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Ethiopia is entering its third week without internet service for almost everyone after days of deadly unrest, as the government in Africa’s diplomatic and aviation hub says it’s trying to prevent speech that could further inflame ethnic tensions. The internet cut has damaged the economy in Africa’s second most populous nation, with nearly 110 million people, as it struggles with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It also has revived some fears of government repression. An update by internet monitoring group NetBlocks on Tuesday evening said some fixed-line internet had started to return but the more widespread mobile internet remained cut. Connectivity early on had dropped as low as 1%, it said. “The disruption constitutes a severe violation of basic rights at a time  Ethiopia ns most need to stay informed,” NetBlocks has said, reporting an estimated economic impact of more than $4 million per day. The cut also has hurt the dissemination of key information abou...

TOKYO, JAPAN—According to a  Science News  report, paleoanthropologists Katsuhiro Sano of Tohoku University and Gen Suwa of the University of Tokyo have identified a 1.4-million-year-old hand ax made from a hippo’s leg bone at Ethiopia’s Konso-Gardula site. Tools at the site are thought to have been crafted by the human ancestor  Homo erectus . The study suggests that the ax's oval shape was crafted by striking off the leg bone with one blow from a stone or bone hammer, and then chipped into its final shape with additional blows. Wear on the ax indicates it was used to cut or saw. The researchers explained that when combined with the variety of stone tools recovered from other  Homo erectus  sites in East Africa, the bone hand ax suggests that  Homo erectus  technology could have been more sophisticated and versatile than previously thought. To read about the recent find of the last known members of  Homo erectus , go to " Around the World: Indone...

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew said on Wednesday that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will not cause “thirst” for Egypt and Sudan. In an interview with Saudi News Channel Al-Arabiya, Andargachew said that downstream countries Egypt and Sudan should not be worried about the flow of Nile water, and condemned what he described as “exaggerations and incorrect demands” from the Egyptian side. The Ethiopian FM stressed that negotiating in good faith is the only solution to the GERD dispute. Andargachew’s comments came one day after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that his country is set to start filling the dam’s reservoir to take advantage of the current heavy rain season, which is in July, regardless of whether an agreement is reached with Egypt and Sudan. Both Egypt and Sudan have repeatedly called on Ethiopia not to take any unilateral action concerning the filling of the dam. Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia are currently engaged in a new round of...

Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said that Dubai is ready to welcome the world once again through its international airport after the emirate  reopened for tourism on Tuesday . Sheikh Hamdan was pictured visiting Dubai International Airport on Tuesday and expressed his appreciation for the efforts of various task forces working to ensure the  smooth resumption of tourism to the emirate  while also maintaining the highest levels of safety and security. Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section. "I have reviewed the procedures and protocols in place to welcome tourists back to Dubai. What we have seen clearly demonstrates Dubai's comprehensive preparedness to welcome the world once again and resume international tourism. We have implemented the highest international safety standards to ensure the wellbeing of travelers and tourists," Sheikh Hamdan said in a statement carried by the Emirates N...

ABU DHABI, 7th July 2020 (WAM) -- H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Gedu Andargachew, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, discussed the friendship ties between the two countries and the prospects of strengthening bilateral cooperation, particularly in commercial, investment, health and food security fields. This came during a telephone call today, wherein the ministers exchanged views over the latest regional and international developments, as well as issues of mutual interest. They also reviewed developments related to COVID-19 pandemic in the world and in the African continent. Sheikh Abdullah underlined UAE's historic relations with Ethiopia and expressed keenness to further develop joint cooperation for the benefit of the two friendly countries and peoples. In turn, Andargachew said his country looks forward to enhancing its distinguished relations of friendship and cooperation with the UAE. ...

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that his country will start filling the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to tap into the current heavy rain season, despite Egypt and Sudan earlier saying that the three countries had agreed to delay the filling until a trilateral agreement on the disputed project is reached. According to Al-Arabiya news website, Abiy said that disagreements between his country and Egypt over the giant hydropower project on the Blue Nile will be resolved within the African Union (AU), which is currently mediating ongoing talks on a potential agreement. "Ethiopia will not harm Egypt and will start filling the dam to tap into the [current] heavy rain season. We will not deprive Egypt of water and will reach an agreement soon," the Ethiopian premier was quoted by Al-Arabiya as saying on Tuesday. Over the past few days, Addis Ababa has witnessed large demonstrations following the murder of popular singer Hachalu Hundessa, w...

It’s not a good look on a Nobel Peace laureate. As protests raged in Ethiopia’s most populous region over the killing of a pop star, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an internet blackout, preventing the rest of his country — and the wider world — from getting a complete picture of what was going on in Oromia. This isn’t the first time Abiy, who collected his Nobel last year, has shut down the internet in Ethiopia. There were four such blackouts last year, more often than any other nation in sub-Saharan Africa. On the most bizarre of these occasions, the government cited exam cheating as the reason. But no clampdown on communications can conceal the fact that the celebrated peacemaker is struggling to calm his own people. Nor can Ethiopia’s economic success, which has won Abiy praise abroad, paper over the country’s political grievances and ethnic rivalries, some of them unleashed by his ambitious reforms. These are threatening to stain Abiy’s Nobel laurel. Sl...