Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine

Updated: April 27th, 2024

New York (TADIAS) — Renowned Ethiopian-born artist Julie Mehretu is set to make history as the creator of the 20th BMW Art Car, marking a thrilling fusion of art, automotive design, and speed. The culmination of Julie’s creative vision will be unveiled at the Centre Pompidou in Paris on May 21, 2024, before making its racing debut at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. This groundbreaking collaboration promises to redefine the intersection of art and motorsport, as artist translates her monumental motifs onto the dynamic canvas of the BMW M Hybrid V8 racing car prototype.

Julie’s approach to the BMW Art Car project exemplifies her unparalleled ability to capture dynamism and translate it into form. Drawing inspiration from her extensive body of work, she employs a diverse palette of colors and forms, including obscured photographs, dotted grids, and neon-colored spray paint. The result is an abstract visual narrative that seamlessly integrates with the contours of the vehicle, creating a stunning work of art on wheels.

Detail shot of the 20th BMW Art Car by Julie Mehretu in the creation process. (Photo: André Josselin and Tina Paffen © BMW AG)

Central to Julie Mehretu’s creative process is the collaboration with the German Race Spirit team, led by Manuel Eberl and Gertraud Brenninger, who are responsible for realizing the intricate design on the BMW M Hybrid V8. Through a meticulous process of 3D mapping and high-resolution imaging, Julie’s artwork is transformed into a dynamic foil wrap that adorns the racing car, ensuring both aesthetic excellence and compliance with FIA regulations.

The unveiling of the BMW Art Car at the Centre Pompidou marks a momentous occasion in the history of the BMW Art Car Collection. Following in the footsteps of iconic artists such as Alexander Calder and Jeff Koons, Mehretu’s creation will be showcased alongside masterpieces of contemporary art, reinforcing the close connection between art and motorsport.

Julie Mehretu working on her 20th BMW Art Car. (Photo: André Josselin and Tina Paffen © BMW AG)

Beyond its racing debut at Le Mans, Julie’s BMW Art Car will embark on a global journey, becoming an exhibit in museums and art platforms worldwide. However, Julie’s's vision extends far beyond the confines of the racing track, as she seeks to inspire a new generation of artists through the PanAfricanTranslocal Media Workshop Series. In collaboration with Emmy-nominated producer Mehret Mandefro, Julie will host workshops in eight African cities, providing young creatives with a platform for collaboration and exchange.

Julie Mehretu’s selection as the designer of the 20th BMW Art Car reflects the BMW Group’s commitment to fostering creativity and innovation. With unrestricted creative freedom, Julie has reimagined the BMW Art Car as a symbol of artistic expression and technological innovation, setting a new standard for the intersection of art and automotive design.

As the world eagerly awaits the unveiling of Julie Mehretu’s BMW Art Car, the BMW Group invites enthusiasts to follow its cultural engagement initiatives on Instagram at @BMWGroupCulture, offering exclusive updates and deeper insights into its global initiatives.

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Related:

Art Talk: A Conversation Between Julie Mehretu and Mehret Mandefro

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Tadias Magazine

Updated: April 13th, 2023

New York (TADIAS) — Today Addis Fine Art announced the opening of Tizta Berhanu’s first European solo show, Synthesis of Souls. The exhibition will be held at their London space, with the opening on Thursday, April 27, and will run until Saturday, May 27.

Tizta Berhanu, an Ethiopian artist born in Addis Ababa in 1991, is known for her powerful figurative paintings that explore the full range of human emotions. Her work depicts narratives of love, intimacy, kinship, and motherhood, all flowing across gestural compositions. Tizta’s figures, bathed in swathes of jewel-like primary colors, are painted with expressive brushstrokes, often interlaced in each other’s embrace. Her work showcases the beauty of human touch and connection.

(Photos: Addis Fine Art)

According to the press release the exhibition, curated by Claudia Cheng, an independent art advisor and curator based in London and Hong Kong, is a recent collection of Tizta’s figurative paintings. The artworks are infused with lucid colors, and their heavy, undefined brushstrokes add to the dreamlike atmosphere. The paintings’ subjects express a range of emotions, some comforting and embracing one another, while others are found isolated and searching in the backdrop of the enigmatic canvases. Tizta’s compositions allude to the importance of community in providing support for one another, an essential trait in Ethiopian culture.

Tizta Berhanu’s work possesses its own distinctive emotional tone, with each painting infused with bold, vibrant colors. The lustrous red paintings conjure images of love and passion, while the oceanic blue works wash the viewer in a wave of despondency.

The exhibition marks an important moment for Tizta, as it is her first solo show in Europe. Her artistic talent and unique perspective on humanity’s emotions make her one of the most exciting artists to watch in the contemporary art scene. Synthesis of Souls is a must-see exhibition for art lovers and collectors looking to discover exceptional new talent.

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If You Go:

More info at addisfineart.com.

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Tadias Magazine

Updated: April 3rd, 2023

New York (TADIAS) — Which Ethiopian musicians would make it to your top ten list?

According to a recent compilation by Hello Music Theory, created by music students in London, the list includes Aster Aweke, Teddy Afro, Mulatu Astatke, Gigi, Abinet Agonafir, Mahmoud Ahmed, Ali Birra, Zeritu Kebede, Betty G, and Abby Lakew.

While there are many other new and established talents that could be added to the list, Hello Music’s selection is impressive and highlights the increasing popularity of Ethiopian music beyond its borders.

Aster Aweke:

Legendary musician Aster Aweke is considered one of the best Ethiopian singers of all time. She is celebrated for her compelling vocals and captivating lyrics. Although born in Gondar, Aster spent her formative years in Addis Ababa, where her father worked. She began singing at the age of 13, driven by her passion for music. In her youth, she even performed alongside prominent bands in clubs throughout the city.

In 1981, Aster Aweke made a significant move to the United States, and that proved to be a pivotal moment in her career. That same year, she released her debut album on a US label, titled “Aster.” The song that brought her international acclaim, “Anteye,” has sold millions of copies, firmly establishing her as a star.

Teddy Afro:

Teddy Afro (real name Tewodros Kassahun Germamo) is one of the most popular contemporary musicians among Ethiopians worldwide. The renowned Singer-songwriter is admired for his exceptional songwriting abilities and revolutionary tracks. Teddy, who grew up in Addis Ababa, released his debut album in 2001. Four years later he dropped his third CD, Yasteseryal, which gained widespread attention due to the political turmoil in Ethiopia at the time. Although  four of the songs on the album were banned, it still managed to sell millions of copies, solidifying Teddy Afro’s place as a prominent figure in Ethiopian music.

Mulatu Astatke:

Of course, Mulatu Astatke, the pioneer of Ethiopian Jazz, is also on the list. The composer and arranger is indeed a trailblazing figure in Ethiopian music. He is credited with creating a unique fusion of Ethiopian traditional music and jazz, which he called “Ethio-jazz.” Mulatu Astatke is known for his distinctive sound, which features complex rhythms and harmonies, and incorporates traditional Ethiopian instruments such as the krar and the washint.

Mulatu’s music gained international recognition in the 1960s and 70s, when he studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston and performed with jazz greats like Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie. He went on to release a series of influential albums, including “Afro-Latin Soul” and “Mulatu of Ethiopia,” which helped to establish him as a leading figure in the world music scene.

Today, Mulatu continues to tour and perform around the world, and his music has influenced a new generation of Ethiopian musicians. He is widely regarded as a cultural ambassador for Ethiopia and a pioneer in the development of African jazz.

Gigi:

Ejigayehu Shibabaw, known by her stage name Gigi, is a renowned vocalist. Her early exposure to traditional Ethiopian music came from an Orthodox priest during her upbringing.in northwestern Ethiopia.

Gigi rose to fame with the release of her self-titled album “Gigi” in 2001, which featured collaborations with several American jazz musicians. The album was a fusion of traditional and contemporary music, and it received critical acclaim and commercial success, making waves in her home country.

Following the success of her debut album, Gigi went on to release two more albums in 2003 and 2006, which further solidified her position as a prominent musician in Ethiopia. Notably, her captivating vocals were featured in the movie Beyond Borders, where the famous actress Angelina Jolie played the lead role.

Mahmoud Ahmed:

Mahmoud Ahmed, an iconic singer, rose to prominence in the 1970s and gained international recognition across Africa and Europe. Mahmoud began his singing career at an early age while residing in the Mercato district of Addis Ababa.

Initially, he started as a band singer and performed with various prominent groups of that era. Later on, he embarked on a solo music career and released several successful singles that gained him recognition in Ethiopia.

However, his global recognition came after the release of his album Ere Mela Mela, which was a compilation of tracks from two of his LPs. This was a time when Ethiopia was going through political turmoil. His most significant achievement was in 2007 when he won the BBC World Music Award.

Ali Birra:

Ali Birra.is another legendary Ethiopian singer featured by Hello Music. He was born in Dire Dawa. He is one of the few notable artists who popularized funk, jazz, rock, and reggae beats in East Africa.

Ali Birra was only 13 when he joined a cultural group to promote Oromo music and culture. His first singing engagement involved him singing “Birra dha Bari’e,” which gave birth to his nickname. Ali is from his first name, while Birra is from the song.

