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A MONUSCO APC is greeted by FARDC soldiers on their way back from the front line in the Beni region.

Preliminary results, Crimea referendum.

Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine.

The Ukraine crisis is hampering the European Union's plans to send a peacekeeping force to Central African Republic because nervous eastern European countries want to keep their troops at home rather than send them to Africa, diplomats said on Friday.

Lakhdar Brahimi, Joint Special Representative of the UN and the League of Arab States for Syria, briefs reporters.

Map of Crimea

Ali Zeidan was forced to stand down as Libya’s prime minister this week after rebel forces in the east successfully exported oil via a North Korean flagged tanker - despite assurances from the government that naval forces were in control. Zeidan’s resignation plunges Libya back into political crisis, and there are growing fears of an escalation in conflict between rival rebel militias.

A dispute over International Monetary Fund borrowing quotas is delaying efforts by the U.S. Congress to pass an emergency aid package for the interim Ukrainian government, which is facing a potential default and Russian military intervention in the Crimean peninsula. Secretary of State John Kerry is calling on lawmakers to include IMF reform as a critical part of a loan package to Ukraine, but some House Republicans are skeptical.

Russia must immediately withdraw all its military forces from Ukrainian territory, say MEPs in a resolution passed on Thursday. They condemn its "act of aggression in invading Crimea" as a breach of international law, declare Crimea’s plans to hold a referendum on its accession to Russia to be illegal and warn that Russia’s actions pose a threat to the security of the EU.

Visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron addressed Israel's parliament Wednesday, denouncing Iran's government as a "despotic regime" and accusing Tehran of carrying out "despicable" efforts to arm Palestinian militants.