Ethiopia

Fighting has flared up in one of the disputed areas between Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions in a rare episode of violence after a peace accord signed in late 2022 ended one of Africa’s deadliest wars.

Raya Alamata district - claimed by both regions - had been under southern Tigray before war broke out but has since been seized by Amhara forces.

Residents told the BBC that fighting began over the weekend and continued for days.

Amhara officials accused fighters aligned with the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) of launching offensives, while the head of Southern Tigray said Amhara militiamen opened fire.

The opposition National Movement of the Amhara (NaMA) in a statement blamed the TPLF which it said was launching “an invasion.”

Getachew Reda, the head of Tigray’s interim administration, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), blamed “diehard enemies” of the peace deal “from near or far” for the recent incidents without giving further details.

He said the reported violence did not entail conflicts between Tigrayan forces and the federal government or between the neighbouring regions Tigray and Amhara.

It is not clear if there are any casualties but pro-Amhara media outlets reported that Tigrayan forces advanced into some of the district on Monday.

The Ethiopian federal government has recently said the army would control disputed areas until a resolution is made.

There are concerns that this could further complicate the conflict that has been raging since August last year in Amhara - Ethiopia’s second most populous region - between local militias and the army.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The organisers of the Beijing Half Marathon have opened an investigation into allegations of race fixing involving Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes.

In footage that has gone viral on social media, Ethiopian athlete Dejene Hailu and Kenyan runners Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat appeared to intentionally let Chinese athlete He Jie win Sunday's half marathon.

The African trio seemed to slow down as they approached the finish line and repeatedly signalled He to overtake them to the finish line.

He, the 2023 Asian Games marathon gold medallist, was then congratulated by the three African athletes after he won the race by a second.

Some Chinese social media users have criticised He's win as "embarrassing" and unsportsmanlike, amid speculation that the race result was manipulated.

"We are investigating and will announce the results to the public once they are available," a representative of the Beijing Sports Bureau told AFP news agency on Monday.

The marathon's organiser also confirmed the investigation had been launched, AFP reported.

Neither He, Hailu, Keter or Mnangat have commented on the investigations.

Read more on this story:

• Beijing half marathon organisers investigating controversial finish

FBCCopyright: FBC

Authorities in Ethiopia have started returning migrants stranded in the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia by flying 842 of them on Friday.

The goal of this programme's third phase is to return 70,000 people in four months by operating 12 flights per week.

The government says they were in "difficult conditions" as most are undocumented and have been languishing in prisons and detention centres in the country.

However, the risk of them returning to Saudi is also high as thousands travel each year seeking better living conditions. Earlier this week, 38 Ethiopian migrants including children, died in a shipwreck off the Djibouti coast, Ethiopian officials said.

It is thought they could have been on their way to Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom hosts about 750,000 Ethiopian migrants, more than half of whom are believed to have entered the territory illegally, according to reports.

AWLO MediaCopyright: AWLO Media

Thirteen suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of prominent Ethiopian opposition politician Bate Urgessa, police in the troubled Oromia region say.

They haven’t provided details about the identities of the suspects but they said a criminal investigation had been launched.

Mr Bate, a senior figure within the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) opposition party, was shot dead earlier this week.

His body was found on Wednesday morning by the side of the road near a skip in his hometown of Meki.

Family members told local media that he had been taken from his hotel room by "people who looked like government security forces" on Tuesday night.

Oromia’s regional government denied that its security forces were involved in the killing.

Hospital sources told the BBC that Mr Bate's body exhibited multiple gunshot wounds.

He was buried on Thursday but questions are being raised about whether proper forensic investigations were carried out.

The US and the UK government called for an independent investigation into the killing.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Police in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa have said three individuals have been killed after a shoot-out with members of the armed group Fano.

One of those killed was a civilian while the other two were members of the group, according a statement released by police. Two police officers were injured.

The incident took place on Friday morning in an affluent neighbourhood near the city’s airport.

The armed group Fano largely operates in the country’s restive Amhara region where it has been battling the army since August last year.

This is the first violent incident reported in Addis Ababa in connection with the Fano rebellion.

Ethiopia's first ever sexual violence registration system is in the works and set to start operations next year, the government has said.

The system which aims to prevent and respond to sexual violence against women and children is hoped to make an impact in a country where prosecuting gender-based violence is a major challenge.

According to a 2016 survey, 23% of Ethiopian women have experienced physical violence and 10% have experienced sexual violence. People often underreport such experiences so the true number is likely to be higher.

The anticipated system will hold sex offenders accountable even after they serve time for their crimes.

When it's operational, it will exclude registered sex offenders from working in schools, orphanages and other children's institutions, the women's rights and protection executive in the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs Seleshi Tadesse told BBC News Amharic.

