‎The Attorney General’s Office reported today that Derna Criminal Court convicted twelve defendants for the failure of Derna’s dams in the 2023 Storm Daniel disaster that led to x of deaths and massive destruction to the city. Storm Daniel had reached Libya on September 9, causing severe flooding the next day after two dams upstream from Derna collapsed. Libyan engineers had warned of “vulnerabilities” of the two dams that were not being addressed following flood damage in 1986. At 1:12 a.m., the Water Resources Ministry reassured residents under curfew that all dams in Derna had been inspected and were in good condition. In fact, the dams had already collapsed at 2:40 and 2:50 am respectively and the communications network in Derna was disrupted.

The dams were built by a Yugoslav construction company in the 1970s above Wadi Derna, a river valley that divides the city. They were meant to protect the city from flash floods, which are not uncommon in the area. The dams were not maintained for decades, despite warnings from scientists that they could burst.

The two dams outside the city of Derna broke up on Sept. 11 after they were overwhelmed by Storm Daniel, which caused heavy rain across eastern Libya. The failure of the structures inundated as much as a quarter of the city, officials have said, destroying entire neighborhoods and sweeping people out to sea. The Derna Criminal Court on Sunday convicted 12 current and former officials of mismanagement, negligence and mistakes that contributed to the disaster, according to a statement from the office of the country’s top prosecutor. The defendants, who were responsible for managing the country’s dams, were given prison terms that ranged from nine to 27 years, the statement said, without identifying them. Sunday’s verdict could be appealed before a higher court, according to Libya’s judicial system.

A Libyan court on Sunday handed jail sentences to more than 10 current and former officials for their links to the deadly collapse of two dams outside the coastal city of Derna in September. The two dams outside the city of Derna broke up on Sept. 11 after they were overwhelmed by Storm Daniel, which caused heavy rain across eastern Libya. The failure of the structures inundated as much as a quarter of the city, officials have said, destroying entire neighborhoods and sweeping people out to sea. Sunday’s verdict could be appealed before a higher court, according to Libya’s judicial system. Survivors in Libyan port city of Derna search for missing loved ones

Palm City Residences, Tripoli, a luxury residential compound catering to many international companies and Embassies, has recently established an international standard Stray Cat Management Programme, implemented by Orkin Libya. The programme that Palm City has adopted is what is termed a TNR, or trap-neuter-return programme which involves the capture of the animals, performing a sterilization surgery on them so that they can no longer reproduce, and then returning them to the Palm City location. Debbie Hirst, Contracts Manager of Orkin Libya (and AmCham Libya President) said, “We were thrilled when Palm City reached out and asked for our support with their stray cat management programme. We know that Palm City strives to provide the highest quality experience to its guests, and managing the street cat issue is part of this. Morgan Azzopardi, Palm City Residences General Manager said, “We are committed to following European and international standards for all our guest services and the cat programme is no different.

The two dams outside the city of Derna broke up on Sept. 11 after they were overwhelmed by Storm Daniel, which caused heavy rain across eastern Libya. The failure of the structures inundated as much as a quarter of the city, officials have said, destroying entire neighborhoods and sweeping people out to sea. The Derna Criminal Court on Sunday convicted 12 current and former officials of mismanagement, negligence and mistakes that contributed to the disaster, according to a statement from the office of the country’s top prosecutor. The defendants, who were responsible for managing the country’s dams, were given prison terms that ranged from nine to 27 years, the statement said, without identifying them. Sunday’s verdict could be appealed before a higher court, according to Libya’s judicial system.

Malema, Shivambu in hot water with EFF over VBSAviation broker linked to ANC royalty faces fraud and seizure woesMadikizela-Mandela estate: Family feud escalates as Zindzi's husband claims role in estate disputeR123 million looted from National skills fund to buy luxury cars and a farmPodcast | On The Minted Couch with DJ Sabby, On setting the tone for people’s day through his...Podcast | On The Minted Couch with Linda Gieskes-Mwamba, on revolutionising natural hair and...Podcast | On The Minted Couch With Lady Zamar, on rising like a phoenix and releasing her new albumPodcast | On The Minted Couch With Thandiswa Mazwai, on celebrating 30 years in music and making...Voting BoothWhat do you think about the MK Party’s bid to block Parliament’s first sitting this Friday? Please select an optionOops! Something went wrong, please try again later. It’s a threat to democracy It's their democratic right Why entertain them?

CAIRO - 28 July 2024: In the first half of 2024, Egypt experienced a significant surge in engineering exports, marking a 28.6 percent increase to reach $2.599 billion, a substantial rise from the previous $2.02 billion as reported by the Engineering Export Council of Egypt (EEC). Sherif El-Sayyad, the Chairperson of EEC, highlighted remarkable growth in June 2024, with exports reaching $425.8 million, up from $348.1 million in June 2023. European countries, particularly the United Kingdom, Turkey, France, Germany, Georgia, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Spain, emerged as key importers of Egyptian engineering exports during this period. Among African nations, destinations such as Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, and Congo were significant recipients. Egyptian exports in April saw a marginal increase of 0.8 percent to $3.29 billion compared to $3.26 billion recorded in April 2023, as per the monthly bulletin.

