In May 1991, reporters were summoned to the Berkeley Hotel in central London for what was billed as a peace conference to end Ethiopia's 30-year civil war. It was a small and rushed affair, and hardly lived up to its billing as the forum to end decades of bloodshed.
Within hours the two main rebel leaders, Meles Zenawi, of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, and Isaias Afewerki, leader of the Eritrean separatists, came up with a statement announcing they would enter Addis Ababa the next day and take power from the defeated military regime, known as the Derg.
They could have made the announcement themselves, but they gave it to the American mediator, Herman Cohen, to read out. It would carry more weight coming from him than from a couple of ragged Marxists from the bush.
The rebel leaders then set off - in a battered old Datsun, if memory serves - to return to Ethiopia and take power.
At the time, Ethiopia was a byword for famine and war. After 21 years of iron rule by Mr Meles, who died on Monday, it has a fast-growing economy and the status of a pillar of regional stability.
Mr Meles's relationship with Mr Isaias did not last. The latter led Eritrea, the part of Ethiopia which occupied its only access to the sea, to independence in 1993 and became its president. This led to two border wars over control of a barren strip of land and an enduring legacy of bitterness.
What happens to replace the vacuum left by Mr Meles is now the key question. He was a dominant figure in the crisis-ridden Horn of Africa, and a leader for the whole continent. An austere and unsmiling intellectual, he charmed foreign leaders from Bill Clinton to Tony Blair. Despite his Marxist beliefs, he realised that he had to cleave to the Americans, enjoying a close military and intelligence relationship with Washington.
He dressed up his concerns about the rule of Islamists in Somalia, and their support for ethnic Somali separatists in Ethiopia, in the language of the George W Bush's "war on terror", thus enjoying US support for Ethiopia's two invasions of Somalia. At the same time, he brutally crushed all political dissent at home, even jamming Voice of America broadcasts, which he considered seditious, while modelling his economic policies on Chinese state capitalism.
Whoever replaces him in the long term will struggle to manipulate the great powers with the same dexterity. The fear in western chancelleries is that the system he built up will collapse without him.
Officially, his system of rule was ethnic federalism - a multicultural federation based on ethnic and tribal representation. In fact this was a front for a one-party state, with real power increasingly concentrated in the hands of Mr Meles and his fellow Tigrayans, who are little more than 6 per cent of the population.
The former deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, has been named as interim prime minister and will serve until 2015. But he is not seen as a powerful figure. Unless the leaders of the ruling party show the tactical flair of the late prime minister, it is easy to predict that the larger ethnic groups - the Oromo and Amhara - will seek to overturn Tigrayan domination, and that small local rebellions will grow.
The security forces appear strong and united. History will suggest that the Tigrayan elite would have to increase the level of repression to stay in power. But it is too soon at this stage to write off the system built up by Mr Meles.
What is certain is that his death comes at a delicate moment for the Horn of Africa. There are no strong governments in the region: fighting between the two Sudans, a year after their split, is an ever-present threat. Somalia is going through a difficult transition from anarchy towards a state. In Kenya, the spectre of the mass ethnic violence which ripped through the country in 2007 was revived this week by the massacre of 52 people near the Somali border. Across the Red Sea, Yemen is stuck in a stalled transition from the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The first focus is likely to be on Eritrea, where the death of Mr Meles could provide an opportunity to bury the hatchet. Eritrea is poor and increasingly friendless after the demise of the Qaddafi regime in Libya. But the mere disappearance of one of the brother-enemies who met in the Berkeley Hotel in London 21 years ago will not be enough: it would require sustained diplomatic support from the US and European powers.
Without that progress, stabilising Somalia will be harder. Ethiopia and Eritrea support different sides, with Addis Ababa keeping an estimated 10,000 troops in Somalia to fight against the Al Shabaab militia that Eritrea is accused of aiding.
Somalia has just elected a new parliament. A new president is to be elected soon, but despite the success of the African Union peacekeepers in driving Al Shabaab out of Mogadishu, there are doubts whether this is a real step to reviving the Somali state. It could be just a way of allowing a new cast of notables to bribe their way to getting their hands on foreign-aid flows.
The death of Mr Meles will not reduce Ethiopia's interest in Somalia. Having a large ethnic Somali population in its Ogaden region, the Ethiopian government will always be concerned about what is happening over the border.
What has changed is that the Americans have lost a stable ally in their counter-terrorism war at a time when other allies - such as Egypt - are in turmoil. If ethnic tensions in Ethiopia lead to a return of instability there, all bets on a Somali renaissance are off. And the judgement of all foreign powers who put their trust in Mr Meles will be more than ever questioned.
aphilps@thenational.ae
On Twitter: @aphilps
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain
Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 353Nm @ 2,500rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L / 100km
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
Series result
1st ODI Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets
2nd ODI Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
3rd ODI Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets
4th ODI Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets
5th ODI Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs