The East African Art and Culture Festival has kicked off in Addis Ababa in the presence of thousands of residents, Government officials, members of the diplomatic community, and participants from neighboring countries.
The Culture and Sports Minister, Kejela Merdasa, and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dina Mufti have addressed participants of the East African Art and Culture Festival opened under the theme “Arts and Culture for Regional Integration”.
The festival will continue till June 19, 2022, showcasing the artistic and cultural values of the East African people. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dina Mufti said the festival will play a significant role in promoting social, economic, and political integration among the East African peoples.
The festival will be held for six consecutive days exhibiting indigenous manufacturing products, traditional cuisines, medicines, artistic pictures, and sculptures, including languages and cultural symposiums and book fairs. The Ethiopian National Theatre, Entoto Park, and Mesqel square will host the various programs.
Speaking at the opening event, Ambassador Dina Mufti, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, said the festival is a great opportunity for East Africans to promote their immense cultural values and artistic products.
The Minister of Culture and Sports, Kejela Merdasa, said the people of East Africa should employ the Festival to support integration efforts and people-to-people relationships.
A representative from the South Sudan Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports noted that the Festival reflects the cultural mosaic of East African countries and it should get deserved attention and recognition in the region.
It is to be recalled that Ethiopia has proposed for the East African Cultural and Art Festival to be hosted in rotation among countries in the sub-regions annually.
East African Art, Culture Festival Kicks Off in Addis Ababa
English Premier League kicks-off 5, Aug, 2022
Manchester City will begin their Premier League title defence with a tough trip to West Ham, but the champions have been given the chance to set the pace once again.
The fixtures for the 2022-23 season were announced on Thursday, with Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal kicking off the new season on Friday, Aug. 5, before Fulham host Liverpool and Chelsea travel to Everton the following day.
New Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag begins with a home game against Brighton, while Tottenham entertain Southampton. Nottingham Forest will begin their first top-flight campaign in 23 years away at Newcastle United, and another newly promoted side, AFC Bournemouth, are at home to Aston Villa.
The league will pause for six weeks after Nov. 13 with the 2022 FIFA World Cup due to start in Qatar eight days later. Premier League games will resume again on Boxing Day.
After the opening weekend, the matches are subject to change as broadcasters select televised games, but what can we learn from the initial fixture list?
Golden State Warriors Won fourth NBA title in eight seasons
The Golden State Warriors headed into TD Garden on Thursday night and beat the Boston Celtics 103-90, to win the 2022 NBA finals. Their Game 6 victory was a dominant performance in hostile territory highlighted by an early 21-0 run which effectively secured the Warriors their fourth championship in the last eight years.
The contest had looked very different early on. The Celtics began the game by going on a 14-2 tear, and they briefly looked like they would force a decisive Game 7 in San Francisco. But the Warriors countered with a run of their own, eventually ending the first quarter with a five-point lead. Things would escalate from there.
By halftime, the Celtics were down 15 points, a not insurmountable task given their track record of comebacks in these playoffs. The Warriors, however, refused to budge. A Stephen Curry three halfway through the third quarter gave them a 22-point lead that effectively ended the game and secured Curry the first finals MVP award of a career that will end with his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
To Boston’s credit, they refused to lie down, even cutting down the Golden State lead to eight midway through the third quarter. They couldn’t get any closer however: the Celtics had dug themselves too deep a hole, too early, against too formidable an opponent.
Even though Golden State fell behind 1-2 to start the series, they fought back to win three straight, two of them on the road, against a team that had not lost back-to-back games the entire postseason.
Curry, who scored 34 in the deciding game, was brilliant for most of the series, a slight blip in Game 5 aside. His finals MVP was no lifetime achievement award: the turning point of the series came with Curry’s 43-point performance in Game 4. These were his finals.
The Warriors now have seven NBA titles, one more than the Chicago Bulls. Only the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers (17 each) have more. This team are not the most accomplished Warriors roster to have won the title but, after a tough few years, they may be the happiest.
Egyptian football in disarray after coach is effectively sacked on live TV
Egyptian football is in turmoil again, this time over the fallout from the Pharaohs’ shock defeat against Ethiopia and the on-air firing of the national coach after just three games in charge.
Egyptian Ehab Galal succeeded Carlos Queiroz two months ago after the Portuguese failed to agree terms to extend his contract.
But a 2-0 defeat against Ethiopia in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying last week left Egyptians fuming and calling for the coach’s head even before the 4-1 friendly defeat against South Korea on Tuesday. “It is more than a defeat, it is rather a total domination by Ethiopia, a country 140th in World ranking just 108 steps behind Egypt” remarked a senior pundit.
Gamal Allam, head of the Egyptian Football Association, called in to a popular TV talk show this week to say that two members of the EFA board were already looking at possible replacements for Galal, effectively sacking him live on air.
Galal, according to local media reports, learnt of his dismissal when he was about to board a plane to Seoul. He bade the players farewell after the South Korea friendly and flew to the US for a holiday.
Gamal Allam said Galal was making 750,000 Egyptian pounds a month (about $40,000), while his Portuguese predecessor Queiroz was cashing in $127,000 a month.
The quick Ethiopian forwards repeatedly troubled a slow Egyptian defense in the opening half and goals from Dawa Hotessa and Captain Shemeles Bekele sealed a comfortable victory.
Alaa Abdel Al, a football pundit known for his forthright comments, also took aim at Allam. “We handed the sport to someone who had never thrown in the ball, let alone kick it.”
