UN appoints new envoy to Libya amid rising tensions: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a new envoy to Libya amid an uptick in clashes that threaten to unwind months of negotiations to end the country’s years-long civil war. The UN Security council has finally agreed to appoint Senegalese diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily to the job following a nine-month search that has seen several candidates rejected by council members, Libya or other countries in the region. Bathily replaces Jan Kubis who resigned last year in the lead up to ill-fated national elections. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry welcomed Bathily’s appointment in a statement yesterday.

Israel admits “high possibility” its soldiers killed Shireen Abu Akleh: The Israeli military has conceded for the first time that there is a “high possibility” one of its soldiers killed veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in May, CNN reported, citing a statement by the military. The IDF said any attack on the journalist by soldiers would have been accidental and will not launch a criminal investigation into the killing.

Also worth knowing this morning:

• Bomb blast at Russian embassy kills six in Kabul: At least two Russian embassy staffers and four Afghan citizens were killed and another 10 people injured in a suicide bomb attack near the embassy’s entrance yesterday. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. (Reuters)