George Clooney's fiancee is fighting to be able to defend Muammar Gaddafi's enforcer at a trial in which both Libya and the international criminal court are coming under attack Amal Alamuddin was pictured across the world last month after the announcement of her engagement to George Clooney after a whirlwind romance. Soon she could return to the front pages in a more controversial role when she stands...
House speaker schedules vote to establish select committee Escalating political battle has raged since 2012 attack House speaker John Boehner on Friday declared he would schedule a vote to create a select committee to investigate the Benghazi attack, escalating a political battle that has raged since the final days of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Boehner said US officials misled...
Libyan authorities confirm Fawaz Aitan has been kidnapped in attack that left his driver wounded Gunmen travelling in two cars on Tuesday abducted the Jordanian ambassador to Tripoli, Fawaz Aitan, in an attack that left his driver wounded, Libyan authorities have said. It is the latest incident in which Libyan leaders and foreign diplomats have been targeted in the north African country, three years...
Boats from Africa and Middle East are arriving at the fastest rate since a naval operation to handle influx began last year Italy says 4,000 immigrants have reached its shores by boat in the past two days the highest number since it began a naval operation to handle the influx in the wake of two shipwrecks last year. "The landings are non-stop and the emergency is increasingly glaring," the...
In this week's gallery of the best photojournalism from the week, we pay tribute to regular contributor Anja Niedringhaus. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer was killed this week covering the presidential election in Afghanistan. She worked in the conflict areas of the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya from where she always displayed compassionate and courageous photojournalism Continue...
Mike Morell dismisses allegation that CIA 'cooked the books' Republicans accused agency of bowing to political pressure The former deputy director of the CIA insisted on Wednesday that he didn't edit the widely debunked talking points on the 2012 Benghazi attack due to political pressure to protect President Barack Obama and onetime secretary of state Hillary Clinton. In a rare open session, Mike...
Rebels blockading ports in the eastern province of Cyrenaica say they will form a breakaway state if government forces attack Libyan government forces are poised to attack rebels blockading key oil ports this weekend in an offensive that risks splitting the country apart. A deadline for rebels in the eastern province of Cyrenaica to hand over the ports, blockaded since last summer, has passed with...
The Abounaddara collective, whose works are showing at London's Human Rights Watch film festival , release a new short film on the internet every week, covertly challenging the world's ideas about life in Syria The uprising in Syria started in March 2011. From April 2011 onwards, the Abounaddara collective , a group of self-taught film-makers in Damascus, has been producing one short documentary every...
Who could object to the removal of Colonel Gaddafi? But what has happened since shames western interventionists It's called the pottery store rule: "you break it, you own it". But it doesn't just apply to pots and mugs, but to nations. In the build-up to the catastrophic invasion of Iraq, it was invoked by Colin Powell, then US secretary of state. "You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million...
US navy Seals seized North Korean-flagged ship last week, stopping Libyan militia attempt to sell its shipload of crude ...
Violence in Libya and Syria means more migrants are trying to leave their countries sooner, says UN refugee agency Italian authorities say they have rescued more than 4,000 would-be migrants at sea over the past four days as the war in Syria and instability in Libya spawn new waves of refugees. The numbers of migrants reaching Italian shores generally rises this time of year as warm weather and calm...
Morning Glory's story makes grim reading for anyone who cares about the future of the country There can be few better symbols of Libya's post-Gaddafi trauma than the plight of the oil tanker Morning Glory. On 11 March, the North Korea-registered ship slipped out of the Libyan port of Es Sider during a storm and headed out into the Mediterranean. It was under the command of a group of rebels from Libya's...
Pentagon says the Morning Glory, loaded with $20m cargo of crude oil, will be handed to Libyan government control American Navy Seals have seized a North Korea-flagged tanker which had been loaded with crude oil at a rebel-held port in eastern Libya, the Pentagon said on Monday. The operation to take control of the Morning Glory came a week after Libya failed to prevent the tanker from leaving the...
The farcical battle between the Tripoli government and a rebel militia over the refuelling of a tanker laid bare the central role that oil is playing in the splits and tensions that bedevil the country No one paid much attention to the 21,000-tonne oil tanker Morning Glory as it churned back and forth along the north African coast earlier this month. Tankers are a common sight, carrying Libya's oil...
Rebels in the east of the country want a larger share of the income generated from Africa's largest oil reserves The ousting of Libya's prime minister, who fled to Europe this week, has triggered fighting between eastern and western regions that threatens to divide the country. Ali Zeidan, a popular figure with western diplomats, was sacked by the Islamist-led congress on Tuesday after failing to...
Ali Zeidan removed by vote of no confidence after militia seized port of al-Sidra and tried to sell oil to North Korean tanker Libya's parliament has forced out the prime minister in a vote of no confidence, a move prompted by a crisis this week when a militia controlling an eastern port defied Tripoli's authority by trying to sell oil. The chamber named the defence minister as an interim prime minister...
An oil tanker flying a North Korean flag in a Libyan port is a symbol of the power struggles occurring across the country The oil tanker flying a North Korean flag is docked. But Libya's central authorities are attempting to seize the vessel. . Why? Since August, eastern separatists have seized three major ports . The arrival of the tanker is just the latest of several steps to take a larger share...
s culture minister and a top aide to Libya's prime minister, told reporters in a televised news conference that government forces including navy vessels were deployed to al-Sidra port to stop the tanker. "It's final and decisive. Any attempt (by the tanker) to move, it will be turned into scrap," al-Amin said. The Libya Revolutionary Operation Room, an umbrella group of militias groups that answer...
Prime minister warns of an ‘environmental disaster’ if tanker leaves rebel-held port of Es Sider with oil cargo ...
s Day, UN leader and former prime minister of New Zealand Helen Clark picks seven women who are leading positive change all over the world Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson, African Union In 2012, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was the first woman to be elected African Union (AU) chairperson since its inception in 1963. In this role, she is driving the AU's decade of the African Woman (2010 to 2020). She...