CAIRO, March 20 (Reuters) - Libyan club Al-Akhdar were baffled when they arrived at their Benghazi stadium for an African Confederations Cup clash with Marumo Gallants on Sunday afternoon to find no referee, no officials and no opposition. Unfortunately, according to Al-Akhdar assistant coach Ahmed Saleh, CAF forgot to inform the home team. "The match against Marumo was supposed to be at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT) (but) the referees, officials, and the visiting team haven't arrived," he posted on Facebook. When the fixture did finally get underway, Marumo Gallants, who took to the field straight from the airport, went down 4-1 to give Al-Akhdar their first win in five group matches. There was no immediate reply to a request for comment from the Marumo Gallants.
Source:Libya Today
March 20, 2023 07:49 UTC
This scrutiny comes as the United States designated Wagner an international criminal organization in January and is seeking to isolate the group financially and politically. Russia's #Wagner Group designated a "Terrorist Organization" by Lithuanian lawmakers. The Wagner Group has sought to use Libya as a forward base for its activities in the Sahel region, particularly Chad and Niger. This raises the question of how the Wagner Group is funded in Libya and by who. The Wagner Group is known to have a presence in and around the Qardabia air base in Sirte.
Source:Libya Today
March 19, 2023 06:51 UTC
This Saturday will be the 12th anniversary of one of the worst American foreign policy decisions of this century. I rank it third after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2021 negotiated surrender to the Taliban in Afghanistan. While time has mostly held to account those responsible for the 2003 Iraq invasion and perhaps things are too fresh and political for a true accountability for the Afghanistan disgrace, there is no excuse for the complete lack of accountability for what was done to Libya in 2011. All three disgraces, as it is with most military operations by the USA in the last 60 years, does not owe its disgrace to the military being tasked to execute an operation, but with the failure of the politicians and diplomats to understand what the ultimate goal was, the nature of the nation they were sending their military in to, and any type of long term plan for success.
Source:Libya Today
March 18, 2023 19:01 UTC
Discourse on Libya remains fixated on the lethal and the lucrativeHafed Al-GhwellLibyan students attennd a local robotics competition in Tripoli on March 4, 2023. (AFP)Short Url https://arab.news/4x8frEven after 12 years, discourse on Libya remains fixated on the lethal and the lucrative — sidelining the role that the North African country’s finance and banking sector plays in perpetuating, even exacerbating, dysfunction mostly stemming from its discordant politics. Even prior to the post-2011 political instability, Libya’s financial sector was not sufficiently developed nor fully exorcised from the crippling legacy of decades of economic centralization. There was little incentive to modernize banking, bolster the financial sector and adopt better risk-management strategies. Libya will — for now — remain crippled by a finance sector inclined to subvert calls for its reform.
Source:Libya Today
March 18, 2023 18:41 UTC
Boxing was "in his blood," according to the 63-year-old Tripoli resident who proudly keeps the photo as his phone's background. He was only 19 when Qaddafi outlawed boxing, along with wrestling and other combat sports, in 1979 because he saw them as a threat to his personality cult. Zlitni reunited with former fighters and worked to revive boxing after Libya's 2011 revolution, which resulted in Qaddafi's overthrow and death. Since then, Libyan boxers have excelled in a variety of competitions, taking inspiration from light heavyweight champion Malik Zinad, who found success after emigrating to Europe. Bouhwiyah now works out in a contemporary gym in Tripoli after going on to win numerous competitions, including regional championships.
Source:Libya Today
March 18, 2023 07:07 UTC
TRIPOLI: Omar Zlitni holds a decades-old, black-and-white photo of himself as a boxer in his prime, posing in shorts and a training vest before Libya’s then-dictator, Moamer Kadhafi, banned his beloved sport. Boxing was “in his blood”, said the 63-year-old Tripoli resident who proudly keeps the image as his phone’s wallpaper. Under a tin roof, in a Tripoli barn, young fighters spar in a dusty old ring. One in particular stands out among the ringside crowd -- Mountaha Touhami, one of few women boxers in the conservative Muslim country. Having gone on to win several competitions, including regional titles, Bouhwiyah now trains in a modern gym in Tripoli.
Source:Libya Today
March 18, 2023 05:37 UTC
Make no bones about it, Red Bull are way ahead of the rest of the field. Overhauling Red Bull is going to take a monumental effort from one team — and fast. Vasseur, on the other hand, remained convinced that his car just had an off day and is much closer to the Red Bull vehicle than many think. Only time will tell, but the results or improvement will need to bear fruit instantaneously before the Red Bull lead becomes uncatchable. There are not many chinks in the Red Bull armor, but one that might be targeted and prised open by other teams is Red Bull’s so-called “second driver,” Perez.
