Osaka, Japan - Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia did it the hard way, providing a dramatic scenario in the successful defence of her 10,000m title, in the first track final of these 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka.

 

When four Ethiopians assumed the lead after two kilometres, it looked as if we were going to get a scenario like in the men’s race in Paris 2003. But just after 6000m, the 21-year-old Dibaba and colleague Mestawet Tufa were involved in a fall, which left Dibaba winded, adrift and rubbing her stomach, while Tufa had to stop and put a shoe back on.

 

 The Ethiopian authorities have pardoned at least 31 opposition members detained after post-election violence in 2005.

They were jailed along with 38 senior figures - who were freed last month - from the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD).

The CUD accused the government of electoral fraud following the 2005 polls, which saw the opposition party claim its biggest ever gains.

Nearly 200 people were killed in the violence that erupted after the elections two years ago. (Photo from our archives)