<p><em>Content provided by APO Group. CNBC Africa provides content from APO Group as a service to its readers and does not edit the articles it publishes. CNBC Africa is not responsible for the content provided by APO Group.</em></p>
<p>African Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (4,812,313), deaths (130,025) and recoveries (4,351,816) by region:    Central (172,873 cases; 2,781 deaths; 159,001 recoveries): Burundi (4,650; 6; 4,198), Cameroon (77,982; 1,270; 72,926), CAR (7,085; 97; 6,665), Chad (4,927; 173; 4,742), Congo (11,658; 153; 10,591), DRC (31,386; 782; 27,654), Equatorial Guinea (8,476; 113; 8,146), Gabon (24,365; 150; 21,791), Sao Tome and Principe (2,344; 37; 2,288)    Eastern (647,406; 12,678; 536,199): Comoros (3,949; 146; 3,719), Djibouti (11,523; 153; 11,354), Eritrea (4,022; 14; 3,812), Ethiopia (270,944; 4,139; 235,850), Kenya (170,041; 3,124; 116,018), Madagascar (41,184; 828; 40,028), Mauritius (1,356; 17; 1,181), Rwanda (26,878; 352; 25,542), Seychelles (11,145; 40; 9,936), Somalia (14,647; 768; 6,717), South Sudan (10,688; 115; 10,514), Sudan (35,289; 2,600; 27,949), Tanzania** (509; 21; 178), Uganda (45,231; 361; 43,401)    Northern (1,453,109; 43,808; 1,276,107): Algeria (128,198; 3,586; 89,292), Egypt (259,540; 14,950; 190,254), Libya (184,815; 3,116; 171,279), Mauritania (19,407; 462; 18,377), Morocco (518,458; 9,135; 506,443), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (739; 46; 691), Tunisia (341,952; 12,513; 299,771)    Southern (2,066,519; 64,531; 1,933,721): Angola (33,607; 745; 27,529), Botswana (56,313; 831; 50,494), Eswatini (18,587; 672; 17,855), Lesotho (10,825; 326; 6,434), Malawi (34,323; 1,154; 32,598), Mozambique (70,697; 835; 69,232), Namibia (54,268; 807; 50,053), South Africa (1,654,551; 56,293; 1,551,520), Zambia (94,430; 1,275; 91,443), Zimbabwe (38,918; 1,593; 36,563)    Western (472,406; 6,227; 446,788): Benin (8,058; 101; 7,893), Burkina Faso (13,424; 166; 13,248), Cabo Verde (30,122; 261; 28,163), Côte d&#39;Ivoire (47,195; 301; 46,591), Gambia (5,990; 178; 5,767), Ghana (93,775; 784; 91,853), Guinea (23,110; 161; 20,840), Guinea Bissau (3,760; 68; 3,511), Liberia (2,179; 86; 2,033), Mali (14,262; 516; 9,559), Niger (5,409; 192; 5,080), Nigeria (166,254; 2,071; 156,546), Senegal (41,296; 1,138; 39,932), Sierra Leone (4,140; 79; 3,128), Togo (13,432; 125; 12,644)Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).</p>
<p>Media files</p>
<p></p>


Coronavirus: African Union Member States reporting COVID-19 cases as of 29 May 2021, 9 am EAT

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<p>Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group has extended its partnership with Rwanda and pledged to increase imports from the country. The government of Rwanda agreed to continue its membership in the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) for another three years. Also Rwanda has agreed to take in hundreds of African migrants who are currently being held in Libyan detention centres. To share more on the headlines this week, Journalist, Collins Mwai at The New Times Rwanda joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Alibaba extends import deal with Rwanda


<p>By Pieter Scribante, Economist and Political Analyst</p>



<p>On July 31, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared force majeure on oil production at El-Sharara – Libya’s largest oil field – and on crude oil loadings at the Al-Zawiya port. </p>



<p>This
was prompted by an illegal pipeline valve closure which hinders oil supply from
El-Sharara to the port. Attempts to reopen the valve and restart production are
being prevented by “a local armed group”, according to a statement by the NOC. </p>



<p>This
is the second time in less than ten days that the NOC has halted oil production
at El-Sharara, with the previous force majeure being lifted, after only a few
days, on July 23. The production loss equates to an estimated 290,000 bpd or
roughly $19m a day. </p>



<p>Oil
production has remained remarkably stable over the second quarter despite
events in Tripoli and was recorded at a six year high at an average of
1,155,000 bpd in 2019 Q2 (still well off the pre-2011 revolution average of
around 1.6 mbpd). </p>



<p>The
second quarter’s production signifies a 19.7% q-o-q increase on the 965,000 bpd
recorded in 2019 Q1 when El-Sharara was closed for three months after being
occupied by protesters. </p>



<p>Oil
production is currently below 950,000 bpd, the lowest level since February,
according to the NOC. </p>



<p>NOC
Chairman Mustafa Sanalla stated that “This latest incident only serves to
highlight the fragility of our security environment and the total disregard for
the impact of such acts on the lives of everyday Libyans. The loss of
production at Libya’s largest oilfield severely disrupts power supply to the
grid and the continued funding of basic services. This is most acutely felt by
communities in the South.” </p>



