The US Wall Street Journal revealed that the Government of National Unity had submitted a request to Washington to help it recover billions of dollars that Gaddafi had hidden in several accounts around the world. The newspaper quoted Libyan officials as saying that members of the Gaddafi family and those close to them looted wealth from state coffers estimated at $120 billion, according to a study conducted by Transparency International in 2016. It stated that UN agencies helped track and identify assets worth $54 billion, including deposits in banks, gold, diamonds, aircraft and ships, some of which remain in the USA. The US State Department had confirmed earlier that it supports efforts to return assets belonging to the Libyan people.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has begun facilitating the departure of private U.S. citizens who want to leave Sudan, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Sullivan said the U.S.WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has begun facilitating the departure of private U.S. citizens who want to leave Sudan, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Sullivan said the U.S. has placed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets over the land evacuation route to help facilitate safe travel by land from Khartoum to the Port of Sudan, but does not have any U.S. troops on the ground. “It is not standard practice for the United States to send in the U.S. military” into warzones to extract American citizens, Sullivan said “We didn’t do it in Libya. Afghanistan was a unique case involving the end of the 20-year war that the United States was centrally involved in.”An estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the embassy as being in Sudan.

Historically, Libyan women have been placed under severe social and cultural constraints that rendered them difficult to reach. So I needed a method that would provide a platform whereby the women can respond to the survey without prying eyes. I have a large family in Libya which straddles two different tribes, as well as family friends, so I was confident that wasta was the best approach to take. Much of the feedback I received from family members was worrying. Social media, which doesn’t mandate use of real names or photographs, was able to offer this in a way that extended family and friends, naturally, never could.

By Margie MaccollHow the Anzacs saved the British Empire in WWI was the topic when in the lead up to Anzac Day the Cooroy-Noosa Genealogy Group hosted guest speaker Neil Dearberg, Chief Historian for the Desert Anzacs and President of the Military Historical Society of Queensland. “If the British lost the Suez Canal they would have lost the war,“ he said. In 1896 the Ottomans defaulted on their repayments on the Suez Canal and Britain took charge of it. During WWI Britain declared the Suez Canal a protectorate preventing the Germans from sailing through it. The Australian forces at Romani included the Australian Light Horse, the Australian Flying Corps and the Imperial camel corps.

InternationalThe world spent a record 183 lakh crores on defence weapons: this increase is due to the Ukraine-Russia war, China's budget is four times more than that of IndiaThe world has spent $ 2.24 trillion, i.e. Finland has increased military expenditure by 36% while Lithuania's expenditure has increased by 27%. India spent 6 lakh crores on its defence in 2022, while China spent 23 lakh crores. On the other hand, according to SIPRI, America has spent on its defence budget despite record inflation. At the same time, an increase of 0.9% has also been registered in the defence expenditure of NATO countries.

TRIPOLI, April 24 — The bodies of a total of 34 migrants have been recovered since their boat sank off Libya’s coast five days ago, the Libyan Red Crescent said today. The latest toll follows the recovery of 11 bodies today, which were “handed over to authorities” in the Mediterranean city of Sabratha, west of Tripoli, the Red Crescent confirmed on Facebook. A security source told AFP “the number of victims could increase” after the “rubber boat carrying dozens of migrants overturned not far from the coast of Sabratha on Wednesday”. Last Wednesday, the Red Crescent reported finding six bodies and a further 17 were recovered Sunday. Footage posted to Facebook showed Red Crescent volunteers carrying bodies in black bags to ambulances.

Armed groups in Zawiya, a city in northwestern Libya, ceased fighting after clashes erupted overnight causing the death of four people, according to the Ambulance and Emergency Service. The armed groups, both of which are reportedly affiliated with the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, clashed at the city’s entrance and nearby residential areas. Thirty families were evacuated from their homes through a safe passage established by rescue teams of the Ambulance and Emergency Service. Earlier this month, armed groups clashed in the city with violence causing harm to civilians as three people were wounded. The violence also damaged the Zawiya refinery, Libya’s largest oil refinery with a capacity of up to 120,000 barrels per day.

