Eritrean campaigning for Melbourne state seat

Dr. Berhan Ahmed

About 2,000 Eritreans live in Australia, many of them granted asylum after being tortured by President Isaias Afewerki's regime. Despite the emotional and sometimes physical scars they bear, some have become prominent figures in Australian society. Berhan Ahmed is one of them. He is the first person of African descent to run for a seat in parliament.

The relaxed scene in the back garden of Ahmed's family home in a quiet suburb of Melbourne couldn't be further from the conflict he fled to come to Australia.
He remembers "big fighter planes from Russia" bombing his home town.
"I left at the age of about 15," Ahmed recalls. "I did my Grade 11 and 12 in Sudan at the refugee camp. The
UN was offering scholarships for refugees and I was given scholarship to study in Alexandria University, to study agricultural science."
He applied to work on trams. "I lied to them, to be honest. I said I was working as a tram conductor in Sudan. So, from then, I started to study and I did my masters at La Trobe University in animal science, got myself to Melbourne University, did my PhD and then I got a job at Melbourne University and that's where I am, still."

Dr. Berhan Ahmed's Amharic translated campaign  flyer

Ahmed says his early days in Melbourne were a struggle. But it was this period that motivated him to stand up for his community, as well as other minority groups in Australia, against what he sees as racial discrimination.
It didn't take long before he began to be noticed within Australian society and state politics.
In 2004, he was the first African-born Australian to run for parliamentary office. And in 2009, he was awarded the Victorian Australian of the Year Award in recognition of his humanitarian efforts.
"I keep putting myself at the national debate of all issues, as a Muslim, as an African, as a migrant and as a black man," Ahmed says. "I would like to stand as an independent. Issues that affect my background, my community and broader society, including the Aborigines, which is an injustice. It's always seen within the prism of the white man. Now, we need to see it differently."
Customers at a bakery specialising in bread from the Horn of Africa have warm words for Berhan Ahmed.
"He is a uniting figure," says one. "A uniting figure and symbol of Africa; a voice for the voiceless."
"He's a passionate person that would like to work or give his time for African issues,"  says another.
Ahmed plans to reach out to his people in Eritrea as well.
"Looking into the challenges facing Eritreans, particularly the refugees being a market for body organs everywhere, I'm proposing by end of 2013 or early 2014 to organise an international conference addressing an Eritrean and international solution," he says.

Eritreans - the next Columbians

Eritrean cycling team in La Tropicale Amissa Bongo 2013

“They’re the next Columbians.” Those prophetic words, uttered earlier this year by none other than five time Tour de France winner Bernaud Hinault, were in reference to a promising performance by the Eritrean national team at January’s Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon.
The statement came after stage four of the seven day event when the six man squad from Eritrea not only led the African teams’ classification but also had five of its riders in the top twenty overall.
The young team (all were born in the 1990s) faded towards the end of the race but Hinault’s words were out there providing food for thought to all who follow cycling.
Many readers had their say, coming up with theories ranging from racism to genetics and everything in between, but popular opinion seemed to be the lack of opportunity and role models.
It seems the wheel is turning.

Natnael Berhane Presidental Cycling Tour of Turkey 2013

Earlier this week Natnael Berhane, an Eritrean neo-pro riding for team Europcar, claimed stage three of the Presidential Tour of Turkey, becoming the first black African to win a HC level race.
Riding strongly to join a breakaway of four other riders with just three kilometres to go, Berhane attacked in the last few hundred metres to beat Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana) and Mustafa Sayar (Tarku Sekerspor) by six seconds.
This victory, won on the Queen stage of the Tour and with a mountain top finish, was Berhane’s first win outside of Africa. It was enough to propel him to the top of the general classification, a position he stands a good chance of holding.
Within Africa his record speaks for itself. He is an overall winner of the Tours of Eritrea and Algeria, has come second at the Tour of Rwanda, has won stages in each of those races and also the Tropicale Amissa Bongo and has twice won the African road championship.
 He is an accomplished cyclist and at just 22 years of age has the world before him. He dreams of one day riding the Tour de France and idolises team mates Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland who he sees as perfect riders to model himself on.

Daniel Teklehaimanot,Presidental Cycling Tour of Turkey 2012

He follows in the footsteps of compatriot Daniel Teklehaimanot who made his WorldTour debut last year with Orica-GreenEdge. Teklehaimanot also made his Grand Tour debut last year, securing a ride in the Vuelta a Espana. Berhane hopes that his day will come just as quickly.
Both riders were members of the World Cycling Centre, an initiative set up by the UCI to develop and nurture young riders, especially those from poorer nations with limited cycling infrastructure. It assists its students with training programs, tactical knowledge, nutrition, language lessons and medical testing and provides a means for riders to gain valuable experience.
Most importantly it provides opportunity, that all important element for riders from disadvantaged backgrounds.
But don’t think that the story ends with Teklehaimanot and Berhane. They may be the first, but they won’t be the last.

