላ’ውን ነቶም ምስቲ ስርዓት ዝደናገጹ እውን ናብ መአዲ ሓድነት ከምጽኦም ዓቢ ተኽእሎ ዝተዓደሎ ስነ ጥበበኛ እዩ።

እምበአርከስ እዚ ታቦት ናብ ኦክላንድ ክመጽእ እዩ ምስ ተባህለ መእመናን ስነ ጥበብ ክሰራሰሩ እዮም ቀንዮም። አብ ዝኸድካዮ አብያተ መዘናግዒ ከተማ ኦክላንድ ደርፍታት ወዲ ትካቦ መድረኽ ቢሒቶሞ እዮም ቀንዮም። መዓስ እዩ ዝአቱ ክብሉ ተሃንጥዮም። ወረግ ገሊኦምሲ ምእማን እዩ አቢይዎም ቀንዩ። ወዲ ትካቦ ግና አብ መዓልቱን አብ ሰዓቱን አብ ዓለምለኻዊ መዓርፎ ነፈርቲ ሳን ፍራንሲስኮ ደበኽ ኢሉ። እቶም ኤረይ ን

ሓድነትና ሸጥ መዓንጣና ዝብል ናይ ተስፋ ሓምላይ ካናቴራ ዝለበሱ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ሓቑፎም ሰዓምዎ። ክልተ ደቂ አንስትዮ ድማ ናይ እንቋዕ ብሰላም መጻእካ ዕንባባ አበርኪተናሉ። ቀጺሉ ናብቲ ንኽብሪ ወዲ ትካቦ ዝተዳለወ ናይ ድራር ግብጃ ተኸይዱ፡ ሰሓቕን ወኻእካዕን ዘለዎ ምሸት ሓሊፉ።

ወዲ ትካቦ ከም ሕቑኡ ዘይተረረ ዕንዳይ ካብ ሕቑፎ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ናብ ደለይቲ ሓርነት ይሰራሰር አሎ። ሰሉስ ምሸት ድሮ ሓድሽ ዓመት ህዝቢ ቤይ ኤርያ ምስ ወዲ ትካቦ ተሓምበለ ክብል ተዳልዩ ይርከብ። ምስ ወዲ ትካቦ ዘመን፡ ይገርመናሎ፡ ደመተይ፡ ባንደራይ፡ እዛ ዓዲ አመንቲ ሪምናያ ሪምና እንዳበልና ከነኹድድ ሳልስቲ ተሪፉና አሎ። እንታይ ይገበር ከም ጥንስቲ መዓልቲ ክንቖጽር ከፊኡናኮ።

እቶም ንዓመታት አብ ስደት ተቐሚጦም ብፍርሂ ላንጋ ላንጋ ኮይኖም ከም ድሙ ኩላሶ ህግደፍ ከማዕድው ጊዜኦም ዝዓርቦም ዘሎ ስነጥበበኛታት ካብ ወዲ ቲካቦ ክመሃሩ አለዎም። ህዝብኹም የፍቅረኩም እዩ። ብፍቕሪ ህዝብኹም አይትጣልዑ። ጽባሕ ከም ጠላም ክትሓፍሩ ካብ ትነብሩ፡ ንምንታይ ካብ ወዲ ትካቦ አበደን ኢልኩም ሓርነትኩም አውጁ። ወዲ ትካቦ ርግጸኛ እየ ጽባሕ ነቶም ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ኢና እንዳበልና ፍትሒ እንተጨፍሊቕና እውን ምሕረት ከምዘይገብረልና። ወዲ ትካቦ ወዲ ህዝቢ እዩ። ወዲ ትካቦ ንስለ ኤርትራን ህዝባን ዝብጀው ተባዕ ስነ ጥበበኛ እዩ። 2014 ዓመት ሰላምን ፍትሕን ዕርቅን ክኾነልና ኩልና ብሓጎስ ንቀበላ።

ርሑስ ሓድሽ ዓመት ንኩሉኹም ኤርትራውያን።

ሰሎሙን ገብረእየሱስ ኦክላንድ ካሊፎርንያ

ምውቕ አቀባብላ ንታቦት ስነ ጥበብ ዮውሃንስ ትካቦ ኣለዳ

ረድኢ ክፍለ (ባሻይ)

01-01-2014

ኣሓና ክወፍራ ወጋሕታ ኣለዳ

ሮማዲ ክበልዓ ፋሕ ኢለን አብ ሜዳ

ገዛ ይምለሳ እንዳበላ እምባሕ

ሰቲኻ ዘይውዳእ ክንሕንፍፎ በራሕ…….

(ትብል መዝሙር ነይራትኒ 1975)

ሕጂኸ? ተዓዊትና ንምለስ ዶኾን ንኸውን?

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ ምምላስ ተበሉኹምከ!

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ እንዳበልና ዕሰል

ስመር ጭሖና ንቃለስ ንመሰል

ንኽእሎ’ኮ ኢና ከመይ ዘይንምለስ

ኣይ ጀጋኑ እንዲና ደቂ ጥዑም ምለስ

ሰብ ኣደራሽ ኢና ሰብ መደበ ንእዲ

ዝባን ሕጊ ልምዶም ኣብ ኣሬባ ዓዲ

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ…………..

ተመሊስና ’ንዲና ርኢናየን ኩለን

ተቐቢለናና ሕምባሻ ጽላለን

እወ ተመሊስና ርኢናዮም ኩሎም

ተቐቢሎምና ምርቓ ልሳኖም

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ…………

መኪትና ኣቲና ወላድ ተሓጒሳ

ይኣኽለና ’ልናዮ ናይ ጠያይት ቃርሳ

ንዓዲ መሪሽና ኣባይና ሰምቢዱ

ኣፍ ልቢ ሃሪምና ኮቦሮ ውሒዱ


ከመይ ዘይንምለስ………….

