Africa vows support, solidarity as Turkey quake toll soars

Africa vows support, solidarity as Turkey quake toll soars

African leaders offered condolences and pledged their assistance, as rescuers in Turkey and Syria continued to search through the rubble for survivors following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that leveled wide swaths of the region. The initial quake, with an epicenter near Nurdaği, was followed by dozens of aftershocks that leveled buildings…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

At least 32 dead in renewed Tripoli fighting

At least 32 dead in renewed Tripoli fighting

At least 32 people have died in renewed fighting in Tripoli, ending the relative peace that has held for the last two years and signaling the breakdown of a political process that’s brought Libya no closer to long-delayed elections and a unified state. Libya’s health ministry, cited by Al Jazeera,…

Libya again postpones presidential election

Libya’s long-delayed presidential elections have been postponed again, as the country’s electoral commission has yet to finalize the candidates who are eligible to run for the office. Emad Al-Sayih, head of the National High Commission for Elections, said this latest delay was necessary because the process had reached “a dangerous…

Turkey-Africa Summit takes leaders to Istanbul

African leaders are in Turkey this weekend, as they take part in the third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The summit is meant to promote and deepen ties between Istanbul and African nations, with some 40 countries participating in the talks. They’re meant to lead to…

Damaging ‘medicane’ storm reaches Libya

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…

IOM sees increase in Mediterranean migrant deaths

Back in March, a 22-year-old rapper named Sohail Al Sagheer left Algeria for Spain aboard a migrant boat. He went missing and his body wasn’t found until April 5, when it was discovered off the coast of Aïn Témouchent. The Algerian musician is one of at least 1,146 people who…

Libya, Egypt at center of surveillance tech case in France

Human rights and privacy advocates are closely following a decade-old case that’s led to this month’s indictments of four technology executives in France, on the grounds that the sale of their surveillance technology in Libya and Egypt leaves them complicit in torture and other rights violations. The four executives are…

Libya’s path to peace derailed by familiar roadblocks

On May 18th, US diplomat Joey Hood became the highest-ranking American official to visit Libya since 2014, the year that Washington closed its embassy in Tripoli amid surging violence. Hood’s visit tempered optimism—the US dangled the possibility of eventually reopening its Libyan embassy—with clear concern over the likelihood of achieving…

Interim Libyan leaders chosen, but no easy road to elections

The announcement Friday of new leadership in Libya brought some optimism that the volatile and fractured nation may have turned toward peace and a pathway to elections, but much skepticism remains despite the establishment of an interim presidency council. “Realistically, I don’t think we are beyond the military phase in…