Mereja.Forum

Muscat Classic
Henok Mulubrhan
Scaroni, Schmid
Adriá, Pluimers, Dversnes
VPeintre, Gruel, Cortina, Tesfazion
Ulissi, AYates, Plapp, Albanese, Baudin

This will be the fourth edition of the race, and it is a very interesting one day race. The course features several short and very steep climbs. The key difficulty, and the one that is most likely to decide the race, is the climb of Al Jissah, which is 1.1 km long with an average gradient of 9.3%.

It is a brutal climb, ridden in two distinct parts. The first section includes ramps of up to 13%. This is followed by a short downhill section where the riders can recover slightly before the road kicks up again, reaching gradients of up to 12%. Overall, it is a very tough and explosive climb.

After the ascent, there is a descent followed by a flat, and even slightly downhill, run-in to the finish in Al Bustan. The nature of the climb, with a brief but not insignificant recovery section, means this is a race that suits puncheurs explosive riders with a strong finishing kick who can survive these gradients and still sprint well in a reduced group.

This is exactly what we have seen in recent editions. In 2023 and 2025 the race was decided by a selective sprint, while in 2024 Finn Fisher-Black won with a solo attack, with the sprinters arriving shortly after. In other words, this is a race that can favour both aggressive attackers, such as Mauro Schmid, and fast riders who handle these climbs well and can sprint from a small group, like Henok Mulubrhan.

With that in mind, my pick to win this race is Henok Mulubrhan. Astana bring a very strong team, Mulubhran finished third here last year, and he comes into this race in very good form after a strong Saudi Tour. He looks well placed to add another victory for Astana.

That said, within Astana, a lot of attention must also go to Christian Scaroni. Scaroni is an unavoidable name in this type of race. He may not be the most tecnical descender but he is extremely explosive, and on paper he could even be the main favourite for the win.

Mauro Schmid is another excellent option and a very serious contender. As mentioned, he comes off a strong Tour Down Under, is in excellent form, races aggressively, and while his sprint in reduced groups is not outstanding, it is good enough. Schmid is more the type of rider who can win with a late attack, similar to how Finn Fisher-Black did.

There are plenty of other strong names to consider. Roger Adrià is a very solid rider, explosive and fast in selective sprints.

Rick Pluimers, last year’s winner, also has everything it takes to fight for a top result again.

Within Uno-X, keep a close eye on Fredrik Dversnes, who loves this kind of finish and has a good sprint in reduced groups.

Why not an attack from an aggressive rider like Valentin Paret-Peintre, who descends extremely well, or even Thibaud Gruel, a sprint-puncheur with a strong ability to handle these kinds of gradients.

Looking ahead, Adam Yates could and should also try something aggressive since he is probably the best climber here but has no sprint.

Other riders like Bryan Coquard are in good form, but overall I find it hard to see a sprinter win here. I still believe the winner will come from the more explosive, punchy riders mentioned above.

Environmental News
Transforming dust: How Eritrea’s dams are revitalizing the land

https://www.watermagazine.co.uk/2026/02 ... -the-land/

6 February, 2026

In villages across Eritrea’s dry interior, change is quietly flowing. Where seasonal rivers once surged and vanished without trace, hand-built dams now hold back precious water. Irrigation canals feed crops even in dry months.

Eritrea, one of the Horn of Africa’s most drought-prone countries, has adopted a straightforward approach to tackling water scarcity: building dams—many of them small, masonry structures—using local materials and community labour.

Backed by technical assistance and concessional funding from the African Development Bank, the country has constructed or rehabilitated over 880 dams, most in rural and underserved areas. As a result, communities long dependent on erratic rainfall are now looking to the future with renewed confidence and excitement.

Bekit Idris recalled a life marked by constant fears of food scarcity and malnutrition before a dam came near his home area of Guritatal, in central Eritrea.

Our crops depended on the rain,

Idris explained.

The rains had increasingly become erratic and unevenly distributed but following the project, I have cultivated land downstream of the dam.

He now grows cereal crops, vegetables, fruits, and green fodder for livestock feed.

I am now harvesting three times a year, as opposed to only once a year before,

he said.

Before the dam was built, our food production was barely enough for our needs… Now I produce enough not only to feed my family, but also to sell in the market. This has greatly improved both our nutrition and household income.

Since 2015, the African Development Bank has supported this effort through the Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme, which aims to reduce vulnerability in the Horn of Africa. In Eritrea, the project financed the construction of 98 small and medium-sized dams and 11 related water points. It also rehabilitated over 200 hectares of degraded land.

