Libya

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The confirmed death toll from the coronavirus went over 50,000 in the Middle East on Thursday as the pandemic continues.

Italian General Vincenzo Santo has proposed that the country’s naval forces work with Libya and Tunisia and block suspicious boats in the Mediterranean that may be carrying illegal migrants. General Santo, the former head of NATO operations in Afghanistan, has

The Lebanese military released a statement on Monday that said teams of its investigators, assisted by French experts, have discovered 25 containers of hydrochloric acid and 54 containers of other dangerous materials at the Port of Beirut, which was devastated on August 4 by a massive explosion blamed on an improperly stored stockpile of ammonium nitrate.

Hashem Abedi, convicted of 22 murders for his part in his brother Salman’s suicide bombing of the Manchester Arena in 2017, has been sentenced to a minimum of 55 years in prison.

John Kerry falsely claimed that the Obama-Biden administration eliminated the threat of a nuclear Iran, and mischaracterized its record on ISIS.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s prime minister is to convene the government’s national security council after Turkey announced its research vessel would be conducting exploratory drilling in the eastern Mediterranean in an area between Cyprus and Greece.

Several Libyan officials told the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday that Turkey pressured Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) into accepting military assistance from Syrian extremist militias and repaying Turkey with lucrative offshore energy deals.

The Egyptian parliament on Monday authorized President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to deploy troops in Libya to halt the advance of Turkish-backed militia allied with the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).

The German Joint Analysis and Strategy Centre for Illegal Migration (Gasim) has claimed that people smugglers in North Africa are actively tracking migrant transport NGO vessels and sending migrants to them.

Pope Francis denounced the “abuses and violence” afflicting African migrants in Libya in a homily Wednesday commemorating his visit to Lampedusa at the outset of his pontificate.

Libya’s al-Watiya airbase was hit by airstrikes on Saturday night, drawing condemnation and a promise of retaliation from the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) headquartered in Tripoli.

A delegation of Turkish business leaders is scheduled to visit Libya within the next two weeks to evaluate Turkish business opportunities as the civil war that began with former U.S. President Barack Obama’s invasion of Libya winds down.

Drone strikes of unconfirmed origin killed at least six people in Sulaimani province, northern Iraq, on Thursday, including multiple children. The strike, reportedly targeting members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), occurred near what the Kurdish outlet Rudaw described as a “village resort” popular with families.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said this week that his government desires peace and stability in neighboring Libya, but might be prepared to intervene with military force to protect Egypt’s western border and thwart the ambitions of Turkey and its militia allies.

The British government is reportedly planning to speed up the deportations of failed asylum seekers and criminal migrants. However, there are no plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits returning migrants to failed states.

Khairi Saadallah, the Libyan refugee who has been detained on suspicion of perpetrating the knife attack in Reading, was released early from prison, was enrolled in the government’s Prevent deradicalisation scheme, and is believed to have been known to the UK’s security services as a possible terror suspect before the attack.

A 39-year-old American man has been identified as one of the victims of a vicious knife attack in Reading, which authorities are terming a “terrorist incident” that saw three people die and another three left injured. Joe Ritchie-Bennett, a native

The suspect in a knife rampage in Reading, England, which left three dead and three injured has been named as Khairi Saadallah, described by the BBC as a “25-year-old Libyan national from Reading”.

Police have officially declared a deadly stabbing spree in Reading, England, a “terrorist incident”. Video footage on social media showed multiple people with serious injuries being treated by emergency workers in Forbury Gardens after a reportedly unrelated Black Lives Matter event in the area.

Turkey may expand the conditions of its security agreement with Libya, the Turkish foreign minister said on Thursday, Hürriyet Daily News reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov encouraged the U.S. to use its “influence” to support efforts toward a ceasefire in Libya on Wednesday, Russia’s state-run broadcaster RT reported.

The government of Turkey announced “Operation Claw-Eagle” on Monday, a bombing campaign against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

Pope Francis has called for an end to violence in Libya as well as the establishment of “pathways” for the hundreds of thousands of migrants wishing to travel to Europe.

Italian intelligence agencies have warned of a new surge of migrants in the coming weeks, stating at that least 20,000 migrants are ready to leave Libya and head for Europe.

Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó, who has no power in the country in practice, claimed on Monday that an aircraft belonging to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar had arrived in Venezuela a day before.

Russia “accelerated” its recruitment of Syrian mercenaries to fight in Libya for rebel leader Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) in May, contracting hundreds of Syrian fighters according to a new Reuters report.

Libya’s U.N.-backed government claimed victory on Thursday after liberating the capital, Tripoli, from rebel leader Khalifa Haftar.

An Italian court has sentenced three foreign people-smugglers to 20 years each after they were found guilty of torturing migrants who were attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report has revealed that as many as 650,000 migrants are currently waiting in Libya, ready to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

The U.S. African Command accused Moscow of deploying fighter jets to Libya in support of mercenaries fighting for rebel leader Khalifa Haftar’s forces in a statement released on Tuesday, adding that the jets were “repainted to camouflage” their Russian origin.