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Tunisia police disperse LGBT protesters

Plain-clothed Tunisian police Saturday broke up a demonstration by LGBT activists in the center of the capital after it was banned "for their own security", the interior ministry said. A call had been made to protest outside the tourism ministry under the hashtag "#Sayebni" ("Let...

ICC prosecutor renews call for Libyan commander's arrest

The International Criminal Court prosecutor is renewing calls on Libyan authorities to arrest a Libyan commander wanted by the court for war crimes, after he was linked to a shocking video purported to show brutal killings. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda says she is deeply concerned by...

Gang suspected of torturing migrants in Libya

An armed group loyal to Libya’s national unity government said Wednesday it had arrested a gang accused of kidnapping and torturing Sudanese migrants near the northern city of Sirte. The gang, made up of “five Libyans and one Palestinian ... had tortured eight migrants,” said the Sirte...

Double car bombing in Libya's Benghazi kills at least 11: officials, witness

A double car bombing in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Tuesday left at least 11 people dead and others wounded, according to officials and a Reuters witness. The attack happened in the Benghazi's Al Salmani district as worshippers were leaving a local mosque after prayers.

Rights group: World must act to end Libya turmoil, abuses

Human Rights Watch says the world must do more to help end rights abuses in chaotic Libya, which has emerged as one of the main corridors for migration to Europe. The U.S.-based group says in its annual report Thursday that most of the over 200,000 migrants and asylum seekers who...

Two Morocco female porters die in border stampede

Two women carrying goods between Morocco and Spain's Ceuta enclave were killed Monday in a stampede at the border between the two countries, a rights group and officials said. The stampede took place at the Tarajal II crossing for pedestrians between the Moroccan border town of Fnideq...

Tunisia will increase aid for poor in response to protests

Tunisia plans to increase support for poor families and needy people by some $70 million, a government minister said on Saturday, after protests broke out in the North African country. Protests, some of them violent, were held on Monday against austerity measures such as increases of...

Fresh Tunisia arrests over wave of unrest

Tunisian authorities said Friday the number of people detained in a wave of violent protests had risen to nearly 800, as fresh unrest over austerity measures hit a provincial town overnight. Activists have called for a major protest Friday over the measures introduced at the start of...

Tunisia deploys army, makes 300 arrests as violent unrest persists

Tunisian protesters burned down a regional national security headquarters near the Algerian border, prompting authorities to send in troops after police retreated, witnesses said, as unrest over prices and taxes raged on nationwide. But the government, under pressure to cut a ballooning...

A Tunisian synagogue set on fire by Molotov cocktails

Two Molotov cocktails have been thrown at a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba, setting fire to the building. The president of Djerba's Jewish community, Perez Trabelsi, told The Associated Press Wednesday that the attack was perpetrated by two people on a motorbike. He said the...

Libyan navy says some 100 migrants believed missing at sea

Libya's navy says some 100 migrants are believed missing at sea and that at least 279 others have been rescued off the Libyan coast. Wednesday's statement says the migrants, mostly Africans, had embarked on the perilous trip across the Mediterranean in several vessels. Those missing...

UN raises probable death toll in migrant boat sinking to 64

The U.N. migration agency has raised the probable death toll to 64 in the weekend sinking of a smugglers' rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya. The Italian coast guard, hours after the boat started sinking Saturday due to a puncture, rescued 86 people from it and retrieved...

200 undocumented migrants rescued off Libyan coast

More than 200 migrants were rescued when a boat carrying undocumented African migrants sank off Libya’s western coast Sunday evening, but at least two also died, according to a spokesman for the Libyan Navy. Ayoub Qassim told Anadolu Agency that the boat sank off the coast of...

At least 25 dead in migrant shipwreck off Libya: rescue charities

At least 25 people are feared to have drowned in a shipwreck off Libya after a dinghy, possibly carrying some 150 migrants, ran into trouble, two rescue organizations said Saturday. "Rubber dinghy sunk north of Tripoli. At least 25 people died in the incident, exact numbers still...

Armed groups clash at key Libya border post

Armed groups clashed Friday in western Libya, forcing the closure of a key border crossing with Tunisia, an official and a military commander said. The clashes took place near the Ras Jedir border post, the main crossing between western Libya and southeastern Tunisia. The...

Sudan announces state of emergency in Kassala, North Kurdufan: SUNA

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has announced a 6-month state of emergency in the states of Kassala and North Kurdufan, government news agency SUNA said Saturday. The move is part of ongoing disarmament campaigns which started near Darfur and Blue Nile in October.

Turkey remains committed to back Sudan: Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said his country remains committed to support Sudan. Speaking at Khartoum University in Sudanese capital after being awarded an honorary doctorate, Erdogan said Turkey would continue to be with the Sudanese people through its institutions and...

Attack on Libyan crude pipeline cuts output by up to 100,000 bpd

Armed men blew up a pipeline pumping crude oil to Es Sider port on Tuesday, cutting Libya’s output by up to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), military and oil sources said. The state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in statement output had been reduced by 70,000-100,000 bpd....