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On Tuesday, the Libyan authorities announced the release of 63 Egyptian migrants who were detained by human traffickers in a warehouse in the eastern city of Al-Bayda.

The Spokesman for the Anti-Illegal Migration Agency, Hassan Bouakrim said that the migrants had been kidnapped for ransom by smugglers.

He noted that the migrants came to Libya as a transit station to reach Italy. They were deceived by human smugglers who pledged to take them to Italy. They then kidnapped them to blackmail their families and demand a ransom for their release, Bouakrim said.

He added that the migrants were tortured by the smugglers. They were then handed to the Anti-Illegal Immigration branch in the city of Shahat. They will receive medical examinations and will get the necessary medical care, he explained.

Notably, Libya continues to suffer from disappearances, rape, kidnappings, and murder.The country ranked 20th among the insecure countries, according to the Numbeo Crime Index. The war-torn country was rated 62.00 in the crime index, a high rating.

Earlier in July, the Sabratha Security Directorate announced the arrest of a group of migrants who were preparing to travel to Europe by sea.

In a statement, the Directorate indicated that its security patrols were able to raid a den used to smuggle migrants. It added that this was an implementation of the security plan to secure the city during the Eid Al-Adha holiday.

The statement confirmed that legal measures were taken regarding the incident, the smugglers were detained, and are being referred to the competent authorities.

Read more:
Dozens of Egyptian Migrants Freed in East Libya - See

Tripoli: In Tripolis Old City, young Libyans weave delicate patterns with threads of silver and gold to create traditional filigree jewellery - reviving an art almost lost through decades of dictatorship and war.

Abdelmajid Zeglam is just 12 years old, but his minutely detailed creations are already selling fast in the streets around a Roman-era archway dedicated to emperor Marcus Aurelius.

I hesitated at first for fear of failing because Im young, but my mum encouraged me, Zeglam said.

He is the youngest of 20 or so students, around half of them female, studying at the Libyan Academy for Traditional Gold and Silver Crafts, in a building that once served as a French consulate to the Ottoman Empire.

Trainees learn about precious metal alloys before studying the art of filigree, in which beads and threads of the precious materials are woven into intricate designs then soldered together to create jewellery.

I love it, Zeglam said. I want to become a petroleum engineer in the mornings and a jeweller in the afternoons.

Mohamed al-Miloudi, a 22-year-old civil engineering student in a baseball cap, said he had not missed a class since signing up in September.

Its a hobby, but Id like to make it into my trade, he said.

The institutes founder, Abdelnasser Aboughress, said filigree jewellery was an ancient tradition in the North African country.

Craftsmen in the medina of Tripoli were trained by Jewish masters and later by Arabs, at the prestigious School of Arts and Trades founded in the late 19th century, he said.

Secret jewellers

But generations of tradition were abruptly halted after Muammar Gaddafi took power in a 1969 coup.

The ruler scrapped the constitution and established his jamahiriya - a medley of socialism, Arab nationalism and tribal patronage.

He also scrapped the private sector, seizing companies and confiscating their assets.

Overnight, self-employed artisans lost everything: their workshops, their livelihoods and their students.

The state reduced Libyan crafts to nothing and forced a generation of young apprentices, who should have taken up the baton, to instead leave the traditional crafts and join the army or become civil servants, said Aboughress.

The 55-year-old was born just a few streets away in the medina, and despite Gaddafis ban, he took up the craft at the age of 15.

Along with his father, for decades he worked in secret on jewellery for trusted clients.

Now, he hopes to pass the craft on to younger generations, as well as fighting back against a tide of lower-quality jewellery imported from Egypt and China (which) has flooded the market.

Aboughress is working on a project to document and preserve as much of this cultural heritage as possible.

People with passion

Student Fatima Boussoua hit out at the practice of selling old Libyan silver jewellery at cheap prices to be exported then melted down.

Its part of Libyas artisanal heritage thats disappearing! she said.

A dentist in her 40s who also teaches at the University of Tripoli, Boussoua has been training at the centre for the past year, hoping to master the craft.

We should be training artists to preserve our heritage, she said. All it needs is people with passion.

While becoming a true expert takes years of training, Aboughresss students are already producing works for sale online or at the centre itself.

That said, he admits the project needs financial help to buy the expensive raw materials - as well as moral support.