Ali Birra began his singing career in Addis Ababa after relocating from his native home. He met various nationalists, such as Ahmad Taqi, who influenced his music career. His big break came in 1971 when he released his first album, which was also the first album in Oromo music history.

Zeritu Kebede:

Zeritu Kebede represents the new era of Ethiopian music. Listening to her voice is a sure way to ignite a love for music.

Zeritu grew up in Addis Ababa and had a passion for music from an early age. She used to listen to her parents’ collection, which featured renowned  musician Mahmoud Ahmed.

After completing high school, Zeritu pursued her passion for singing professionally, and she released her debut album in 2005. The album’s standout track was “Yane,” which quickly became a fan favorite in Ethiopia and propelled the album to great success.

Betty G:

Betty G, also known as Bruktawit Getahun, is a renowned Ethiopian singer-songwriter. She was raised in Addis Ababa and pursued higher education in Office Management, but her studies did not deter her from following her passion for music.

Initially, Betty G was not well-known in the Ethiopian music industry. However, after collaborating with prominent musicians like Nhatty Man, she started gaining recognition.

In 2015, Betty G made a name for herself with the release of her first album, Manew Fitsum. Since then, she has worked with other famous musicians such as Teddy Afro and Zeritu Kebede. Her second album, Wegegta, was released to critical acclaim and received six AFRIMA nominations.

Abby Lakew:

Abby Lakew, the final musician on this list, is an artist who sings in both English and Amharic. She was born and raised in Gondar until she relocated to the United States at the age of 13.

Her first album, produced in both English and Amharic, was released in 2005. She went on to release several other albums, including popular tracks like “Shikorina” and “Abrerew.”

In 2015, Lakew’s career skyrocketed with the release of her hit single, “Yene Habesha,” which amassed over 54 million views on YouTube. The song catapulted her to international fame, and in 2016, she was nominated for the Best Traditional Female Artist for Africa award, solidifying her place in the music industry.

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Simple Flying

Ethiopian Airlines Launches IATA Travel Pass Trials

Yet another airline is announcing that it will be trialing IATA’s Travel Pass – a digital health passport that will make the verification of COVID-19 tests and vaccinations easier for the carrier. Ethiopian Airlines is now the first African carrier to run through a test of the mobile app, joining other airlines such as Emirates, SWISS, Singapore Airlines, and more.

“Ethiopian has gone digital in all of its operations to avoid physical contact and combat the spread of the pandemic and now, embarks on this initiative which will allow passengers to relish unparalleled flight experience.”

-Ethiopian Airlines official statement

Where is the trial taking place?

The IATA Travel Pass, which will help verify the authenticity of test information presented by travelers, will be used by Ethiopian Airlines on two flights out of Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD):

Washington D.C. – Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Toronto – Lester B. Pearson International Airport (YYZ)

For flights to Addis Ababa, two airports will participate in this trial:

London Heathrow (LHR)
Toronto – Lester B. Pearson International Airport (YYZ)

The airline notes that this was effective as of April 25th, 2021, meaning that the trial is already underway.

A visualization of the airports participating in this trial. Ethiopian flights to Toronto and Washington include technical stops, but this has not been included in the map to reduce confusion. (Photo: GCMap.com)

Solving problems through digital technology

Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, says that digital technology is vital to solving many of the problems that arise from the pandemic. Saying:

“We are glad that we are offering new digital opportunities to our passengers so as to fully and safely restart air travel. Our customers will enjoy efficient, contactless and safer travel experience with their travel pass digital passport. As a safety first airline, we have become the first African airline to trail IATA’s travel pass initiative to facilitate travel.”

For those still unfamiliar with IATA’s Travel Pass, the mobile app is designed to be a digital health passport of sorts, which will receive test and vaccination certificates and verify that they are sufficient for the traveler’s specific route.

Ethiopian has 27 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in its fleet. These are a mix of the -9 and shorter -8 variants. (Photo: byeangel via Wikimedia Commons)

The app will share testing or vaccination certificates with airlines and authorities to facilitate travel. “The digital travel app will also avoid fraudulent documentation and make air travel more convenient,” the airline’s official messaging adds.

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CNN

The US Census Bureau announced Monday that the total population of the United States has topped 331 million people, marking the country’s second slowest population growth rate in US history. Amid that, Texas will gain two seats in the redistricting process, the results found.

Additionally, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon will each gain one seat in Congress.
California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will all lose congressional seats ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

The results — which show that political power in the country is shifting from states in the Midwest and Northeast to those in the South and West — will have wide-ranging impacts on numerous aspects of American life, ranging from each state’s representation in Congress to the amount of money each state will get from the federal government. The numbers could shift the political makeup of Congress and set up what will likely be contentious redistricting battles in the coming months.

And the numbers reflect which states are growing in both population and power. With Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Texas all gaining seats — and thus, electoral votes — their political clout will grow over the next decade, largely at the expense of states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.

The new numbers represented a decrease in the population growth rate when compared to growth between 2000 and 2010. It was only slightly more than the growth rate seen during the 1930s.

Census officials said they were “very confident in the quality of the data” that they collected.

“While no Census is perfect, we are confident that today’s 2020 Census results meet our high data quality standards. We would not be releasing them to you otherwise,” acting Director Ron Jarmin said.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also expressed her confidence in the results.

“2020 brought unprecedented challenges — a global pandemic, destructive wildfires, the most active hurricane season on record and civil unrest across the country. With all of that happening, the Census Bureau had to quickly adapt its operations to confront these challenges head on,” she said Monday.

Some expectations from census experts were off. Some believed that Texas would gain three total seats, not two, while others believed states like Arizona, which did not gain a seat, would add a House district. Experts also expected Minnesota and Rhode Island to lose a seat — neither did, according to the Census Bureau.

Some of the figures were remarkably close, however. Census Bureau officials said that if they had counted 89 more people in New York during the census and all other state populations had stayed the same, the state of New York would not have lost a district.

More detailed data will also be released in the coming months that states will use to help draw the boundaries of their congressional districts. The agency has said those redistricting counts are expected to be released by the end of September.

Although the Census will publish resident counts for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, their totals are not included in the overall apportionment population because they don’t have voting seats in the House, the agency said.

The release of the data has been a long time coming, delayed by both the coronavirus pandemic and controversial legal fights on how President Donald Trump’s administration has handled the process.

The Census Bureau announced in February that the numbers, which would normally come out by April 1, would be delayed. The bureau cited the coronavirus pandemic, and the difficulty the virus created for those collecting census data, as the reason for the delay.

The process was also complicated by the Trump administration’s efforts to exclude noncitizens when seats in Congress were apportioned, a decision that landed the bureau and the Republican administration in lengthy legal fights.

Former attorney general Eric Holder responded to the announcement, saying that with the release of the numbers, “each state now needs to prepare for a fair and transparent redistricting process that includes input from the public.”

Holder, the head of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a Democratic group aimed at combating gerrymandering, added: “Make no mistake — the same Republican state legislators who are pushing forward on hundreds of anti-voter bills at the state level have been very clear that they intend to manipulate the redistricting process to lock in their power.”

In the majority of states, maps are redrawn and accepted by state legislatures, with many giving authority to the state’s governor to either approve or deny the new districts. Only a handful of states rely on relatively independent commissions to determine new maps. Because Republicans have been more successful at winning state legislatures in recent years, the party has almost total control over the process in a number of key states, like Texas and Florida.

If Republicans embark on cutting up increasingly diverse populations in the suburbs around some of the nation’s largest cities — combining them with more reliably Republican voters in exurbs and rural areas — the party will open themselves up to racial gerrymandering claims. Democrats are prepared to fight any attempts.

“The presumption that Republicans should get all of those new seats simply because they control the process is a presumption of gerrymandering,” said Kelly Ward Burton, the president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. “And that is illegal.”

Another issue facing both parties is how each should analyze the last four years of political shifts under Trump, a time that saw Democrats make up considerable ground in the suburbs and Republicans make inroads with Latino communities in places like South Florida and South Texas and consolidate support among rural voters.

The question for those party officials in charge of the redistricting process will be whether to treat these shifts as either aberrations or signs of more lasting changes.

“For people who did this stuff a decade ago, if they had known that Donald Trump was going to come along in 2016 and shift the American electorate, there’s at least a couple dozen seats around the country that would have been drawn differently than they were,” said Adam Kincaid, the head of the National Republican Redistricting Trust. “And that is the challenge for the next few years is trying to forecast out how much this realignment is permanent versus temporary.”

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PRESS STATEMENT

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE

Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa

Today, I am announcing that Jeffrey Feltman will serve as the U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa. This appointment underscores the Administration’s commitment to lead an international diplomatic effort to address the interlinked political, security, and humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa. Having held senior positions in both the State Department and the United Nations, Special Envoy Feltman is uniquely suited to bring decades of experience in Africa and the Middle East, in multilateral diplomacy, and in negotiation and mediation to develop and execute an integrated U.S. strategy to address these complex regional issues.

Of particular concern are the volatile situation in Ethiopia, including the conflict in Tigray; escalating tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan; and the dispute around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. At a moment of profound change for this strategic region, high-level U.S. engagement is vital to mitigate the risks posed by escalating conflict while providing support to once-in-a-generation opportunities for reform.

