Drone strike wounds 13 in Tigray capital as fears of renewed war grow

"A drone strike on Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, injured at least 13 people, including five children, a hospital official said Thursday. The attack comes amid growing tensions between federal and Tigrayan forces and fears the region could slide back into war.

The drone strike hit Mekelle according to Tigrayan authorities, with residents reporting damage to homes in a residential neighbourhood.
Almaz Wedu, a farmer, described the moment the roof of her home collapsed around her.
"I came suddenly and the roof fell on us while we were right here," she said. "Look at this house, it is completely destroyed. I don't know where it came from or why. I am a farmer, why is this being done to a farmer's home?" AfricaNews

Fighting breaks out in western Tigray as Ethiopia and TPLF trade blame

"Fighting has broken out in western Tigray, in one of the most serious breaches yet of the

three-year-old peace deal between Ethiopia’s federal government and fighters in the northern region.
Tigray’s regional government said in a statement from Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital, that federal forces opened the assault at dawn on Saturday, advancing from the direction of Sheraro, near the Sudanese border.
Abraham Belay, a government minister who led Tigray’s transitional government during the war, confirmed the clashes but accused Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) chairman Debretsion Gebremichael’s forces of starting them." msn

Landslides kill at least 52 people in Gamo Zone, Ethiopia

"Rain-triggered landslides in Gamo Zone, southern Ethiopia

, killed at least 52 people earlier this week, with officials saying that dozens of others were still missing. Authorities said rescue teams were continuing the search for missing people as the risk of additional slope failures remained elevated." W

Is a new civil war on the horizon?

"Since the end of 2025, the security situation in South Sudan, the youngest country in Africa, has sharply deteriorated, raising fears of a new civil war. Jonglei State, located near the Ethiopian border, has been particularly hard-hit by violence. The renewed fighting threatens to undermine the 2018 peace agreement between the government and opposition forces.
Intense clashes have erupted between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and the opposition factions of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-in-Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) across Jonglei State, Upper Nile State, and Unity State, as well as in parts of Equatoria.

In late December 2025 and early January 2026, SPLM/A-IO, alongside allied forces primarily composed of Nuer militias known as the White Army, seized several key cities and government positions in northern Jonglei State, forcing the SSPDF to retreat. Shortly thereafter, the opposition called for a march on Juba. On January 25, the SSPDF announced the launch of Operation Enduring Peace and ordered the evacuation of civilians and UN Mission in South Sudan personnel from Nyirol, Uror, and Akobo counties, designating them as combat zones.
The main clashes erupted on January 26 on the outskirts of the heavily populated city of Yuai in eastern Jonglei State. While the SSPDF managed to capture some villages, the opposition has retained control over the city. By early February, the SSPDF had claimed “victory” and recaptured certain positions; however, the SPLM/A-IO described this as a “tactical withdrawal” to regroup.
Both sides employed heavy weaponry, including tanks, during these confrontations; during the course of combat, huts were burned and weapons seized.
This latest surge of violence comes amid preparations for the country’s first-ever general parliamentary elections, planned for December 2026. It was preceded by a series of contentious decisions by South Sudan President Salva Kiir, including the arrest of South Sudan First Vice President Riek Machar in March 2025 on charges of treason and involvement in killings linked to the takeover of an SSPDF base by the White Army, as well as the dismissal of Machar’s wife, Angelina Teny, from her post as Minister of Interior in early 2026.
Machar’s supporters view these developments as a blatant violation of the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), particularly its provisions regarding power-sharing.
The conflict flared up in the capital, Juba, and rapidly spread to other regions. Soon, it evolved into an ethnic conflict: the Dinka people, loyal to Kiir, clashed with the Nuer people, who supported Machar. Both groups belong to the Nilotic ethnic group and make up the largest segments of South Sudan’s population (the Dinka comprise about 35% and the Nuer around 15% of the country’s population)." RT

Russia joins China, Iran for naval drills in South Africa

"South Africa

held on Jan. 10 the opening ceremony for Chinese-led naval exercises taking
place in South African waters until Jan. 16., Bloomberg reported.
Russia, Iran, China and South Africa are participating in the drills, called "Will for Peace 2026," with Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia joining as observers." KI

Ethiopia Confirms First Outbreak of Marburg Virus After Testing

"Ethiopia confirmed its first outbreak of Marburg virus disease after sending samples from a

cluster of suspected cases of viral hemorrhagic fever for testing earlier this week.
The virus is the same strain reported in previous outbreaks in other East African nations, the World Health Organization said late Friday. Nine cases, including health workers, have been reported in Ethiopia’s southern region near South Sudan. The WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Ethiopia moved quickly to identify the virus and begin containment efforts." Bloomberg

Ethiopian volcano erupts

"A volcanic eruption in northeastern Ethiopia sent a large ash plume toward Yemen and Oman, according to officials and experts. No eruptions have been recorded at the volcano in over a thousand years.
The eruption at the Hayli Gubbi volcano began at around 8:30 a.m. UTC on Sunday, according to an advisory from the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC). Explosive activity continued through the afternoon, with ash rising to about 45,000 feet (13.7 km)." msn

Mag. 4.9 earthquake - 39 km east of Debre Birhan, Amhara, Ethiopia

"A strong magnitude 4.9 earthquake hit 39 km (24 mi) away from Debre Birhan, Amhara,

Ethiopia, in the morning at 8.24 am local time (Africa/Addis Ababa GMT +3). 

