TUNIS, March 13 – Libya’s U.N.-backed Presidential Council called on Saturday on the country’s institutions to begin a transfer of authority to a unity government, and appealed to the international community to stop dealing with any rival powers. The Presidential Council is tasked with guiding through a transition to end the political chaos and armed… Continue reading Libya’s Presidential Council Calls for Transfer of Power to Unity Government

MILAN/TRIPOLI, March 20 – Italy’s coast guard said more than 900 migrants were rescued in four separate operations in the Strait of Sicily on Saturday, while Libyan authorities said they had rescued nearly 600 migrants from four boats, one of which sank. A spokesman for Libyan naval forces, Ayoub Qassem, said the bodies of four… Continue reading Italy Rescues 910 Boat Migrants, Nearly 600 Saved Off Libya

UNITED NATIONS, March 15 – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Morocco’s foreign minister on Monday he was angered and disappointed by a demonstration in Rabat he said was a personal attack on him over remarks he made about the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Tens of thousands of Moroccans marched though the capital on Sunday… Continue reading U.N. Chief Furious With Morocco Over Western Sahara Demonstration

LONDON, March 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – At least 80 million children living in areas affected by war or natural disaster had their education disrupted last year, leaving them prey to child labour, trafficking and extremism, experts said on Thursday. Many humanitarian aid appeals for 2015 ignored education, and aid appeals for education were only… Continue reading War, Disasters Disrupt Education of 80 Million Children

LONDON, March 16 – Some 650 million people, or one in 10 of the world’s population, do not have access to safe water, putting them at risk of infectious diseases and premature death. Dirty water and poor sanitation can cause severe diarrhoeal diseases in children, killing 900 under-fives a day across the world, according to… Continue reading On World Water Day, 650 Million People Can’t Get a Safe Drink

TEL AVIV, March 9 – An American tourist was stabbed to death and at least nine other people were wounded by a Palestinian armed with a knife on a popular boardwalk in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, authorities said, while U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was in a meeting a few kilometres (miles) away. The attack… Continue reading Palestinian Kills U.S. Tourist in Stabbing Spree on Tel Aviv Boardwalk

March 9 – Amid Yemen’s misery, two young women living in the war-damaged cities of Aden and Sanaa know they are among the relatively fortunate. They are not starving, their homes have not been destroyed and they have survived bombs and bullets unscathed. But both long to escape the conflict plunging their country ever deeper… Continue reading Yemen War Generates Widespread Suffering, But Few Refugees

TUNIS, March 7 – Islamist fighters attacked army and police barracks in the Tunisian town of Ben Guerdan near the Libyan border on Monday and at least 45 people, including civilians, were killed in the clashes, residents and the Interior Ministry said. Authorities sealed off the nearby beach resort town of Djerba, a popular destination… Continue reading Militants, Tunisian Forces Clash in Border Town, 45 Killed