Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dies at 57

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN, NYT Published: August 21, 2012 Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s repressive prime minister, who lifted his country from the ruins of civil war and transformed it into one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies and one of the United States government’s closest African allies, died on Monday, state television reported. He was 57. The Ethiopian authorities said he had died just before midnight in a hospital “abroad” — a European Commission spokesman told reporters that it was in Brussels — after getting a secondary infection. His failing health had been a matter of secrecy for months. To read the full story on NYT click here.