The Libyan government made fresh calls for a UN arms embargo on the country to be lifted as a measure to help combat the advance of Islamic State militants in the region.

Speaking at an a meeting of the Arab League leaders in Egypt on Saturday, the president of Libya’s internationally recognised parliament, Aquila Saleh, said,

“Those who oppose or delay the arming of the Libyan army that you are giving an opportunity to Daesh terrorists to flourish in Libya and not spread beyond it.”

United Nations staff were pulled out from Yemen on Saturday after a third day of Saudi-led air strikes to tackle advances of Houthi militants left the area inhabitable.

Saudi Arabia’s navy evacuated dozens of diplomats from the region amidst attempts to quash the advances of Iranian allied Shi’ite Houthi fighters, reports Reuters.

A total of eighty-six diplomats and Saudi nationals were shipped out of Yemen through the Red Sea.

Nigeria’s army announced it has recaptured the town of Gwoza, thought to be the headquarters of Boko Haram.

The group have suffered a serious of setbacks in recent months and have lost a large amount of the territory it held since Nigeria's neighbours, Cameroon, Chad and Niger sent troops to help it earlier this year.

"These successful operations have culminated in the dislodgment of terrorists from towns and communities in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states," military spokesperson Chris Olukolade said.

Seven former policemen in Chad have been sentenced to life imprisonment for torture, in the first trial of former president Hissene Habre's accomplices.

Under Mr Habre's rule from 1982 to 1990 thousands of people are thought to have been killed and tortured. He is currently being held in Senegal awaiting a war crimes trial.

The Saudi air force has led air attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen, as Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi left the country and arrived in Riyadh.

Iran has described the air strikes as "dangerous", while Saudi Arabia said it was "defending the legitimate government" of President Hadi.

Reports say at least 13 civilians died in air strikes in the capital Sanaa.

On Wednesday, the Saudi ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubair, announced the beginning of the air strikes.

A US led coalition of warplanes launched their first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, in collaboration with Iraqi forces working with Iran backed militia on the ground, reports Reuters.

The decision to support the campaign to take Tikrit back forms the biggest collaboration between Iraqi forces, militia and the US in the fight against Islamic state militants to date.

Human Rights Watch launched a new website, ‘Votes Count’ to monitor and make available countries’ voting records on issues concerning international human rights violations.

The website looks at the voting record of countries in the Human Rights Council (those that have been members since 2012) and also provides an analysis of their contribution to addressing human rights violations on the ground and in particular countries.

Julie de Rivero, the Geneva director at Human Right Watch said in a press release announcing the project,