Days of U.S. warnings may have sent militia members scattering into hiding. Iran-backed militia groups throughout the region used the conflict to justify striking Israeli or U.S. interests, including threatening civilian commercial ships and U.S. warships with drones or missiles in almost daily exchanges. It wasn't clear whether militia members were killed. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 18 militants were killed in the Syria strikes. A U.S. official also said the military took additional self-defense strikes Friday inside Yemen against Houthi military targets deemed an imminent threat.

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(French Army via AP)As well as eyeing eastern Libya as a stepping stone into Africa, Russia is also reportedly discussing the use of its coastal city Tobruk as a base for naval vessels. That access would give Russia another Mediterranean naval base to add to its two berths in Syria — Tartus and Latakia. “A potential naval base facility in Libya could help Russia increase its foothold and influence in North Africa,” said Nick Childs, a naval analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank in London. “In 2022 Hifter blocked oil production in eastern Libya, and he does not want to be worried about Turkish drones if he tries that again,” Harchaoui said. “If the U.S. is doing this, it may be a way to hurt Russia without harming Hifter,” Harchaoui said.

Libya’s state General National Maritime Transport Company (GNMTC) announced yesterday that its General Manager, Khalid Al-Tawati, had been kidnapped again. The kidnapping comes only five months after he had suffered a first kidnapping. It says it still does not know the reasons, who is responsible for his kidnapping, and what the health condition of Al-Tawati is. It says this constituted a legal breach of several crimes stipulated in the Penal Code. The GNMTC called on all legal entities to intervene directly and urgently for the freedom, safety and release of Al-Tawati, without any restrictions or conditions, to ensure the progress of its work in a manner guaranteed by the law for all.

After a 10-year absence, Japan has sent an ambassador to Libya. Yesterday, SHIMMURA Izuru, Japanese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the state of Libya, arrived at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport. In a social media post on his arrival, the Japanese embassy in Tripoli said Shimmura will lead Japanese diplomacy in Libya to advance Libya-Japan relation in various field. Shimmura was received by the Director General of the General Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Libya, Al-Taher Hussein Hajyunis.

Abu Dhabi: Ten children from the MENA region have undergone free life-saving heart surgeries under the Golden Heart Initiative announced in the UAE. Ray of hopeFor Madlin and Medhat, parents of five-year-old Mariam from Egypt, the Golden Heart Initiative brought a glimmer of hope into their lives. Mariam, 5, with her father after she successfully underwent a heart surgery under the Golden Heart Initiative at a hospital in Egypt. The parents are overwhelmed with the care their daughter has received and have expressed their gratitude to everyone involved in the Golden Heart Initiative. Medhat, Mariam’s father, said, “We are very thankful to the Golden Heart Initiative for treating Mariam and making her as healthy as her sisters.

CAIRO – 1 February 2024: Telecom Egypt and Hungary's 4IG signed Thursday in Budapest an agreement to extend a submarine fiber optic cable in the Mediterranean between Egypt and Albania within the former's plan to introduce five new international submarine cables in collaboration with international partners adding to the existing 14. The cable will be connected to Western Europe through ground cables as well as to some Mediterranean countries, such as Italy, Libya, Cyprus and Greece, through other submarine cables. On the Egyptian side, the cable with Albania will be connected to submarine cables in the Red Sea through international ground cables; of which, Egypt houses 10. On the Albanian side, the cable will be connected, through ground ones, to a main data center in Germany's Frankfort as well as other destinations in Central Europe and the Balkans such as Sofia, Vienna, and Budapest. Last week, Telecom Egypt and Naitel Jordan signed a cooperation agreement to establish a submarine fiber optic cable connecting Egypt and Jordan and that will be dubbed "Coral Bridge."

A batch of 139 Bangladeshi irregular migrants today returned home from Libya with the support of the Bangladesh government and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The Bangladeshis, who were "detained" at different places in the city of Benghazi, landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital in a chartered flight of Buraq Air at 4:15am, the foreign ministry said in a press release. With them, a total of 1,245 Bangladeshi citizens have been brought back from the North African country since July last year, the release said. Today, upon arrival of the fresh batch of returnees, officials from the foreign ministry and IOM Bangladesh greeted them at the airport. Besides, IOM Bangladesh provided Tk 6,000 each to the migrants as "pocket money" and some food.

Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received President of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohammed El-Menfi, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace. This shall take place in a manner that safeguards the interests of the Libyan people and pushes forward the path of stability and development in Libya. The President of the Libyan Presidential Council expressed gratitude for Egypt’s role in support of Libya across all levels, and its sincere commitment to promoting efforts toward comprehensive national reconciliation. He also lauded Egypt’s keenness on unifying the institutions of the Libyan state, which is essential to restoring stability in the country. Mr. El-Menfi reviewed developments in the Libyan political scene and the Presidential Council’s endeavors to accommodate and unify the views of the various Libyan parties.

CAIRO - 1 February 2024: The pessimism surrounding Egypt's dollar-denominated bonds is deemed exaggerated, according to global investment banks Goldman Sachs and Pictet Asset Management. In January, Egypt's dollar-denominated bonds witnessed a 1.7 percent decrease, marking their worst monthly performance since August. These countries, which were largely excluded from accessing international debt markets earlier, are now showing positive momentum in their hard currency bonds. Egypt is required to repay around $3.3 billion worth of dollar-denominated bonds in 2024, with the first installment due in March. Barton stated that Pictet, managing assets valued at over $265 billion, rules out any sovereign debt default in emerging markets this year.

A total of 139 irregular Bangladeshi nationals, who were detained at detention centres in Tripoli and Benghazi of Libya, returned home today. A chartered flight of Buraq Air carrying the Bangladeshi nationals landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka around 4:15 am on Thursday (February 1). With this, a total of 1,245 Bangladeshis returned home from Libya so far since July 2023. With the all-out efforts of Bangladesh Embassy in Tripoli, Libyan government and direct cooperation of International Organization for Migration (IOM), the detained Bangladeshis returned home. After their arrival at the Dhaka airport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and IOM officials welcomed these Bangladeshi citizens.

OPEC oil output falls in January on new cuts, LibyaOPEC oil output in January registered the biggest monthly drop since July, a Reuters survey found, as several members implemented new voluntary production cuts agreed with the wider OPEC+ alliance and unrest curbed Libyan output. Some OPEC members pledged voluntary cuts in two rounds - in April 2023 and November 2023, and Saudi Arabia made an additional voluntary cut. Algeria cut output by 40,000 bpd, implementing most of its voluntary reductions. The top exporter extended a voluntary 1 million bpd cut into the first quarter as part of November's OPEC+ deal. Output was 40,000 bpd above the country's 2024 target.

OPEC oil output in January registered the biggest monthly drop since July, a Reuters survey found, as several members implemented new voluntary production cuts agreed with the wider OPEC+ alliance and unrest curbed Libyan output. Some OPEC members pledged voluntary cuts in two rounds – in April 2023 and November 2023, and Saudi Arabia made an additional voluntary cut. Algeria cut output by 40,000 bpd, implementing most of its voluntary reductions. The top exporter extended a voluntary 1 million bpd cut into the first quarter as part of November’s OPEC+ deal. Nigeria raised output by 40,000 bpd, the survey found, as some crude was processed in the new Dangote refinery and exports held largely steady, the survey found.

The German Ambassador to Libya, Michael Ohnmacht, expressed his appreciation for the level of advanced technology and the quality of services available through the digital systems used in Libya’s civil aviation safety monitoring. The appreciation was reported by Libya’s Civil Aviation Authority last Monday (29 January) following a meeting on the same day between the head of the Civil Aviation Authority, Mohamed Shalebek, at the Authority’s Tripoli headquarters, and the German Ambassador. The Civil Aviation Authority said the executive steps taken by the it to address and complete the requirements for corrective measures contained in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) report and the results of visits by international audit teams during 2023, were discussed. Its digital transformation project manager also gave a brief presentation of the completed stages of the project. The Authority’s monitoring mechanism was clarified through the database of airlines, air crews, licenses, validity and maintenance, which achieves direct monitoring of the extent of compliance with the approved rules and systems, it added.

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro says he was “very sceptical” of American intervention in Libya under the Obama administration because it didn’t represent “actual American interest”. The 2011 military intervention in Libya, which overthrew Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, ultimately led to factional violence and the Second Libyan Civil War. “As far as war, I think that every single conflict the United States get … in we ought to be asking what is the actual American goal, what is the actual American interest, which is for one thing why I didn’t support the war in Libya during the Obama administration,” Mr Shapiro told Sky News host Piers Morgan. “It’s why I was very sceptical of American intervention, whether covert or overt, during the Arab Spring. “I thought that was going to end quite poorly.”