UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – An army battalion in the Democratic Republic of Congo, some of whose members have been accused of mass rape, was trained by the United States, a senior U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.

The United Nations said 126 women were raped in Minova in Congo’s volatile east in November after Congolese army troops fled to the town when M23 rebels briefly captured the nearby provincial capital, Goma.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council is considering a draft resolution to approve the creation of a 12,600-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali starting July 1, which would be able to request the support of French troops if needed to combat Islamist extremist threats.

Experts from the 15 Security Council members are due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the resolution, drafted by France and obtained by Reuters, which would authorize peacekeepers and French troops to use “all necessary means” to protect civilians and stabilize key cities, especially in Mali’s desert north.