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75 migrants drown in Mediterranean Sea off Libya: UN agency

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Al-Araby

The United Nations’ migration agency said 75 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya earlier this week as they attempted to reach Italy by boat. The International Organization for Migration reported the latest tragedy in a tweet on Saturday, attributing the information to 15 survivors who were rescued by fishermen and brought to the port of Zuwara in northwestern Libya. It did not immediately provide further information. Also on Saturday, the Italian Coast Guard rescued more than 420 migrants, including dozens of minors, from boats in difficulty in the Mediterranean Sea. A coa… Continue reading “75 migrants drown in Mediterranean Sea off Libya: UN agency”

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Libya ex-interior minister registers presidential bid

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Al-Araby

Libya’sformer interior minister Fathi Bashagha on Thursday registered to run in a presidential election set for December 24. “I, Fathi Bashagha, put myself forward as a candidate in the presidential election,” he said after lodging his application at an electoral commission office in Tripoli. Bashagha’s move follows similar announcements by two controversial figures from the east of the war-torn country, warlord Khalifa Haftar and parliament speaker Aguila Saleh – as well as by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi – the son of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Bashagha, a 59-year-old former fighter pilot wh… Continue reading “Libya ex-interior minister registers presidential bid”

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Hope for border crisis easing as Iraqis fly back home from Belarus

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Reuters

By Kacper Pempel and Charlotte Bruneau BRUZGI, Belarus (Reuters) -Hundreds of Iraqis who had camped for weeks at Belarus’s freezing borders with the EU checked in for a flight back to Iraq on Thursday, the first such flight in months amid a stand-off between the West over Minsk over the fate of migrants. It was not immediately clear if the repatriation flight was a sign the crisis was easing, or just a temporary reprieve. European countries accuse Belarus of flying thousands of migrants in from the Middle East and pushing them to attempt to cross the frontier illegally. Belarus denies fomentin… Continue reading “Hope for border crisis easing as Iraqis fly back home from Belarus”

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Europe’s gas firms prime pipelines for hydrogen highway

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Reuters

By Vera Eckert, Stephen Jewkes and Isla Binnie (Reuters) – As world leaders hammered out a deal last week to slow climate change, gas engineer Michele Ricciardi was digging into a practical problem: How thousands of miles of pipelines across Italy and Europe can safely carry hydrogen. The Italian is at the forefront of gas carriers’ efforts to prepare for a lower carbon future: If fossil fuels are phased out in coming decades, natural gas companies believe that should not mean the infrastructure that carries them must go too. They want to repurpose pipelines to carry zero-emissions hydrogen af… Continue reading “Europe’s gas firms prime pipelines for hydrogen highway”

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Asia looks to release oil reserves after U.S. request

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Reuters

By Heekyong Yang and Aaron Sheldrick TOKYO (Reuters) – The world’s biggest economies said on Thursday they were looking into releasing oil from their strategic reserves, following a rare request from the United States for a coordinated move to cool global energy prices. The U.S. move reflects frustration with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies such as Russia who have rebuffed Washington’s requests to speed up oil production as the world economy rebounds from the pandemic. It also comes as U.S. President Joe Biden fends off political pressure ahead of midter… Continue reading “Asia looks to release oil reserves after U.S. request”

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Libyan elections: A way out of turmoil or a return to war?

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Al-Araby

On 12 November, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a summit in Paris on Libya, co-organised by the UN, Germany and Italy. The summit brought together regional and international heads of state to support the ongoing political process in Libya, in particular the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on 24 December. Unsurprisingly, the summit ended without any meaningful international efforts to support the country’s stabilisation. Countries that attended the conference haveagreed to consider sanctions on any person who “disrupts” the election, yet serious issues r… Continue reading “Libyan elections: A way out of turmoil or a return to war?”