Ethiopia's long wait for the return of the Axum obelisk neared its end yesterday as a plane carrying the first of its three massive pieces arrived here from Italy, where the stele was taken as a prize of conquest by fascist troops nearly 70 years ago.
Applause, cheers and sighs of relief greeted the landing shortly after dawn at Axum's small airport as the giant Russian-built Antonov 124-100 cargo plane touched down with its precious 60-tonne load after four fly-bys.
"I am excited, overjoyed and delighted," said Ethiopian Culture Minister Teshome Toga, one of some 40 officials waiting on the tarmac for the arrival along with about 50 students wearing obelisk T-shirts.
"This is a very historical moment for us, we have waited so long to have the obelisk back," he said. "This operation is a wonderful example of preservation of Ethiopian culture."
The 2,500-year-old, 24m granite funeral stele weighing some 160 tonnes was stolen by Italian troops in 1937 on the orders of dictator Benito Mussolini during his brief attempt to colonize Ethiopia.
Despite a 1947 agreement that called for its return, the monument had remained in Italy, much to the anger of Ethiopia which had accused Rome of stalling on the deal for the past 58 years.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS