NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenyan telecoms company Safaricom reported a 55% rise in its half-year profit on Thursday, helped by a smaller loss in key expansion market Ethiopia. Safaricom posted a group operating profit of 65.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called for international mediation to ease tensions with Eritrea and secure a resolution that restores direct sea access for his landlocked country.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia has strongly condemned attacks in the Oromia region that claimed lives and destroyed property.

Birhanu Degefa was visiting family in the Ethiopian city of Shire in November, when soldiers suddenly began rounding up men on the street, accusing them of being rebels, and demanding to see their identity papers.

The U.K. government has deported a convicted sex offender from Ethiopia who was mistakenly released from prison last week.

Safaricom Plc, Kenya’s biggest company by market value, grew profit by 52% after narrowing losses in its Ethiopian operations.

Ethiopia has rebuffed attempts at international mediation since conflict erupted in its northern Tigray region on Nov. 4.

Safaricom Ethiopia reduced its losses by 52.83 percent in the six months to September 2025, signalling a turnaround in the subsidiary’s performance, which was attributed to forex reforms and the stabilising security situation in Africa’s second most populous nation.

In May 1998, armed forces of Eritrea entered the disputed region of Badme, then under the control of Ethiopia. Surprised Ethiopians needed some time to organize their defense . The first phase of the war lasted until mid-June 1998.