Famine spread to a sixth southern Somali region and will likely extend further in the coming four months with 750,000 people at risk of death, the United Nations said Monday.

"Tens of thousands of people have already died, over half of whom are children," according to a statement from the U.N.'s food security analysis team for Somalia, which said the Bay region was now declared a famine zone.

Lebanon warned the United Nations on Monday that Israel's proposed sea border threatens peace and security, as tensions rise between the neighbors over offshore oil and gas reserves.

"Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon rejecting geographic coordinates Israel submitted to the United Nations concerning the northern part of the waters it claims," said the ministry.

Top diplomats piled pressure on Turkey and Israel to make up Saturday after Ankara's decision to expel the Jewish state's ambassador in retaliation for last year's deadly Gaza flotilla raid.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, senior European foreign ministers and officials in Washington all urged the one-time allies to end their increasingly poisonous dispute that they worried could impact on the wider Middle East.

Syrian refugees fleeing the unrest in their country to Lebanese border towns since the uprising in Syria against President Bashar Assad regime reached 2600, the Central news agency reported on Saturday.

“The numbers of refugees reached 2600, distributed in areas near the border especially in Wadi Khaled,” Security forces told the news agency.

A special envoy for U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Tripoli on Saturday, as the international body stepped up efforts to put Libya on a path towards democracy.

Ian Martin landed at a military airport in the capital, as Ban said the world body was ready to assist in re-establishing security after the nearly seven-month uprising that ousted Moammar Gadhafi.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has expressed concern to Premier Najib Miqati on the latest attacks on UNIFIL and urged all Lebanese sides to respect Security Council resolutions, including 1701, French diplomatic sources said.

The sources told An Nahar daily that during his meeting with Miqati on the sidelines of the “Friends of Libya” conference on Thursday, Juppe condemned the bombing attacks on UNIFIL troops on May 27 and July 26.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon Saturday said he sincerely hoped that Israel and Turkey could improve ties, saying both states were critical to improving stability in the Middle East.

"I sincerely hope that Israel and Turkey will improve their relationship," Ban told reporters in Canberra after Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador to Ankara and suspended all military ties with its one-time ally.

Premier Najib Miqati will visit New York end of the month and will likely head the monthly U.N. Security Council meeting on the Middle East on Sept. 27, a diplomatic source said.

The source told An Nahar daily published Saturday that Miqati will not travel on the same plane of President Michel Suleiman who is expected to go to New York on Sept. 18 at the head of the Lebanese delegation that will participate in the 66th General Assembly meeting.

At least 21 people have been killed and 31 others wounded in two days of heavy fighting on the border of Somalia proper and the breakaway state of Puntland, officials and witnesses said Friday.

Clashes broke out Thursday in the northern part of Galkayo town after Puntland soldiers raided neighborhoods searching for gunmen linked to Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab militants.

Israel will not apologize for its deadly 2010 raid on a Turkish-led flotilla of Gaza aid ships, an Israeli diplomatic source said Friday after a U.N. report accused the Jewish state of using excessive force.

"Israel once again expresses its regrets for the loss of human life but there will be no apology for this operation," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.