Sixty migrants feared drowned crossing Mediterranean from Libya
Rome, Italy Reuters As many as 60 people are feared to have drowned on a vessel carrying migrants across the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy or Malta, the operators of a charity rescue group said on Thursday. SOS Mediterranee said it rescued 25 people in a “very weak” condition in coordination with the Italian Coast […]
Libyan leaders agree to form new unified government
Benghazi, Libya Reuters Three key Libyan leaders said on Sunday they had agreed on the “necessity” of forming a new unified government that would supervise long-delayed elections. A political process to resolve more than a decade of conflict in Libya has been stalled since an election scheduled for December, 2021, collapsed amid disputes over the […]
Returning sea migrants to Libya is illegal, Italy’s top court says
Rome, Italy Reuters Italy’s top appeals court has established that sending sea migrants back to Libya is unlawful, a ruling hailed by charities and human rights groups. The Court of Cassation upheld the conviction of the captain of an Italian towboat, Asso 28, who in 2018 rescued 101 migrants from a rubber dinghy and returned […]
Libya flood disaster damaged ancient city but revealed new remains
Updated: 11:15am (AEST)Cyrene, Libya Reuters The flooding that killed thousands in Libya’s Derna last month damaged the ruins at the ancient Greek city of Cyrene in the mountains nearby, but it also revealed new archaeological remains there by washing away earth and stones. Storm Daniel may have caused a meter of rain to fall on […]
In Libya’s devastated Derna, families still search for the missing
Derna, Libya Reuters Since a huge flood swept away whole neighbourhoods of Libya’s city of Derna last month, Abdulsalam al-Kadi has been searching for his father and brother. He doesn’t expect to find them alive but he wants to bury them so he has a grave to mourn over. With friends, he has scoured mudbanks […]
Libya says Derna Mayor, other officials detained after flood
Benghazi, LibyaReuters The Mayor of Libya’s eastern city of Derna was detained along with other officials on suspicion of mismanagement and negligence over the collapse of dams that flooded the city two weeks ago, Libya’s attorney general’s office said on Monday. The attorney general’s office, based in the capital Tripoli, said it had issued orders […]
For Libya’s Haftar, flood aftermath tests strongman image
Reuters After Derna’s catastrophic floods, eastern Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar flew in by helicopter and received salutes from his troops as he toured the city where thousands of people were killed when whole districts were swept away. Three days later, residents vented their anger on the mud-caked streets, torching the mayor’s house as they […]
Libya floods sweep away migrants, and their hopes
Derna/Benghazi, LibyaReuters The small first-floor apartment in Derna became home away from home to Syrian migrant Ammar Kanaan, after the risk of drowning kept him from attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe that has cost the lives of so many. After fleeing Syria two years ago to avoid military service, Kanaan had found a […]
Climate change made Libya’s deadly rainfall up to 50 times more likely – study
Berlin, GermanyReuters Climate Change made the heavy rainfall that led to deadly floods in Libya up to 50 times more likely, scientists said on Tuesday. The powerful 10th September storm caused two dams to break, inundating Libya’s eastern city of Derna and killing thousands of people. Residential blocks built along a typically dry riverbank toppled, […]
Authorities try to contain anger in aftermath of Libya floods
Reuters Communications went down, some journalists were pushed out and a UN aid team was blocked from the flood-hit city of Derna on Tuesday, as the authorities sought to contain public anger over the failure to prevent Libya’s worst ever natural disaster. A week after a flood wiped out much of the centre of the […]