GENEVA, Switzerland, October 9, 2023 (ENS) – Two huge disasters have hit northern African countries in the past month – a major earthquake in Morocco and devastating flooding in Libya caused by Storm Daniel. The scientists found that human-caused climate change has made heavy rainfall in north-eastern Libya up to 50 times more likely to occur than it would have been in a world not experiencing human-caused climate change. They found that there was up to 50 percent more intense rain than there would have been in a comparable rainstorm in a pre-climate change world. The scientists are clear that, even in a 1.2°C ‘warmed’ world, the rainfall that fell on Libya was extreme. Still, “climate change was a significant factor,” they said.

"Haftar and his troops only trust the Red Crescent, but we couldn't do much as the crisis was so big. We needed all the help we could get," said the aid worker, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, for fear of being targeted by Gen Haftar's troops.

TRIPOLI, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan Foreign Ministry and the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Libya on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on coordination and cooperation in managing and securing Libyan borders and in fighting against border crimes and terrorism, EUBAM said in a statement. The signing ceremony was held at the ministry's headquarters in the Libyan capital Tripoli, and was attended by the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Taher Albahour and the Head of the European delegation to Libya Nicola Orlando. The partnership also includes support for enhancing cross-border cooperation with Libya's neighboring countries, including in the Sahel, it added. "The MoU we signed today is another important milestone that will allow us to deepen our cooperation with EU and its member states on border management and security, and our joint fight against cross-border serious crimes and terrorism," said Taher Albahour. "The MoU represents an important step forward in the ongoing efforts to tackle security challenges the country faces," the Head of the EUBAM Libya Mission Natalina Cea said.

The floods that killed more than 5,000 people in Libya in early September damaged the ruins of Cyrene, a 2,600-year-old Greek settlement in the mountains above the devastated city of Derna. At Cyrene, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982, earth and stones were washed away by the waters. Among the impacts so far observed at Cyrene by local authorities is the mud and rubble now occupying the site’s baths. Despite the damage, the deluge of water also revealed a previously unknown Roman drainage system, one Boufja says is a distinctive discovery for the city. Cyrene, known locally as Shahhat, is one of Libya’s leading archeological sites.

Thousands of civilians lost their lives when Storm Daniel hit north-eastern Libya on September 10. The natural disaster also displaced tens of thousands of people, and fundamentally disrupted critical services in Libya, including the education system, the protection of heritage sites and water management. Libya requested UNESCO's assistance in helping rebuild the affected areas, as part of its mandate for education, culture and science. The UNESCO delegation is then scheduled to visit the site of Cyrene, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1982 and on the List of World Heritage in Danger since 2016. Lastly, the UNESCO delegation will visit Derna, one of the towns hit hardest by the disaster, to assess the damage to educational and heritage buildings.

Loren Cunningham, the charismatic visionary who launched Youth With a Mission (YWAM) and mobilized millions of young people for short-term trips, died on Friday morning. The organization stopped counting how many young people it sent on short-term missions in 2010, when the total number was around 4.5 million. In his later years, Loren Cunningham remembered learning that the leading of the Spirit could be a matter of life or death. Darlene Cunningham implements the visionWhen Cunningham met a young woman named Darlene Scratch in 1962, the struggling missionary organization was sending out about five annually. But Scratch, who had herself dreamed of cross-cultural ministry after her uncle was imprisoned for missionary work in Communist China, saw some ways to implement the YWAM vision practically.

Benghazi is controlled by Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), the military coalition that controls eastern Libya and has shown little tolerance for internal opponents. The U.N. Libya mission said in a social media post on Monday it was concerned by the clashes and the disruption to communications. The LNA did not immediately issue a statement and it, and Benghazi residents, could not be reached by Reuters for comment amid the communications blackout. A leader of the Barghatha clan, part of eastern Libya's influential Awaqir tribe, said it had been working to effect a reconciliation between Haftar and Barghathi. Libyan media outlets reported that clashes erupted on Friday evening soon after Barghathi's arrival in his home area in Benghazi's Salmani neighbourhood.

