Airports Ethiopia

Rebels of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front claimed Sunday to have surrounded Addis Ababa International Airport, less than five miles east of the city. The announcement was broadcast over rebel radio not long after heavy gunfire was heard from the direction of the airport. The broadcast warned international air carriers not to fly over the city or attempt to land at the airport.

Rebels of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front claimed Sunday to have surrounded Addis Ababa International Airport, less than five miles east of the city. The announcement was broadcast over rebel radio not long after heavy gunfire was heard from the direction of the airport. The broadcast warned international air carriers not to fly over the city or attempt to land at the airport.

On the wind-swept outskirts of this ancient city, 1,400 men and women are building a dam over a barren ravine. Day after day, the workers dig their hands into the powdery soil, heap it onto long strips of cloth and ferry new layers to the top in a human assembly line. There is no water in the ravine to dam, no hint of rain in the occasional puffy cloud overhead, no cattle to be watered, no plants to harvest or even irrigate, as far as one can see.