In Sudan, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said Wednesday he’d agree to a new two-month ceasefire in Darfur. Rebel groups are also said to have agreed to the temporary truce, but both sides have defied similar efforts in the past. Bashir also repeated his government’s rejection of a peacekeeping force led by the U.N. Meanwhile at the U.N., Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pledged to address the Darfur crisis at his first overseas trip to this month’s African Union summit in Ethiopia.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “I’m formally committed to resolve this issue as soon as possible to prevent further sufferings of innocent people in the Darfur area.”