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Guterres Urges Security Council to Unify Stance amid US-Russian Differences over Libya

Stephanie Williams upon her arrival in the southern Libyan city of Sebha earlier this week. (Twitter account of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Libya)
Stephanie Williams upon her arrival in the southern Libyan city of Sebha earlier this week. (Twitter account of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Libya)
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Guterres Urges Security Council to Unify Stance amid US-Russian Differences over Libya

Stephanie Williams upon her arrival in the southern Libyan city of Sebha earlier this week. (Twitter account of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Libya)
Stephanie Williams upon her arrival in the southern Libyan city of Sebha earlier this week. (Twitter account of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Libya)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged on Friday the members of the Security Council to unify their stance over extending the mandate of the UN mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which ends Jan. 31, following a disagreement between the US and Russia.

Moscow has demanded the UN secretary general’s special advisor on Libya, American Stephanie Williams, be replaced.

The Security Council was scheduled to vote Thursday on a draft resolution prepared by Britain to extend UNSMIL’s mission until Sept. 15, after the text was amended more than once in an attempt to overcome the disagreement on many issues, including the position on the presidential and legislative elections and the mandate granted to the UN mission.

The Russian side insisted on appointing a special envoy to succeed Slovakian Jan Kubis, who resigned last November, but differences within the Council prompted Guterres to name Williams as a special advisor, but who is assuming the duties of the envoy.

Russia was purportedly ready to exercise its veto right to obstruct the adoption of the resolution and to submit an alternative draft-resolution, calling on the Secretary-General to appoint a new special envoy “without delay” and limit the mandate to three months, which prompted Britain to postpone the voting session to make room for further negotiations.

Divisions between UN members are not a “good signal” to Libyans and “will not help Stephanie Williams” in her current role, a diplomatic source said.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, had demanded the appointment of a new mediator in Libya, saying: “It’s important that the Secretary-General present a candidate for this position as soon as possible… The UN envoy must have sufficient experience in the framework of a mandate decided by the Security Council.”

He added: “Unfortunately, we do not have such a person at the head of the mission at the moment.”

In comments during his daily press briefing, UN Secretary General Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres was implementing the mandate granted to him by the Security Council, calling on the Council members to show “unity and clarity.”

Guterres is currently working closely with members of the Security Council in order to achieve the interests of the UN Mission in Libya as well as the interests of the Libyans, Dujarric emphasized.

He continued: “The Secretary-General is extremely grateful for all the work that Stephanie Williams has done in her previous capacity... and what she continues to do on the Libyan file as special advisor. She’s done a very, very good job in [the] face of a very difficult situation.”

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Arab World

Portugal Says Israel Undermining Palestinian State Through Settlement Expansion

Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Varsin Aghabekian Shahin (L) and Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel (R) attend a press conference after a meeting at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, 14 September 2026. (EPA)
Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Varsin Aghabekian Shahin (L) and Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel (R) attend a press conference after a meeting at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, 14 September 2026. (EPA)
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Portugal Says Israel Undermining Palestinian State Through Settlement Expansion

Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Varsin Aghabekian Shahin (L) and Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel (R) attend a press conference after a meeting at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, 14 September 2026. (EPA)
Palestinian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Varsin Aghabekian Shahin (L) and Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel (R) attend a press conference after a meeting at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, 14 September 2026. (EPA)

Portugal's ‌foreign minister said on Monday that Israeli settlement expansion and economic pressure in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem were undermining prospects for a viable Palestinian state.

Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said Israel's E1 settlement plan was "extremely pernicious" because ‌it would ‌divide the West Bank, ‌isolate ⁠East Jerusalem and ⁠was incompatible with a two-state solution.

Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax revenues amounted to a "brutal strangulation" of the Palestinian Authority's finances, preventing the economy from ⁠functioning, he said after meeting ‌Palestinian Foreign ‌Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin in Lisbon.

‌Rangel also cited the closure ‌of Christian schools in East Jerusalem as evidence of worsening conditions there.

Portugal recognized the State ‌of Palestine a year ago.

Rangel said the two-state ⁠solution ⁠was the only way to guarantee peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel said last week it was closing Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem in response to plans by the UK, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Arab World

UN Warns Key Humanitarian Network in Sudan Could ‘Collapse within Weeks’

A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, talks to her relative through a fence next to makeshift shelters, in Adre, Chad August 5, 2023. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, talks to her relative through a fence next to makeshift shelters, in Adre, Chad August 5, 2023. (Reuters)
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UN Warns Key Humanitarian Network in Sudan Could ‘Collapse within Weeks’

A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, talks to her relative through a fence next to makeshift shelters, in Adre, Chad August 5, 2023. (Reuters)
A Sudanese woman, who fled the conflict in Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region, talks to her relative through a fence next to makeshift shelters, in Adre, Chad August 5, 2023. (Reuters)

The United Nations warned on Monday that a key system for bringing aid into conflict-torn Sudan risked collapsing completely unless it receives more funding immediately.

