UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States and China reached a deal that “significantly expands” U.N. sanctions on North Korea for its third nuclear test, eliciting a renewed threat by Pyongyang on Tuesday to scrap an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea also said it would sever a military “hotline” with the United States if South Korea and Washington pressed on with two-month-long war games.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States and China have struck a tentative deal on a draft U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution that would punish North Korea for its third nuclear test last month, U.N. diplomats said on Monday.

Separately, the U.N. press office announced that Russia, which holds the presidency of the 15-nation Security Council this month, will convene closed-door consultations on North Korea at 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) in New York on Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States and China have struck a tentative deal on a draft U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution that would punish North Korea for its third nuclear test last month, U.N. diplomats said on Monday.

Separately, the U.N. press office announced that Russia, which holds the presidency of the 15-nation Security Council this month, will convene closed-door consultations on North Korea at 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) in New York on Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Russia is prepared to consider ways of making it easier for Libya’s government to buy arms, but voiced serious concern about lifting an embargo on the North African state already awash with weapons, Russia’s U.N. ambassador said on Monday.

Libya’s Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said last week he planned to ask the U.N. Security council to lift the embargo, which was imposed at the start of an uprising in 2011 that culminated in the ouster of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Israel warned the U.N. Security Council on Monday that it could not be expected to “stand idle” as Syria’s civil war spills over its border, while Russia accused armed groups of undermining security between the states by fighting in a demilitarized zone.

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor wrote to the 15-member council to complain about shells from Syria landing in Israel.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council is considering lifting an arms embargo on Somalia’s government for one year so it can beef up its army to combat Islamist fighters, according to a draft resolution that is due to be voted on by the divided council on Wednesday.

The Somalia government has asked for the arms embargo to be lifted and the United States has been pushing the council to agree, but Britain and France have been wary of removing the ban in a country already awash with weapons, diplomats say.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Sudan’s government has violated U.N. sanctions on the Darfur region by carrying out air strikes and using aircraft from Belarus and Russia despite pledging not to in the vast arid area in the country’s west, U.N. experts say.

The U.N. Security Council’s independent panel of experts – who monitor sanctions imposed on Darfur in 2005 – also said it was investigating whether Sudanese troops had violated the sanctions by using Iranian armored personnel carriers in Darfur.