ዓቝረዮ ነይረ ወነይ ተላዒሉ

ኣይተባህለን ’ዲዩታ እምብልታ ’ቐብሉ

ተመሊሱ’ንድዩታ ዕርድታት ኣፍሪሱ

ጅግና ኤርትራዊ ባንዴራ ደበሱ


ከመይ ዘይንምለስ ደቂ መርሽ ክተት

ለሚድናዮ ’ንዲና ተጋዲልካ ዓወት

እንተዘንጊዕኩሞ ደብተርና ገንጽሉ

ዓይኒ ተሲኢንኩም ኣምብቡለይ በሉ


ዘበን ግርምቢጥ’ዩ ማይ ንዓቐብ ኰይኑ

ሰብ ኪዳን ጥራዮም ከዳዕ ተኸዲኑ

ቀላጽም ጀጋኑ ዓለም ዘመስከረ

ምስ ደሙ ’ኮ’ለና ዘይተሓጽበ ስረ


ኣለዋ’ኮ ’ዴታት ስንቂ ዘቐበላ

ተጋጊኹም ህግደፍ ኣይፋልኩምን ዝብላ

ኣለዉ’ኮ ’ቦታት ብሴፍ ዝደበሉ

ህግደፍ ጠሊሙዎም መሃይኦም አሉ


ኰረሻ ጌርካዮ ዝባን መንእሰያት

ህግደፍ ዓመጸኛ መኻዚኖ ሓጥያት

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ ደቂ ነብሪ’ናብስ

ሰለም ስኢንናዮስ ንስኻ ክትድቅስ!

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ……………

ብቕልጽም ንቃለስ ብሕጊ ንፈርድ

ደይብና ጸኒሕና ብሰላም ንወርድ

ህግደፍ ደምሲስካዮ ’ቲ ዝነበረና

ብዙሓት ከለና ሒደት ተመዚንና


ተመሊስና ’ንዲና መምበር ዓዲልናካ

ደቂ ገርሂ ልባ ዓያሹ ረኺብካ

ታሪኽ ገናጺልና ኩሉ ረኺብናዮ

ውሻጠ ናይ ዲያብሎስ ተመኲሮ ዋህዮ

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ…………….

ካርሸሊ ንዓኹም ንዓና ዳስ ፍቕሪ

ከስዐ ተቓለስቲ ንሱ’ያ ትፈሪ

ኣብኣ ትጸንሓኩም ዓንቀፍቲ ታሪኽና

ክንደይ ከይሰደኩም ውሕጅ ደም ህዝብና

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ………………

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ እንዳበለልና ዕሰል

ስመር ጭርሖና ንቃለስ ንመሰል

ከመይ ዘይንምለስ ኣኺሉ ኣለዳ

ክትራኸብ’ያ’ደ ክትልሕስ ውሉዳ።

ረ.ክ. (ባሻይ)

ኣለዳ . .


A new calendar year means some new rules are in effect across Canada. Here’s a look at what’s changed.

As of Jan. 2, Canadians with parents or grandpar-ents overseas can apply for them to become per-manent residents in this country.Applications were halted in 2011, to clear an eight-year backlog. Now that the Family Reunification Program has begun again, Ottawa says it will limit the number of applica-tions to 5,000 annually.

“You can imagine that the race is on,” CTV’s Mer-cedes Stephenson said from Ottawa Thursday, noting that the applica-tions will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.

“I imagine that the Citi-zenship and Immigration Department is going to be seeing quite a lot of appli-cations for this.”

Bulb banIf you’ve got a light bulb that needs replacing, you’ll soon discover that

the federal gov-ernment’s ban on incandescent bulbs went into effect Jan. 1.

Retailers can continue to sell their existing stocks of the old-fashioned light bulbs, but manu-facturers won’t be sending them any new ones. Instead, consum-ers will find store shelves taken over by more energy-efficient alternatives in-cluding com-pact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LED).

Sixty and 40-watt in-candescent bulbs will be phased out next Decem-ber.

Foreign workersNew regulations designed to allay Canadians’ fears their jobs are being filled by foreign workers are also in effect as of Jan. 1.Under the new rules, for a period of six years, gov-ernment officials do not

need warrants to conduct surprise workplace in-spections, interview for-eign workers and demand documentation from em-ployers -- all to prove whether they are in com-pliance with conditions of the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program.The new regulations make it illegal for employers to pay foreign workers 15 per cent less than the standard rate for a posi-tion, and include the in-troduction of a new $275 fee for each TFW permit

application.

The fact that em-ployers in Canada’s sex industry will no longer be able to apply to bring foreign workers to fill their jobs has grabbed the most headlines, how-ever.

Canada’s new rules: Here’s what changed for 2014

“Some people here in Ot-tawa have joked that this means more Canadian-based strippers,” Ste-phenson told CTV News Channel, explaining that the rules first announced in 2012 as a means of protecting “vulnerable” foreign workers, is ex-pected to mean more em-ployment opportunities for Canadians to fill those jobs.‘Zapper’ clampdownBusinesses now face stiffer fines for using so-called “zapper” software to dodge taxes by erasing sales from the company ledgers. A first offence will now net the com-pany a $5,000 fine, while subsequent infractions would be punished with a $50,000 fine.

Anyone in possession of the software could be fined up to $50,000, while those who develop or sell

such programs could be hit with a $100,000 fine.

Tax ReliefA freeze on Employment Insurance premiums takes effect this week, meaning the rate will remain at the 2013 level of $1.88 per $100 of the $47,400 in maximum insurable earn-ings.

Higher-income Canadi-ans will pay a little more, however, as maximum insurable earnings rise to $48,600 in 2014.

Other tax changes include a new credit for charitable cash donations over $200 to $1,000, up from the previous 29 per cent to 54 per cent for first-time do-nors.With files from The Cana-dian PressSource: CTVNew


A tribunal of 11 eminent judges has unanimously found the Sri Lankan gov-ernment guilty of the crime of genocide against ethnic Tamil people. Sitting in Bremen, from December 7 to 10, the Second Session of the Peoples’ Tribunal on Sri Lanka found that the crime of genocide has been and is being committed against the Eelam Tamils as a national group.

I was invited to appear be-fore the tribunal as an expert witness on the treatment of Tamils from Sri Lanka by the Australian government. The Second Session in Bre-men was convened in re-sponse to the determination of the First Session, held in January 2010 in Dublin, that war crimes and crimes against humanity had taken place against the Tamil pop-ulation in the final months

of the war in early 2009, and that further investigation be undertaken regarding the question of genocide.The two sessions of the Per-manent Peoples’ Tribunal were established in response to submissions made by the International Human Rights Association, Bremen, and the Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka. The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal is based in Rome under the auspices of general secretary Gianni To-gnoni. Thirty eye-witnesses and other experts appeared before the Second Tribunal, some at great personal risk.The tribunal found that genocide against the Ee-lam Tamil group has not yet reached the total destruction of their identity; however, the genocide is a process and the process is ongoing. The military killings of May 2009 have been transformed into other forms of conduct

causing serious bodily and mental harm to members of the group. The tribunal considered that the proof established beyond any rea-sonable doubt that the fol-lowing acts were committed by the government of Sri Lanka:

Killing members of the group, which includes mas-sacres, indiscriminate shell-ing, the strategy of herding civilians into so-called ‘’no fire zones’’ for the purpose of killings, targeted assassi-nations of outspoken Eelam Tamil civil leaders who were capable of articulating the Sri Lankan genocide project to the outside world.

Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, including acts of torture, inhumane or de-grading treatment, sexual violence including rape, in-terrogations combined with

beatings, threats of death, and harm that damages health or causes disfigure-ment or injury. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or part, including ex-pulsion of the victims from their homes; and seizures of private lands; declaring vast areas as military high security zones to facilitate the military acquisition of Tamil land.

The tribunal undertook to further examine allegations of forced sterilisation of Tamil women.

Britain and the US were found to be guilty of com-plicity in the crime of geno-cide, including complicity by procuring means, such as weapons, instruments or any other means, used to commit genocide, with the accomplice knowing that such means would be used for such a purpose; and com-plicity by knowingly aiding or abetting a perpetrator of a genocide in the planning or enabling of such acts.The tribunal recognised that Sri Lanka did not have the capacity to achieve geno-cide without assistance and, on the basis of evidence provided, came to the con-clusion that Britain, the US and possibly India are guilty of complicity. However, due to the constraint of time, the tribunal limited its findings to Britain and the US, pend-ing the availability of fur-ther evidence against India and other states.

After the recent gift of two patrol boats to Sri Lanka’s navy, Australia is in danger of being one of those states. The gift adds to the military capacity of the Rajapaksa re-gime to illegally detain and harm Tamil asylum seekers fleeing repression.In recent times the Rudd and Abbott governments took

it upon themselves to send Tamil asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka without hear-ing their claims. This was done on the basis that they were economic refugees - although how this determi-nation was reached without first hearing claims was not explained.Australians outside of gov-ernment involved with the welfare of Tamil asylum seekers have long known of the genocidal intent of the government. But it has been puzzling why the Aus-tralian government was not informed of this by its high commission in Colombo.I took the opportunity at the hearings to ask some of the Tamil witnesses from with-in the country whether they thought the high commis-sion was informed and they said yes, on the basis that they had briefed Australian diplomatic officers. This raises the question of what was done with that informa-tion. The assumption must be that it had gone to Can-berra and had been ignored by government for reasons of policy and politics. This would suggest that both ma-jor parties knowingly acted illegally with respect to pro-cessing Tamil asylum seek-ers. How low can we go?Lower, it seems. I was also informed that the high com-mission has now ceased briefings from Tamil sourc-es in the north, presumably on the basis of what they don’t know they don’t have to lie about. A form of deni-ability adopted and refined by Hitler’s Third Reich to-wards the final solution of the Jewish question.The tribunal requested that states able to do so should take Tamil asylum seekers as refugees.

Bruce Haigh is a political commentator, human rights activist and retired diplo-mat.

Tribunal delivers Sri Lanka’s guilty verdict


Please see page 17

OPINION

It’s almost 2014 and Isaias Afe-worki is still there, reigning over and ruining Eritrea. Change will come sooner or later. Of course it will! Sooner, if the movement for democratic change manages to quickly create an atmosphere ripe enough for those who can act, take a decisive action; or later, when nature takes its due course, as it always does. To have this decaying system linger for another 4-5 years is simply to sentence the Eritrean people to more suffering and to subject young Eritreans to disasters akin to Sinai, Sahara, Libya, Lampe-dusa or another godforsaken location where we would once again impotently wail, mourn and brace for the next disaster.

It is still conceivable that the regime can survive the diplo-matic, economic and political quagmire it dug itself into in re-cent years by simply positioning itself that all interested parties have no better choice but to deal with it. The international com-munity, the neighboring coun-tries (including Ethiopia), and even some Eritreans (including the very victims of the regime) are giving signals that they are willing to accept the status quo as the new normal and move on. The recent sectarian poli-tics based crises in South Sudan and the endless butchering in Syria may serve as a backdrop to scare off would be support-ers of regime change in Eritrea and lead them to conclude that Isaias Afeworki may be needed as the necessary evil to maintain stability.

This leaves the committed Eri-trean activists who are fighting to see a just Eritrea based on democratic institutions in a rath-er lonely place and swimming upstream. In a world driven by self-interest instead of by the more egalitarian aspiration of the common-good, change becomes that much harder. Is it a worthy fight? Absolutely! But it is also a fight that must be fought not to make a point but to win. That means the opposition camp need to retool, refocus and get rid of failed strategies that are simply working against itself, and to the delight of the dictator and those who upkeep the system.

We have to, we must and we can hasten the downfall of the regime; but not in the state of toxicity our politics is current-

ly in, which only helps create thriving conditions for the ven-omous mafia regime in power. The fragmented opposition need to realize that to defeat Isaias Afeworki, it cannot afford to be perceived (and perception is reality!) as a sectarian move-ment, whose members spend more time infighting than lay-ing out their alternative vision. Let’s face it, no one group, sec-tor or political party can defeat a system that has ingrained its cult-like culture deep into the Eritrean psyche. The truth is, we will all need each other’s sup-port more than we pretend not to and create synergy that would take us beyond where we are today. Otherwise, why would 2014 yield a different result than prior years? To detoxify the political environment is then to deny breeding area for a system that needs this toxic situation in order to survive and multiply. We must detox, treat, heal and restore our political environ-ment, if not out of more mature reasons, at least as a smart strat-egy to defeat the system.

But first, we need to understand what ails us? How did the move-ment suddenly become so un-pleasant to operate in? How can the silent majority jump on this wagon for change if it continues to become uninviting for those who are already on it? Was it al-ways so, or is it getting amplified by technology and simply get-ting louder? There are no simple answers to confidently say how we got here but it helps to take a glance at the last few years and look for general trends and make a learned choice for 2014.