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Related:

UPDATE: Biden Nominates Mary Catherine Phee as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

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Patch

A celebrated deal to create permanently affordable housing in Harlem will leave the neighborhood’s last Ethiopian Orthodox church homeless.

HARLEM, NY — When leaders of the Beaata Le Mariam Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church received an eviction notice in 2019, displacing them from their longtime home, they assumed their landlord had reached a deal with some private developer to construct a new set of condominiums or a luxury tower.

“We thought it was some huge corporate structure who was just wanting to buy the building to make money,” said Atsede Elegba, a church board member.

It was not until March of this year that the church learned the more complicated truth: their landlord, the city’s Housing Preservation Department, had reached a much-heralded deal to give their building to a neighborhood nonprofit, which will convert it into permanently affordable housing.

Now, members of the church — the last remaining Ethiopian Orthodox institution in Harlem — are packing up icons and incense at their home on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard and West 121st Street ahead of their May 28 eviction date.

In this pre-pandemic photo, crowds gathered inside Beaata Le Mariam for a bishop’s visit in 2019. (Courtesy of Atsede Elegba)

They are also contending with internal disagreements over how to find a new home, and conflicted feelings about the group that is displacing them.

“I’m very sad,” said Mezgebu Zikarge, the church’s head priest and administrator. “I cry to God.”

“People from all over”

Behind Beaata Le Mariam’s modest corner storefront, about two dozen people were gathered on a recent Sunday after finishing that day’s services. Families sipped coffee and tea and tore off chunks of dabo bread; women wearing traditional netela scarves spoke in English and Amharic as children ran between rooms.

In the inner sanctuary, Zikarge pointed at portraits of Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel and Jesus’s crucifixion as the smell of incense wafted in. The church, which welcomed up to 100 congregants on past Sundays, has continued holding smaller, socially-distanced services during the pandemic.

Mezgebu Zikarge, priest head and administrator of Beaata Le Mariam Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, inside the church sanctuary on March 28, 2021. (Nick Garber/Patch)

The Ethiopian Orthodox church first made inroads in Harlem in the 1950s, arriving at the request of Black Americans who were drawn to it as one of the few Christian churches in Africa that predated colonialism.

Today, Beaata Le Mariam is “a rare combination of Western-born and Ethiopian-born parishioners,” said Elegba, whose family were early converts to the faith in the 1960s. Starting in the 1970s, Black American and Caribbean congregants were joined by native Ethiopians and Eritreans immigrating to Harlem during those countries’ civil war.

Over the years, fellow churches around Harlem have shut their doors as parishioners moved to other boroughs and the suburbs. Beaata Le Mariam opened in 2003 in Lower Manhattan, sharing space with an Armenian orthodox church before moving into its Harlem home in 2006.

“We have a lot of people from all over,” said board chair Almaz Kebede, citing congregants who travel from the Bronx, New Jersey and Connecticut to attend weekly services.

A historic housing deal

For more than a decade, Beaata Le Mariam paid just $1,267 per month to occupy the ground floor of the five-story brick building at 2020 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard.

Despite repeatedly asking for a permanent lease, the church was kept on a month-to-month basis by HPD, which the agency says is standard practice as it works to convert its properties into affordable housing.

Then, in April 2019, came the eviction notice.

Since December 2019, the church has been allowed to pay no rent, and was granted an extension on its eviction through June 2020 after negotiating with the city. Due to the pandemic, the deadline was extended into 2021, before the firm May 28 deadline was handed down earlier this year.

Congregants celebrated Easter inside Beaata Le Mariam in 2013. (Courtesy of Atsede Elegba)

It was only through media reports this spring that church leaders learned what had happened: their building had been transferred to the nonprofit East Harlem El Barrio Community Land Trust (EHEBCLT), in a historic agreement announced last fall and hailed by housing advocates.

In the deal, the EHEBCLT purchased four HPD-owned buildings for $1 each, promising to renovate them and turn them into housing that would be kept affordable in perpetuity.

“In anticipation of this property’s substantial renovation as part of the East Harlem El Barrio Community Land Trust (EHEBCLT) project, the former commercial tenant was issued a standard 30 day vacate notice,” HPD spokesperson Jeremy House said.

“We don’t have the money”

As the deadline nears, congregants are split roughly in half between those who want to find a way to stay, and others who see the eviction as a chance to start fresh elsewhere, Elegba said.

But as church leaders hunt for a new home in Harlem, they are facing a stark reality: few spaces are available with rents as low as what they are used to paying.

“We don’t have the money to rent a market-rate facility,” Elegba said. “It just seemed as though we were disregarded.”

Congregants served food at Beaata Le Mariam for a 2013 celebration. (Courtesy of Atsede Elegba)

Now, elders are moving the church’s possessions into a storage locker in the Bronx, after outreach to the mayor’s faith-based pandemic advisory council and City Councilmember Bill Perkins’s office failed to yield any relief.

Reached for comment, Athena Bernkopf, a project coordinator for the EHEBCLT, said the group could not comment on legal proceedings, but has “always been open to being in conversation with community members regarding community land.”

Members of Beaata Le Mariam were hesitant to draw attention to their eviction, Elegba said, in part because they support the land trust’s mission of creating affordable housing.

But the desire to find a new home for the church outweighed their reluctance, Elegba said.

“A part of me hopes that if someone writes about it, maybe someone else will have the heart to say, ‘Maybe you can move here.”

The storefront home of Beaata Le Mariam Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard and West 121st Street, March 28, 2021. (Nick Garber/Patch)

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CBS4

Friends, Family Attend Funeral Service For Joshua Haileyesus, Boy Who Died After Trying ‘Blackout Challenge’

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – A funeral service was held on Monday for 12-year-old Joshua Haileyesus from Aurora. His family believes his death was a result of playing game he saw online called the “Blackout Challenge.”

Haileyesus was found struggling to breathe on March 22 in his home. He was taken to the hospital and put on life support. He died 19 days later.

The Blackout Challenge, which has gotten attention on TikTok and YouTube, dares participants to choke themselves until they lose consciousness.

The Haileyesus family hopes the news of their son’s death will bring awareness to the dangers.

Haileyesus was the son of Ethiopian immigrants and had several siblings, including a twin brother.

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UPDATE: In Denver, Funeral To Be Held For Joshua Haileyesus, 12-Year-Old Who Died As A Result Of ‘Blackout Challenge’

CBS4

Funeral To Be Held Monday For Joshua Haileyesus, 12-Year-Old Who Died As A Result Of The ‘Blackout Challenge’

AURORA, Colorado – A funeral service will held on Monday for an Aurora boy who died from what his family thinks was a result of playing an online game called the “Blackout Challenge.” The family of Joshua Haileyesus says the service will be open to the public.

The 12-year-old was found struggling to breathe on March 22 in his home. He was taken to the hospital and put on life support and died over the weekend.

The Blackout Challenge, which has gotten attention on TikTok and YouTube, dares participants to choke themselves until they lose consciousness. The Haileyesus family hopes the news of their son’s death will bring awareness to the dangers.

While he was on life support, members of the community as well as those who never even knew Haileyesus reached out to his family sharing their prayers and words of support. The family shared a statement this week that they are comforted and “sincerely grateful to the thousands” who did so.

“It has been moving to witness so many people from around the state and in fact from around the United States; showing love and compassion for Joshua,” the family statement read.

(Photo courtesy of the Haileyyesus Family)

The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. at Colorado Community Church, located at 14000 East Jewell Avenue in Aurora. A burial service will take place afterwards at Olinger Hampden Mortuary at 8600 East Hampden Avenue in Denver.

Haileyesus was the son of Ethiopian immigrants and had several siblings, including a twin brother. The family described him in the following way:

Everyone who knows Joshua can tell you what an incredibly gifted, funny, caring, and happy 12-year-old he is. Together with his twin brother, he would learn and master new hobbies out of pure curiosity and drive. Whether it was playing soccer, barbecuing sophisticated meals (better than any adult in the family can), practicing professional photography, experimenting with 3D modeling software, learning the ins-and-outs of acting including screenwriting and costume design, playing guitar, and planning his future of joining the U.S Army before becoming a First Responder, Joshua has excitement and passion for growing and learning. Joshua was so smart and impressive, unlike any twelve-year-old that we know; he seemed to have planned all his life in advance with his dreams and aspirations. Beyond his love for knowledge, Joshua has a love for people that you wouldn’t expect in a child. Since he was very young, he always expressed compassion for others. He would pray for people who were sick, stand up for others who were bullied at school, and practice CPR in case he ever needed to save someone else’s life.

A GoFundMe page raised more than $181,000 for the family.

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12-year-old dies after 19 days on life support, family blames online ‘blackout challenge’

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The Daily Californian

Dropping hits from his dorm room: Maasho talks being self-taught, entering music industry

In an interview with The Daily Californian, Abel Maasho laid out his vision for an upcoming first album: “I’m a teenager, this is my life, I’m also a fucking superstar, and I’m gonna do this s— regardless if people like it or not, because it’s my world and you’re just living in it.”

Considering that the young musician has garnered over 13 million global streams from only 9 songs with no record label or management to thank for it, the above statement checks out perfectly. The 19-year-old singer-songwriter from North Carolina has all the makings of a musical prodigy, but his songwriting journey only began two years ago.

