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A military helicopter that was part of the eastern Libya army force commanded by strongman Khalifa Hifter was shot down Friday and contact has been lost with the crew members, an army spokesman said.

Faisal Ahbale told The Associated Press that the helicopter was struck in central Libya, where the air forces waged at least nine airstrikes throughout the day targeting militias known as Benghazi Defense Brigades.

The militias are a mixture of Islamic militants and former rebels who were recently defeated by Hifter's forces in Benghazi, Libya' second largest city. Two months ago, suspected militias struck a military helicopter in Benghazi, but its crew members survived.

Ahbale said that it's not clear yet what kind of weapon was used to down the helicopter.

In a statement carried by al-Nabaa TV network, the militias said that it shot down a helicopter and described the attack as "significant" but declined to give more details on the site of the helicopter. It also said that one of the crew members were killed while the other is still missing.

Ahbale said the militias were advancing toward a key oil field in the hands of the army and called al-Mabrouk, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the so-called Oil Crescent a geographical region along the central part of Libya's Mediterranean Sea coast where most oil terminals are located.

He said five militiamen were killed and 20 wounded.

Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 civil war, which ended with the killing of the longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country has been split into two competing parliaments and governments, and each is back by a set of militias, tribes and political factions.

In 2015, the United Nations in an attempt to seal the rift brokered a peace deal aimed at creating a national unity government. Members arrived in the capital last year but since then have failed to win a crucial vote of confidence from the internationally recognized parliament seated in eastern Libya.

Hifter's army is allied with the parliament and has been engaged in a years-long campaign against Islamic militants, mainly in Benghazi but recently across the eastern region, where the forces have taken control over the oil crescent.

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Army Helicopter Downed in Fighting Near Libyan Oil Field - ABC News

By Ahmed Elumami | TRIPOLI

TRIPOLI Mayors from Libya's desert south to its northern shores fear a deal between Tripoli and Rome to fund migrant holding centers in this north African country will simply shift Europe's migration crisis onto Libyan soil.

The Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Italy has become the main crossing point for asylum seekers and economic migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Last year, Italy recorded its record number of arrivals and many migrants drowned at sea.

The deal foresees European Union money for holding centers in towns and cities along the main human trafficking routes criss-crossing Libya, as well as training and equipment to fight the smugglers.

Reuters contacted Libyan mayors to hear their reactions to the deal, and they were not positive.

"Our priority is to support our own sons instead of allowing for illegal migrants in centers," said Hamed Al-Khyali, mayor of the southern city of Sabha, a migrant smuggling hub.

"If the Europeans want to allow them to stay, they can have them in their own lands, which are larger, but not in Libya, because we have our own problems to take care of."

Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 toppling of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, enabling smuggling gangs to develop entrenched networks.

Smugglers typically demand thousands of dollars from migrants for a risky journey across the desert before cramming them onto ill-equipped boats for a perilous crossing of the Mediterranean. An estimated 4,500 migrants drowned in 2016.

The agreement will depend heavily on the cooperation of local authorities along the smuggling routes because the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli exerts little effective control over much of the country.

Several mayors said they were not notified of the accord before it was struck.

The agreement, which has the backing of EU leaders, pledges support for "reception camps" where migrants can be held "until their deportation or their voluntary return to their countries of origin".

Some migrant detention centers already exist in Libya. A U.N. report in December said migrants in Libya were exposed to widespread abuse in the centers, which are generally controlled by armed groups, although some have official status.

The report also said some local officials were collaborating with the smugglers.

'DANGEROUS STEP'

Hussein Thwadi, mayor of the western coastal city of Sabratha, the departure point most frequently used for Mediterranean crossings by smugglers in Libya right now, said keeping migrants in Libya would be a "dangerous step".

"The idea of allowing illegal migrants to stay in Libya and providing good conditions for their livelihood is rejected by Libyans and by the authorities too," Thwadi said.

The migrant crisis was too great for Libyan authorities to handle, the mayor said. "The problem of illegal migration must be solved internationally."

Most migrant-smuggling boats launch from western Libya.

Mayors in the southern towns of Kufra, Murzuq and Ghat also told Reuters by telephone that they were against the agreement for similar reasons.

Authorities in eastern Libya, who oppose the U.N.-backed government and hold sway over swathes of the south used by the human traffickers, this week rejected the Italian-Libyan deal.

Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano on Thursday said this came as no surprise.

"We got ourselves a good deal, but it's not a magic wand, it doesn't mean that tomorrow morning all the problems will be resolved," Alfano told reporters in Rome.

This week the EU said it would try to protect migrants in Libya and increase voluntary repatriations through closer cooperation with the U.N. refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration.

Both agencies have said that Libya should not be considered a safe country to hold migrants and process asylum requests.

The two agencies' heads, together with the U.N. human rights chief and the U.N. Libya envoy, called on Friday for a "comprehensive approach" to tackling migrant and refugee flows in Libya, stressing the need to look at driving factors behind the crisis while "improving regular pathways" for migrants.

(Additional reporting by Antonella Cinelli and Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

BEIJING/WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump changed tack and agreed to honor the "one China" policy during a phone call with China's leader Xi Jinping, a major diplomatic boost for Beijing which brooks no criticism of its claim to self-ruled Taiwan.

MOSCOW Slovenia would be a good place for a first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia's Vladimir Putin said on Friday, but he said the choice of venue would not be Moscow's alone.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico's home-grown populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tapped into wide discontent with the ruling party and resentment toward Donald Trump to make a bid for the center ground, raising his chances of winning the presidency next year.