Fresh Wave

The year 2011 was a game changing year in the long wind-ing road of Eritrea’s movement for democratic change. Thanks to the inspiring accomplish-ments of young revolutionaries in the Arab world and ease of access to social media tools, a wave of young people stood up to be counted. It was a year to simply declare that enough was “Enough!” and “Down Down Isaias!” The euphoric energy was palpable, veteran Deleyty FtHi whose calls for respect of human rights and freedoms was mostly landing on apathetic ears finally saw the arrival of the long overdue wind beneath their wings, in the form of this youth-ful energy. The final countdown

to the end of Isiais Afeworki’s brutal rule had begun.

The following year, 2012, be-came the year of organizing this new and unprecedented addi-tion to the movement. Everyone learned that unorganized move-ment cannot bear fruit. There must be an orderly and more effective way to execute actions and mobilize the public. So the organizing, aligning, structur-ing, restructuring, strategizing, ideological refinement went on and on with earnest. With that, the opportunities for disagree-ments multiplied and to some, winning ideological arguments became more important than actually winning – crossing the most important finish line that will remove Isaias Afworki from power.

As the disillusioned and less ex-perienced younger generation tried to navigate these uncharted waters, by the end of 2012, it got entangled by the usual nets that have entangled its older com-patriots. Once again, instead of getting encouraged to inde-pendently galvanize the public, something those who tried be-fore could not do, the “youth” based movements that were mushrooming all over the world were viewed as either a threat to squash or a shiny new tool to squash others with. Sadly, but perhaps not surprisingly, the zero-sum game of either-with-us-or-against-us mentality won the day. The proxy chess game continued, bringing with it toxic attitudes and vulgar languages. And Isaias Afeworki smiled. The proverbial countdown clock seemed to have been placed on hold.

The year 2013 began with a rather surprising but welcoming news of a coup d’état attempt of what came to be known as For-to-2013. Believers, doubters and fence sitters celebrated together briefly, bringing back that or-ganic euphoria and energy back to the movement. However, it was short lived. Now that the post Isaias era is not a matter of if but a matter of when, the pseudo generals of the proxy chess games intensified their do-or-die campaigns to control and “purify” the movement for change along narrow ideologi-cal, regional and tribal lines. The aptly repeated buzz word was “unity!” but the desired result was a thinly veiled “uniformi-

ty!” – zey semere kabana yfele – an eerily familiar mantra. The defamation, purging, splitting, insulting, bullying and counter-attacking continued unabated and fanned by 24×7 Paltalk ses-sions, Facebook posts, press re-leases and gossipy phone calls, all in foolish attempts to control the movement and thereby con-trolling what happens after Isa-ias Afeworki is removed from the scene. Very foolish and very insulting to the Eritrean people indeed. For a while there seem to be only two kinds of Eritreans left in the world: patriots and traitors. Of course, which label one is bestowed upon depends on who is holding the label mak-er. The vitriolic and rather toxic commentary people are willing to use to paint those they dis-agree with was enough to give a reasonable person to pause and think what this could mean in post Isaias era, the tinderbox Eritrea the dictator is sure to leave behind. The change that we seek, at the very minimum, has to be better than what the PFDJ machine offers, doesn’t it? Could we be playing with fire? But the downward spiral-ing continued anyway.

Then we were hit with a bitterly cold splash in the face that sent shudders not only among Eri-treans but also throughout the world community. The tragic loss of so many lives in one lump sum off the coast of Lampedusa became a glaring symbol of what it means to keep Isaias Afeworki and his PFDJ machine in place, and a shaming reminder that the futile, foolish and dangerous division among pro-democracy Eritreans must stop and fast. Lessons learned from moments of glory and tragedy wane real fast in our political arena, but at long last, the need for true unity seems to be taking hold – not uniformity, not purity, not same-ness – but true unity of purpose and action coupled with respect of diversity of strategies, tactics and rights of others to go their own way.

The recent vibe is encouraging but, needless to say, we must correct course and once again restart the countdown clock to-ward the demise of our brutal dictator in 2014. But HOW do we accomplish that? We always seem to get stuck on the HOW part, don’t we? If we agree that that the current environment is

too toxic to practice a move-ment of hope and better alterna-tive, then we all have a duty to detoxify it. Only the dictator and those who suckle from his dying system can benefit from this con-taminated environment where activists are continuously point-ing fingers at each other, spread-ing baseless gossips, accusing each other of ulterior motives, looking over their shoulders for spooky characters borne out of figments of their imagination as well as constantly engaging in endless criticism, counter-criti-cism and self-criticism. For De-lety FtHi, this toxicity should be viewed for what it is: a cesspool of a counter productivity where Isaias Afeworki’s demons take a refreshing bath. That is why, by at least attempting to take some practical steps toward changing the music if not the lyrics of our politics, we have little to lose and a lot to gain in the coming year and even beyond.

Let’s go to the solution then…

Conflict resolution experts might use healing words and phrases such as: anger management, open communication, reconcili-ation, issue isolation, tolerance, win-win situation, positive feed-back, appreciation …….bla bla bla bla ……let’s face it, this stuff never works for us! We hear them but can’t comprehend them. Where does one begin? How about some realistic and more programmatic steps that can be easily applied.

Here are two unconventional, yet more familiar suggestions.

Toxic item #1. Too much criti-cism and self-criticism (the self-cleaning oven is destroying the … oven!)

Solution: One Month of Fasting (but eat all you want)Our culture is deeply rooted in religion. Both Christianity and Islam call for a spiritual disci-pline that involves willful absti-nence from food and also from other human temptations. In the Bible it says, “It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth”. I am sure there is an equivalent verse in the Quran. During the fasting period, one is supposed to try to be a better person as well. How about we

Detoxifying Our Politics


take a lesson from that chapter in our religious/cultural book and use it to detoxify our poli-tics? For far too long, we have deluded ourselves into thinking that criticism and freedom to express our thoughts are virtues in and of themselves. We seem to have forgotten that the silent majority is always observing and making decisions … silent-ly. We owe it to the struggle not to scare off potential activists.

To Do: Take one month, pref-erably the month of January, and abstain from criticizing the shortcomings of the opposition in any shape or form. Instead force yourself to say something positive, something you appre-ciate or praise someone who’s doing a great job. If you have nothing good to say, say noth-ing. This must include private phone call, coffee ceremony chit chats, social media posts (yes, ‘liking’ negative posts count) and if you are truly committed your private thoughts as well. Don’t worry, after one month it will be open season again – and you can criticize and self-flagellate to your heart’s desire.

