A new United Nations resolution is needed to ensure that Sudan accepts the deployment of a long-awaited hybrid force to Darfur, the head of the African Union commission said Sunday.

Relief workers appealed to the Lebanese army on Sunday for access to hundreds of refugees inside a besieged Palestinian camp, six weeks into a battle between soldiers and Islamists.

The number of civilians killed in Iraq fell sharply in June to the lowest monthly total since a US-backed security clampdown was launched in February, Iraqi government figures showed on Sunday.