The United Nations has said that Libya’s warring factions agreed to resume ceasefire talks following days of heavy fighting and eastern-based forces retaking a key town from their rivals after a string of setbacks.

The UN Mission in Libya said it hoped the new round of negotiations would “mark the beginning of calm on the ground,” especially to allow the country's war-scarred health system to cope with a coronavirus outbreak.

Libya’s internationally recognized government has made new gains on the outskirts of the capital, Tripoli, capturing three military bases from renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army.

In a statement on Saturday, military spokesman Mohamed Gnunu said the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) now controlled the Yarmouk, al-Sawarikh, and Hamza camps south of the capital.

Opposing sides in the Syrian civil war have agreed to reconvene in Geneva for negotiations on the constitution, United Nations Special Envoy Geir Pedersen said on Tuesday, saying that it could provide the arena for bridging “deep, deep mistrust.”

After nine years of conflict in Syria, Pedersen referred to “relative calm” in the last rebel-held enclave of Idlib as an opportunity for building confidence. He urged the United States and Russia, who support opposing sides, to start talks and back the peace process.

Sparing almost no corner of the world from its wrath, the COVID-19 pandemic has now spread to every country. In an effort to slow the contagion, governments in most countries have been taking drastic measures requiring all residents other than essential workers to confine themselves in their homes, and shutting down vast sectors of their economies. The impact has been crushing. COVID-19 has profoundly affected every country where ICTJ currently works: Armenia, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Uganda. We recently caught up with ICTJ’s heads of country programs to learn more about the impact the pandemic is having on transitional justice and society more broadly.