Chances are, however, the posi-tive attitude will stick longer. BTW, I am resolving to do my ‘fasting’ in January. Care to join in? Shoot me an email (see be-low) and let me know how it is going. I think it’s not as easy as it sounds. And yes, this entire ar-ticle can be qualified as criticism of our movement. Hope it is the constructive kind.

Toxic item #2. Parochialism, Regionalism, Nepotism (these narrow silos of division are can-nibalizing the movement).

Solution: Celebrate Individual-ism, Practice Diversity.

Politics is essentially the com-petition for power to manage public resources. There will al-ways be those who try to grab power and they will try to tap into our prides, prejudices and egos to turn the movement into “us Vs them” existential fight, if we let them. To belong to a cer-tain linguistic, ethnic, regional administration or village is not a crime, nor is it an accomplish-ment. All these sub-national ten-dencies are rooted in elements of ethnocentricity where indi-

vidual members feel their group is somehow better than others, is more capable, is more nationalis-tic or more deserving. The prob-lem arises only when individual members are gullible enough to believe it and start to use it as a discriminatory weapon. This is undeniable and something that must be addressed urgently, otherwise we risk making the PFDJ look more mature. What we are suffering can be summed up in the Tigrigna saying: Asha Wedi Qeshi Si amelaK abaH-aguu ymeslo (roughly translates to “a foolish son of a preacher thinks God is his grandfather”). Similarly, some foolish activist might tend to believe Eritrean affairs belong only to him and his grouping. This kind of paro-chial and narrow thinking is sim-ply toxic and unworthy of those who claim they are fighting for equality and justice. It only creates toxicity, division and resentment when practiced by those who are in the opposition. Hopefully we won’t witness this kind of backward thinking in the coming year.

What we all should be fighting for is liberty and justice for all,

regardless of region, religion, gender, age and how many of one’s forefathers have purport-edly lived in Eritrea.

To Do: This one is borrowed from my friend Saleh Gadi’s re-cent speech in Bologna. I think it is a good exercise for all of us. Go through your mobile phone’s address book and review your contact list, especially the ones you are in contact with most. Is the list of your Eritrean contacts as diverse as you thought it was? No one is expected to have a list proportional to the mosaic of Eritrea, but it boils down to this: don’t preach diversity, practice it.

And if I may add … If you suf-fer from unwarranted region of origin superiority complex, just close your eyes, think about how babies are made, and decide if you should take pride in that “achievement” that resulted in … YOU. Every one of us should be judged not by our kinship to some African ancestral village, but by the type of individuals we are. No exceptions.

On to 2014

Will the foolishness of this year follow us into next year? Af-ter Lampadusa? After the im-ages of babies in small white caskets? I hope not. I think the lessons have been learned. In 2013, Forto’s Wedi Ali (RIP) has captivated our imagination by showing us that change from inside is possible; Wedi Vacaro has demonstrated that one per-son with a humble and timely message can mobilize the pub-lic; Wedi Tikabo has given us a reason to once again synch our rhythm and dance in unison and national pride: Ere nHadnetna ye sheT meAntana goes his song. 2014 will have its own heroes and heroines. Let’s just resolve to detoxify the political environment for them and the countdown to the end of Isaias Afeworki will start ticking real fast.

Happy New Year to YOU!

[email protected]@DanielGMikael

Detoxifying Our . . .From page 16


please see page 20

One of six Brazilian World Cup stadiums that had to be completed before the end of 2013 was symbolically delivered on New Year’s Eve, although it won’t be fully ready until the end of the month.

Local World Cup organiz-ers in the northeastern city of Natal lighted up the Are-na das Dunas stadium for the first time on Tuesday to symbolize the venue’s completion. The official in-auguration, however, will only happen “probably” on Jan. 20, organizers said in a statement Wednesday.

Brazil starts the year with-out six of the 12 World Cup stadiums ready even though FIFA had set the end of 2013 as the final deadline. Six venues had been built for the Confed-erations Cup this year.

Football’s governing body usually wants all venues ready at least six months before the tournament starts so local organiz-ers can host enough test events.

Brazilian organizers an-

nounced during the World Cup draw in December that none of the remaining six venues were expected to be delivered by the FIFA deadline. Delays have in-cluded financial problems, workers safety issues and construction-site acci-dents.

Three construction work-ers died at stadiums late

Brazil starts year without 6 of 12 World Cup stadiums ready

last year — one who fell from about 115 feet (35 metres) at the Arena Am-azonia in the jungle city of Manaus, and two who were killed when a crane collapsed while hoisting a roofing structure at the stadium that will host the World Cup opener in Sao Paulo on June 12.

The Arena Amazonia is ex-

pected to be completed by the end of the month, but the stadium in Sao Paulo won’t be ready until April.

The Arena da Baixada in the southern city of Cu-ritiba, where organizers faced difficulties securing the needed financing for the stadium, is likely to be ready sometime in March or early April.

The Beira-Rio Stadium in the southern city of Porto Alegre is set to be com-pleted in January and the Arena Pantanal in the wet-lands city of Cuiaba is ex-pected to be delivered in February.

© The Associated Press, 2014

Arsenal stayed top of the Pre-mier League after scoring two late goals in a 2-0 win over Cardiff while fellow title rivals Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool also started the year with victories on Wednesday.

However, the league trophy looks more out of reach than ever for Manchester United af-ter the reigning champions lost 2-1 at home to Tottenham and fell 11 points behind Arsenal.

Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott scored Arsenal’s goals at Emirates Stadium to beat a

resilient Cardiff team which played in front of expected new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and frustrated the hosts for 88 minutes in the driving rain.

“We have a special spirit in the side and you know we’ll fight until the last minute in the game,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

City remained a point behind in second after a 3-2 win at Swansea, while Chelsea’s 3-0 victory at Southampton in aw-ful weather conditions ensured

Arsenal remains atop standings: EPL

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Editors: Grace CherianPhotographer: Mulugeta Zergaber Contributors: Mohamed Edris Naza HasebenebiMedhin Ghebreslasie, Amleset Tesfay, Bode Odetoy-inbo, Mimi Chandy, Ken NtiamoaSubscription Costs in Canada $39 for a year and $59 for two years. In USA, it costs $45 for a year and $69 for two years.Articles appearing in assorted columns of Meftih newspaper are intended to generate civil & informed public discussions. You don’t have to agree with opinions expressed by the writers. However, that should push you to express your own views. Through that way we generate lively & civil discussions in the community. Rejoinders are not forums for personal insults & we want readers to adhere to these principles.

