Russia on Sunday blocked a U.N. Security Council statement that would have called on forces loyal to Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar to halt their advance on Tripoli, diplomats said.

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has told the U.N. Security Council that the international community should launch war on terrorism to stop its spread in the Middle East and the entire world.

“Lebanon considers that the war on terror should be worldwide because terrorism represents a world threat,” Bassil told a Council meeting on terrorism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama met Monday on the crisis in Syria but failed to resolve their dispute over the future role of Bashar Assad.

In dueling speeches before the U.N. General Assembly, Obama branded the Syrian leader a child-killing tyrant while Putin said the world should support Assad against the Islamic State group.

The U.N. Security Council appealed for calm and restraint Thursday after three days of clashes this week at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound between Israeli police and Muslim protesters.

In a unanimous declaration, the 15-member panel also expressed its "grave concern" and called for maintaining the rules governing the sensitive site seen as holy by both Muslims and Jews.  

The U.N. Security Council is considering allowing European naval forces to board and search ships on the high seas in an effort combat the smuggling of migrants, diplomats said Wednesday.

The draft Security Council resolution, focused on ships leaving from Libya, is currently being circulated among the five permanent members of the Security Council and the other European countries affected.

U.N. member-states are pushing to have more of a say in choosing the successor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who steps down at the end of next year.

A draft resolution is due to be put to a vote at the U.N. General Assembly next week that would for the first time allow the 193-nation to see the resumes of potential candidates and hear their views.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to hold an emergency session on Wednesday to discuss anti-government protests that have rattled Lebanon in the past two weeks, diplomats said.

One of the diplomats told An Nahar newspaper that the Council will hear a briefing from U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag via video conference on the latest developments in the country, mainly the protests against the political class.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council on Thursday that he is planning to set up a three-person team to investigate alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The move came amid new reports of a mustard gas attack in Syria that local activists said could have been carried out by Islamic State jihadists.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed his deep concern over the ongoing vacuum at Lebanon's presidential palace, urging all parties to help the government function, An Nahar daily reported on Wednesday.

In his semi-annual report on the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, Ban said the vacuum at Baabda Palace continues to limit Lebanon’s capabilities in confronting security, economic and social challenges.

A U.N. envoy who has spent two months meeting with key players in Syria will address the Security Council next week to make recommendations for ending the war.

Staffan de Mistura will be in New York from Monday to meet with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and brief the 15-member council, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Tuesday.