A halo around the sun startled people in Ethiopia during Sunday's local elections, with many seeing it as a miracle or a sign from God. The ring of light caused by sunlight refracted by ice crystals hung in the sky for almost an hour before it finally faded and disappeared. Some Ethiopians say it last appeared in 1991 before a military regime fell. But the BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa says there is little chance it could augur change this time. She says the overwhelming majority of candidates are from the government party. Churchgoers who had flocked to see the visiting Patriarch of Alexandria, Pope Shenouda, acclaimed the phenomenon as a miracle, or at least a sign of a blessing from God.
A halo around the sun startled people in Ethiopia during Sunday's local elections, with many seeing it as a miracle or a sign from God.
The ring of light caused by sunlight refracted by ice crystals hung in the sky for almost an hour before it finally faded and disappeared.
Some Ethiopians say it last appeared in 1991 before a military regime fell.
But the BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa says there is little chance it could augur change this time.
She says the overwhelming majority of candidates are from the government party.
Churchgoers who had flocked to see the visiting Patriarch of Alexandria, Pope Shenouda, acclaimed the phenomenon as a miracle, or at least a sign of a blessing from God.