“I never really listened to music or anything in the house,” Maasho confessed of his childhood. “Both of my parents are Ethiopian immigrants. I’m a first gen, and the only music that was ever played was Ethiopian gospel music on Sundays.”

It wasn’t until 2019, when Maasho sat in on his friend’s songwriting session, that he realized his natural aptitude for alt music. Soon after picking up songwriting as a hobby, Maasho’s meticulous nature kicked in and demanded that he verse himself in production, mixing and mastering.

“I really, really like being able to have control over my entire process, because at the end of the day this is an extension of myself,” Maasho said. “I decided that I wanted to pursue music seriously probably a couple weeks into being in my freshman dorm at (East Carolina University) where it was like, ‘Damn, I can do this myself!’ ”

2019 saw hits for Maasho such as “Fresh Air” and “Ginger,” with over 6 million and 2 million Spotify streams, respectively. Despite already finding the route to writing hit songs, Maasho is still allowing himself to explore new sounds and songwriting strategies.

“I’ve taken up painting recently, and I’ve started trying to write down my lyrics on physical paper,” said Maasho of his new habits. “I’ve used the paintings and written songs about (them)… you should try and do art in as many possible ways as you can if you have the ability and you have the circumstances to do them.”

While Maasho is already deliberate in his devotion to creating art, life tends to force spontaneous creativity from him regardless. He explained one instance in 2020 when the neighboring city Raleigh was shut down over Black Lives Matter protests and he was followed by three cops on a 15-minute drive to his own house. The days that ensued saw Maasho turning his racial trauma into a fiery, truth-spitting three-song EP about racial injustice, entitled “World on Fire.”

“I was freaking out… Because I am a Black male driving home in my predominately white town and I am scared,” Maasho remembered. “That really pissed me off, because I was like okay… I (felt) safe in my city, but I no longer do, and ‘World on Fire’ ended up being made literally the next day after that.”

Maasho’s most recent single, “Sad Machine,” is in that same vein of cathartic songs that allow for coping. Accompanied by a comedically tinged music video, “Sad Machine” is a gritty and undeniably catchy piece of indie pop that boasts both woeful lyrics and an uplifting beat.

“The song for me is kind of personifying my battle with anxiety and depression and other mental health things, and a lot of people go through that, especially people my age,” Maasho commented. “It’s an easily accessible song. If this makes you feel good, but it’s also talking about things you deal with on a daily basis, I’m very glad. I’m ecstatic that I (can) make that.”

While a catchy, relatable anthem about mental health might have been Maasho’s end product, its origin was a mere experiment performed alone in a bedroom.

“It was like yo, look, I’m going to make this super simple song, the hook is going to have 11 words, and it’s gonna be a hit, and that’s how I feel about it,” explained Maasho. “I don’t care about streams, this is literally just what I’m doing.”

Maasho’s beyond-his-years outlook on life guarantees that he’ll continue to create a brand for himself as a multi-genre producer, singer and songwriter.

“I’m just looking for the next step, seeing what’s good with my artistry and growing myself as a person, and just using my music as more self-extension rather than self-expression,” Maasho added.

Later in 2021, the world will see Maasho release many new projects, including an upcoming single with friends Weston Estate and also his first-ever album, tentatively titled “Abe’s World Volume I.”

“I’m very very excited about that because it shows all the different sounds that I’ve been playing with over the course of these singles over the past year,” emphasized Maasho. “Be on the lookout.”

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Tadias Magazine

By Tadias Staff

Updated: April 14th, 2021

New York (TADIAS) — This week in an interview with CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour President Joe Biden’s close confidant Senator Chris Coons discussed his recent trip to Ethiopia.

As Senator Coons told Amanpour he was asked by President Biden last month to serve as his special personal emissary to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. “He met with me for five hours over two days and he was very generous with his time,” Coons shared. “I delivered a letter directly to him from President Biden and I brought a letter back to President Biden from Prime Minister Abiy.”

The Senator added:

A couple of key developments: [PM Abiy] made commitments about humanitarian access, he publicly stated that there had been human rights violations committed by his own troops, by Eritrean troops and by the TPLF and committed to an international investigation in partnership with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. Most importantly, he recognized publicly for the first time the presence of Eritrean troops in his country and then made a trip to Asmara to meet with President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea to demand he withdraw his troops. That was a significant step forward. We are looking for action across these three key commitments and there are also other regional concerns about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and a border dispute with Sudan. There was progress made on all these fronts, but there is still more that has to be done…I am going to be working with the Biden Administration to make sure those commitments are followed up.

Click here to watch the interview »

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UPDATE: U.S. Senator Chris Coons Says Ethiopia Trip Was ‘Constructive’

FP EXCLUSIVE: Biden Sends Closest Ally Senator Chris Coons to Ethiopia

UPDATE: DOJ Documents Show Who is Lobbying U.S Officials on Ethiopia Issues

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Politico

Ethiopian Peace Ministry hires Holland & Knight

The Ethiopian government has hired more help in Washington as the Biden administration continues to issue warnings and reports of atrocities against the Tigrayan people continue to trickle out. Holland & Knight’s Michael Cavanaugh, Rich Gold, Michael Galano and Ronald Oleynik will assist Ethiopia’s Ministry of Peace with “strategic counsel and federal government relations” before both Congress and the White House, according to documents filed with the Justice Department.

— The six-month contract is worth $270,000, and was disclosed the same day national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, according to the White House, to convey the administration’s “grave concern” over the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country, which Secretary of State Tony Blinken has said amounts to “ethnic cleansing” by the government in Addis Ababa against the Tigray people.

— President Joe Biden dispatched one of his top congressional allies, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) to the Ethiopian capital last month. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told Coons during the visit that he is “deeply concerned” about reported atrocities, and is “fully committed to investigating all allegations of human rights abuses” and bringing to justice those responsible for the brutalities, according to a letter from Ethiopia’s ambassador to the United States to the heads of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that was disclosed to the Justice Department by the lobbying firm Venable, which is representing the Ethiopian embassy.

Read more »

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UPDATE: DOJ Documents Show Who is Lobbying U.S Officials on Ethiopia Issues

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Simple Flying

Yesterday marked a significant anniversary in the airline industry, as Ethiopian Airlines marked 75 years since its inaugural commercial flight. In the three-quarters of a century since then, the carrier has become the largest in Africa. Let’s take a look at the airline’s history, and how it has celebrated this special anniversary this week.

How did it all start?

As Ethiopian Airlines announced yesterday, April 8th, 2021 marked the 75th anniversary of the carrier’s first-ever commercial flight. This inaugural service flew from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa to its Egyptian counterpart, Cairo.

The flight was operated by a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, and flew via the Eritrean capital of Asmara. Ethiopian’s initial fleet consisted of five C-47s acquired from the US government. These previously served as military transport aircraft, and were a development of Douglas’s popular DC-3. Ethiopian’s C-47s had a mixed configuration, carrying passengers and cargo.

In the 75 years that have followed, Ethiopian has experienced impressive and consistent growth. According to Planespotters.net, its fleet today consists of 127 aircraft. These include some of the most modern and efficient twinjets in the skies, namely the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. With this fleet, Ethiopian serves the fourth-largest number of countries of any airline.

Ethiopian eventually operated the popular Douglas DC-3 as well as its military counterpart, the C-47. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Anniversary celebrations

The ongoing coronavirus is continuing to significantly impact the world of commercial aviation. As such, Ethiopian’s 75th birthday probably did not play out how the airline might previously have imagined. Nonetheless, the carrier was able to mark the occasion with a special event on a flight to Cairo. As established, this was Ethiopian’s first commercial route.

Read more »

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Vogue

Liya Kebede & Her Daughter Bring A Touch Of Ethiopia’s Artisanship To H&M

Liya Kebede has been quietly working to preserve the art of weaving in her native Ethiopia since she founded her artisanal brand Lemlem, which means “to bloom” and “flourish” in Amharic, in 2007. By employing traditional weavers and breaking their cycle of poverty – the once thriving industry creating custom habesha kemis garments suffered as young Africans turned to modern imported fashion – Kebede has reinvigorated a community, and kept an important element of the culture of Addis Ababa, where she was born.

Kebede is working with H&M on ways the high-street giant can benefit the Lemlem Foundation. Community is at the core of Lemlem and it was crucial that this was reflected in the H&M collaboration. (Vogue

The UN ambassador and maternal health advocate’s craft-focused business model can be seen as a lesson in sustainability – one that is spoken about less frequently than eco-friendly textile innovations and circularity initiatives. “Lemlem is about the human element of sustainability,” explains Kebede over Zoom, still as radiant as when she started modelling at the age of 18. “In philanthropy, there’s always this issue of making something sustainable. For me, enabling and educating people, giving them jobs and making them independent is a sustainable way of doing aid.”

The work of the Lemlem Foundation, which runs in tandem with the clothing brand and connects female artisans in Africa to healthcare, education and jobs, struck a chord with H&M, a pioneer in the high-street sustainable fashion movement. When the Swedish fast-fashion giant invited Kebede to design a capsule collection, she didn’t balk at the prospect, but saw it as an opportunity to spread the word about Lemlem’s mission. “The idea of H&M collaborating with a brand like ours, which is very much based on sustainability, brings that kind of awareness to their customers,” Kebede explains of H&M’s mammoth outreach. “I think that’s really important and great to be a part of.”