He hopes that with enough resources, he will one day be able to set up a string of other workshops across Libya.

Its time to bring this craft back to life, he said.

The rest is here:
Libya traditional jewellery hangs on by silver thread - Gulf News

The sister of an activist critical of Khalifa Haftar has been kidnapped with her 20-day-old baby, as well as her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, her father Saeed Al-Farsi said on Saturday.

Al-Farsi appeared in a video recording saying that the "Twenty" unit headed by Ali Al-Mashai -a militiaman of the Tariq bin Ziyad militia affiliated with Haftar- is responsible for the kidnapping of his daughter Nada and her children.

The militia seized Nada to force her sister Nadin, who is an activist opposing Haftar, to close her Facebook account, which she used to expose the militias' violations, the father says.

Earlier, the activist Nadine Al-Farsi published a phone recording of her with the militiaman Ali Al-Mashai, in which he threatened to kidnap her sister if Nadin did not close her Facebook page.

Later, Nadin broadcast a video clip of her sister, Nada, after she was seized, while they were talking to her via a video call.

Haftar's militia allowed Nada to talk to her family, to absorb the anger of the public after a video clip of her father announcing the kidnapping of his daughter went rival online, Nadin says.

Women in Haftar- controlled areas are facing risks of kidnapping and extrajudicial killings, as human rights activist Hanan Al-Barasi was killed in broad daylight by Haftars militias, and before that, MP Siham Sergewa disappeared after a militia attacked her home, as well as activist Iftikhar Abu Dhraa and many others who were subjected to such crimes.

Read the original:
Sister of Haftar opposition activist kidnapped with her children in Benghazi - The Libya Observer

Welcome to todays Morning Brief, where were looking at the Russian President Vladimir Putin-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meeting in Sochi, Russia; more fallout from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis Taiwan visit; and Senegals election results.

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Erdogan and Putin Meet Again

Welcome to todays Morning Brief, where were looking at the Russian President Vladimir Putin-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meeting in Sochi, Russia; more fallout from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis Taiwan visit; and Senegals election results.

If you would like to receive Morning Brief in your inbox every weekday, please sign uphere.

Erdogan and Putin Meet Again

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, today in the Russian resort town of Sochi, with the two leaders set to discuss military invasionsboth potential and ongoing.

Putin and Erdogan last met less than three weeks ago in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Despite their differences over the war in Ukraine (Ankara is a major arms supplier to Kyiv), their countries have made diplomatic strides.

The most striking has been a deal to resume Ukraines grain shipments from its remaining Black Sea ports. The agreement, which was also facilitated by the United Nations, was the first positive step in relations between Russia and Ukraine since the invasion began and has already borne some fruit. The first shipment from Odesa, Ukraine, since the war began is on its way to the Lebanese port of Tripoli with around 27,000 tons of corn on board.

The two men have good reasons to keep up a good working relationship. For Putin, Erdogan serves as a reliable spoiler on NATO policy as well as a willing customer for Russian gas. For Erdogan, Putin helps showcase Turkeys independent foreign policy as well as keep the lights on at home: Russia supplies 45 percent of Turkeys gas, and Russias Rosatom is constructing a nuclear plant on Turkeys Mediterranean coast, which is expected to power 10 percent of the countrys domestic energy needs when fully operational.

Todays talks are expected to continue a topic pursued in Tehran: Turkeys impending invasion of Syria. In an echo of Moscows description of its war in Ukraine, Ankara describes the incursion as a special military operation.

Erdogan has stated his desire to establish a 30-kilometer [19-mile] deep security zone that extends from the Turkish border into Syrian territory and one that is likely to come dangerously close to Russian, Syrian, and Iran-backedforces.

The move is seen as a direct assault on Kurdish militias in the region, including the Peoples Defense Units (YPG), which make up the majority of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. When Turkey sees the YPG, it also sees the the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group deemed terrorists by Turkey, the United States, and European Union.

As FPs Anchal Vohra wrote in June, there is also a supposedly humanitarian fig leaf attached to Erdogans machinations. Faced with rising anti-refugee sentiment at homewhich could pose an electoral threat to Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2023, as Idil Karsit explained in an FP profile of far-right leader Umit Ozdag last monththe Turkish leader has announced plans to resettle 1 million Syrian refugees in the newly created safe zones.

