President Dénis Sassou N’Guesso of the Republic of Congo was in Italy on Thursday to discuss partnership on energy between the two nations, one that centers on a new deal supported by oil major Eni to increase the supply of gas from the African nation. “The Italian government is pushing…
A Mediterranean storm that’s lasted for more than three days has finally reached the coast of Libya, according to France’s Keraunos Observatory. The subtropical storm, sometimes called a “medicane” for some of its hurricane-like features, reached the coastal Derna region on Sunday morning. The French storm experts said much of…
The New York Times is reporting that two people, an Italian man and Canadian woman taken hostage in Burkina Faso in December 2018, have been released. Edith Blais, 35, and Luca Tacchetto, 31, were taken to Mali after their abductions, and now are believed to be in Bamako. They are…
Officials in Mauritius held an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss how to deal with the coronavirus epidemic, ultimately deciding to deny entry to anyone who has been in South Korea or the three northern Italian provinces most affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The outcome of the meeting, led by…
Italy has agreed to accept nearly 300 Mediterranean Sea migrants stranded aboard the Ocean Viking rescue ship, but the country’s interior minister says they have to go in quarantine along with the ship’s crew as the country deals with a large cluster of deadly coronavirus cases. The ship operated by…
Libyan leader Khalifa Haftar has rejected a call from Russia and Turkey to implement a ceasefire beginning Sunday, and said the Libyan National Army will continue its offensive against Tripoli and the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) based there. Haftar made his announcement through a LNA spokesman late…
Unaccompanied minors aboard the Spanish sea rescue ship Open Arms were permitted to disembark at the Italian port of Lampedusa on Saturday, one day after the head of the rescue organization warned the situation aboard the ship – where migrants have been trapped for two weeks – was rapidly deteriorating….
The United Nations refugee agency responded quickly on Tuesday to a decision made by Italy’s parliament that will impose harsher penalties against those people and organizations involved in migrant search and rescue on the Mediterranean Sea. The UNHCR said that under the changes, fines for private vessels that rescue migrants…
What is being called the single greatest loss of life on the Mediterranean Sea this year has claimed an estimated 150 migrants traveling by boat from Libya, according to early reports from the United Nations refugee agency on Thursday. The shipwreck happened off the coast of Al Khoms, between Tripoli…
The governments of six nations – including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates – called Tuesday for a halt to hostilities in Libya, in a joint statement that backed a United Nations process for the country that was derailed in April by the advance on Tripoli of Khalifa Haftar and…
An Italian judge released migrant rescue ship captain Carola Rakete on Tuesday from a house arrest order in place since the weekend, after the German captain defied Italy’s ban on accepting migrants at its ports and docked at Lampedusa. “We are relieved our captain is free!” said the Sea Watch…
A weeks-long standoff between the Italian government and migrant rescuers on the Mediterranean Sea came to an end early Saturday as the captain of a Sea Watch ship entered a port at Lampedusa and then faced immediate arrest. Carola Rakete was taken into custody as about 40 migrants who had…
It’s been more than three months since travelers Canadian Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto of Italy went missing in Burkina Faso, and there’s been little information to break the silence on what has happened to them. Now a report from Human Rights Watch suggests that Blais and Tacchetto were kidnapped…
China is again denying any untoward economic goals in Djibouti and other African nations, as Beijing gets set to host the next Belt and Road Initiative forum in April. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang, speaking at Wednesday’s daily press briefing, responded to questions on how China’s investment…
Six weeks on, there’s still no word on the whereabouts of Canadian Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto of Italy, the travelers who went missing in Burkina Faso and haven’t been heard from since December 15. Canadian officials say they are pressing on with the case and believe Blais is alive…