Effortless-yet-elegant is the style takeaway from the edit. Jewellery is to be worn stacked and passed down through generations. (Vogue)

After deciding that the shipping of fabrics back and forth between Ethiopia and Europe would pose major carbon footprint issues and that the quantity of stock would overwhelm Lemlem’s weavers, Kebede agreed to create a line of effortless daywear in the spirit of Lemlem’s archive, but made in Europe. Sustainably sourced organic cotton and linen and recycled polyester were selected to give the same texture as Lemlem’s artisanal pieces, while the joyful mood of the striped beachwear and breezy separates emulates the brand’s signature colourful aesthetic. “I love the whole energy of layering and everything sort of going with each other, even though it’s not the same,” says Kebede, who has been living in the samples.

Jewellery, a new category for Lemlem and one Kebede is thrilled to experiment with, comes in the form of stacking trinkets made from recycled zinc, among other materials. It’s designed, like the rest of the sunny edit, to be passed down from generation to generation, and Kebede chose her daughter Raee to star in the lookbook with her – an experience she describes as emotional. “These classic pieces are wonderful items that you can always wear forever,” she says of the seasonless Lemlem ethos she extended to H&M.

Raee, who loves the sustainable Lemlem X H&M crop tops and swimwear, and her friends, who mostly shop vintage, are indicative of the shift in consciousness around fashion’s negative impact on the environment. Kebede, who says there were no conversations around sustainability when she began modelling, is buoyed by this. “When people first started talking about it, everybody said, ‘If I make [clothing] sustainable, I’m going to be limited, so I won’t be able to make it as gorgeous as I want.’ Now that has completely changed,” she asserts. The healthy food movement, she believes, is helpful at illustrating this: organic food was once conceived as good for you, but lacking in flavour. Now, it is widely-accepted. With change-makers like Kebede spreading the message about quality, beautiful and ethical fashion, sustainability is firmly on the menu.

‘
Liya Kebede, who oversaw every finish, has been living in the samples since developing the collection. (Vogue)

Shop Lemlem x H&M, which is priced from £7.99 to £39.99, from 22 April. As part of the collaboration H&M has made a donation to the Lemlem Foundation to bolster its important work.

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Mongabay

Spiny new chameleon species described from Bale Mountains of Ethiopia

Researchers have described a new chameleon species from the Bale Mountains of south-central Ethiopia and say it’s likely that more will emerge.

Wolfgang Böhme’s Ethiopian chameleon is around 15 centimeters (6 inches) long and has a distinct crest of large spiny scales along its back and tail.

It lives in bushes and small trees, often at the edges of the forest in the Bale Mountains, a biodiversity hotspot that’s also home to the endemic Ethiopian wolf as well as lions, leopards and warthogs.

The conservation status of the new chameleon is unknown, but due to its small distribution range and human-caused habitat disturbance and agriculture in the area, it is likely that it will be classified as threatened.

Named Wolfgang Böhme’s Ethiopian chameleon (Trioceros wolfgangboehmei), in honor of the senior herpetologist at the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig (ZMFK) in Bonn, Germany, the chameleon is around 15 centimeters (6 inches) long and has a distinctive crest of large spiny scales along its back and tail. The species has been described in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.

Researchers uncovered the new reptile while examining variations in Ethiopian chameleons (Trioceros affinis). After careful study of the internal and external features of both preserved and wild chameleons, researchers decided there were enough differences to warrant a new species.

The researchers suggest that the Ethiopian chameleon be considered a species complex, a group with an unknown number of species, rather than a single species. They expect more species to be described from the group.

“Given the variation in colour patterns and morphology between different populations of these chameleons in Ethiopia, it is likely that these groups still bear a higher hidden diversity than expected, which might be revealed by further ongoing investigations,” said Thore Koppetsch, a zoologist from the ZMFK who was part of the team that described the species.

The new Ethiopian chameleon, Trioceros wolfgangboehmei, in muted tone. Chameleons can change the arrangement of specialized skin cell to blend in with their surroundings. (Photo from Koppetsch et al. CC-BY 4.0)

Wolfgang Böhme’s Ethiopian chameleons live in bushes and small trees, often at the edges of the forest in the Bale Mountains, 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) above sea level. Many of Ethiopia’s endemic animals are found in the Bale Mountains, including the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis). The area is also home to lions, leopards, warthogs, and many other endemic reptiles.

“Although the region from which the new chameleon is known from, the Bale Mountains, can be considered as a hotspot of species diversity and a center of endemism,” Koppetsch said, “it is quite astonishing to find an unknown chameleon in this region since two chameleon species endemic to this area are already known.”

The conservation status of the new chameleon is unknown, Koppetsch says, but due to its small distribution range and human-caused habitat disturbance and agriculture in the area, it is likely that it will be classified as threatened with extinction.

Head details of Trioceros wolfgangboehmei. (Photo from Koppetsch et al 2021. CC-BY 4.0)

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Northwestern Magazine

Basic Science Leads to Sustainable Solutions

Materials scientist and engineer Sossina Haile couldn’t have predicted that the cost of solar and wind energy would plummet in recent years, or that places like California would start paying customers to take electricity because their supply outstripped demand. But once those things happened, she had a solution.

Haile’s team developed a way to convert electricity into hydrogen, store it and convert it back to electricity when more is needed. This breakthrough offers a way to rebalance, and even stabilize, the U.S. energy grid.

“That’s the benefit of doing work on fundamental materials,” says Haile, a professor in Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. “You can switch gears because you understand the properties of your materials and their potential applications.”

Equipped with this technology, a storage company could take excess electricity from ComEd or PG&E, for example, and store it as hydrogen, Haile says. And when ComEd needs more electricity to power its customers’ air conditioners in the middle of summer, it would pay that storage company to convert hydrogen back to electricity. “That firm will make a killing,” Haile says.

“I had to learn that quiet persistence only got you so far.”

BACK TO BASICS

In 2001 Haile created the first solid acid fuel cell, which converts hydrogen, or a fuel like natural gas, into electricity. In recognition of this breakthrough, Newsweek magazine named Haile one of 12 people to watch. She was also featured, along with 11 other women in science and technology, on the ceiling of Grand Central Station in New York City.

Haile made a subsequent world-first discovery in 2010, when she converted solar energy into hydrogen more efficiently than photosynthesis, the process by which living plants build their organic matter. This work, which she described in a 2012 TEDx talk and for which she was awarded the 2012 International Prize in Ceramics, opened the door to larger-scale efforts to use sunlight to directly make renewable fuels.

And then the cost of solar and wind energy plummeted, and Haile’s basic science background proved invaluable, enabling her to switch her research focus back and forth between electricity and hydrogen.

Now, Haile’s lab is reconfiguring their solid acid fuel cells so the devices can convert ammonia into high-purity hydrogen. “This would make it possible to use ammonia as a hydrogen carrier,” Haile says, “avoiding the cost of building a new delivery infrastructure to supply hydrogen to fuel cell vehicles.”

Sossina Haile works with a student in her lab before the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: Northwestern Magazine)

ENERGY INNOVATOR

Born in Ethiopia, Haile’s family fled the country in the ’70s after a military coup. They settled in Minnesota, and Haile went on to earn academic degrees in materials science and engineering on both coasts, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley.

Haile’s work in sustainable energy was recognized early on, with a National Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a Fulbright Fellowship, among other honors. But just a few years into teaching, she found herself “in a very big ocean with lots of very big fish.”

“I had to learn that quiet persistence only got you so far,” Haile says. “Success required focusing on the most important problems in my field, finding the right questions to ask and convincing the world, with just a bit of fanfare, that I could solve those problems.”

Read more at magazine.northwestern.edu »

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The Associated Press

A new round of talks between three African nations began Saturday, officials said, aimed at resolving a yearslong dispute over a giant dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile River’s main tributary.

The three-day talks are taking place in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the current chair of the African Union. The AU is mediating the negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Cairo wants the negotiations to eventually lead to a legally binding agreement over the operation and filling of the dam’s massive reservoir.

Foreign and irrigation ministers of the three nations were attending the talks, along with experts from the African Union, according to Ethiopia’s Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele.

A Sudanese diplomat said experts from the three countries and the African Union met Saturday, ahead of ministers who would meet Sunday and Monday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief media.

Sudan said it would take part in the Kinshasa round with an aim of agreeing on a “negotiating approach” to ensure the talks would be constructive. That would include an Egyptian-backed Sudanese proposal to include the U.S., European Union and United Nations as mediators along with the AU, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Ethiopia has rejected the proposal, saying it “believes in resolving African problems by Africans.”

The dispute centers on the speed at which a planned reservoir is filled behind the dam, the method of its annual replenishment, and how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs. Another point of difference is how the three countries would settle any future disputes.

Egypt and Sudan want a legally binding agreement on the dam’s filling and operation, while Ethiopia insists on guidelines.

The talks in Kinshasa come a few days after Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said his country’s share of Nile River waters were “untouchable” — a stark warning apparently to Ethiopia, which is preparing for another stage of the dam’s filling later this year.

El-Sissi warned Tuesday of “instability that no one can imagine” in the region if the dam’s is filled and operated without a legally binding agreement.

Bekele, the Ethiopian minister, said his country “as always is determined for principled, equitable and reasonable utilization without causing significant harm,” according to Ethiopia’s official news agency.

Egypt is a mostly desert country that depends on the Nile for almost all of its water needs. It fears that a quick fill would drastically reduce the Nile’s flow, with potentially severe effects on its agriculture and other sectors.

Ethiopia says the $5 billion dam is essential, arguing that the vast majority of its population lacks electricity. The dam will generate over 6,400 megawatts of electricity, a massive boost to the country’s current production of 4,000 megawatts.

Sudan wants Ethiopia to coordinate and share data on the dam’s operation to avoid flooding and protect its own power-generating dams on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River. The Blue Nile meets with the White Nile in central Sudan. From there the Nile winds northward through Egypt and flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

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Quanta Magazine

A Computer Scientist Who Tackles Inequality Through Algorithms

When Rediet Abebe arrived at Harvard University as an undergraduate in 2009, she planned to study mathematics. But her experiences with the Cambridge public schools soon changed her plans.

Abebe, 29, is from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital and largest city. When residents there didn’t have the resources they needed, she attributed it to community-level scarcity. But she found that argument unconvincing when she learned about educational inequality in Cambridge’s public schools, which she observed struggling in an environment of abundance.

To learn more, Abebe started attending Cambridge school board meetings. The more she discovered about the schools, the more eager she became to help. But she wasn’t sure how that desire aligned with her goal of becoming a research mathematician.

“I thought of these interests as different,” said Abebe, a junior fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows and an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “At some point, I actually thought I had to choose, and I was like, ‘OK, I guess I’ll choose math and the other stuff will be my hobby.’”

After college Abebe was accepted into a doctoral program in mathematics, but she ended up deferring to attend an intensive one-year math program at the University of Cambridge. While there, she decided to switch her focus to computer science, which allowed her to combine her talent for mathematical thinking with her strong desire to address social problems related to discrimination, inequity and access to opportunity. She ended up getting a

Today, Abebe uses the tools of theoretical computer science to help design algorithms and artificial intelligence systems that address real-world problems. She has modeled the role played by income shocks, like losing a job or government benefits, in leading people into poverty, and she’s looked at ways of optimizing the allocation of government financial assistance. She’s also working with the Ethiopian government to better account for the needs of a diverse population by improving the algorithm the country uses to match high school students with colleges.

Abebe is a co-founder of the organizations Black in AI — a community of Black researchers working in artificial intelligence — and Mechanism Design for Social Good, which brings together researchers from different disciplines to address social problems.

Quanta Magazine spoke with Abebe recently about her childhood fear that she’d be forced to become a medical doctor, the social costs of bad algorithmic design, and how her background in math sharpens her work. This interview is based on multiple phone interviews and has been condensed and edited for clarity.

You’re currently involved in a project to reform the Ethiopian national educational system. The work was born in part from your own negative experiences with it. What happened?

In the Ethiopian national system, when you finished 12th grade, you’d take this big national exam and submit your preferences for the 40-plus public universities across the country. There was a centralized assignment process that determined what university you were going to and what major you would have. I was so panicked about this.

Why?

I realized I was a high-scoring student when I was in middle school. And the highest-scoring students tended to be assigned to medicine. I was like 12 and super panicked that I might have to be a medical doctor instead of studying math, which is what I really wanted to do.

What did you end up doing?

I thought, “I may have to go abroad.” I learned that in the U.S., you can get full financial aid if you do really well and get into the top schools.

So you went to Harvard as an undergraduate and planned to become a research mathematician. But then you had an experience that changed your plans. What happened?

I was excited to study math at Harvard. At the same time, I was interested in what was going on in the city of Cambridge. There was a massive achievement gap in elementary schools in Cambridge. A lot of students who were Black, Latinx, low-income or students with disabilities, or immigrant students, were performing two to four grades below their peers in the same classroom. I was really interested in why this was happening.

Read the full Q & A at quantamagazine.org »

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Press Release

World Bank Group

ADDIS ABABA — The World Bank approved a $500 million International Development Association (IDA)* credit to support Ethiopia’s goal of achieving universal electricity access by 2025.

Over the past decade, the Government of Ethiopia has made encouraging progress on its electrification program and expanded the grid network coverage to nearly 60 percent of towns and villages. Despite this progress, Ethiopia has the third largest energy access deficit in Sub-Saharan Africa with more than half the population still without access to reliable electricity especially in deep-rural areas which are dependent on biomass and kerosene. The electricity deficit in Ethiopia continues to exacerbate the poverty situation, preventing far too many people from fulfilling their basic socio-economic needs and limiting access to opportunity.

The Access to Distributed Electricity and Lighting in Ethiopia (ADELE) Project is an important component of Ethiopia’s National Electrification Program (NEP), which aims to strategically change direction from infrastructure development to the delivery of adequate, reliable and affordable electricity services with a vision to reach universal electrification by 2025. ADELE will focus on access to new and improved electricity services for households, smallholder farmers, commercial and industrial users, and social institutions in urban, peri-urban, rural, and deep-rural areas. The first phase of the NEP was supported by the World Bank-financed Ethiopia Electrification Program (ELEAP) approved in 2018.

‘With a goal of providing electricity services for nearly 5 million people, 11,500 enterprises and 1,400 health and education facilities, the project represents the World Bank’s continued support to the Government of Ethiopia’s NEP and is aligned with our commitment to support Ethiopia’s resilient recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic. It is also an important step towards improving service delivery and addressing drivers of fragility and conflict’ said Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia.

An important feature of ADELE will be the deployment of innovative solutions such as decentralized renewable energy technologies, particularly solar photovoltaic (PV) mini-grids and individual solar system for both household and productive use, deployed through a combined approach of public and private delivery modalities that further enhance affordability and inclusion. The project also has a strong focus on closing the gender gap in the energy sector and increasing the percentage of women participating in the mini-grid sector and off-grid technology value chain.

‘ADELE can contribute to achieving near universal electrification of secondary schools and health centers. Closing the energy gap and enabling the productive use of renewable energy in rural and deep-rural areas will be crucial in the post-COVID-19 recovery phase,’said Riccardo Puliti, World Bank Africa Regional Director for Infrastructure.

The ADELE project will be implemented by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Electricity, the Ethiopian Electric Utility, and the Development Bank of Ethiopia.

*The International Development Association (IDA) is the World Bank’s fund for the poorest. Established in 1960, it provides grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. IDA resources help effect positive change in the lives of the 1.6 billion people living in the countries that are eligible for its assistance. Since its inception, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments are constantly on the rise and have averaged $21 billion over the past three years, with about 61% going to Africa.

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DCist

Two Local Ethiopian Jazz Greats Have New Albums

Every Friday from 2016 until recently in a small, second-floor room of the Crystal City restaurant Enjera, Ethiopian guitarist Selam Seyoum Woldemariam has led his trio through minor key, groove-filled renditions of 20th century Ethiopian songs. For the crowd of mostly 40-something-and-up Ethiopians in attendance, Woldemariam’s catalogue brought back memories of when these tunes were the radio soundtrack to their lives. The band stands on a tiny stage jammed up against a wall, playing their lounge-funky East African jazz for an audience of roughly 50 people who enjoy plates of Ethiopian and Eritrean food with spongy injera or just drink and socialize at tables close by.

Performing live, Woldemariam says, gave him “the utmost satisfaction and a chance to meet my fans,” who he says treasured his shows and aren’t fans of going out to other types of nightlife like dance clubs or hookah bars.

Woldemariam, 65, is one of the stars of a lively Ethiopian music scene that, before the pandemic, encompassed local clubs and restaurants, most notably in D.C., Silver Spring, and Falls Church. But as the novel coronavirus has spread, restaurant closures and bans on large gatherings has put everything on pause, including gigs for two popular Ethiopian artists who just released new albums.

Hailu Mergia, a 74-year-old keyboardist and accordionist based in Fort Washington, typically brings his funky Ethio-jazz to larger venues, such as the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage or the 600-person capacity Hamilton. On March 27, Mergia released his new album, Yene Mircha. The Washington Post and music website Pitchfork have hailed both hailed the new work, but because of the pandemic, Mergia has been unable to translate that acclaim into live appearances: His American and European tour have been cancelled.

Woldemariam also recently released a new album, Grace, in January, under the name Selam “Selamino” Seyoum. (Seyoum is his father’s last name and Woldemariam is his grandfather’s last name.) He was able to put on some album release shows locally and one in Texas before the pandemic, though planned shows in Oakland, Calif., and Los Angeles have been cancelled.

Both artists, best known for being part of the 1970s Ethiopian music scene that later reached a fanatic audience through a collection of retrospective albums called Ethiopiques, mix traditional Ethiopian pentatonic scale chords with sounds from elsewhere in Africa, plus American R&B, jazz, and rock to create their funky afro-psychedelic Ethiopian styles.

Read more »

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Lockdown and listen: Classic African albums to discover, old and new

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THE LATEST UPDATE:

Updated: April 29th, 2020

The Washington Post

She gave birth to a son before dying of covid-19. She never got to see him.