Todays meeting can be seen as another attempt by Erdogan to deconflict with a major military power before going all in. Erdogan really wants to get his ducks in a row so he can launch a further operation in northern Syria, and he really needs to make sure that theres no risk of Russia intervening in direct opposition to Turkish forces, Howard Eissenstat, a Turkey expert at St. Lawrence University and the Middle East Institute, told Foreign Policy.

Theres an obvious electoral benefit for Erdogan in stirring up nationalism before an election, but theres more at stake than optics, Eissenstat said.

Theres a profound sense from the national security establishment that the YPG needs to be ended, in particular because of its relationship with the U.S., and as a political determination on the part of the AKP to appear to be doing something with regard to refugees, he said.

The United States, which considers the YPG a key partner in its war against the Islamic State in Syria, has repeatedly cautioned against the incursion. But, Eissenstat saiddespite the leverage Washington has over Turkey in terms of military sales and economic mightthe decision might be one the White House is unwilling to make given the many sensitive diplomatic issues at play.

Eissenstat cautioned against underestimating Ankaras will, no matter what Washington thinks. I think that we often assume that the biggest kid in the room gets to decide who gets the cookies, but sometimes its whos closestand who wants it more.

Senegals election. Senegals ruling coalition has lost its parliamentary majority, the countrys electoral commission said on Thursday as provisional results were released. President Macky Salls Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition won 82 out of 165 seats, one short of a majority, in a reversal from its 2017 performance, when it won 125 seats. The result is likely to influence Salls plans to run for a third term in 2024, a decision he has yet to publicly make.

Taiwan fallout. Chinese missiles flew over Taiwan on Thursday and five landed in Japanese territorial waters as part of Chinese military drills launched in response to the visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island.

The Wednesday visit has already shown signs of heightening regional tensions: China already canceled a meeting with the Japanese foreign minister over a G-7 statement criticizing China over Taiwan.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is suspected of distancing himself from the rhetorical conflict: He did not meet Pelosi as she stopped in Seoul on Thursday, with the Blue House stating that the president was on a previously scheduled vacation. Pelosi is in Japan today, the final stop on her Asia tour.

Blinkens travels. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Philippines this weekend, where he is expected to meet with new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Blinken will then travel to South Africa, where hes due to launch the U.S. Sub-Saharan Africa strategy before heading to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. As FPs Robbie Gramer reports, the new strategy is expected to present a shift away from a military-focused view of engagement on the continent as Washington attempts to compete with growing Russian and Chinese influence.

Griner sentenced. U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was handed a nine-year prison sentence by a Russian court on Thursday following her arrest for marijuana possession in February. U.S. President Joe Biden called the verdict unacceptable as his administration negotiates a prisoner-swap agreement, likely to include Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

French mayor Jean-Marc Peillexwhose town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains is a favored launch point for mountain climbers looking to climb Frances highest peak, Mont Blanchas called for future adventurers to first pay a 15,000-euro (or $15,248) deposit to cover the costs of rescue (or their demise).

Peillex has decried the rise of pseudo-mountaineers, who he says are putting too much strain on local authorities.

People want to climb with death in their backpacks, Peillex wrote on Twitter. So lets anticipate the cost of having to rescue them, and for their burial, because its unacceptable that French taxpayers should foot the bill.

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Erdogan Meets Putin to Push Syria Operation - Foreign Policy

Poor Mike Pence. The former Republican vice president apparently thinks he has a chance to win the GOP nomination for president even after an angry mob of Republicans stormed the U.S. Capitol with the intention of hanging him for betraying their dear leader, Donald Trump. So Pence is running around the country making speeches in front of small audiences as if he has a snowball's chance in hell of winning a national election again when the sad fact is that he is a man without a constituency.

Republicans who loved Pence when he was Trump's most ardent disciple consider him a traitor. Those who respect him for doing the job every vice president who came before him had done on January 6 still loathe him for all of the years he spent ostentatiously licking Trump's boots. There might be a handful of GOP officials and operatives who look at Pence and see a sort of ghostly George W. Bush (whose vocal delivery he shamelessly apes), and the press, of course, wants to cast him as a viable Trump rival. But the truth is that Mike Pence is a walking piece of Wonderbread toast.