Merhawi Kudus , Tour of Rwanda 2012

Already a third Eritrean is attracting attention. 18 year old Merhawi Kudus was a stage winner of the UCI rated Tour of Rwanda last November in what was only his first UCI registered event. He claimed his win in a similar fashion to Berhane, by attacking on the final climb, and hopes to following in the footsteps of his two WorldTour countrymen.
Along with Teklehaimanot and Berhane, there are three other professional cyclists hailing from Eritrea. Meron Russom, Jani Tewelse and Ferekalsi Debesay all ride for second tier team MTN-Qhubeka – a South African squad that is making its own inroads into the Eurocentric world of cycling.
With an increasing number of role models to follow and opportunities opening up, this trickle of African talent into the cycling gene pool could soon become a torrent.
It will take time, but Daniel Teklehaimanot and Natnael Berhane may become the African versions of Phil Anderson. While Phil paved the way to Europe for a generation of Australian talent, so to could Teklehaimanot and Berhane become the African pioneers.
Couple this with the growing recognition of races such as the Tours of Rwanda, Eritrea and Burkina Faso and an African emergence might not be the pipe dream that it first appears to be.
Perhaps they really will be the ‘next Colombians.’   

A historic day with the victory of Eritrean Natnael Berhane

Natnael Berhane (Team Europcar) celebrates his victory in stage 3 at the Tour of Turkey.

Natnael Berhane (Team Europcar) won the Tour of Turkey stage 3 mountain finish to Elmali with a powerful surge to the line after leading the attack that decided the queen stage of the race. The Eritrean rider beat Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana) and Mustafa Sayar (Torku Sekerspor) by six seconds. He is also the new race leader of the eight-stage race.
Berhane is the current African road race and time trial champion, but this was his first victory outside of Africa. Today's win made him the first black African cyclist to win at the HC level.
"This is enormous," Berhane said. "It was a very big stage. I didn't expect to win because I didn't know how well I could climb up here. This is my first year as a pro and my first participation to the Tour of Turkey. It was my dream to win such a race, that's why I was in tears when I crossed the line. It was the best stage to win here!"
Berhane made the most of the strong ride of his teammate Björn Thurau, who got away after 30km of racing along with Clément Koretzky (Bretagne-Séché), Jaroslaw Marycz (CCC Polsat), Mauro Finetto (Vini Fantini) and Sergey Grechyn (Torku Seker Spor). The group was later reinforced by US national champion Tim Duggan (Saxo-Tinkoff), who was returning to competition with determination after a major injury he sustained at the Santos Tour Down Under in January. He led the way up the Saksaganlibeli climb dedicated to former Turkish Olympic rider Rifat Caliskan.
In the long stretch toward Elmali, only Thurau, Finetto and Grechyn were left to tackle the final climb in the

Stage 3 podium (L-R): Mustafa Sayar  3rd; Natnael Berhane 1st; Kevin Seeldraeyers  2nd

front. While Grechyn deservedly took the last intermediate sprint of the stage in Elmali after spending all day at the front, Berhane's teammate Thurau was by far the busiest of the three escapees as they approached the climb with a 1:40 lead over the chasing pack, led by team Bretagne-Séché.
With 11km to go, Thurau, tired of being the only pacesetter, moved and left Finetto and Grechyn to make their way. But the son of former champion Dietrich Thurau, who won the 1979 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, could only keep a 20-second lead over the bunch, at this time led by the riders of the other Breton team, Sojasun.
The gap melted in the sun with each turn, and the break ended seven kilometres from the line. Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) was next to attack, and he was followed by Seeldrayers and Berhane.
On the national holiday dedicated to all the children of the world 93 years after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk created the Parliament and therefore the Turkish democracy, Turkey got very enthusiastic about Sayar, who made the break, doing most of the work in an effort to avoid being caught by the chasers, among which Australia's Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) looked strong.
"Today, I felt good from the start," Sayar said. "We are three climbers in the team, and I told Andrey Mizourov and David De La Fuente that they could work for me. I'm not fast enough for sprinting, so it's no surprise that I got beat for the stage win but finishing third up here is really good for me. It's my career's best result so far."
Berhane showed strength and elegance in the steep finale while Seeldrayers said, "It's no shame to lose against such a strong rider. I didn't expect the last three kilometres to be so hard. Now I believe Berhane will win the overall. Where could we attack him? We'll use every possibility."
"To win such a stage is wonderful," said Behane. "Europcar is a big team, and I hope to become a rider like Thomas Voeckler or Pierre Rolland. I was looking at these guys on TV and today, even in Africa, people have been able to see me win on TV."
One month after the stage win of his former friend from the UCI World Cycling Center, Ethiopia's Tsgabu Grmay at the Tour de Taiwan, Berhane confirmed that cyclists from all continents can realistically hope for major success.
 