Wogene Debele was eight months pregnant when, coughing and weak, she decided to return to Holy Cross Hospital a second time. Before leaving her family’s small high-rise apartment in Takoma Park, Md., she turned to her two sons, Naod, 10, and Asher, 4.

“I’m just going to get a checkup. I’ll be right back,” her 17-year-old daughter, Mihret, later recalled her telling them.

That was on March 25, the last time Debele’s children would have her in their midst. On Tuesday, after nearly a month of struggle, first at Holy Cross in Silver Spring and then at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Debele died of covid-19. She was 43.

She left behind not only Naod, Asher, Mihret and her husband, Yilma Asfaw Tadesse, 50, but a newborn son, Levi. Born a month premature the day Debele was admitted to the hospital, the baby was whisked into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), free of the virus, his mother unable to hold him or even see his face.

The family emigrated from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, almost a decade ago and quickly became a warm and familiar presence within the Washington area’s large Ethiopian community and among their Takoma Park neighbors. There, families in million-dollar bungalows live alongside immigrants and others of lesser means who occupy the Essex House apartments, where Debele and Tadesse raised their family. All their children go to school together and play on the same soccer teams.

That is how Anne Snouck-Hurgronje came to know Debele, a stay-at-home mother, and Tadesse, a Montgomery County school bus driver who sometimes worked more than one job. Snouck-Hurgronje’s son, Gabriel, and Naod are both in fifth grade at Piney Branch Elementary and have played soccer together for years in a local rec league and then a travel league…

Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart has publicly expressed sorrow over Debele’s death, beginning Wednesday’s virtual city council meeting with a moment of silence in her memory, and thousands have contributed to a GoFundMe fundraiser set up for the family.

Read more »

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DW

Germany to start first coronavirus vaccine trial

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has announced the first clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine. The Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), the regulatory authority which helps develop and authorizes vaccines in Germany, has given the go-ahead for the first clinical trial of BNT162b1, a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

It was developed by cancer researcher and immunologist Ugur Sahin and his team at pharmaceutical company BioNTech, and is based on their prior research into cancer immunology. Sahin previously taught at the University of Mainz before becoming the CEO of BioNTech.

In a joint conference call on Wednesday with researchers from the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Sahin said BNT162b1 constitutes a so-called RNA vaccine. He explained that innocuous genetic information of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is transferred into human cells with the help of lipid nanoparticles, a non-viral gene delivery system. The cells then transform this genetic information into a protein, which should stimulate the body’s immune reaction to the novel coronavrius.

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The Washington Post

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic challenger to President Trump in November, condemned the president for focusing on immigration rather than increasing coronavirus testing.

“Rather than execute a swift and aggressive effort to ramp up testing, Donald Trump is tweeting incendiary rhetoric about immigrants in the hopes that he can distract everyone from the core truth: he’s moved too slowly to contain this virus, and we are all paying the price for it,” Biden said in a statement.

Biden said there should be a policy that all travelers, citizens and noncitizens, coming to the U.S. be screened for covid-19, but that a flat ban on new immigration was “irrational.”

He also accused Trump of writing “inflammatory tweets” to hide from “one of the most glaring failures of this president’s response” — the lack of widespread testing.

Read more »

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The Associated Press

By ELIAS MESERET

Updated: April 21st, 2020

Ethiopia’s New Stance on Eritrean Asylum-Seekers Criticized

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A change in asylum procedure by Ethiopia’s government is undermining neighboring Eritreans’ access to asylum and denying unaccompanied children the necessary protection, Human Rights Watch asserted Tuesday.

The rights group said Ethiopia in January changed its refugee policy that had granted all arriving Eritrean asylum seekers refugee status.

“Ethiopia has long welcomed tens of thousands of Eritreans fleeing persecution each year,” said Laetitia Bader, the group’s Horn of Africa director. “With no letup in repression in Eritrea, the Ethiopian government shouldn’t be denying protection to Eritrean nationals, particularly unaccompanied children.”

Eritrea’s system of forced military conscription leads thousands of people, mostly youth, to flee the country. Most go to Ethiopia, which currently hosts more than 170,000 Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers.

Speaking to The Associated Press, the head of Ethiopia’s Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs said a lack of individual refugee status determination in the past has resulted in a high number of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia.

“This uncontrolled practice has resulted in a high influx of unaccompanied minors, illegal migrants and others who do not fulfill the criteria laid out in international instruments,” Eyob Awoke said. “As such, we have initiated a strict modus operandi whose implementation will be applied to all nationalities hosted by Ethiopia.”

Eyob said that from now on, current conditions in countries of origin including human rights, security situations and socio-economic and humanitarian factors will be taken into account to ensure an “evidence-based process.”

Eyob also cited a funding cut from international partners and donors.

Eritreans make up some 22% of the more than 750,000 refugees that Ethiopia currently hosts, according to U.N. data. Another 44% of refugees come from neighboring South Sudan and 26% from neighboring Somalia.

Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2018 ended two decades of hostilities by agreeing to end a border conflict and restoring ties. But rights groups have noted little sign of repressive measures being loosened inside Eritrea.

Human Rights Watch said some 6,000 Eritreans arrived in Ethiopia every month in 2019. According to the United Nations refugee agency, 44% of Eritrean refugees based in northern Ethiopia were children as of December.

“The refusal to register unaccompanied children may compel them to return to abusive situations,” Human Rights Watch said.

In March, Ethiopia announced it would close a refugee camp in the north that hosts more than 25,000 Eritreans, the group said, though the coronavirus pandemic has affected the timing.

—

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AFP

Ethiopia Opens Aid Transport Hub to Fight Covid-19

Ethiopia and the United Nations on Tuesday opened a humanitarian transport hub at Addis Ababa airport to move supplies and aid workers across Africa to fight coronavirus.

The arrangement, which relies on cargo services provided by Ethiopian Airlines, could also partially offset heavy losses Africa’s largest carrier is sustaining because of the pandemic.

An initial shipment of 3 000 cubic metres of supplies – most of it personal protective equipment for health workers – will be distributed within the next week, said Steven Were Omamo, Ethiopia country director for the World Food Programme (WFP).

“This is a really important platform in the response to Covid-19, because what it does is it allows us to move with speed and efficiency to respond to the needs as they are unfolding,” Omamo said, referring to the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The Addis gateway is one of eight global humanitarian hubs set up to facilitate movement of aid to fight Covid-19, according to WFP.

In Africa, there are also hubs in Ghana and South Africa.

The continent has so far not been hit by the coronavirus as hard as other regions, but experts worry that weak health systems could quickly become overwhelmed by an influx of cases.

As of Tuesday there were 15 249 Covid-19 cases across the continent resulting in 816 deaths, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

African leaders are also worried about the economic toll on the continent.

An African Union study published last week warned that 20 million jobs in the formal and informal sectors were at risk.

The state-run Ethiopian Airlines announced last week that it was already bracing for revenue losses of $550 million between January and April.

The airline is turning to cargo, maintenance and charter operations to help soften the blow.

Ethiopian Airlines plans to play “a major role” in Africa’s fight against Covid-19, and the humanitarian transportation hub inaugurated on Tuesday will be operational at least through the end of May, said Fitsum Abadi, the company’s managing director of cargo and logistics services.

But Fitsum acknowledged that cargo operations would never make up for the loss of most of the airline’s passenger traffic.

“This division or this business unit is the second largest revenue-generating business unit, but it cannot offset the entire loss that the airline is facing,” he told AFP.

“So we are helping the airline to navigate this difficult time – not as healthy as we wanted but in a healthy situation.”

—
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UN News

Now is a time for unity in the global battle to push the COVID-19 pandemic into reverse, not a time to cut the resources of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is spearheading and coordinating the global body’s efforts, said UN chief António Guterres, on Tuesday.

“As I said on 8 April, the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most dangerous challenges this world has faced in our lifetime. It is above all a human crisis with severe health and socio-economic consequences”, he added.

The UN chief’s statement, came as the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced early on Tuesday evening that he was halting funding for the UN health agency, pending a review of its response to the initial outbreak.

WHO, with thousands of its staff aiding and assisting operations across the world to limit the transmission of the coronavirus, “is on the front lines, supporting Member States and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, with guidance, training, equipment and concrete life-saving services”, said the Secretary-General.

“It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19.”

Reiterating the argument which he made last week, the UN chief noted that given the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 and the subsequent global response that was needed to defeat it, “it is possible that the same facts have had different readings by different entities. Once we have finally turned the page on this epidemic, there must be a time to look back fully to understand how such a disease emerged and spread its devastation so quickly across the globe, and how all those involved reacted to the crisis.”

The lessons learned will be essential to effectively address similar challenges, as they may arise in the future”, Mr. Guterres added. “But now is not that time.”

Resources must be maintained

Until then, “it also not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organization or any other humanitarian organization in the fight against the virus.”

Mr. Guterres made it clear that unity must prevail, so that the international community can work together, “in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences.”

Ever since the disease emerged in Wuhan, China, and the first case of a pneumonia “of unknown cause” was reported to WHO on 31 December last year, the agency has been working 24/7 to analyze data, provide advice, coordinate with partners, and help countries prepare. The outbreak was declared a Public Heath Emergency of International Concern, a month later.

See our piece here, on five of the key ways that the agency has been leading the global response.