Improved water availability is just one tangible result. Additionally, the project has lifted communities from subsistence farming to more sustainable and commercial agricultural practices, improving the state of food security and livelihoods across the country.

The DSLRP project targets the construction of over 116 masonry dams to support irrigated agriculture. The dams have capacity range from 30,000m³ to over 110,000m³, allowing local farmers in the targeted areas of central, southern, and northern Eritrea to produce substantial quantities of vegetables and cereals.

The project has also promoted new skills training and entrepreneurship promotion to stimulate overall value chain development. Further, the programme supplies farmers with different types of agricultural inputs that enable them to improve production and boost productivity per unit area.

Supported communities view the initiative as a step forward in Eritrea’s broader efforts to strengthen rural resilience, improve nutrition, and reduce poverty.



Hamed Meskel, a farmer benefitting from the Aderde dam in the northern region, was practising small-scale irrigation with a limited amount of water prior to the advent of the DSLRP project.

Things were slowly getting worse as the wells in the area were drying,

he said.

I was forced to stop cultivating crops, but I have resumed. Because of the construction of this dam, water is now available.

Meskel proudly boasted about his biannual harvests of vegetables, fruits and animal fodder, with an overall increase per unit area of about 30 percent. Meskel’s farm also serves as a demonstration plot for nearly 350 other farming households in the area.

Roughly 73 percent of Eritreans depend on agriculture and its allied fields for income and employment.

According to Kenneth Onyango, Chief Country Program Officer at the Bank’s Eritrea liaison office,

This project has immensely contributed to the expansion of agriculture and agribusiness opportunities in rural Eritrea as a means to advance rural livelihoods and economic development.

The project, he said, is structured around community participation, which has allowed for achievements to be reached earlier than planned.

The communities are seeing results, and we see the livelihood changes evidenced by a wider adoption of agriculture as a source of income for many households in the targeted communities,

Onyango underscored.

The programme, in its fifth phase, is scheduled to run until December 2026.

On the ground, water has brought more than food. Communities are also growing a greater sense of security in a changing climate. Hope has also taken root.

We are very happy with the initiative, which has been very instrumental in improving the livelihood of the community in line with the Ministry of Agriculture’s five-year strategic plan,

DRSLP Project Coordinator, Hadgu Gebrendrias said.

He added that the construction of the 98 masonry dams, to date, has encouraged the construction of new soil and water conservation structures over 9,800 hectares upstream of the dams in all of Eritrea’s six regions over the last five years.

This has significantly contributed to enhancing drought resilience, improving sustainable livelihoods, and promoting food and nutrition security—particularly among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in Eritrea,

Gebrendrias noted.



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EU Mission has visited the project:

Climate Smart Agriculture Research and Innovation Support for Dairy Value Chains in Eritrea.

Implementing Eritrean partners:

Ministry of Agriculture and National Agriculture Research Institute. @GermanEmbassy



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H.E. Osman Saleh, Eritrea's Minister of Foreign Affairs, received Japanese Ambassador Hideaki Matsuo during a courtesy call on February 4, 2026, marking a key milestone in strengthening bilateral relations between Japan and Eritrea.

The meeting took place, shortly after Ambassador Matsuo assumed his duties as Japan's first Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Eritrea.

During the call, Ambassador Matsuo expressed his strong commitment and determination to dedicate every effort toward further developing and deepening Japan-Eritrea bilateral relations.









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The book "From Nakfa to Nakfa" by Tegadalay Dr. Tekeste Fekadu is now also available in German.

If you would like to purchase a copy for the price of € 20.00 plus shipping costs, please contact the Eritrean Embassy or the Eritrean Community Association in your area. @TecluLebassi

ሓሶትን ስልበጣን፡ ከም ጥበብ ፖለቲካን መሪሕነትን!

መራሒ ጉጅለ ብልጽግና፡ ብ3 ለካቲት 2026፡ ከም መውጽኢ ጭንቀቱ ንዝጥቀመሉ ኣኼባ “ባይቶ ወከልቲ ህዝቢ” ኣብ ዘስመዖ መደረ፡ ነቲ ከም ጥበብ ፖለቲካን ኣመራርሓን ሕላገት ብልጽግና ዝዀነ ሓሶትን ስልበጣን፡ ካብ ዝኾነ እዋን ንላዕሊ ኣድሚቕዎ።