Source:Libya Today
March 18, 2023 01:15 UTC
CNN — A Libyan armed group claims to have found the barrels of natural uranium that went missing in southern Libya. A video posted by Mahjoub showed a man wearing a hazmat suit vocally counting 18 blue barrels that allegedly contain the missing natural uranium. A total of 2.5 tons of natural uranium in the form of uranium ore concentrate were reported missing by the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] this week, after inspectors conducted verification activities Tuesday. A barrel-sized hole was found cut open to the side of the storage warehouse, Mahjoub added. The IAEA had said that the missing uranium posed "little radiation hazard but it requires safe handling."
Source:Libya Today
March 17, 2023 21:13 UTC
According to the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog, 2.5 tons of natural uranium has gone missing from Libya, sounding the alarm over potential nefarious uses of the dangerous material. It went missing from a site not under government control, and forces allied to a warlord currently battling the government claim to have recovered the uranium, though this remains unconfirmed. As told to Reuters, the IAEA found approximately 10 drums of natural uranium missing from its designated area. Natural uranium is not immediately usable in weaponry or nuclear reactors, but a complex refinement process can create around 5.6 kilograms (12 pounds) from each ton of natural uranium, according to AP. It now remains to be seen whether the uranium has been recovered and can be verified by the UN, or whether it remains lost.
Source:Libya Today
March 17, 2023 21:07 UTC
UN Nuclear Watchdog: 2.5 Tons of Uranium Missing in LibyaDUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Some 2.5 tons of natural uranium stored in a site in war-torn Libya have gone missing, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Thursday, raising safety and proliferation concerns. In a statement, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, informed member states Wednesday about the missing uranium. On Tuesday, “agency safeguards inspectors found that 10 drums containing approximately 2.5 tons of natural uranium in the form of uranium ore concentrate were not present as previously declared at a location in the state of Libya,” the IAEA said. The video footage resembled features of the desert surrounding the uranium stockpile site, though the AP could not immediately locate it. They claimed that a top IAEA official informed them of the “opening” nearly a week earlier than the agency described discovering the missing uranium.
Source:Libya Today
March 17, 2023 20:36 UTC
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Source:Libya Today
March 17, 2023 19:19 UTC
On Thursday, more than two tons of radioactive uranium that had previously thought to have been missing was discovered in a Libyan warehouse, easing concerns about the possible nuclear threat of the missing materials. Mahjoub’s statement placed the warehouse near the border with Chad, last visited by the IAEA in 2020. Had the uranium fallen into the hands of a group or individual with sufficient knowledge and equipment, the material could be refined into weapons-grade uranium, with each unrefined ton equating to about 12 pounds of weapons-grade material. Libya remains ravaged by a civil war, with the internationally-recognized government in Tripoli led by Mohamed al-Menfi, Chairman of the Presidential Council of the State of Libya, fighting with the LNA, which is led by warlord Khalifa Haftar. A ceasefire was declared in 2020, but with no resolution to the conflict in sight.
Source:Libya Today
March 17, 2023 19:17 UTC
Trending Middle East brings you the latest social media and search trends from the region and around the world. On today's episode, President Sheikh Mohamed meets Iran’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi. Iraqis take to social media to share painful memories 20 years after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Egypt will host a meeting of officials from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and the US in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh on Sunday. Ten drums of uranium declared missing by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, have been found near a warehouse in southern Libya where they had been taken from.
Source:Libya Today
March 17, 2023 17:18 UTC
ISLAMABAD: Over 250 academic leaders are converging in Islamabad for a two-day 5th Vice-Chancellors’ Forum (VC Forum) on Universities in the Islamic World: Towards Disruptive Technology in a Globalised World, set to begin in Islamabad on Sunday, 19th March 2023. The 5th VC Forum is being jointly organized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), British Council Pakistan, Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), and the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training. Among the keynote speakers at the VC Forum are Dr Salim M. AL Malik, Director General, ICESCO, and Ambassador Mustafa Turker Ari, Advisor to the President Council of Higher Education (CoHE), Turkey. The Forum will provide a platform for sharing experiences, networking, pooling resources, fostering collaborations, strengthening networks of excellence, and encouraging dialogue on the future of Higher Education in the Islamic World. Panel discussions and invited talks are an integral part of the proceedings of the VC Forum.
Source:Libya Today
March 17, 2023 16:29 UTC
TRIPOLI: More than two tonnes of natural uranium reported missing by the UN’s nuclear watchdog in war-scarred Libya have been found, a general in the country’s east said on Thursday. IAEA inspectors on Tuesday found that “10 drums containing approximately 2.5 tonnes of natural uranium in the form of uranium ore concentrate... were not present” as previously declared at the location, it said. It is used in the preparation of nuclear fuel for reactors, and can also be enriched for use in nuclear weapons. On Facebook, Mahjoub said that after the inspection revealed the disappearance, Haftar-linked forces recovered the containers. Libya under Kadhafi had a suspected nuclear weapons programme, which it scrapped in 2003.
Source:Libya Today
March 17, 2023 12:15 UTC