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Libya mayors say Europe's migration crisis should not be dumped on them - Reuters

ByStephen Beard

February 09, 2017 | 8:33 AM

Alongside its debt crisis, the European Union has been grappling with another major problem: unwanted migration. Last year, more than a million men, women and children refugees and irregular, economic migrants poured into the bloc, putting a big strain on public services and leading to the re-imposition of border controls between some of the member states. A deal between the EU and Turkey eventually reduced to a trickle the flow of incomers from the east, but the influx from North Africa is increasing, and with tragic consequences. Of the tens of thousands of migrants who reached Europe from the south after paying smugglers to get them across the Mediterranean, 4,500 perished in the attempt.

In a bid to stop this human traffic and save lives, the EU has now offered a second deal, this time with Libya.

The deal emerged from a recent summit of EU leaders in Malta and represents a new and controversial way of curbing migration. British Prime Minister Theresa May, who took part in the summit, described the initiative as a comprehensive and coordinated approach to tackling one of the biggest challenges facing Europe.

The leaders agreed to pour millions of euros into beefing up the Libyan coast guard to stop people smugglers and to step up search and rescue operations. But far more controversially, the EU also offered to set up and fund refugee camps in southern Libya where people who are trying to reach Europe could be held and have their asylum claims processed. Human rights groups are aghast.

If Europe is admitting that it will struggle to meet the needs of refugees, how on earth can it expect a country, which barely has a functioning government, to do it?" asked Nick Dearden of the Global Justice campaign group.

This is not about saving migrant lives. This is simply about giving some money probably a lot of it will be taken from the aid budget to keep people where they are and push that burden onto other countries, he said.

The United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur has also entered the fray over the EUs new deal. Professor Francois Crepeau accused the European Council of pandering to anti-immigrant feeling for political reasons in order to stave off any populist backlash in the upcoming general elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany this year.

No one at the European Council headquarters in Brussels was prepared to comment.

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EU pins hopes on migrant deal with Libya - Marketplace - Marketplace.org

Cameras from Washington, D.C.s ABC affiliate, WJLA-TV, recently capturedangry protesters blocking Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from entering a DC public school.

Protesters created a barricade that blocked DeVos vehicle from entering the premises, holding up signs that read Black Lives Matter and Same on Mike Pence. The crowd chanted Stop DeVos and build black futures as they surrounded the vehicle.

Later, as DeVos was being escorted away, the crowd followed her and continuously shouted shame! as she was escorted away from Jefferson Middle School. One man yelled go back! andaccused her of buying her way into her position.

Keep giving money to Senate and buying your way into the position, one of the angry protesters said. You should be so proud of yourself!

She does not represent anything that they stand for, another protester shouted, presumably about the school she was attempting to visit.

As the car she was escorted into pulled away, one of the protesters attempted to block the car while holding up a Black Lives Matter sign.

The idea that DeVos, a billionaire philanthropist who has donated heavily to Republicans, bought her way into her position as Education Department secretary and isnt qualified for the jobispopular among her left-wing opponentsand has beencirculated in such liberaloutlets as the Huffington Post and Vox. The Rolling Stonealleges that DeVos bought herself a nice little Cabinet position and summarizes just how much money she and her family have given up to the Republican Party.

It cost her $115,000 in personal donations to sitting Republican senators; $950,000 more has flowed in from the DeVos family over the last three and a half decades. And another $8.3 million from the DeVoses has gone to Republican super PACs in the last two election cycles alone. Not cheap! But it got the job done.

Herappointment has been fraught with oppositiondue in large part to her avid support of charter and private schools and opposition federal control over state education systemsand was capped off with Vice President Mike Pences tie-breaking votein the SenateTuesday to confirm her. Aside from a change.org petition that reached over 400,000 signatures that requested she not be confirmed, many have stated they will now be homeschooling their children afterward, interestingly something that DeVos has long supported.

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Video: Black Lives Matter protesters physically block Betsy DeVos from entering a DC school - TheBlaze.com

Western New Mexico University students celebrated Black History Month with a Black Lives Matter talent show at the Fine Arts Center Theatre on Tuesday night. The student-initiated, student-organized event showcased 10 judged performers, as well as professional artists from Albuquerque, to acknowledge widespread violence against black Americans.

Hakim Bellamy, former Albuquerque poet laureate, television personality and friend to WNMU, opened the night with a spoken word performance with fellow Albuquerque poet Colin Diles. For the rest of the evening, the pair acted as emcees for the showcase, introducing the parade of WNMU student acts. Those ranged from emotional renditions of hit songs to recitations of original poems, performed before an audience of more than 150.

I was so happy with the turnout and the reception, said WNMU graduate student and organizer Lauren Daizey. We got our point across with that event and brought the community together, which is the most important. We saw more students at this event than at most that happen on campus.

The point Daizey referred to was that crimes against African Americans are still too prevalent and we have to stop them. Organizers illustrated that point and advertised Tuesdays event with crime scenes spread across campus, complete with the white outlines of bodies on the ground.

They were making people aware that were not talking about history. Were talking about the present, said Emma Bailey, co-founder of the WNMU Center for Gender Equity, which sponsored the event.

They wanted to celebrate Black Lives on campus, said Lydia Huerta, another Center for Gender Equity founder. They wanted to bring a perspective that needs to be heard.

While turnout and reception from the audience encouraged organizers, the event did suffer some disappointment early in the day. Late Monday night, organizers hung a #BlackLivesMatter banner high above the front steps of the Fine Arts Center Theatre. By 11:30 a.m., it had been removed and taken away. Bailey and Huerta contacted the campuss head of custodial services to find out if it was the university itself that removed the banner, which students made for an event in 2016 and previously fluttered outside the Center for Gender Equity. Bailey said that the head custodian said he knew nothing about it.

Organizers still do not know who removed the banner.

Benjamin Fisher may be reached at ben@scdailypress.com.

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Black Lives Matter event draws crowd - Silver City Daily Press and Independent