ኣብ’ቲ ንኣስታት 4 ሰዓታት ዝቐጸለ፡ ዝተሓተቶ ገዲፉ ሓሶት ኣብ ርእሲ ሓሶት ክድርድረሉ ዝወዓለ መደረ፡ ነቲ ብስነ-ምግባሩን ክብሪታቱን ዝልለ፡ ብሰበ- ስልጣንን ኣዘዝቲ ሰራዊትን ብልጽግና ከይተረፈ እምብዛ ዝተናእደ ሰራዊት ኤርትራ ጸለሎ ብምቕባእ፡ ኣብ መንጎ ጐረባብቲ ህዝብታት ነቓዕ እንተፈጠረ ያኢ፡ ከይሓነኸ ብሓሶትን ጠቐነን ክውንጅሎ ፈቲኑ።

እዚ ትማል-ትማል፡

ህዝብን መንግስትን ኤርትራ ኣብ’ቲ ፈታኒ እዋን ንዝገበሩልና ደገፍ እንርስዕ ዝመስሎ እንተሎ፡ ዓሻ ጥራይ’ዩ

ክብል፡ ኣብ’ቲ እዋን ኲናትን ድሕሪኡን ንሰራዊት ኤርትራ እናመጐሰ ንኣዘዝቱ ብኒሻናት ዘጌጸ ጉጅለ፡ ነዚ ክሲ’ዚ ምቕራቡ ንነብሱን ዘለዎ ኩነተ-ኣእምሮን ጥራይ’ዩ ኣቃሊዑ።

እቲ መደረ ብተወሳኺ፡ ነቲ ብምኽንያት “ልኡላዊ መስኮት ባሕሪ” ኣብ ልዕሊ ኤርትራ ዘለዎ፡ ብተደጋጋሚ ዝተጃህረሉን ኣጽዋር ክጓርተሉ ዝጸንሐን ናይ ኲናት ኣጀንዳ ርትዓዊ ንምምሳል ዝዓለመ’ውን’ዩ።

እስራኤል ንሮራታት ጎላን ዝተቘጻጸረት፡ ንሃገራዊ ድሕነታን ህላወኣን ስለዘገድሳ’ዩ

ክብል ዘቕረቦ ምጒት፡ ነቲ ዘንቀደ ኣጀንዳኡ ብዝበለጸ ኣቃሊዕዎ’ሎ።

ሓሳውን ቈርበትን እናሓደረ ይፈኵስ ከም ዝበሃል፡ መጻወቲ ወረቐት ዝወድአ ዝነደየ ጉጅለን መራሒኡን ዝመሃዝዎ ድርዳር ሓሶት እምበኣር፡ ዕላማኡ ካልእ ዘይኰነ፡ ኣብ መንጎ ጐረባብቲ ህዝብታት ቅርሕንቲ ብምፍጣር ዕድመ ስልጣኑ ንምንዋሕ’ዩ። እንተዀነ፡ ሰነፍ፡ ነዳይ፡ ፈራሕን ስሱዕን ክንዮ’ዚ ክሓስብ ስለዘይክእል፡ በዚ ናይ ዕሸላት ፖለቲካ ተደሪኹ፡ ኣብ መጻወድያኡ ክኣቱ ዝኽእል የዋህ - ዋላ ሓደ የለን።







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ሚኒስትሪ ዜና፡ ዓመታዊ ገምጋም ስራሕ ኣካዪዱ

@shabait



ሚኒስትሪ ዜና፡ ዓመታዊ ገምጋም ንጥፈታት ስራሕ 2025 ብምክያድ፡ ኣብ ውጥን ስራሕ 2026 ዝዘተየ ኣኼባ፡ ትማሊ 5 ለካቲት ኣብ ኣዳራሽ ሃገር- ሚድያ ኣካዪዱ።

ሚኒስተር ዜና ኣቶ የማነ ገብረመስቀል፡ ኣብ 2025 ዝተሰላሰለ መደባት፡ ዝነበሩ ብድሆታትን ድኻማትን፡ ከምኡ’ውን ውጥን ስራሕ 2026 ዘጠቓልል፣ ብኣሃዛት ዝተሰነየ ዝርዝራዊ ጸብጻብ ኣቕሪቡ።

