Your Thursday Briefing: A truce in Ethiopia

Plus North Korean missiles set off alarms in the South and Benjamin Netanyahu edges closer to power.
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By Amelia Nierenberg

Writer, Briefings

Good morning. Today, our Africa correspondents analyze a truce in Ethiopia.

Ethiopian government representatives, mediators and Tigrayan rebels attended a news conference in South Africa.Phill Magakoe/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A truce in Tigray

Ethiopia’s government and rebel forces in the northern Tigray region will end their brutal civil war. A team of mediators said the two parties had agreed to “a permanent cessation of hostilities.”

The war, which began in November 2020, has led to widespread destruction and extensive human rights violations, including massacres, ethnic cleansing and sexual violence. As many as 500,000 people have died as a result of the conflict, and hundreds of thousands are displaced. And famine looms.

The announcement came after 10 days of peace talks, convened in South Africa by the African Union. At the start of the negotiations, the conflict had been intensifying, and Ethiopia and its Eritrean allies were advancing toward Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region.

“This agreement to cede hostilities is an important step and brings a much-needed respite to those devastated by the two-year civil war,” Abdi Latif Dahir, our East Africa correspondent, told me. “But it is not the end point and both parties will have to do a lot of work and overcome mistrust to ensure that permanent peace is achieved and aid reaches millions who are in dire need.”

Analysis: “South Africa’s foreign minister Naledi Pandor remarked that she was the ‘most nervous person in the room,’” my Johannesburg-based colleague Lynsey Chutel told me. “I think that showed just how high-stakes these talks were, not just for Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, but for the whole continent.”

North Korea launched missiles in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA, via Shutterstock

North Korea launched new missiles

North Korea launched at least 23 missiles off its coasts yesterday, the most it has fired in a single day. All fell into international waters.

The volley triggered an air-raid alert on Ulleung, a populated island in South Korea. One missile landed 103 miles (about 166 kilometers) northwest of the territory. South Korea, in response, fired three missiles from fighter jets into international waters near the North.

The exchange marked the first time that many missiles were launched across the maritime border, the South’s Defense Ministry said. The standoff came two days after South Korea and the U.S. began an annual joint military exercise that involved 240 aircraft and thousands of military personnel.

Background: North Korea has conducted 28 weapons tests involving ballistic and other missiles this year — more than ever before.

Context: The launch was the North’s most daring missile test since Oct. 4, when it fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan and covered the longest distance ever traveled by a North Korean weapon.

Under the July deal, cargo ships have carried more than 10 million tons of grain and other agricultural products through the Black Sea.Umit Bektas/Reuters

Russia rejoins the grain deal

Russia will rejoin a deal that allows grain to move from Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea. The announcement restores hope to countries facing severe food shortages.

Russia suspended its participation over the weekend after an attack on its naval ships in Crimea. Russia blamed Ukraine for the attack, which it claimed showed that the waters were unsafe. In rejoining the deal, Russia said it had received Ukrainian guarantees that the sea corridor would not be used “for military operations.”

But there have been no reports of security incidents involving grain ships. And Russia’s withdrawal may have been a miscalculation: Ukraine also suggested that other parties remained committed to the deal, even without Russia’s involvement. At least 15 grain ships departed after Russia announced it was pulling out on Saturday.

Analysis: Abandoning the deal may have been a Russian strategy to gain leverage after battlefield struggles. But the tactic risked antagonizing two important Kremlin allies: Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Other updates:

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A Morning Read
A boy played the accordion under a lone streetlight in Ukraine’s capital.

Kyiv is going dark, as restrictions on electricity take effect. At nightfall, smartphone flashlights flicker like fairy lights, dogs wear glow stick collars and flower merchants hawk their wares with headlamps.

But beauty and threat dance together in the shadows. Car accidents have spiked 25 percent, the police say, and the threat of another Russian strike on infrastructure dangles overhead.

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SPORTS IN FOCUS

U.S. money in Indian cricket

American money has discovered Indian cricket. Billion-dollar funds and N.F.L. ownership groups are among those angling for a foothold in the Indian Premier League.

The returns are the draw. India’s top cricket competition — a closed league with only 10 teams — now generates annual broadcast revenues on par with the N.F.L. ($10 billion a year), England’s Premier League (about $6.9 billion) and the N.B.A. ($2.7 billion).

On a per-match basis, the I.P.L., whose season lasts only two months, now ranks behind only the N.F.L. Most experts agree that every I.P.L. franchise is now worth at least $1 billion or more.

As recently as the 1990s, the sport’s governing body had to pay the state-owned broadcaster to show the national team’s matches. The start of the I.P.L. in 2008 changed all that. “When we first started looking at cricket, we were by no means experts,” an investor said. “But the more we studied it, the more we realized it felt like the N.F.L. did 20 years ago.”

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook
Joe Lingeman for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.

Pecan Linzer bars are a simplified version of a classic, jammy Viennese torte.

What to Listen to

Interested in jazz? Take five minutes to fall in love with Ornette Coleman.

What to Read Aloud

Shuna’s Journey,” a 1983 picture book by Hayao Miyazaki, has been translated from Japanese into English.

Ask Well

When should you brush your teeth?

Now Time to Play

Play the Mini Crossword, and a clue: First word of the “Sesame Street” theme song (five letters).

Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee.

Thanks for spending part of your morning with me. See you tomorrow! — Amelia

P.S. “Still Processing,” our culture podcast, is back. On the first episode, Wesley Morris and J Wortham discuss Jordan Peele’s movie “Nope.”

The Daily” is about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband.

If there are things we’re doing well, or things we could do better, please email me and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. I read every note, and would love your feedback. Thank you!

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