"The entire humanitarian system could collapse within weeks if we don't act now," said Amy Pope, head of the International Organization for Migration.

"Without new funding, we won't be able to get help where it's needed most."

The war between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted in April 2023 has killed more than 200,000 people, aid workers estimate, and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crisis.

The IOM stressed that the Common Humanitarian Pipeline logistics system it runs allows a network of more than 100 national and international NGOs to bring desperately needed shelter and other non-food aid into the African country.

Since the start of the war, it said, the system had reached 2.84 million people.

But it warned that the reach had been shrinking due to falling funds, even as the needs remain at an all-time high.

While the pipeline helped get aid to more than one million people in 2024, only 330,000 had received assistance like shelter and emergency support kits through the system so far in 2026, the IOM said.

"Without immediate donor support, current shelter, sanitation and emergency household relief items are expected to be depleted by the end of September," the UN's migration agency said in a statement.

"The warehousing and operational capacity that keeps the pipeline functioning can only be sustained until December 2026," it stressed.

The IOM said it would need $15 million just to maintain the pipeline at its 2026 minimum capacity for the next 12 months, while it would require $42 million to return to its 2024 level.

It said cutting off access to shelter assistance carried far wider risks.

"Prolonged exposure to weather, disease and insecurity can heighten risks of gender-based violence, family separation and eviction in overcrowded sites," it pointed out.

"Shelter is the foundation from which protection, health and recovery can begin," Pope insisted.

"When the pipeline stops, it is not simply warehouses that become empty. The entire humanitarian response becomes harder to deliver."

Arab World

Lebanon’s Divide Over Israel Talks Reaches Religious Leaders

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and an accompanying delegation tour the southern city of Nabatieh on Saturday (EPA)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and an accompanying delegation tour the southern city of Nabatieh on Saturday (EPA)
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Lebanon’s Divide Over Israel Talks Reaches Religious Leaders

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and an accompanying delegation tour the southern city of Nabatieh on Saturday (EPA)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and an accompanying delegation tour the southern city of Nabatieh on Saturday (EPA)

Lebanon’s divisions over negotiations with Israel have reached its religious leadership, with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi backing state efforts to establish a monopoly on arms and pursue talks, and Jaafari Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan accusing the state of colluding against South Lebanon.

The split turns political disagreements over the government’s policies into a sectarian dispute as talks stall - with an eighth round of negotiations with Israel in Rome postponed until early next month - and the Israeli army continues strikes in the south.

Lebanon’s Shiite religious establishment, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement have long opposed direct negotiations, but Qabalan’s attack was the strongest since the talks began.

President Joseph Aoun has repeatedly pledged to protect Lebanon’s sovereignty, secure an Israeli withdrawal and return residents to occupied areas in the south through negotiations, which he sees as the only available alternative to war.

On Sunday, on the anniversary of the assassination of President-elect Bachir Gemayel, Aoun renewed his pledge to build “a strong and just state,” capable of safeguarding its independent decision-making, sovereignty and citizens’ dignity.

Christian Support for Official Position

Al-Rahi said in his Sunday sermon that placing all weapons under state control “is not the triumph of one side over another, nor a confrontation with a sect or group, but the affirmation of a single national authority.”

“The state cannot function with two decision-making authorities, nor can sovereignty be complete when there are multiple authorities,” he added.

Backing the presidency’s approach, al-Rahi called for negotiations and mediation to produce tangible results, including an end to attacks, Israeli withdrawal and stability under credible guarantees protecting Lebanon’s rights and sovereignty. Negotiations, he said, should not become “an open-ended process with no horizon.”

Qabalan Attacks the State

Qabalan took the opposite position after Aoun visited Nabatieh and pledged state support for the south, saying Israeli withdrawal, the return of prisoners and displaced residents, and reconstruction were national priorities.

In a message published by the state-run National News Agency (NNA), Qabalan accused the executive branch of “strangling and besieging” the south and “colluding against it.”

He warned of what he called government-driven “sedition,” accusing the executive branch of threatening national partnership and seeking to abandon the southern front, which he described as central to Lebanon’s sovereignty and existence.

“The issue today is not that the executive authority does not want to defend the south,” Qabalan said, “but rather the totality of policies that strangle the south, besiege it, drain it and deprive it of every means of life.”

He added that Lebanon’s security was indivisible and called for national action to prevent what he described as “the worst internal strife,” accusing the authorities of giving Israel enough time to continue destroying the south.