The United Nations mission in Libya expressed its concern over the whereabouts of a key Government of National Unity official who remains missing after an abduction last week. Rida Faraj Fraitis, chief of staff for a GNU deputy prime minister, disappeared on August 2 after attending a meeting at GNU…
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…
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…
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…
Pope Francis delivered his Easter message on Sunday with a reminder of the hope amid troubled times that is the heart of the resurrection message celebrated by Christians around the world. “The Easter message does not offer us a mirage or reveal a magic formula. It does not point to…
Angola, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan are among nations forecast to see 40 percent or more in lost revenues as the world moves away from fossil fuels, according to a report released Thursday by Carbon Tracker. They’re among the most vulnerable of 40 nations studied, with economies that rely on…
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…
The government of Kuwait confirmed on Monday that the regional standoff between Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations that began in June 2017 has been resolved between the two main players. Foreign Minister Ahmad Nasser Al Mohammad Al Sabah, who has represented Kuwait during mediation talks, delivered the news…
In the nearly ten years since Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his famous visit to Mogadishu in August 2011, Turkey has rapidly become one of Somalia’s most important (and generous) international benefactors. After Erdogan became the first head of state from outside of Africa to visit Somalia since the country’s disastrous…
Stephanie Williams, the interim United Nations special representative for Libya, delivered a blunt message to a country in crisis while speaking Wednesday to a meeting of the second round of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum. “You have foreign actors who are behaving with complete impunity. You have domestic actors who…
Although Khalifa Haftar and his eastern Libyan forces have rejected the call for a ceasefire put out by Government of National Accord (GNA) leader Fayez Al-Sarraj, the United Nations says it continues to back diplomacy in resolving the long-standing crisis. “I’ve just read out a rather comprehensive humanitarian update, which…
Dozens of African migrants were rescued this week from what international migration agencies say is the largest shipwreck this year off the Libyan coast, but the death of at least 45 others has renewed attention to policies that fail to protect Mediterranean Sea migrants. The International Organization for Migration (IOM)…
The United States on Friday added to what it says is the growing body of evidence that Russia, through the private military Wagner Group, is actively providing military equipment and fighters to factions in Libya in violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution that establishes an arms embargo. U.S….
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry urged the need for a ceasefire in Libya in order for political negotiations to move forward during his Tuesday telephone call with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, but he also warned that Egypt makes its own security situation a priority. Shoukry’s comments come one day after…
The United States says it has clear evidence that the Wagner Group of mercenary fighters, linked to Russia, is responsible for landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) laid in and around Tripoli in violation of a United Nations arms embargo. “Verified photographic evidence shows indiscriminately placed booby-traps and minefields around…