The Minister of Oil and Gas, Mohamed Aoun, discussed the possibilities of the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio’s (LAIP) contribution to investment in the oil and gas sector in Libya. During the meeting, Abu Funas reviewed the projects and activities of the internal and external portfolio, and the possibilities of their contribution to investment in the oil and gas sector in Libya. Establishing the Zuwara oil refinery, which had previously been planned, as several studies were conducted in this regard, and a plot of land west of the Mellitah complex was selected and fenced off to establish this refinery. These two projects were owned by LAIP and were transferred to the Internal Investment Fund by decision of the (Qaddafi era) General People’s Committee (cabinet) previously. Now it has been agreed between LAIP and the Internal Investment Fund to restore the projects that have been suspended since that date.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote today on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the Panel of Experts (PoE) of the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee and the authorization of measures contained in resolution 2146 of 19 March 2014 related to the illicit export of petroleum from Libya. According to the Security Council Report website, negotiations on the draft resolution were apparently difficult. Later that day, the UK placed a third revised draft under silence procedure until 12 October, which was broken by Russia. While Council members apparently agreed on the substance of this proposal, they held conflicting views about the context in which it applied. In an apparent compromise, the draft resolution in blue again refers simply to the “Chiefs of Staff”.

The Chairman of the National Oil Corporation Farhat Bengdara, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Norwegian company Equinor. The memorandum aims to study and evaluate the oil and gas potential offshore Libya. The signing took place at the Presidential Office in the capital, Tripoli, and also includes plans to train young national personnel in the oil and gas sector. NOC and Equinor sign MOU to study and evaluate the oil and gas potential offshore LibyaOriginal announcement linkSource: NOC

"Egyptians cross the desert into Palestine to carry water, food and supplies for the people of Gaza," reads the video's caption. "These kind-hearted Egyptians are doing this despite Israeli threats and earlier bombings of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing that killed several people." There are no news reports about Egyptians crossing the border on foot to bring aid to Gaza. The X video also predates the Hamas attacks on Israel by more than a month. Fact check: Claim of Qatar halting world's gas flow amid Israel-Hamas war is misinformationEgypt's border with Gaza is tightly controlled, as the country's leaders worry about becoming more involved in the ongoing crisis.

What was clear was that Jordan's path to become House speaker was almost certainly lost. Republicans are upset and exhausted by the infighting, the vote for House speaker once a formality in Congress having devolved into another bitter showdown for the gavel. Ahead of the morning vote, Jordan, the combative Judiciary Committee chairman, made an unusual plea for party unity. With Republicans in majority control of the House, 221-212, Jordan must pick up most of his GOP foes to win. Photos: Scenes from the US House speaker votePhotos: Rep. Jim Jordan through the years

On the sidelines of the conference the NOC will meet with delegates to foster dialogue and dealmaking in Libya – North Africa’s energy powerhouse. The summit takes place at a critical moment in Libya’s re-emergence, under the theme – A New Libya: Built on Energy. The NOC has confirmed its strong participation in the second edition of the Libya Energy & Economic Summit, cementing the event’s standing as the most impactful event in the Libyan energy calendar. The Libya Energy & Economic Summit is where Libya’s energy future takes shape. The Libya Energy & Economic Summit 2023 will be opened by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibeh and will feature top level keynotes from key investors in Libya’s energy sector.

A Greek, German and British consortium has won the 2023 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for investigating the Adriana shipwreck, which left over 600 migrants dead off Pylos in Greece. “As every year, we honour Daphne Caruana Galizia’s memory with a prize that is a powerful reminder of her fight for truth and justice. Caruana Galizia was assassinated on 16 October, 2017 by a car bomb. While the executors of the murder are convicted, the alleged mastermind – Tumas magnate Yorgen Fenech – has yet to stand trial. The Greek coastguard denied that it attempted to tow the trawler.