ኣብ’ቲ መቐጸልታን መዛዘምን ናይ’ቲ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ወርሒ ጥሪ ብደረጃ ክፍልታትን ጨናፍርን ማለት ክፍሊ ቴለቪዥን፡ ክፍሊ ሬድዮ፡ ክፍሊ ምህንድስና፡ ክፍሊ ጋዜጣ፡ ክፍሊ ኣገልግሎት ወጻኢ፡ ጨንፈር ኣገልግሎት ዜና፡ ጨንፈር ቴክኖሎጂ ሓበሬታን ጨንፈር ምምሕዳርን ፋይናንስን ዝተኻየደ ገምጋማት ዝዀነ ኣኼባ፡ ሚኒስተር የማነ፡ 90 ሚእታዊት ናይ ዝነበረ ውጥን ከምእተተግበረ ብምግላጽ፡ ሸፈነ ዘቤታዊ ጉዳያት፣ ኵነታት ዞባናን ዓለምን፣ ንጥፈታት ማሕበራዊ መራኸቢታት፣ ሸፈነ ሃገራውያንን ሃይማኖታውያንን በዓላት፣ ፈስቲቫላት ውሽጢ ሃገርን ወጻእን፣ መደባት ህዝባዊ መኸተ፣ ምቕያር መሳርሒታት ቀዋምን ተንቀሳቓስን ስቱድዮታት ካብ ‘ኤስ-ዲ’ ማለት ካብ ማእከላይ ንጻረ ናብ ‘ኤች- ዲ’ ማለት ልዑል ንጻረ፣ ወቕታዊ ክለሳ መቈጻጸሪ ኣፍራይነት ኣባላትን መደባትን፣ ከምኡ’ውን ምድጅታል ሰነዳት ካብ’ቲ ዝተሰላሰለ መደባት ምዃኑ ኣነጺሩ።

ዝተወጠኑ ስልጠናታት ብምልኣት ዘይምትግባሮም፣ ፈነወ ምሉእ ብምሉእ ናብ ‘ኤች-ዲ’ ዘይምስግጋሩ፣ ወቕታውን ገምጋማውን ዜናዊ ሸፈነ ዘይምክያዱ፣ ዋሕዲ ዓቕሚ-ሰብ ኣብተን ብሃገራዊ ቋንቋታትና ዝፍነዋ መደባት ምህላዉ፣ ከምኡ’ውን ጂኦግራፍያዊ ድሩትነት ዝርግሐ መስመራት ሬድዮ ‘ኤፍ-ኤም’፡ ካብ’ቶም ቀንዲ ብድሆታትን ድኻማትን ምዃኖም ድማ ኣብሪሁ።

ንውጥን ስራሕ 2026 ብዝምልከት፡ ሚኒስተር የማነ፡ ቀዳማይ ክፋል ናይ’ቲ ካብ 2026 ክሳብ2030 ዝዝርጋሕ ስትራተጅያዊ ውጥን 5 ዓመት ምዃኑ ብምግላጽ፡ ትሕዝቶ ብዓይነትን ብዝሕን ምብርካት፣ ብዓመታዊ ውጥን ዝምራሕ ወፍርታት ምክያድ፣ ምሕያል ፈነወታት ኣብ ማሕበራዊ መራኸቢታት፣ ምክያድ ወቕታዊ ዳግመ-ክለሳ መደባት፣ ምጅማር ቀዳማይ ገጽ ምስፋሕ ፈነወ ‘ኤፍ-ኤም’ ኣብ ከተማታት መንደፈራ፡ ደቀምሓረ፡ ዓዲ-ቀይሕን ሰንዓፈን፣ ከምኡ’ውን ታሪኽ ኤርትራ ንምዝንባዕ ዝካየድ ዘሎ ጽዑቕ ዘመተታት ግቡእ መልሲ ዝህብ ስሩዕ ሰነዳዊ መደባት ብዛዕባ ግፍዕታት ጸላእቲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ኩለን ማዕከናት ዜና ምድላውን ምዝርጋሕን ከምዘጠቓልል ኣብሪሁ።



ተሳተፍቲ፡ ንማእከላይ ቤት-ጽሕፈትን ዞባታትን ንምርኻብ ዝተዋደደ መርበብ ክሕይል፣ ከምኡ’ውን ንዕማማት ዜና ዘገድሱ ወሰንቲ መሳለጥያታት ከከም ቀዳምነታቶም ክቕረቡ ዝብል፡ ንትግባረ ናይ’ቲ ውጥን ዝሕግዝ ርእይቶታት ኣቕሪቦም።

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Shannon-Ogbani Abeda, is representing Eritrea at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, marking his third appearance at the senior Winter Games (after PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022) and his role as a trailblazing pioneer for Eritrea and African athletes in winter sports.

He is Eritrea's sole athlete at these Games and serves as the flag bearer for the Eritrean delegation during both the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony, a fitting honor for the first Eritrean to ever compete in a senior Winter Olympics.

We wish him all the best!