Russia has had close relations with Haftar for years, and the Russian deputy minister of defence had visited Haftar in the immediate aftermath of the floods. According to Harchaoui, Haftar has intensified these efforts since August. Haftar, who is the de-facto authority in Libya's east, has intensified his ties with Russia in the aftermath of the deadly floods. The Russian armed forces seized that opportunity to reiterate its long-dated interest in establishing a permanent naval base in Libya,” Harchaoui explained. “It is probable that [US officials] privately cautioned Haftar against intensifying his ties with Russia,” Harchaoui said.

Migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast have shared their ordeal while being cared for on board a ship run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), an international humanitarian organization. The crew of the Geo Barents ship performed two separate rescue operations on Friday saving 258 people. Various United Nations human rights reports have documented widespread and systematic human rights violations and abuses against migrants in Libya. Italian authorities assigned the port of Salerno to the Geo Barents to disembark the refugees and migrants, just a few minutes after the operation. During this mission Geo Barents rescued 38 women, 56 minors, 220 men, mainly Syrian and Egyptian.

Countries like Libya and Yemen have and continue to face civil wars. On September 30th, Libya-based Medsky Airways launched a twice-weekly service between Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport (MJI) and Rome’s Fiumicino Airport (FCO). As such, most aircraft flying into Libyan airports are from domestic carriers Afriqiyah Airways, Buraq Air, Air Libya, Libyan Wings, and Libyan Airlines, among others. However, All is not lost, as Yemen has another major international airport that has continued to operate without a major interruption for over five years. Photo: Daniel Mena | AeroXplorerAden International Airport (ADE), serving the port city of Aden, is the oldest airport on the Arabian peninsula.

Commenting on the receipt of these election laws, UNSMIL said ‘‘these solutions must be consensual and implementable.’’Why did UNSMIL say consensual and implementable’’? This is why the UNSMIL statement says the election laws must be consensual. Eventually, they started going through the motions of drafting a constitution and drafting election laws. Election laws designed to failAnother favourite trick of the HoR is enacting unsound election laws. International community complicit in election delaysLibyans hope the international community stop being complicit with their corrupt political elite in delaying democratic elections.

Essentially, this means ‘lowering standards’ to get more member states on board…The member states you mention – especially Italy – seem to have considerable influence over the direction of the EU’s migration policy. Our feeling is definitely that: yes, member states are increasingly moving towards the right, in terms of their approach to human rights. Well… part of the problem is definitely that religion, in itself, has historically always tended to clash with human rights. Because ultimately - and this is the whole idea of having ‘human rights’, to begin with - we're living together in a community. How do you propose dealing with an emergency like that, from a human rights perspective?

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya reported last Friday that it had received on 5 October an official memorandum from the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives Ageela Saleh that included the approved electoral laws. Commenting, UNSMIL said it ‘‘respects the Libyan sovereign institutions and the national ownership of political solutions. However, to ensure a smooth electoral process and sustainable peace and stability in Libya, it emphasizes that these solutions must be consensual and implementable. The Mission is committed to working with all stakeholders to reaching a compromise, including on the formation of a unified government. In consultation with relevant stakeholders, the Mission will assess the implementability of the laws and share the findings with the Libyan people.’’

Profile PalladiumThe UK has increased its financial support to the response to both the floods in Libya and the earthquake in Morocco, allocating a package worth up to £10 million. Now, the UK has increased its financial support to the response to both the floods in Libya and the earthquake in Morocco, allocating a package worth up to £10 million. The UK is also deploying an emergency medical team led by health and sanitation experts from NGO UK-MED to conduct rapid medical assessments in disaster-affected areas. Commenting via the firm’s LinkedIn, Palladium stated, “We are proud to help deliver the UK Government's response to the humanitarian crises in Libya and Morocco, which have been affected by devastating floods. The UK's Humanitarian Emergency Response Operations and Stabilisation (HEROS) Programme is managed by Palladium.”Founded in 2015, Palladium is a London-headquartered consultancy, focused primarily on digital change management.

Rockets are fired towards Israel from the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon, southern Israel October 7, 2023. More than 230 Gazans were also killed when Israel responded with one of its most devastating days of retaliatory strikes. Bodies of Israeli civilians were strewn across the streets of Sderot in southern Israel, near Gaza, surrounded by broken glass. Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters throughout the night in some parts of southern Israel. Gaza has been devastated by four wars and countless skirmishes between Hamas and Israel since the militants seized control of the strip in 2007.