Ethiopia to release 737 Max crash preliminary report Thursday

Ethiopia lifts its wartime state of emergency, which was imposed when Tigrayan rebels threatened to advance on the capital last November. Also, Liberia celebrates 200 years since the country's birth with a mass rally. And we take you to Central African Republic, where peanut farming is essential to the residents of Paoua.

Nearly 7 million people in Ethiopia's drought hit regions need urgent help after a third failed rainy season devastates pastoralist communities.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday⁣.⁣

The war in Ethiopia has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, as government troops and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front battle over territory. A UN investigation found all sides in the conflict had committed atrocities, including rape. Warning: This report contains descriptions of sexual violence.

The U.N. human rights chief said on Monday the situation in northern Ethiopia had deteriorated since November and her office had received reports of wide-spread violations including rapes and lethal airstrikes. Michelle Bachelet told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council her staff had recorded 304 deaths and injuries to 373 people in air attacks "apparently carried out by the Ethiopian Air Force" in Tigray and Afar regions.

Experts have noticed a surge in online sales of Ethiopian artifacts. They fear these relics could have been looted during Ethiopia's ongoing civil war.

At least 53 people died after an unidentified armed group attacked a civilian convoy. The previously unreported attack occurred in March. A video appearing to show men in military uniform burning victims alive prompted the government to say it would find those responsible.

Human rights were among the first casualties of the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia. While both sides continue to accuse each other of atrocities, independent organizations find it increasingly difficult to monitor abuses.

Tigray fighters have agreed to uphold a cease-fire in the war-ravaged Tigray region to allow for the delivery of aid. Hundreds of thousands of people in Tigray face starvation.

The Ethiopian Government declared the cessation of hostilities on Thursday, saying that it was to allow aid to reach stricken civilians. Hours later, Tigrayan authorities issued a statement saying that they would do everything possible, to make the humanitarian ceasefire, a success.

Aid convoys have yet to reach Ethiopia's war-ravaged Tigray region almost a week after the government announced a humanitarian truce.

Tigrayans are being targeted with ethnic cleansing in the contested Western Tigray zone, according to a new report by human rights groups. The onslaught of rape and killings amounts to "war crimes," they added.