VANGUARD, THURSDAY, MARCH 5 , 2015 —57
‘First human’ discovered in Ethiopia S
CIENTISTS have unearthed the jawbone of what they claim is one of the very first humans. The 2.8 million-year-old specimen is 400,000 years older than researchers thought that our kind first emerged. The discovery in Ethiopia suggests climate change spurred the transition from tree dweller to upright walker The head of the research team told BBC News that the find gives the first insight into “the most important transitions in human evolution”. Prof Brian Villmoare of the University of Nevada in Las Vegas said the discovery makes a clear link between an iconic 3.2 million-year-old hominin (human-like primate) discovered in the same
The fossil found in Ethiopia area in 1974, called “Lucy”. Could Lucy’s kind - which belonged to the species Australopithecus afarensis - have evolved into the very first primitive humans? “That’s what we are arguing,” said Prof Villmoare. But the fossil record between the time period when Lucy and her kin were alive and the
emergence of Homo erectus (with its relatively large brain and humanlike body proportions) two million years ago is sparse. The 2.8 million-year-old lower jawbone was found in the Ledi-Geraru research area, Afar Regional State, by Ethiopian student Chalachew Seyoum. He told BBC News that he was “stunned” when he saw the fossil.
Mugabe sued by former Zanu-PF allies
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IMBABWE President Robert Mugabe has been sued for wrongful dismissal by two former ruling party senior officials. The pair were expelled from the party in December and February for allegedly supporting a plot against him. Ruagare Gumbo and Didymus Mutasa have filed papers in the High Court of Zimbabwe seeking an order to reinstate them into ZanuPF. Mr Gumbo told the BBC that President Mugabe was a “dictator” and that he should step down. In an unprecedented
move, they are seeking that the court also strike down reforms that President Mugabe brought in at the party conference last December. If successful, the president’s two former stalwarts would call for an extraordinary congress of the party where a new leader could be elected to replace the 91 year old. Speaking to the BBC’s Brian Hungwe, Mr Gumbo, a former ZanuPF spokesman, said he might set up his own political party if the court challenge failed. Even if the pair do win back their places, Mr
Gumbo says it would be impossible to work with President Mugabe, “There is no basis of working with him, he is a dictator. He tells you what to do, if you don’t then he fires you. So how can I work with a man like that?” he told the BBC The former party spokesman does not believe that President Mugabe is fully in control of his party and that the president’s wife, Grace Mugabe, is now “running the show”. Last week, Mr Mugabe denied such claims, saying his wife was not the “power behind my throne”.
Libya oil fields seized by militants
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SLAMIST militants are reported to have seized two oil fields in central Libya, as rival groups fight for control of the country. Forces guarding the Bahi and Mabruk sites retreated after running out of ammunition. It is not clear which group seized the oil
fields. Libya’s internationally recognised government in Tobruk and its rivals Libya Dawn also conducted air strikes on each other’s positions. Libya has been without an effective government since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011. Mabruk, about 310
Lesotho opposition parties form coalition govt
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IVE opposition parties in Lesotho have formed a new coalition government after snap elections over the weekend failed to produce an outright winner. The poll was intended to ease tensions after an attempted coup last August. The All Basotho Convention of outgoing Prime Minister Thomas Thobane came second with 46 seats. Pakalitha Mosisili’s Democratic Congress was narrowly ahead with 47 seats and formed a majority of 61 with other smaller parties Even though politicians showed a level of maturity during the elections, Lesotho still faces underlying unresolved issues that trigged last year’s crisis.
miles (500km) east of Tripoli, is one of Libya’s biggest oil fields. It had been closed for some weeks because of violence and a slow-down of exports. “Extremists took control of the Bahi and Mabruk fields and are now heading to seize the Dahra field following the retreat of the forces guarding these sites,” said Colonel Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for the oil industry security service. A gun attack on Mabruk in February left 11 people dead. At the time witnesses said the attackers had claimed to be from a militia which has joined Islamic State. The Islamic State militia, which controls the town of Derna, has not commented.