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please see page 21

By Grace Cherian

Jose Mourinho’s team stayed in third place, two points behind the leaders.

After two consecutive losses, Liverpool climbed back into the top four after Luis Suarez scored his 20th goal of the season in a 2-0 win over Hull.

Spurs climbed above United into sixth place — two points behind Liverpool — after goals by Em-manuel Adebayor and Christian Eriksen earned them a second straight league win at Old Traf-ford. United has now lost four times at home this season.

Arsenal had to wait until two minutes from time before Bendt-ner gave the Gunners reasons to celebrate the start of a new year when he pounced from a re-bound. The striker picked up an ankle injury while scoring and was substituted before Walcott chipped the ball over goalkeeper David Marshall.

“He was a bit unlucky, he said he landed on the foot of a Car-diff player and sprained his an-kle,” Wenger said. “It looks like it is not a question of days, but weeks.”

Everton falls

In other games, Everton fell to fifth by being held 1-1 draw by Stoke, Aston Villa beat last-place Sunderland 1-0, Fulham earned a comeback 2-1 win over West Ham to climb out of the relegation zone, Crystal Palace drew 1-1 with Norwich and West Bromwich Albion beat Newcastle 1-0.

Man City carried its recent form into 2014 and recorded the first goal of the year after 14 minutes when Fernandinho gave Manuel Pellegrini’s team the lead at Lib-

erty Stadium. Wilfried Bony put the hosts back in the game with a header but City was more clin-ical after the interval and pulled away with goals from Yaya Toure and Aleksandar Kolarov before Bony pulled another one back.

Fernando Torres helped Chelsea to a 3-0 victory over Southamp-ton as the Blues kept pace with their rivals. The Spain striker broke the deadlock on the hour mark, heading home a deflected cross from close range. Chel-sea’s substitutes then combined to deliver the second, with Os-car cutting in from the left to set up Willian for a powerful shot from the edge of the area in the 71st minute.

Oscar then put the result beyond doubt with a clinical finish in the 82nd minute after Eden Hazard and Ramires linked up to put the Brazilian through.

Suarez set a Premier League record when he scored his 20th Premier League goal in just 15 games after missing five match-es with a suspension. He dou-bled the Reds’ lead in the 50th minute with a perfect free kick curled into the top left corner after Daniel Agger had headed home Philippe Coutinho’s cor-ner to make it 1-0 in the 36th.

“It was our best win of the season,” said Liverpool man-ager Brendan Rodgers. “After a tough period, to get a result like that against a very good team.”

Gerrard back

Liverpool captain Steven Ger-rard made his return off the bench to play his first game since picking up a hamstring in-jury in early December.

The other Liverpool club, Ever-ton, had a less enjoyable day.

Leighton Baines converted an injury-time penalty to earn his side a draw that could not pre-vent it from slipping to fifth.

Everton enjoyed plenty of pos-session and hit the woodwork twice in the first half before Oussama Assaidi gave Stoke a 49th minute lead against the run of play.

The visitors were rewarded for all their pressure at the very end, though, when Jermaine Pennant fouled Leon Osman and Baines made no mistake with the spot kick.

Aston Villa ended its five-match winless run by beating Sun-derland and goals from Steve Sidwell and Dimitar Berbatov helped Fulham defeat 10-man West Ham.

Saido Berahino converted an 87th-minute penalty to secure the win for West Brom, overshadow-ing the return of Nicolas Anelka after his controversial goal cel-ebration. Newcastle looked like holding on for a draw despite the 62nd-minute sending-off of defender Mathieu Debuchy for a two-footed tackle on Claudio Yacob, only for goalkeeper Tim Krul to trip Matej Vydra in the area.

Berahino, a halftime substitute, slotted the penalty into the cor-ner for the win.

Anelka started despite being the subject of a league investigation for celebrating a goal against West Ham on Saturday with a gesture that has anti-Semitic connotations.

© The Associated Press, 2014

Arsenal remains atop . . .From page 18

In April of this year, I ex-perienced the excitement of traveling to Malaysia to visit my brother who has chosen to leave Canada and return to live there. We had grown up in Malaysia and

I had attended school there from 1962 to 1972. That’s the year my family and I emigrated to Canada.

My friends and I had been in the same class for eleven years. One of my friends, Emily, coordinated get-togethers so that I could visit with as many of my former classmates as pos-sible. I hadn’t seen them in 41 years! I hooked up with eight friends in all. I would have liked to have connected with more. But of course that wasn’t pos-sible. My friends lead busy lives. They had work, prior engagements or sudden emergencies cropped up. But I am indeed grateful

My very special friend

for the eight friends I did see.

I was especially delighted to see my friend, Gladys. As youngsters in primary school, Gladys and I be-came members of the Chil-dren’s Crusade, a Catholic organization which met for weekly prayer and worship of Christ.

When we moved on to sec-ondary school, Gladys and

I both joined the Legion of Mary, another Catholic organization. We met each week after school and de-voted ourselves to prayer.

Even though we all studied at a convent school, not all my friends are Catholics. But because Gladys and I share a common faith, a very special bond had de-veloped between us.

The transportation sys-tem in the city of Malacca where we met is not at all like the TTC which we’re so blessed to have here in Toronto. We may complain about the TTC but travel-ing to other places gives us


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In Malacca, people have to drive wherever they need to go, rely on friends who have cars or use an archaic bus system that will take you hours to get to your destination. Gladys lived a long way off from the café where we had chosen to meet. Yet she went to a lot of trouble to make sure she got there. I said to her, “I’m so glad you came.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” she said.

Gladys astounded me with her memory. She remem-bered the names of all my siblings: James, Elizabeth, David and Wils who was just barely six at the time. We had said Goodbye to each other 41 years earlier! Yet she remembered all those names. She added, “I remember Wils spending time in the kitchen talking with your Mom while she cooked.”

Wils was very close to Mom throughout his short life. His fondness for Mom developed in him at a very

early age. Naturally these memories of Wils and Mom are very precious to my family and me espe-cially because they’re both in Heaven now.