Notably, Pence and Trump have been holding competing public appearances for the last couple of weeks. Down in Arizona,Trump held a rallyfor a couple of wildly extreme GOP candidates for governor and senate, Kari Lake and Blake Masters, as well as a few kooky down ballot endorsees. He gave his usual meandering performance, delighting the large crowd with many of his greatest hits. At the microphone, Lake praised the former president for his inspiration:

"President Trump taught us how to fight and I took a few notes. That's why I go after the fake news because he showed us how to do it. He gave us the game plan and he showed us exactly how to stand up and fight. Republicans need to fight back"

Trump made it very clear that he was going to keep fighting, telling the crowd, "I ran twice and I won twice and I did much better than the second time than the first, getting millions more votes in 2020 than in 2016 and now, we may have to do it again."

Mike Pence is a walking piece of Wonderbread toast.

Across town, Mike Pence wasspeaking at a rallyof about 300 people on behalf of Kari Lake's opponent, Karrin Taylor Robson, whom he described as the true conservative in the race as if anyone cares about that anymore. Pence's big zinger of the night was a swipe at Lake "Arizona Republicans don't need a governor that supported Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton" which he delivered like a blast of foghorn. Nobody mentioned Jan. 6 or the 2020 election.

As it happens, the two former allies also held opposing speeches just a few days later in Washington D.C. Trump returned to the scene of the crime to ostensibly give a policy address at theAmerica First Policy Institute, a Trump-allied "think tank" and slush fund devoted to the former president and culture war propaganda, while Pence spoke at theYoung America's Foundation. The media portrayed these two speeches as a clash of visions for the Republican Party, with Trump offering his patented hellscape view of "American Carnage," complete with his laundry list of grievances about the allegedly stolen 2020 election, while Pence supposedly offered a fresh look to a brighter future which was interpreted as a jab at his former boss. That jab was most apparently expressed as, "I don't know that the president and I differ on issues, but we may differ on focus." (That's telling him...)

Politico wondered what it all meant:

That difference in focus is at the center of several big questions for Republicansin 2022 and 2024: Which vision do they want the party to follow? Which do they think is more appealing to the voters they need in order to win a majority? And even if they agree with Trump on the issues, is his focus with its dark tone and feedback-loop quality helpful in that pursuit?

But this shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Trump's appeal and Pence's lack of it.

"Issues" as we previously understood them no longer exist in the Republican Party. Trump's "dark tone and feedback-loop quality"arethe issues. It's all about grievance, anger and resentment served up with the juvenile derision and mockery that only a true demagogue can deliver. A bowl of lukewarm water like Mike Pence simply can't serve that no matter how many dramatic pauses he takes in his speeches.

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But the fact that he cannot deliver a crude joke or stick the knife in and twist it with Trumpian glee doesn't mean that Pence isn't running on Trumpism.

Pence's "policy agenda" is full of culture war grievances. He releaseda pamphletlast spring in which he promoted "patriotic" education (meaning shallow jingoism, banning books and refusing to teach the truth about American history and the indigenous, Black and immigrant experiences.) He backs the cruel assault on transgender kids, draconian laws against abortion and all of the other far-right talking points that Trump and every other Republican on the campaign trail are running on. Pence just hasn't weighed in on the Great Replacement Theory, yet, so perhaps that's what defines a sunny moderate these days.

Most importantly, while he doesn't talk about the 2020 election, Pence also hasn't said a word against the attack on democracy that GOP state legislators and other officials are enacting all over the country. If anything, he's enabling them by endorsing the fatuous insistence that "in-person voting" must be enforced and mail-in voting should be (safe, legal and) "rare." There is no reason for any of that except to continue to encourage the false belief that the electoral system has been compromised on behalf of the Democrats. It is, in fact, the Big Lie and Pence is now perpetuating it just as the man who sat idly by while his rabid mob chanted "hang Mike Pence" has done.

Nonetheless, Pence is as obsequious and submissive as ever, refusing to stand up for himself even in face of what Trump did to him that awful day and never saying a harsh word about his former mentor. He's forlornly trying to salvage a political career based entirely on his fervent devotion to the man whom the only people who would vote for him believe he betrayed. Sad isn't the right word to describe it. It's pathetic.

Original post:
Mike Pence can't be president. His devotion to Donald Trump will be his downfall - Salon