A Libyan court suspended an energy exploration deal that the Tripoli government signed last year with Turkey, a judiciary source said, pausing an agreement that angered other Mediterranean powers and inflamed Libya's internal crisis. The agreement had included scope for oil and gas exploitation in waters that Ankara and Tripoli have declared as their own, which are clearly in Egypt and Greece EEZ zones. The deal had spurred rivalry in the eastern Mediterranean and played into a political standoff in Libya between the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, in western Libya, and an eastern-based parliament that rejects its legitimacy. Turkey sent military aid to Tripoli in 2019 to help the then internationally recognised government there ward off an assault on the capital by eastern forces in the civil war, which Egypt backed. Later that year, Ankara and Tripoli struck a deal to establish a maritime boundary in eastern Mediterranean waters also disputed by Egypt and Turkey's historic rival Greece, prompting both those countries to reject the agreement.

The Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry delivered a note verbale to the Libyan embassy in Athens, refuting claims of ‘illegal’ actions by seismic research vessel ‘Sanco Swift’, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday. According to the ministry, the maritime research south of the Peloponnese and southwest of Crete is carried out in regions of Greek jurisdiction, according to the rules of the international law of the sea. The coordinates of the regions where research is taking place are accessible to all interested parties through relevant Navtex announcements. In addition, the Greek ministry underlines that these illegal memorandums ignore and volate Greece’s sovereign rights over its continental shelf, as well as its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Exclusive Economic Zone. Thanks for reading Hellenic News of America Subscribe to HNASOURCE; ANA-MPA

A Libyan Court, on Monday, suspended an energy exploration deal that the Tripoli government signed last year with Turkiye, a judiciary source said, thus pausing an agreement that angered other Mediterranean powers and inflamed Libya's own internal crisis, Reuters reports. The deal had spurred rivalry in the eastern Mediterranean and played into a political standoff in Libya between the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, in western Libya, and an eastern-based Parliament which rejects its legitimacy. READ: Turkiye, Libya sign agreements on hydrocarbon, gasLater that year, Ankara and Tripoli struck a deal to establish a maritime boundary in eastern Mediterranean waters, also disputed by Egypt and Turkey's historic rival Greece, prompting both those countries to reject the agreement. It has maintained close ties with Turkiye and, in October, struck the preliminary deal on energy exploration that the court suspended on Monday. Libya, the third largest oil producer in North Africa, has been in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising ousted autocrat, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011.

Last week, during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023, RealWear debuted its Navigator 520 augmented reality (AR)/assistive reality headset for frontline workers. RealWear went live last week to discuss the Navigator 520 product. Prospective buyers can purchase the RealWear Navigator 520 product via official resellers for $2700, with a 1-year warranty. The RealWear Navigator 520 device allows a frontline team to communicate or send resources to help with on-site operations. RealWear Cloud also comes with Cloud Assistance, a sister application which provides a secure avenue for scaling frontline RealWear AR device adoption.

Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh held talks on Tuesday with the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), Saddek Elkaber, at the bank’s Tripoli headquarters to discuss government spending for the year 2022, according to a statement by CBL. The two also reviewed “steps to be taken for the current year to increase disclosure and transparency, as well as the need to ensure fair distribution of development projects,” as per CBL’s statement.

The Tripoli Court of Appeal ruled to suspend implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed between Turkey and the Libyan Government of National Unity regarding oil and gas exploration, according to local media. In early October 2022, the Tripoli-based government and Turkey signed today two memorandum of understandings on hydrocarbons. The deal is based on an maritime border deal signed between the two countries three years ago. The European Union have declared that Turkey’s agreement with Libya is “against Law of the Sea and infringes on third states’ rights.”

Speaking through an interpreter, the suspect in court for the brief hearing in the eastern Dutch city of Zwolle told judges that he was a victim of mistaken identity. Prosecutors believe he is Tewelde Goitom and say they have witnesses who have identified him. The Dutch national forensics lab is carrying out an investigation to confirm his identity. Dutch prosecutors say they have jurisdiction to put him on trial because some of his alleged crimes happened in the Netherlands. The suspect's Dutch lawyer, Richard van der Weide, told judges he would likely challenge the court's jurisdiction at a later hearing.

