High waves swamped the vessel, which had over 80 people aboard, as it made its risky sea voyage towards Europe.

The foreign nationals who carried out the mining were staying illegally in Libya, Tripoli’s attorney general said. He did not say when they were arrested.

The case is linked to allegations he took US$5.3 million stuffed in suitcases from late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi to fund one of his election campaigns.

The contract was signed more than half a year into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in which the Wagner Group under its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was playing a key role on the battlefield.

‘The number of journalists has become an impediment to rescuers’, a minister said, while scientists noted that climate change made the rains that triggered the flooding up to 50 times more likely.

The dams in question are the Jaza Dam – between the partly destroyed city of Derna and Benghazi – and the Qattara Dam near Benghazi.

Amid conflicting reports on the number of dead in the flood, thousands of people are missing, while 891 buildings in the coastal city of Derna are said to be destroyed.

Authorities in Derna race to collect and bury the growing number of flood victims before bodies turn the Libyan coastal city into a massive contamination site.

A global effort to assist stricken Libya gathered pace after huge flash flood slammed into the Mediterranean coastal city of Derna on Sunday.

The responses in both Morocco and Libya – one a stable nation, the other torn by war and ruled by rival governments – show the difficulty of separating humanitarian aid from political considerations.

Authorities in eastern Libya said at least 2,000 people were killed and thousands more were missing after a massive flood ripped through the city of Derna following a heavy storm and rain.

Libya’s foreign minister reportedly flees to Turkey as news of the meeting with her Israeli counterpart caused an uproar in Libya.

The former French premier denies allegations he took money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to fund his victorious 2007 presidential bid. The trial has been scheduled for early 2025.

Italy hosted Mediterranean leaders in Rome at a conference aimed at extending an EU-backed deal with Tunisia to curb the arrival of migrants on European shores.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his grief over the tragedy off the coast of Greece that left more than 500 migrants presumed drowned and said Monday would be observed as a day of mourning.

Dozens of migrants drowned and hundreds more were missing and feared dead after their overloaded boat capsized and sank in one of the Mediterranean’s deepest points.

It was unclear how many passengers might still be in the water or trapped in the sunken vessel, but some initial reports suggested hundreds of people may have been on board.

The warrants are under seal so it is not clear who is targeted or for what crimes specifically, but on its website the court says the focus is alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Air force pilot Alper Gezeravci was selected to be the first Turkish citizen in space. Erdogan made the announcement at the Teknofest aviation and space fair in Istanbul, his first public appearance since falling ill during a TV interview on Tuesday.

Army chief General Abdel Fattah Burhan said he would facilitate the evacuation of Chinese, American, British and French citizens and diplomats from Sudan.

Earlier on Thursday the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna reported that 2.5 tonnes of the material had gone missing from a Libyan site and ‘may present a radiological risk’.