Uneasy calm returned to the Ethiopian capital today, a day after riot police across Addis Ababa fired guns to quell a second day of protests against the country’s disputed parliamentary elections.

THOUSANDS of people have been arrested across Ethiopia after violent clashes in which police killed 36 people, a New York-based human rights group reported yesterday.

Ethiopian security forces opened fire today on stone-throwing protesters in the central business district, leaving at least 20 people dead, the independent Ethiopian Human Rights Council said.