United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed new envoys to mediate conflicts in Libya and the Middle East, who could be given the greenlight by the UN Security Council on Tuesday after months of delay, diplomats said.
Mr Guterres put forward his current Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov to become his Libya special envoy - replacing Ghassan Salame who stepped down in March due to stress - and named veteran Norwegian diplomat Tor Wennesland to succeed Mr Mladenov as the UN mediator between Israel and the Palestinians.
If there are no objections by any of the 15 Security Council members by Tuesday evening then the appointments will be approved, ending months of bickering sparked by a US push to split the Libya role to have one person running the UN political mission and another focused on conflict mediation.
The Security Council agreed to that proposal in September. Mr Guterres then proposed Bulgarian diplomat Mr Mladenov for the Libya role last month and on Friday named Wennesland, currently Norway's special envoy on the Middle East peace process, to replace Mr Mladenov, according to letters seen by Reuters.
Mr Mladenov has been the UN Middle East envoy since 2015.
Libya descended into chaos after the Nato-backed overthrow of leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. In October, the two major sides in the country’s war - the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and Khalifa Haftar's eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) - agreed a ceasefire.
In the Middle East, the Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
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• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