Eritrean boats shot fire at Yemeni fishermen

Eritrean boats pursued Yemeni fishermen inside Yemen's terrestrial water, shot fire at them and seized four Yemeni boats, a website of the Yemeni Interior Ministry said.  

The website said that the Eritrean navy entered the Yemeni territorial water, pointing out that two fishermen were rescued by Yemeni fishing boats after their boat was shot by Eritrean forces.  

The Eritrean authorities have confiscated during the past three months more than 100 Yemeni fishing boats in the international territorial water and took them to Fatima Island.

Chairman of the General Fishery Association in al-Hodeidah Omar Ebrahim said that about 700 Yemeni fishermen were on these boats, pointing out that some fishermen were released and some others are still detained.

Al-Jonaid stressed that there are some other boats were not reported about, blaming the Yemeni authorities for silence about such violations committed by Eretria.

Eritrean scientist convert DVD drive into blood analysis machine

Aman Russom Associate Professor : KTH

Aman Russom is an Associate Professor and senior lecturer of the
School of Biotechnology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in
Stockholm. He was born 1976 in Asmara, Eritrea. He received his M.
Sc. degree in Chemical Engineer with emphasis on Biotechnology in 2000
and his PhD in 2005 from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Dr
Russom then did his postdoc fellowship at Harvard Medical School between
2005-2008. In 2008 he returned back to Sweden, where he is
currently heading the clinical microfluidics Lab, currently consisting
of four PhD students and two postdocs, at the division of Proteomics and
Nanobiotechnology at KTH. His current research is focused on applying
engineering principles and technologies, especially micro-and
nanotechnology, to clinical medicine.
 Professor Russom and a team of scientists from the School of Biotechnology at KTH in Stockholm modified a DVD player to perform blood tests, including a check for HIV. The scientist and his research team converted a commercial DVD drive into a laser scanning microscope that can analyse blood and perform cellular imaging with one-micrometre resolution.

The breakthrough creates the possibility of an inexpensive and simple-to-use tool that could have far-reaching benefits in health care in developing countries such as Eritrea. His innovation into laser-scanning microscopy technique has been featured by the journal Nature Photonics, The Royal Society of Chemistry Journal and the Wall Street Journal this month.

“With an ordinary DVD player, we have created a cheap analytical tool for DNA, RNA, proteins and even entire cells,” says Russom. “The so-called “Lab-on-DVD” technology makes it possible to complete an HIV test in just a few minutes.”

In a proof of concept demonstration, the researchers collected cell-type CD4 + from blood and visualized it using the DVD reader technology, DVD LSM. Enumeration of these cells using flow cytometry is now standard in HIV testing, but the practice has been limited in developing countries. Russom says DVD-based technology will provide an attractive option in places like Africa and Asia.

The Lab-on-DVD reaps 30 years of research and development on optical storage technology to create an alternative to flow cytometry, the standard equipment for hospitals. Flow cytometry units can cost upwards of USD 30,000, excluding maintenance. By contrast, mass-produced Lab-on-DVD units could be made available for less than USD 200, Russom says.

“The low cost of the technology makes it suitable as a diagnostic and analytical tool in clinical practice close to the patient,” Russom says. “And because it delivers extremely fast analysis, the patient does not need to go home and wait for a response. They can get it right on the first visit to a doctor.”

The researchers are now working on extending the system to handle larger sample volumes so that low- concentration species such as circulating tumour cells can be analyzed or cancer detected. 

“Primary tumors sheds cells into the blood stream, a process called metastasis, and these circulating tumor cells in the blood end up spreading to other organs and grow. These secondary tumor sites are responsible for over 90% of cancer related death – meaning it is not the primary tumor that end up killing but the ones spread through the blood stream.”, says Russom. “In general, the earlier one detect cancer the better patient outcome. Hence, early detection of the so called “circulating tumor cells”, is expected to have huge impact on treatment of patients in the future.”

Since Russom’s DVD scanner has single cell image resolution, it is possible to detect a cancer cell in the background of billions other cells with his technology as long as you immobilize it on the surface of the DVD .