My dear friend said, “I’ve thought of you often over the years and prayed for you.” What a precious gift! Prayer is the most power-ful force in the universe. It can move mountains.Gladys works with chil-dren who have special needs. Those children are truly blessed to have her as a teacher. I have no doubt that she prays for each of the children daily. She ra-diates the light of Christ. Her godliness will have positive repercussions upon the children for the rest of their lives.

Today Gladys and I write notes to each other. Yes, we communicate the old-fashioned way but I love it. Every note from Gladys is like a precious gem. Her messages provide a sooth-ing balm for my soul. I’m so grateful to the Lord for bringing the special gift of my friend Gladys back into my life.

My very special . . .From page 20

Meftih January 2014 Volume 9 Issue 5: page 22 Technology & Science

Please see page 23

The wind chill factor is the meth-od used by weather forecasters to tell us how much colder the wind makes unprotected skin feel. So why do meteorologists say it’s -10 with a wind chill fac-tor that will make it feel more like -18? Why don’t they just say it’s -18?

The wind doesn’t actually change the temperature outside, but the temperature we feel is not the air temperature but our skin temperature. A person will sense that it’s colder because the wind steals body heat by blowing away warm air that surrounds the skin. This means the wind chill factor is not a fac-tor for inanimate objects like rocks, cars and snow – they will all maintain the same tempera-tures no matter how strongly the winds blow.

The new wind chill index adopt-ed in 2001 uses a mathematical model developed at Environ-ment Canada that approximates how skin temperature, especial-ly on the face, changes with var-ious air temperatures and wind conditions.

The math was put to the test in the research labs of the Depart-ment of Defence in Toronto. A group of 12 volunteers, six men and six women, went through clinical trials in a refrigerated wind tunnel to see how the mod-el held up in a real-world situ-ation.

Environment Canada also warns of the level of risk of frostbite

associated with a wind chill fac-tor. For example, when the wind chill is from -28 to -39, exposed skin can freeze in 10 to 30 min-utes.

Before 2001, Environment Can-ada would calculate wind chill as how much energy (or heat) the body loses per second depending on how much skin is exposed to the wind. Wind chill was mea-sured in watts per square metre, with values ranging from 1,000 to more than 3,000.

But because a wind chill factor of 1,500 watts/m² is meaningless to most people, the value was translated to the temperature it would have to be to cause the same degree of heat loss without any wind. This is called the wind chill equivalent temperature – what you hear when meteorolo-gists say, “Dress warm. It’s -10 but with the wind chill factor it will feel more like -18.”

Different countries use different formulas to calculate the wind chill factor and the wind chill equivalent temperature. Howev-er, they are all based on research conducted by scientists Paul A. Siple and Charles F. Passel in the 1940s, later used by the U.S. army to develop warmer cloth-ing for soldiers. The research found that the rate at which wa-ter freezes depends on three fac-tors: how warm it was to begin with, the outside temperature and the wind speed.

Canada and other countries ad-opted the wind chill index as

a public health tool so people could protect themselves from cold-related ailments such as hypothermia and frostbite. This is especially useful for those who are going to be outside for long periods of time, whether snowmobiling or shovelling the driveway.

Hypothermia results when body temperature falls below 35 C. Symptoms include drowsiness, impaired co-ordination and weakness. It can also be fatal.

Frostbite is the result of skin freezing. It causes swelling, redness, tingling and burning. Skin turns white and waxy as the frostbite progresses. Infec-tion and loss of extremities can result.

Frostnip is a condition where ice crystals form under the skin. Chilblains occur when bare skin is exposed to cold water, or when wet skin cools. The skin itches and swells. Chilblains can lead to gangrene.

According to Statistics Canada, 111 Canadians died from effects of the cold in 1997. Ninety-two of them were victims of hypo-thermia. Two cases of chilblains were fatal that year, and one per-son died from conditions result-ing from frostbite of the hand.

Source: CBC NEWS

The science of wind chillNext year, hackers and cy-bercriminals will increasing-ly attack via devices such as smart TVs and use data from social networks to craft and target their attacks, cyberse-curity experts predict.

Cybersecurity Q & A: How to improve your online safetyInternet security firms Forti-guard Labs, Websense Secu-rity Labs, Symantec, Trend Micro and Sophos have all issued their predictions about whom cybercriminals and hackers will be targeting in 2014, and many of them fol-low similar themes.

Here’s a round-up of the top five predicted targets.

1. Smart appliances

Smart TVs, smart fridges and other internet-connected home appliances, ranging from medical equipment to

security cameras, are widely expected to become a “mag-net for hackers” says Kevin Haley, director of Symantec Security Response in a blog post.

“The companies building gadgets that connect to the internet don’t even realize they have an oncoming secu-rity problem,” Haley wrote.

“These systems are not only

vulnerable to an attack — they also lack notification methods for consumers and businesses when vulner-abilities are discovered. Even worse, they don’t have a friendly end-user method to patch these new vulnerabili-ties.”

One of the concerns is that hackers logging into such appliances may be able to get information about who is home at a given time of day, noted Fortiguard, adding, “This is bound to give cyber-criminals new and nefarious ideas around how and when to rob someone’s home.”

Fortiguard predicts we’ll see the first mass malware for home devices such as smart TVs and appliances later in 2014.

2. Social networks

Attacks by cybercriminals are becoming more targeted, and social networks are be-coming a useful source of data for crafting these types of attacks.

Websense predicts that in 2014 hackers will increas-ingly make use of services such as LinkedIn to lure ex-ecutives and other potentially lucrative targets.

Cybercriminals are eyeing these 5 targets in 2014


“This highly targeted method will be used to gather intel-ligence and compromise net-works.”

Haley of Symantec adds that cybercriminals won’t just be turning to big social net-works.

“Scammers, data collectors and cybercriminals will not ignore any social network, no matter how “niche” or ob-scure,” he wrote. “Users who feel it’s just them and their friends on these new sites are in for a big (and unpleasant) surprise.”

3. The cloudBusinesses are increasingly storing their data in the cloud and on servers outside their

own network, and Websense predicts that criminals will increasingly turn their atten-tion to that data this year.

“Hackers will find that pen-etrating the data-rich cloud can be easier and more prof-itable than getting through the ‘castle walls’ of an on-premise enterprise network,” WebSense says.

Sophos predicts that cyber-criminals will target mobile devices and the credentials of individual employees to gain access to the cloud, perhaps employing blackmail via “ransomware” that threatens to go public with confidential data if the criminals aren’t given what they ask for.

4. Android

According to Sophos, mal-ware aimed at Google’s An-droid grew exponentially in 2013, and is expected to keep growing in 2014 because of the operating system’s domi-nant share of the smartphone market.“While we expect that new security features in the An-droid platform will make a positive change in infection rates over time, their adop-tion will be slow, leaving most users exposed to simple social engineering attacks,” the company wrote.

It added that the mobile de-vices that run Android are “an attractive launching pad for attacks aimed at social net-works and cloud platforms.”

Trend Micro predicts the number of malicious and high-risk Android apps will hit three million in the com-ing year.

Fortiguard expects Android malware to expand beyond mobile devices in 2014 to industrial control systems in devices such as smart home appliances.

5. Java

Plug-ins that allow brows-ers to run apps in the Java programming language – al-ready responsible for some high-profile cyberattacks – will continue to be exploited in 2014, security experts say.

U.S. warns computer users over Java security bug

According to Websense, old-er, insecure versions of Java are still rampant on the web.

“In 2014, cybercriminals will devote more time to finding new uses for tried-and-true attacks and crafting other aspects of advanced, multi-stage attacks,” the company predicted.

Security patches for older ver-sions of Java and Windows are no longer being issued, even when new exploits are found, despite the fact that there are many systems still using this software.

Trend Micro predicts that in the coming year, that “lack of support” will expose millions of PCs to attack.Source: CBC NEWS

Cybercriminals are eyeing these 5 targets . . .From page 22

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford wasted no time relaunch-ing his bid for re-election, officially filing his nomi-nation papers Thursday shortly after the clerk’s of-fice opened on the first day for acceptance of nomina-tions.

“I’ve got the strongest track record, I’ve been the best mayor this city has ever had,” Ford told reporters shortly after submitting his nomination papers and of-ficially declaring his can-didacy in the Oct. 27 mu-nicipal election.

When asked about the per-sonal problems that have dogged him throughout 2013, Ford, in a testy ex-change with reporters, re-sponded: “That’s all per-sonal. Let the people speak for themselves.”

Ford is the first person to register for the mayoralty race.

So far, only Coun. Karen Stintz and former budget chief David Soknacki have said they will run.

Politicians rumoured to be considering a mayoralty bid include:

Olivia Chow, NDP MP for the downtown Toronto rid-ing of Trinity-Spadina and former city councillor.John Tory, former provin-cial Progressive Conser-vative leader and current

radio host.Denzil Minnan-Wong, a fiscal conservative who chairs the city’s public works committee.Ford’s move to seek re-election comes after a tur-bulent 2013. The mayor made headlines around the world after showing up drunk at public events, ad-mitting to smoking crack cocaine and apologizing repeatedly for various in-appropriate comments.

With Ford refusing calls for him to resign, council voted in November to strip him of many of his pow-ers.

CBC News city hall report-er Jamie Strashin said the “central question” of the campaign will be whether voters are willing to look beyond Ford’s widely re-ported personal problems.

“It’s a long, arduous cam-paign, with more than

100 debates,” Strashin reported on CBC News Network. “Now the race is on. We should see more candidates register in the weeks to come.”

New Year’s levee wasn’t free from politics

On Wednesday, Ford and a handful of other coun-cillors gathered at city hall to meet with resi-dents at the New Year’s Day levee. People waited in line for up to an hour to

shake hands and have their picture taken with Ford and other councillors at the annual event.

A few who attended came wearing “Ford Nation” T-shirts, though one woman told CBC News she waited in line to tell Ford he has been a “terrible” mayor and should not run again.

The levee is billed as a

Please see page 24

Rob Ford files papers for mayoral re-election


chance for residents, and not the media, to speak with council members.

Most councillors remained behind the velvet rope par-tition at city hall, but Stintz spoke to reporters, telling them the city needed bet-ter leadership during the recent ice storm, which left tens of thousands without power in frigid weather over the holidays.

In the days after the storm, Ford was repeatedly asked whether he would declare a state of emergency, a move that would have ceded emergency powers to Dep-

uty Mayor Norm Kelly.

Although many experts have said Ford did the right thing not declaring a state of emergency, Stintz said this created a “who’s-in-charge” situation instead of clear leadership.

“During the week of the ice storm, we didn’t benefit from having a strong may-or and we should have,” she said.

Nominations for mayor and council races remain open until Sept. 12.

From page 23

Toronto city offi-cials estimate the cost of the cleanup after the recent ice storm will be about $75 million.

It’s expected to cost about $25 mil-lion to deal with the thousands of tree limbs brought down after the storm, and another $50 million to re-store the canopy.

“We are relieved to be moving from an emergency phase to one of restoring people’s ability to move around their neighbourhoods,” said Deputy May-or Norm Kelly.

“As crews are released from assisting with hydro, they are being reassigned to making sure that roads are open and debris is col-lected.”

The cleanup is expected to take between six and eight

weeks, with 600 city staff and contractors working to clear the debris.

‘Tremendous work’

“The tremendous work done by everyone to date speaks to the calibre of people who make up this great city,” said Mayor

Rob Ford.

“We will pull together again as we move into this next phase of cleanup op-erations and help Toronto residents return to their ev-eryday lives.”

City crews will haul away all tree branches from front yards and roadsides, including those that have fallen on private property if they’re less than 15 cen-timetres in diameter and have been placed at the curb.

Residents are asked to stack limbs and branch-es at the front edge of their properties.

The city won’t collect limbs more than 15 cen-timetres in diam-eter from private trees that have fallen on private property. Proper-ty owners should contact a private contractor for this work.

Toronto ice storm cleanup cost estimated at $75 million

Residents in the Asian long-horned beetle quaran-tine area in Etobicoke will have their debris disposed of by city crews and pri-vate contractors.

Meanwhile, Toronto Hydro says all the power has been restored after the ice storm. Crews are now working on homes that need repairs done and focusing on those that have just partial pow-er.

The brutal ice storm hit southern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada last month, downing thousands of tree limbs and taking out power lines, leaving hun-dreds of thousands of cus-tomers without power in cold winter temperatures.

At the height of the outage, about 300,000 customers in the Greater Toronto area were without power. Some were in the dark for as long as nine days.

Rob Ford files papers . . .

meftih-newspaper_jan2014

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