The African Union has invited the leaders of both Ethiopia's federal government and the country's embattled Tigray region to peace talks. It's still unclear whether the talks will take place at the highest level.

Analysts have welcomed peace talks in South Africa between regional leaders of Ethiopia's Tigray region and the federal government but say both sides must get serious this time amid a war that has killed thousands.

Shortages at fuel stations due to a refinery workers’ strike continue to impact drivers across France, resulting in long queues. TotalEnergies, which runs about a third of the country's service stations, has offered to advance pay talks but unions remain firm in their strike action.

There has been a sustained diplomatic push trying to bring peace to the Tigray region, with the conflict parties holding talks in neighboring Djibouti. Just days ago, the Tigray People's Liberation Front said it was ready for a ceasefire. But now there is more violence again.

Violence and destruction have reached alarming levels," Guterres told reporters at the United Nations. "Hostilities in the Tigray region of Ethiopia must end now," he said, also calling for the "immediate withdrawal and disengagement" of Eritrean forces.

Amid rising cholera outbreaks and global vaccine shortages worldwide, the WHO has announced a temporary shift by recommending one dose instead of the standard two-dose regimen.

The warring sides in Ethiopia's two-year-long brutal conflict head to South Africa for peace negotiations, although the talks are pushed back to Tuesday. Staying in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa submits his "action plan" in response to the Zondo Commission's report into graft and fraud in the public sector under his predecessor Jacob Zuma.

Peace talks aimed at ending the two-year-old conflict in the Tigray regions of Ethiopia have begun in Pretoria. The negotiations follow a surge in violence in recent weeks.

Every party involved in the war in northern Ethiopia has committed crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said on Wednesday, calling for a probe into abuses in the nearly two-year conflict.

The World Health Organization warned that hospitals are running dangerously low on medical supplies, as fighting between federal and Tigrayan forces intensify following a lull in the conflict between March and August.

The African Union has been mediating an end to the two-year conflict. The deal came hours after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed claimed his forces were close to "winning".

The Ethiopian government and Tigrayan forces formally signed a truce Wednesday, raising hopes that two years of devastating war that threatened to tear apart Africa’s second-most-populous country might be coming to an end.