EAST SETAUKET, N.Y. (PRWEB) April 24, 2023The completion of the new North Benghazi Court Building in April 2022 marks a promising milestone for the reconstruction efforts in Libya. PENETRON ADMIX, easily mixed in during batching, forms an integral part of the concrete from the start and is unaffected by the marine environment. "Penetron is proud to have won this prestigious project over the competition, which included all the recognized names in our industry," says Kadem A. Elbarghathi, Managing Director of Penetron North Africa. With the completion of the North Benghazi Court Building, it is evident that concrete durability in a marine environment is crucial. The Penetron Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs and floor preparation systems.

The Libyan authorities evacuated in early Monday morning 105 Libyan nationals from Sudan as fierce fighting continues in the neighboring country. In a statement, the Libyan Foreign Ministry said that the nationals were evacuated via sea to Saudi Arabia in coordination with the Saudi authorities. The group included Libyan diplomatic staff and their families, Libyan students, and employees of Libyan institutions operating in Sudan, the ministry said. The Libyan authorities will then commission a flight to bring the group home “in the near future”, according to the ministry’s statement. According to Sudan’s health ministry, the deadly clashes have left at least 420 people killed and more than 3,700 injured, as of 23 April.

Tunisian coast guards recovered a total of 31 bodies of migrants in the last few hours, including two minors, who died in various shipwrecks on the Central Mediterranean route to Europe and were “dragged by the waves” to the shore. The “decomposing” corpses appeared on the coasts of Kerkennah, Sfax, Mahdia and Gabes, the National Guard reported Monday, in the deadliest year since 2017 for migrants embarking on this route, with more than 440 deaths recorded to date. Since January, over 35,000 people, almost four times more than in 2022, have reached the Italian shores, for which reason the government of the far-right Giorgia Meloni decreed a state of emergency on April 11. According to data on Monday from the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, the main starting points are Tunisia (19,247 migrants), followed by Libya (15,509) and Turkey (1,247). The European Parliament advanced an emergency plan that will force the 27 members to cooperate in the event that the reception capacity of a partner country is overwhelmed by the “sudden and massive” arrival of asylum seekers and migrants and they will have one year to reform the asylum system.

Four people were killed following clashes between two armed groups in Zawiya, a city in northwestern Libya, according to a statement by the Ambulance and Emergency Service on Monday. Clashes erupted overnight at the western entrance to the city and continued until Monday dawn before the warring parties declared truce, said the Ambulance and Emergency Service. According to witnesses, two brothers, named Munir and Muhammad Abu Zaid, were among the victims. An RPG shell reportedly hit their family’s house in the Dila residential area, resulting in the immediate death of the pair. As of Monday noon, the situation in the city remains relatively calm, as per the Ambulance and Emergency Service.

FILE - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks with the media as she arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 23, 2023. The Italian Coast Guard said Monday, April 24 some 1,200 migrants have arrived since Sunday on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. Although far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni has led a crackdown both on smugglers and on the charity vessels, migrants keep risking dangerous voyages in the Central Mediterranean — departing from Tunisia, Libya and Turkey — in hopes of finding work or relatives in Europe.

However, Haftar’s son explained, in statements to Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, that he visited Sudan at the request of the Sudanese football club Al-Merrikh Sporting Club, which named Al-Siddiq Haftar as honorary president. Last February, Benghazi hosted a match between the Sudanese club and Egypt’s Zamalek at the Benina Martyrs Stadium. Al-Siddiq Haftar, whose father leads the Libyan National Army (LNA), said his trip to Sudan was in response to invitation by Al-Merrikh club presidency. Haftar’s son said he had a briefing meeting with Hemedti during his encounter with the club’s officials. Haftar’s son denied reports, which surfaced at that time, that made donations to the club.

The Minister of Justice Halima Ibrahim has supervised the release of 1,057 convicts from the correctional facility on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr. The Ministry said on its Facebook page that it spares no effort in working to take care of the interests of inmates, preserve their rights and provide them with the required services. The ministry indicated that this initiative contributes to building bridges of reconciliation and supporting social and national consensus.

French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said Sunday that France was organizing the evacuation of its embassy staff, French citizens in Sudan and citizens of allied countries. Questions have swirled over how the mass rescues of foreign citizens would unfold, with Sudan's main international airport closed and millions of people sheltering indoors. On Friday, the U.S. said it had no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of the estimated 16,000 American citizens trapped in Sudan. Many Sudanese fear that despite the generals' repeated promises, the violence will only escalate as tens of thousands of foreign citizens try to leave. “We are sure both sides of fighting are more careful about foreign lives than the lives of Sudanese citizens,” Atiya said.