The UN Security Council on Wednesday urged South Sudan’s government to take immediate steps to allow a new regional force to deploy in Juba as it weighed imposing an arms embargo. Following a closed-door meeting, New Zealand Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen, who holds the council presidency, said it was time …

Libya’s internationally recognised parliament, which is based in the far east and effectively runs this part of the country, has promoted a powerful general. The gesture is likely to rile the UN-brokered government in the capital, Tripoli, which is not recognized by the east-based parliament.

Renewed fierce fighting has pushed more than 185,000 people to flee South Sudan since July, sending the number of refugees from the impoverished nation past one million, the UN said on Friday. “The number of South Sudanese refugees sheltering in neighbouring countries has this week passed the one million mark,” …