Russia still has forces in Libya to support the LNA in eastern Libya. Combat in Libya has largely disappeared because of the stalemate imposed by the Turkish occupation forces. Not what Libya produces, but potential underwater deposits in waters between Libya and Turkey. There is no united government of Libya so the GNU could not pledge Libya to support the Turkish claims. Before the discovery of oil, Libya was a very poor country, or just a region, with far fewer people, a status it had maintained for thousands of years.

The head of Libya’s Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Menfi, could have a meeting with Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al Sisi, during his ongoing visit to Cairo, Italian news agency Nova reports citing unnamed Egyptian sources. In the past few days, Cairo has been the scene for several encounters between Libya’s rival parties. Yesterday, Menfi held a meeting in Cairo with General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. “It would have been better not to exclude anyone from these negotiations”. The same sources reportedly said that Egypt will not change its position on the question of the demarcation of the maritime borders between Egypt and Libya.

TRIPOLI, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday that 1,067 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya in the past week. "In the period of 1-7 January, 1,067 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya," IOM said in a statement. The rescued migrants included 53 women and 10 children, it added. In 2022, 24,684 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, the IOM revealed, adding 525 migrants died and 848 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route. Rescued migrants usually end up inside overcrowded reception centers across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close them and release the migrants.

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) Libyan Presidential Council Chairman Mohamed Menfi and Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar held a meeting in Cairo, an advisor to the Presidential Council chairman told Sputnik. Earlier, a number of Libyan media, citing a source, reported a meeting in Cairo on Monday between the LNA commander and the head of the Presidential Council. According to media reports, the meeting discussed the settlement of the intra-Libyan crisis. "I do confirm that they are in Cairo and held a meeting," the advisor said, without providing details of the talks. According to a Sputnik source close to Menfi, Libyan politicians "will continue their meetings in Cairo on Tuesday in the presence of Egyptian officials."

The Ministry of Finance of the Government of National Unity (GNU) said that the state’s revenues for the past year amounted to more than 134.4 billion dinars, and the total expenditures for the same year exceeded 127 billion and 800 million dinars. In its disclosure and transparency report, the Ministry of Finance clarified that the temporary financial arrangements allocated to the National Oil Corporation (NOC) amounted to more than 34 billion and 200 million dinars. The Ministry also said that spending on salaries exceeded 47 billion and 100 million dinars, while steering expenses amounted to more than 8 billion and 900 million dinars. It indicated that the subsidies' section amounted to more than 20 billion dinars, while the expenses of the projects and support programs amounted to more than 17.4 billion dinars.

The trial of the two men accused of killing 20-year old Sion Grech has begun. Mr. Justice Aaron Bugeja is presiding over the jury of Ismael Habesh, 51 from Libya and Faical Mahouachi, 55, from Tunisia, who are both on trial for the 2005 murder, which took place in Marsa. Grech, a transgender woman whose birthname was Simon, had been found in a field two weeks after her disappearance in April that year. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Ishmael Psaila are defence counsel to Habesh, while lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace is defending Mahouachi. The name of the victim has been changed to refer to the correct name

European and Middle Eastern governments have exploited the Libyan conflict to advance narrow self-interests — often at the expense of the Libyan people. Still, the U.N. mission has notched several notable achievements since its 2011 establishment, including the signing of the Libyan Political Agreement (2015) and the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (2020). For the United States, the political upheaval in Libya was occurring in Europe’s backyard and therefore primarily Europe's responsibility to resolve. UNSMIL’s mandate now reflects the need to achieve a cease-fire and limit the proliferation of arms and materiel. Encouraging the United States to take a tougher stance with respect to the UAE and Egypt in particular would be meaningful.

Apple will likely announce its anticipated mixed reality (MR) device in the spring of this year, ahead of the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, reports show. Power On: Apple is planning to debut the Reality Pro mixed-reality headset this spring, ahead of WWDC, and ship it later in the year. Up until fairly recently, Apple had aimed to introduce the headset in January 2023 and ship it later this year. Jeff Pu, Haitong International Tech Research analyst, explained that Apple could push back the headset up to 2026. The new device is an “all-in-one XR headset” with a lightweight form factor and diopter dial-based inter-pupillary distance (IPD) adjustment.