By Rim Taher Flash flooding in east Libya caused by Storm Daniel tore through the coastal city of Derna, leaving nearly 4,000 people dead, 10,000 missing and entire neighbourhoods in ruins. This is what we know so far about the extreme weather event that hit the war-torn North African country. – Dams burst – On Sunday afternoon, Storm Daniel made landfall on Libya’s east coast after earlier lashing Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. It touched Benghazi […]
Tag: Libya
Devastation unleashed: Libya’s Derna counts the dead as flood toll climbs
DERNA, Libya, Sept 13, 2023 (AFP) – Libya’s devastated eastern city of Derna was counting its dead on Wednesday with the toll from the floodwaters unleashed by Storm Daniel expected to rise even further. Two dams burst there on Sunday afternoon after the storm hit, releasing a surge of water that tore through the city, sweeping away buildings and the people inside them. By late Tuesday, the preliminary death toll from authorities in the politically […]
10,000 missing in Libya storm floods, death toll ‘huge’: Red Cross
GENEVA, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – The death toll from freak floods in eastern Libya is expected to soar dramatically, with 10,000 people reported missing, the Red Cross warned on Tuesday. Officials in Libya have said at least 150 people were killed in the sudden flooding on Sunday afternoon after storm Daniel swept the Mediterranean, lashing Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. But Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) […]
UN chief calls on Tunisia to end migrant expulsions
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Tuesday for Tunisia to stop expelling migrants into desert border areas, and demanded those already stranded in the harsh environment be relocated, a spokesperson said. “We are deeply concerned about the expulsion of migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers from Tunisia to the borders with Libya and also Algeria,” deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said. He warned that “several have died” at Tunisia’s border with Libya, while […]
Libya court sentences 23 jihadists to death
MISRATAH, Libya, May 29, 2023 (AFP) — A Libyan court on Monday condemned to death 23 jihadists convicted of fighting with the Islamic State group in the north African country during chaos that followed dictator Moamer Kadhafi’s fall, the prosecutor’s office said. This was the first group of 320 alleged IS jihadists to be tried and sentenced. IS had captured the central coast city of Sirte in 2015, setting up a stronghold before being driven […]
Filipinos in Libya urged to stay home as deadly clashes kill 32
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday night urged Filipinos in Libya to take shelter at home as deadly clashes in the capital killed 32. In a text message to reporters, DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said no Filipino has been reported among the casualties. “The DFA strongly urges our kababayans to take shelter at home or in other safe places while the fighting is ongoing and to contact our Embassy through its hotline […]
Libya oil production returns to pre-blockade levels: official
TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Libya’s oil production has returned to the volume recorded before a months-long blockade that paralysed the economy, official sources said on Sunday. “We are happy to announce that our production rates have reached the pre-force majeure levels” of 1.2 million barrels per day, Libya’s National Oil Corporation said on Twitter. Oil and Gas Minister Mohammed Aoun told AFP that he “confirms” production has returned to that level. On July 15, […]
Libyans at boiling point amid summer power cuts
by Hamza Mekouar Agence France-Presse TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Mahmud Aguil has a comfortable house in Libya’s capital Tripoli, but chronic power outages in the war-battered country and roasting summer heat now force him to sleep in his air-conditioned van. “This is my bedroom,” the 48-year-old said pointing to the cramped vehicle, its back seats removed to make space for him and his two young children. “In the morning I wake up with a terrible […]
Climate change a double blow for oil-rich Mideast: experts
by Frank ZELLER Agence France-Presse PAPHOS, Cyprus (AFP) – The climate crisis threatens a double blow for the Middle East, experts say, by destroying its oil income as the world shifts to renewables and by raising temperatures to unliveable extremes. Little has been done to address the challenge in a region long plagued by civil strife, war and refugee flows, even as global warming looks likely to accelerate these trends, a conference heard last week. […]
UNESCO announces 20 new biospheres in 21 countries
ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) – UNESCO on Wednesday added 20 new sites in 21 countries to its global network of biosphere reserves, the UN agency’s designation for specially protected regions. New biosphere reserves are designated each year to promote sustainable development, protect terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems and encourage conservation. For the first time, Lesotho, Libya and Saudi Arabia joined the list. In Lesotho, the Matseng Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 112,033 hectares in the northern […]
Libya’s wildlife treasure island at risk of ruin
by Hamza Mekouar FARWA, Libya (AFP) — Once famed for its exceptional wildlife, Libya’s Farwa island risks becoming just another victim of lawlessness in the war-ravaged North African nation, activists struggling to save it warn. An uninhabited 13-kilometer-long (eight mile) sandbar cut off at high tide in far western Libya, Farwa appears picture-postcard idyllic, with scattered date palms on white sandy beaches and ringed by the sparkling Mediterranean Sea. The International Union for Conservation of […]
Libya gets 2 million Sinopharm doses with more expected
TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Libya called Monday on people to come forward to be vaccinated after it received two million doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm, with more on the way. “We call on all our fellow citizens to be vaccinated,” Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah told reporters at Mitiga airport near Tripoli after the shipment arrived. Adding to its security and political problems, the North African country of around seven million people has been hard […]





