The council's 15 member countries released the statement as Tigrayan rebels threatened to capture the capital, Addis Ababa, a year into the fighting. Twitter also has disabled the trends section on Ethiopia.

As the yearlong civil war in Ethiopia's Tigray region escalates, Kenya and South Sudan are on high alert.

A long line people form at the New York airport on the day the United States eased restrictions.

Women interviewed by Amnesty International said they were raped and thrashed, in some cases, in front of their children. A new report says many of them were unable to get medical help after the assault.

The UN's special adviser on genocide prevention, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, says the parties fighting in Ethiopia's war have few options but to negotiate.

United Nations officials said staffers were rounded up by government authorities in raids targeting ethnic Tigrayans. Six have been arrested and released, while 16 others remain in custody.

The African Union is forging ahead with mediation talks in Ethiopia as the US warns of the potential far-reaching consequences of the conflict. But productive negotiations are still far from assured.

Police have previously denied that the arrests are ethnically motivated. Almost 200 young children have starved to death in Tigray.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday, stressing the need for all parties to commit to an immediate and indefinite ceasefire in the northern Tigray region, the State Department said.

France on Tuesday became the latest country to advise citizens to leave war-torn Ethiopia as Tigrayan rebels claimed to be advancing closer to the capital Addis Ababa.

After 11 months it was closed to traffic, the Toyota-Murtala Mohammed Airport Road link bridge has opened to traffic. Repair works commenced on the damaged bridge after six months of closure and it was meant to open to traffic by the end of September but the government further delayed reopening to carry out additional work.

Fighting continues in Ethiopia, where rebel groups are advancing on the capital Addis Ababa. While much has been said about the northern front, where the army is at war with the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF), another armed group – allied to Tigrayans – is fighting from the south and west of the country. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) now controls a large swathe of territory. Together, the TDF and OLA plan to topple the government and take over the capital. The government accuses these rebel groups of committing crimes against civilians, including several massacres. Our regional correspondent reports.