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The construction of the Omo-Ghibe, Tekeze, Tana Beles, Genale Dawa, Halale Wara Bela, Amenti Neshi hydroelectric power generation plants is underway. Upon completion, they would raise the power generation capacity of the country from 670 MW to 4,000 MW. Most of this power is intended for export to neighboring countries.

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Save the Children reported Ethiopia is ranked among the 10 worst places to be a mother, ranking 133rd among 140 countries. Niger ranks the worst place to be a mother and Sweden tops the list. Fewer than 15 percent of births are attended by skilled health personnel.

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After actress Angelina Jolie put adoption in Ethiopia on the cover of People magazine in 2005, the number of adoptions by Americans has grown steadily reaching 732 children in 2006, out of a total of 20,632 foreign adoptions. This is up from 82 children adopted in 1997. Ethiopia now ranks 5th among countries for adoption by Americans, up from 16th in 2000. In the same period, the number of American agencies licensed to operate in Ethiopia has skyrocketed from 1 to 22. The increasing interest in Ethiopia comes at a time when the leading countries for international adoption, China, Guatemala and Russia, are tightening eligibility requirements.

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The Chinese government and the African Union have signed a $150 million agreement for the expansion of the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

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According to a February 2005 Ethiopian report, uranium, a radio-active substance used for making nuclear weapons and many other devices, was discovered in the Bale zone of the Oromia Regional State by a group of farmers and a businessman. The businessman was informed of the presence of the mineral by farmers in the area. With the help of the farmers, the businessman collected samples, which he sent to the Ministry of Mines for analysis. The Ministry confirmed that the substance was uranium.

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Until 1994, Australopithicus afarensis was the earliest known member of the Hominid family. It lived from approximately 4 to 2.7 million years ago and perhaps even earlier, along the northern Rift valley (Hadar region). Fragments of more than 300 individuals of Australopithicus afarensis have been discovered so far, including a remarkably complete skeleton of an adult female (nick- named "Lucy") found in 1974 near Hadar. Her skeleton has provided a wealth of information about the ancestral line of human beings, some of it quite surprising. She was only about 3 feet, 8 inches tall. Even more interesting is a discovery in 1995, at Aramis, just south of Hadar, of a creature possibly ancestral to Australopithicus afarensis. From the surviving bones, it is not possible to tell if it was bi-pedal and therefore a Hominid australopithicine. It is still being intensively studied.

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The economy: Some four years ago, there were only 14 Chinese companies in Ethiopia with 89.8 million birr capital. But as of June 2007, there are over 50 companies with a combined capital of over 1.1 billion birr.

This coincides with a record increase in Ethiopia's annual budget for the 2007/08 fiscal year which has reached 43.9 billion birr. Public infrastructural development has the largest spending priority - claiming 13.2 billion birr. Health and education follows with a over 5 billion birr. The Ethiopian Roads Authority has requested an 8.8 billion birr, but only 3.6 billion birr has been promised. Interestingly, the budget deficit was estimated to have reached 5.5pc of the gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the federal government has increased its domestic borrowing by 33%, to 6.36 billion birr.