The dramatic devaluation of the Libyan dinar has recently drawn the attention of international observers. Libyan authorities attribute this sharp drop to a wave of counterfeit banknotes, which appear to originate from Russia. The Discovery of Counterfeit BanknotesOn June 24, Reuters published a report detailing how the influx of counterfeit banknotes may have contributed to the devaluation of the Libyan dinar. Economic Consequences for Libya and RussiaThe devaluation of the Libyan dinar, partly caused by these counterfeit banknotes, further exacerbates the economic and political crisis in Libya. The devaluation of the Libyan dinar is not just an economic problem but also a symptom of broader geopolitical conflicts in the region.

The state carrier, Libyan Airlines, announced yesterday that its flight, using its Airbus 330 from Istanbul to Tripoli’s Mitiga airport, will travel through the European air route through Greek and Maltese airspace. Previously, a flight ban had existed on all Libyan registered carriers into EU airspace. A source at a private Libyan carrier that flies to Istanbul said the European route had been opened to all Libyan carriers from Istanbul. ‎Afriqiyah Airways has also confirmed that its flight 8U971 from Istanbul to Tripoli’s Mitiga airport flew through EU airspace. A source has informed Libya Herald that the EU airspace is only open to Libyan carriers, including to eastern Libya, on their return flights from Istanbul and not on their outward flights from Mitiga airport.

The head of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Mohamed Raied, signed a Cooperation and Partnership Agreement last Tuesday (23 July) in Algiers with the President of the Tunisian Federation of Industries and Commerce, Samir Majoul, and the President of the Algerian Economic Renewal Council, Kamel Mawla. The Cooperation and Partnership Agreement aims to achieve economic integration among the three countries through economic cooperation and unifying efforts by establishing a mechanism to:

Human traffickers, paramilitaries, mass graves - none of that seems to be stopping migrants from coming to Libya. "They intended to hand over us migrants to the Libyan authorities and everyone knows what happens then," said the teenager. The UN calls for an investigation into mass graves in Libya"We are constantly witnessing widespread violations of the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya," Liz Trosel, spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for Human Rights, told DW. According to the UN, these violations include human trafficking, torture, forced labor, extortion, starvation in unbearable conditions of detention, mass deportations and human trafficking. For Lauren Seibert, who focuses on the rights of refugees and migrants at the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, international pressure could play a key role.

Admiral Ercumet Tatlioglu, the commander of the Turkish Naval Forces, announced that the Turkish Navy has assumed command of a naval task group dedicated to combating maritime banditry off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean. The announcement came following the commissioning ceremony of TCG Kusadasi and TCG Kumkale at Aksaz Naval Base to be deployed to Qatar, in Marmaris, where Tatlioglu praised the Turkish Naval Forces’ successful operations in surrounding seas. (AA Photo)Tatlioglu emphasized that the Turkish Navy is one of the world’s leading naval forces with its deep-rooted history. Explaining that they are in command of the mine countermeasures task group in the Black Sea, Tatlioglu noted that they have ships in NATO’s mine warfare task group and NATO’s surface task group in the Mediterranean. As of yesterday, we took command of the naval task group to combat maritime banditry off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.

Executives at Italy's Eni are confident it will achieve the upper end of its 1.69mn-1.71mn production guidance for this year, but start-up of a key Libyan project is set to slip from 2026 into 2027. A&E Structure is a 160,000 boe/d gas development that will include some 40,000 b/d of liquids production, mainly condensate. Eni's other upcoming Libyan project — the Bouri Gas Utilisation Project development that aims to capture 85mn ft³/d of gas at the 25,000 b/d offshore Bouri oil field — had already been pushed back from 2025 to 2026. For 2024 Eni expects to be "at the upper boundary of its guidance", according to chief operating officer of Natural Resources Guido Brusco. Eni also said today it would raise its dividend for 2024 by 6pc over 2023 to €1/share, and confirmed share repurchases this year of €1.6bn.

Deliveries of Libyan gas to Italy via the Greenstream pipeline remain at record low levels. Having averaged a six-year low of just 73mn cfd (62.4mn m3) for June, volumes have been running at 79mn cfd so far this month, according to figures posted by Italian gas network operator Snam. Unlike for May and June when Eni, whose Libyan upstream output supplies Italy, flagged up an expected dip in volumes with maintenance at its key Mellitah processing complex west of Tripoli (MEES, 14 June), no such outage has been flagged for July. (CONTINUED - 216 WORDS)