The depth of the quake could not be determined, but is assumed to be shallow.The quake was felt widely in the area. The shallow depth of the quake caused it to be felt more strongly near the epicenter than a deeper quake of similar magnitude would." VD

Hot pulses from deep within the Earth are slowly tearing a giant crack through Africa

"Beneath the African continent, powerful plumes of molten rock are slowly reshaping the land from below. Scientists studying this massive geological event have uncovered new clues about what lies below the surface and how these forces shape the planet. Their work reveals that

powerful surges of molten rock, called mantle upwellings, pulse upward beneath a key region in East Africa. These pulses are reshaping the landscape, fueling volcanoes, and preparing the way for a new ocean to form.
The research focuses on a region called Afar, located in northeastern Africa. It’s one of the only places on Earth where three giant cracks, or rifts, in the Earth’s surface meet. These rifts stretch across Ethiopia and beyond, and over time, they are splitting the land apart. Underneath these rifts, a large column of hot rock from deep inside the planet rises like a heartbeat, pushing toward the surface." msn

Magma is Potentially Moving Underneath a Town; Ethiopia Volcano

"Large multimeter wide cracks unexpectedly formed in close proximity to a town of 4,000 people. Gasses subsequently emerged from these cracks, indicating their origin due to presumably shallow magma. This occurred within Ethiopia's equivalent of Death Valley, the Danakil Depression, which is undergoing one of its longest magma dike intrusions on record." SW

Sudden Eruption produces dense ash plume at Erta Ale volcano, Ethiopia

"A sudden explosive eruption at Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression produced a dense ash plume on the morning of July 15, 2025, interrupting its recent phase of steady lava activity." Sistki

Ethiopia Volcano Update; The Caldera Just Sunk by 26 Feet

"A nearly mile wide portion of a volcano presumably just sunk by 26 feet or 8 meters! This all occurred due to a strange strong magnitude 6.0 volcanic earthquake at Ethiopia's Fentale volcano. While sharing many similarities with a caldera collapse event, the subsidence is not yet truly a caldera collapse." MS

Ethiopia: Powerful 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Near Heavily Populated Region of Oromiya: Officials Urge Residents to Evacuate

"A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the heavily populated region of Oromiya in Ethiopia with over 250,000 people feeling the earth shake strongly.
The quake, which struck at approximately 11:28 p.m. local time on Friday night, was recorded by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as having a shallow depth of 6.2 miles with the epicenter approximately 3.7 miles NNE of Metahāra, Ethiopia, which places it near Fentale volcano." MS

Brazil’s Lula Compares Gaza to ‘Holocaust,’ Defends Putin in Navalny Death

"Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, or Lula, caused outrage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by comparing Israel’s war against Hamas to the Holocaust, then defending Russian president Vladimir Putin in the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Lula also recently delivered an anti-Israel rant in which he promised funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has seen funding cut by donor nations after staff were involved in the October 7 terror attack against Israel." Breitbart

BRICS face a historic decision as they attempt to reshape the world order

"BRICS (an acronym made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa....Never has the BRICS group attracted so much interest around the world as in the run-up to the 15th leaders’ summit this week in Johannesburg.

About 20 countries are reportedly seeking admission to the five-member organization and the list of countries that will be represented at the meeting.... This is a sign of the times and points to two things: the yearning of many non-Western nations to become more consequential to how the world is run, and the growing pushback against self-serving Western dominance in global politics, economics, finance, and the media.

A number of countries from all over the globe have lined up at BRICS' door, ready to walk in. These include Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belarus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Going for a big-bang enlargement would be a loud statement, to the effect that an alternative to the US-led system of alliances and partnerships is being built." RT

UN Food Chief Halved Refugee Meal Rations As Global Hunger Crisis Worsens

"Food riot risks continue to soar worldwide as the head of the food-aid branch of the United

Nations halved meal rations for refugees. 

On Monday, David Beasley, director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), released a statement detailing "the heartbreaking decision to cut food rations for refugees who rely on us for their survival."

"As global hunger soars way beyond the resources available to feed all the families who desperately need WFP's help, we are being forced to make the heartbreaking decision to cut food rations for refugees who rely on us for their survival," Beasley said. 

Beasley pointed out that WFP already "significantly reduced" rations across its operating areas, indicating cuts up to 50% are affecting 75% of all refugees supported by WFP in Eastern Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda." ZH

Russia Thanks Ethiopia for Support of Ukraine War

"The Russian Embassy in Ethiopia’s official Twitter page issued a statement Tuesday thanking Ethiopia’s government and its citizens for their “solidarity and support” of Russia’s latest war with Ukraine. Continuing, the embassy expressed gratitude toward Ethiopia’s federal government for its recent “support” of Russia “at the United Nations during voting on Ukraine-related resolutions.” Breitbart