As of Tuesday, there are more than 1.8 million confirmed cases, according to WHO figures, with more than 117,000 confirmed deaths, and 213 countries, areas or territories with cases of the new coronavirus.

—
WHO’s Tedros says Trump is ‘supportive,’ hopes U.S. won’t cut funding as threatened

Sketch of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. (Image via Dagi Pen Art @dag_doni/Twitter)

The Washington Post
·
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday that his relationship with President Trump remained good, despite the U.S. leader’s threats to cut funding to the global health body.

“What I know is that he is supportive and I hope that the funding to WHO will continue. The relationship we have is very good and I hope that will continue,” Tedros said at a briefing in Geneva, noting that the two had last spoken two weeks ago and that the United States was the largest donor to WHO.

Trump is likely to announce restrictions on U.S. funding for the WHO this week over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as the administration and conservative allies ramped up their criticism that the United Nations agency catered to China early in the outbreak and jeopardized global health.

Trump hinted at a temporary hold on U.S. funding Friday but said he wanted to wait until after Easter to announce anything. He said his administration would discuss the organization “in great detail” this week, adding that he did not want to go further “before we had all the facts.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other U.S. officials are expected to recommend to Trump how to dock or condition payments to the agency.

At their news briefing Monday, WHO officials pushed back on criticism voiced by Trump and other U.S. officials who said that the organization had overlooked evidence of human-to-human transmission in the early days of the outbreak.

Maria Van Kerkhove, acting head of WHO’s emerging diseases unit, said that it was always assumed that human-to-human transmission was possible and noted that the possibility was included in advisories Jan. 10 and 11. Van Kerkhove also said she mentioned it herself at a Jan. 14 news conference.

“In fact, that got quite a few headlines,” Van Kerkhove said.

Read more here.

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The Washington Post

The International Monetary Fund says the coronavirus pandemic is causing the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In its annual world economic outlook, the IMF forecasts that the global economy will shrink by 3 percent this year before rebounding in 2021. Over the next two years, output will be $9 trillion less than expected before the crisis, according to Gita Gopinath, the fund’s chief economist.

The IMF says the U.S. economy will contract by 5.9 percent this year and grow by 4.7 percent next year.

“This makes the Great Lockdown the worst recession since the Great Depression and far worse than the global financial crisis,” said Gopinath.

Although the IMF expects a punishing global recession, the downturn will not be as severe as in the 1930s when the global economy shrank by an estimated 10 percent, she said.

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The Associated Press

Bernie Sanders backs Joe Biden as ex-rivals join forces to beat Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders endorsed Joe Biden’s presidential campaign on Monday, encouraging his progressive supporters to rally behind the presumptive Democratic nominee in an urgent bid to defeat President Donald Trump.

“I am asking all Americans, I’m asking every Democrat, I’m asking every independent, I’m asking a lot of Republicans, to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse,” the Vermont senator said in a virtual event with Biden.

The backing came less than a week after Sanders ended his presidential campaign, which was centered around progressive policies such as universal health care. There were early signs that some leading progressives weren’t ready to fully follow Sanders’ lead. And Trump’s campaign was eager to use the endorsement to tie Biden more closely to Sanders, whose identity as a democratic socialist is objectionable to Republicans and some Democrats.

Still, Sanders’ embrace of Biden was crucial for someone who is tasked with bridging the Democratic Party’s entrenched ideological divides. Democratic disunity helped contribute to Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016.

Perhaps eager to avoid a repeat of that bruising election year, Sanders offered his endorsement much earlier in the 2020 campaign. Sanders backed Clinton four years ago, but only after the end of a drawn-out nomination fight and a bitter dispute over the Democratic platform that extended to the summer convention.

Biden and Sanders differed throughout the primary, particularly over whether a government-run system should replace private health insurance. Biden has resisted Sanders’ “Medicare for All” plan and has pushed instead a public option that would operate alongside private coverage.

Sanders said there’s “no great secret out there that you and I have our differences.”

But Sanders said the greater priority for Democrats of all political persuasions should be defeating Trump.

“We’ve got to make Trump a one-term president,” he said. “I will do all that I can to make that happen.”

The coronavirus prevented Biden and Sanders from appearing together in person. But they made clear they would continue working together, announcing the formation of six “task forces” made up of representatives from both campaigns to work on policy agreements addressing health care, the economy, education, criminal justice, climate change and immigration.

Biden, 77, has already made some overtures to progressives by embracing aspects of Sanders’ and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s policies. The day after Sanders exited the race, Biden came out in support of lowering the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60 while pledging to cancel student debt for many low- and middle-income borrowers. He’s also previously embraced Warren’s bankruptcy reform plan.

Sanders, 78, is sure to remain a force throughout the campaign. When he ended his candidacy, he said he would keep his name on the ballot in states that have not yet voted in order to collect more delegates that could be used to influence the party’s platform. He didn’t say Monday whether he would continue to fight for those delegates.

Still, Sanders and Biden emphasized their mutual respect for each other.

Sanders referred to the former vice president as “Joe.” Biden answered him repeatedly as “pal.” The two men asked the other to give regards to their wives, Jill Biden and Jane Sanders.

Biden told Sanders: “I really need you, not just to win the campaign but to govern.”

While Sanders campaigned for Clinton dozens of times after the 2016 primary, the rapport on display with Biden on Monday was far lighter than anything voters saw four years ago.

Some progressive leaders were positive but guarded in response to Sanders’ endorsement.

“This endorsement shows that everyone wants to beat Trump,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Committee that originally supported Warren.

“Our side will be increasingly energized the more it’s clear that progressive ideas and progressive leaders like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and grassroots organizations have strong positions of influence with Biden,” Green said.

But others remained skeptical. In an interview with The Associated Press just a few hours before Sanders’ endorsement, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized Biden’s overtures to progressives on health care.

“We need a real plan and not just gestures,” said Ocasio-Cortez, a key Sanders surrogate during his campaign. “What I’d like to see at a bare minimum is a health care plan that helps extend health care to young people.”

Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, seized on Sanders’ endorsement to underscore Biden’s embrace of some of his plans. In a statement, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said that “though Bernie Sanders won’t be on the ballot in November, his issues will be.”

“Biden had to adopt most of Bernie’s agenda to be successful in the Democrat primaries,” Parscale said.

Sanders could go a long way toward infusing Biden’s campaign with additional energy if he’s able to bring his enthusiastic following of millions of young and progressive voters along with him to support Biden. Young voters, a key Democratic voting bloc, have long supported Sanders over his former primary rivals by huge margins.

Biden and Sanders on Monday emphasized the need to address the challenges confronting young people during the pandemic, with Sanders describing “a generation of young people who are experiencing crisis after crisis.”

—
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The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A voter initiative led by Michelle Obama announced support Monday for making it easier for people to register to vote and cast ballots during the coronavirus pandemic.

When We All Vote, a nonpartisan voting initiative, says Americans should have greater access to voting by mail, early in-person voting and online voter registration.

The announcement follows last week’s primary election in Wisconsin, where thousands of people waited hours in line — without protective gear and in defiance of orders to stay home — after the state Supreme Court overturned the governor’s order to postpone the vote as more than a dozen other states have done because of the pandemic. Thousands of other Wisconsin voters, unwilling to risk their health, stayed home.

When We All Vote’s announcement also comes amid vociferous opposition by President Donald Trump to mail-in voting.

The former first lady, a co-chair of the organization, said expanding access to vote-by-mail, online voter registration and early voting are long overdue “critical steps for this moment.”

“Americans should never have to choose between making their voices heard and keeping themselves and their families safe,” she said in a statement. “There is nothing partisan about striving to live up to the promise of our country: making the democracy we all cherish more accessible, and protecting our neighbors, friends and loved ones as they participate in this cornerstone of American life.”

Mrs. Obama’s role with the group is her most high-profile effort since she left the White House in early 2017.

Trump has claimed without evidence that expanding mail-in voting will increase voter fraud. Despite his assertions, several GOP state officials are moving forward with plans for mail-in voting in their states.

There is no evidence of widespread mail voting fraud. The most prominent recent fraud case occurred in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District in 2018, when a consultant hired by the GOP candidate was linked to an effort to tamper with absentee ballots.

When We All Vote says expanded access to vote-by-mail could be the only safe and secure option for some Americans, especially those living under state orders to stay at home during the pandemic. It wants states to offer more options to request, receive and return mail-in ballots using free or prepaid postage.

Early in-person voting will allow ballots to be cast without jeopardizing social distancing guidelines, the group said. It presents online voting as a safe and secure option that would continue a trend of conducting government business online, saving public money and reducing errors in the voter rolls.

Election Day is Nov. 3

Currently, five states — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah — conduct all elections entirely by mail, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least 21 other states have laws that allow certain smaller elections, such as school board contests, to be conducted by mail.

Forty states, including the five with all-mail elections, and the District of Columbia offer in-person early voting, according to the state legislatures’ association. Delaware has enacted early voting, but it will not be in place until 2022. Nine states do not offer in-person voting before Election Day.

Mrs. Obama launched When We All Vote in 2018 with co-chairs actor Tom Hanks, “Hamilton” creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, singer-songwriter Janelle Monae, NBA player Chris Paul and husband-and-wife country singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

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