(Reuters)Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers near Ramallah in the West Bank on Wednesday during widespread protests against Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said. Israel's bombardment of Gaza has inflamed tensions in the West Bank, the other Palestinian territory under Israeli occupation. Earlier, hundreds of Palestinians marched in West Bank cities, a day after a deadly hospital explosion in Gaza for which Israel and Palestinian militants have traded blame. Hamas said on Wednesday that an explosion at the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of people and blamed Israeli strikes. The West Bank borders Jerusalem which houses sites sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews and is a flashpoint for internecine violence.

Hamas says hundreds have been killed in an airstrike on Gaza City hospital, after intensifying bombardments near towns in southern Gaza rattled civilians where Israel ordered them to take refuge

Libya's electoral commission has told the United Nations it can only start a countdown to national elections after resolution of the question of forming a new government. The United Nations' Libya envoy Abdoulaye Bathily was addressing the United Nations Security Council on Monday after the speaker of Libya's eastern-based parliament issued new electoral laws in the framework of international diplomacy aimed at resolving years of conflict at the ballot box. A standoff between Libya's rival political and armed factions over the interim government has festered since early last year, leading to brief bouts of fighting. Electoral conundrumIn his opening comments on the new electoral laws, Bathily told the Security Council, "From a technical perspective the revised laws are an improvement to the previous drafts. (with newswires)Read more on RFI EnglishRead also:Anti-torture organisation says extrajudicial killings in Libya are endemicLibya's political divide widens as rival PMs vie for powerNuclear inspectors discover tonnes of uranium missing from Libya

Nordic Monitor previously reported that the agreement aims to promote cooperation between state-owned oil and gas companies for the exploitation of hydrocarbon resources in Libya. While the recent MoU did not explicitly mention the 2019 agreement, its preamble indirectly evoked the previous accord. The 2020 agreement included areas with overlapping claims by Turkey and Libya, which were initially outlined in the 2019 deal. Following a friendly handshake between President Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November 2022, a series of significant steps were taken. The absence of a reference to the controversial 2019 maritime agreement in the 2022 MoU between Turkey and Libya could potentially prevent the emergence of a new crisis among Turkey, Greece, Egypt and the European Union.

He called on Libya’s leaders to engage with the Special Representative, attend UN-convened meetings and make concessions to move forward to elections. He went on to call for domestic and international support for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya, including protection against human rights violations. Reconstruction efforts must be unified across eastern and western Libya — and coordinated with local, national, and international partners — to be effective. He also stressed the need to hold national elections at the earliest. He went on to call for domestic and international support for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya, including protection against human rights violations.

For the people of Gaza, this war is nothing new, Sanaa El-Nahhal told MaltaToday on Tuesday afternoon. Carrying a huge Palestinian flag, and a banner of children who died in the conflict, El-Nahhal chanted ‘Hurriyeh’ (the Arabic word for freedom) and sang before speakers addressed the crowd. The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict has spanned 75 years, and the woman believes that the suffering is immeasurable. The woman called for the international community, including the people of Malta, to comprehend the depth of their pain. The woman came to Malta in 2019 to study foreign politics at the University of Malta.

WASHINGTON — Republicans rejected Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker on Tuesday on the first ballot, as holdouts denied the hard-charging ally of Donald Trump the majority needed to seize the gavel. More voting is expected as Jordan works to shore up support to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy for the job and the leader of the GOP's hard-right flank moves to take a central seat of U.S. power. But after two weeks of angry Republican infighting since McCarthy was removed by hard-liners, the House vote quickly has become a showdown for the gavel. Some 20 reluctant Republicans are refusing to give Jordan their votes, viewing the Ohio congressman as too extreme for the powerful position of House speaker, second in line to the presidency. Photos: Rep. Jim Jordan through the years

Bathily told ambassadors that despite the sense of national unity and compassion shown by ordinary Libyans, the disaster had revealed “severe governance deficits” across the divided nation. “I saw first-hand the magnitude of the disaster and heard from families about their losses, including individuals who lost all their loved ones”, said Bathily. “I saw an apocalyptic scene where large portions of the city were literally swallowed up by the water,” he shared with the Council. The UN, along with local and international partners, swiftly responded to the crisis, providing life-saving aid and leading search and rescue operations. The focus now is on early recovery and reconstruction.