With a budget of around 10m birr ($176,000; £140,000) due to be contributed by various institutions, the national sex offence crime registry is proposed to have three types of pages, including a public page.

The self-declared republic of Somaliland and Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region have condemned the Mogadishu government's move to close two Ethiopian consulates.

On Thursday the Somali government expelled the Ethiopian ambassador after accusing the diplomat of meddling in the internal affairs of the country and infringing on its sovereignty.

The expulsion was sparked by a controversial port deal between Ethiopia and Somaliland which has fuelled diplomatic tensions for months.

Things were further heightened after an Ethiopian delegation met with Puntland officials in Addis Ababa earlier in the week.

The two Ethiopian consulates that Somalia ordered to close are in Hargeisa and Garowe, the capitals of Somaliland and Puntland, respectively.

"The embassy shall remain open irrespective of what Mogadishu says," Rhoda Elmisaid, Somaliland's deputy foreign minister, told the Reuters news agency.

Both Puntland and Somaliland said they will not respect the decision.

Mohamud Aydid Dirir, Puntland's information minister, told the Voice of America's Somali radio service: "Somalia's decision will not work."

In January, Ethiopia signed a deal with Somaliland to lease a 20km (12 miles) strip of coastline, so it could build a navy base.

Somalia described the deal as an act of aggression over its territory, which Ethiopia denies.

Photos documenting the after-effects of Ethiopia's civil war in Tigray, the perception of disability in Madagascar, migration from Mauritania and unemployment in Tunisia have won awards for "documenting some of the most pressing issues facing the world today".

The photographers behind these four projects were among those who scooped regional prizes in the annual World Press Photo competition.

Four global winners will be announced on 18 April.

Lee-Ann Olwage/World Press PhotoCopyright: Lee-Ann Olwage/World Press Photo

Felipe Dana and Renata Brito/World Press PhotoCopyright: Felipe Dana and Renata Brito/World Press Photo

Zied Ben Romdhane/World Press PhotoCopyright: Zied Ben Romdhane/World Press Photo

Vincent Haiges/World Press PhotoCopyright: Vincent Haiges/World Press Photo

AFPCopyright: AFP

A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Ethiopia to discuss the country's request for financial support, but left without reaching a deal.

The IMF said in a statement that it however "made substantial progress" in establishing how it could support the country's economic programme.

Discussions with Ethiopia's authorities will continue later this month, said the team's head, Alvaro Piris.

Ethiopia is on the verge of an economic crisis after defaulting on a $33m (£26m) interest payment that was due in December.

The Paris Club - a group of creditor nations - set a condition for Ethiopia to secure an IMF loan by the end of March in order to maintain a debt-servicing deal that gives the country repayment relief until next year.

The East African country's economic difficulties were worsened by the Covid pandemic and back-to-back conflicts.

Ethiopia’s state-run power company has said large portions of the country have been hit by an electricity blackout due to “issues in our system”.

Ethiopian Electric Power did not disclose exactly what those issues were but said in a post on its Facebook page that it was investigating what prompted the outage.

All parts of the country, except Bahir Dar, a city in the north-west, and its surrounding area, have experienced the power problem which began around 15:40 local time (12:40 GMT).

In a separate statement, the company said it had begun restoring power in the capital, Addis Ababa, and some other parts of the country hours after the problem occurred.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Ethiopia’s largest commercial bank has said it recouped more than three-quarters of money it had lost after a technical glitch allowed clients to withdraw or transfer more money than they had in their accounts.

In a press statement on Tuesday the head of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Abe Sano said more than $14m (£11m) was withdrawn from cash machines or transferred to other accounts during the incident that took place on 16 March.

More than $10m has already been recovered, Mr Abe said.

Initial reports by local media said the amount of money transacted during the glitch could be as high as $40m.

Many of the transactions were made by university students.

According to the bank’s chief, thousands of clients returned the money voluntarily.

He added that those who haven’t done so could face criminal charges.

Read more:

• Commercial Bank of Ethiopia head warns 'no escape' for clients who profited from glitch
• Commercial Bank of Ethiopia glitch lets customers withdraw millions

AFPCopyright: AFP

Ethiopia is set to begin the third phase of repatriating 70,000 of its citizens from Saudi Arabia.

Ethiopia's foreign ministry says the citizens "are in a difficult situation" in the Gulf country.

The repatriations will begin in two weeks.

Saudi Arabia had asked foreign workers residing in the country without legal rights to leave or face jail time.

The country hosts an estimated 750,000 Ethiopians, more than half of whom are in the country illegally, according to the UN migration agency IOM.

They include workers, job seekers and refugees fleeing conflict in the Horn of Africa nation.

Human rights groups have previously said that some Ethiopian migrants have faced rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, including torture and killings.

Saudi Arabia has repatriated more than 350,000 Ethiopians since 2017, according to IOM.