<p>It is unclear when the force majeure will be lifted, but Akakus Oil Operations, a subsidiary of the NOC, is attempting to reopen so that operations can resume.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Libya-graph.png" alt="" class="wp-image-342354" width="341" height="259"/></figure></div>



<p>This
illegal valve closure raises concerns that the ‘unnamed militias’ are either
trying to disrupt oil distribution, thereby reducing the revenue stream of the
Tripoli-based NOC and Government of National Accord (GNA), or they are trying
to bypass them altogether. </p>



<p>There
were reports of illegal oil sales by the NOC based in the country’s east in May
– which would contravene the 2016 UN Security Council resolution that
designated the Tripoli-based institutions as the sole entities with authority
over the sale of Libyan crude oil – but no further developments or details have
emerged since. </p>



<p>Whether
these unnamed militias are associated with the Libyan National Army (LNA) is
unclear; what is clear is that the country’s oil production remains at risk. </p>



<p>Different
armed groups are increasingly likely to take advantage of the security vacuum
left throughout the country, with the LNA spread thin as it tries to take
Tripoli. </p>



<p>The
group, under the leadership of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, continues its
assault on the UN-recognised GNA in the capital. </p>



<p>The
fighting has claimed the lives of almost 1,100 people since fighting began in
April, according to the World Health Organisation.</p>


Op-Ed: Force majeure declared on Libya’s largest oil field

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<p>Violence in Libya has erupted once again, in a seven year long battle over the killing of Muammar Qaddafi. The Libyan National Army, led by Warlord Khalifa Haftar, continues to advance West in a mission to strengthen his control over oil ports. Mohammad Darwazah, Director, Geopolitics and Energy at Medley Global Advisors joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Violence in Libya weighs on oil markets


<p>TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) &#8211; Eastern Libyan forces sought to reach the centre of Tripoli on Monday after their easy advance through desert hit a trickier urban phase, with deaths and displacements mounting and the West aghast at the threat to its peace plan.</p>



<p>Renewed civil war in Libya, splintered into areas of factional control since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. threatens to disrupt oil and gas supplies, trigger more migration to Europe, and allow Islamist militants to exploit the chaos.</p>



<p>The eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) forces of Khalifa Haftar, a former officer in Gaddafi’s army, said 19 of their soldiers had died in recent days as they closed in on the internationally recognised government in Tripoli.</p>



<p>The United Nations said 2,800 people were displaced by clashes and many more could flee, though some were trapped.</p>



<p>The LNA has made air strikes on the south of the city as it seeks to advance into the centre from the disused airport.</p>



<p>But the Tripoli government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, which reported 11 deaths without specifying on which side, has armed groups arriving from nearby Misrata to block the LNA.</p>



<p>Al-Serraj, 59, who comes from a wealthy business family, has run the Tripoli government since 2016 as part of a U.N.-brokered deal boycotted by Haftar.</p>



<p>The LNA, allied with a parallel eastern administration based in Benghazi, took the oil-rich south of Libya earlier this year before its surprisingly fast push towards the coastal capital.</p>



<p>While that advance was straightforward through mostly sparsely populated areas, taking Tripoli is a far bigger challenge.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">U.S. AND U.N. APPEAL FOR TRUCE</h3>



<p>The violence has thrown into doubt a U.N. plan for an April 14-16 conference to plan elections as a way out of the anarchy since the Western-backed toppling of Gaddafi eight years ago.</p>



<p>U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the latest international appeal for talks to end the fighting.</p>



<p>“We have made clear that we oppose the military offensive by Khalifa Haftar’s forces and urge the immediate halt to these military operations against the Libyan capital,” he said.</p>



<p>A contingent of U.S. forces evacuated at the weekend.</p>



<p>The U.N. mission to Libya called on Sunday for a truce for two hours in southern Tripoli to evacuate civilians and wounded, but it did not appear to have been heeded.</p>



<p>Haftar casts himself as a foe of extremism but is viewed by opponents as a new dictator in the mould of Gaddafi, whose four-decade rule saw torture, disappearances and assassinations.</p>



<p>Haftar enjoys the backing of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which see him as a bulwark against Islamists and have supported him militarily, according to U.N. reports.</p>



<p>Forces with the Tripoli government have announced an operation to defence the capital called “Volcano of Anger”.</p>



<p>Allied groups from Misrata down the coast have been moving pickup trucks fitted with machine guns into Tripoli.</p>



<p>The LNA says it has 85,000 men but this includes soldiers paid by the central government that it hopes to inherit. Its elite force, Saiqa (Lightning), numbers some 3,500, while Haftar’s sons also have well-equipped troops, LNA sources say.</p>



<p>Since NATO-backed rebels ousted Gaddafi, Libya has been a transit point for hundreds of thousands of migrants trekking across the Sahara in hope of reaching Europe across the sea.</p>



<p>Reporting by Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli; Additional reporting by Ulf Laessing in Cairo, Tom Miles in Geneva, Diane Bartz in Washington; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Kevin Liffey</p>


What you need to know about the civil war in Libya

<p>Natasha Turak</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/18/libya-biggest-oil-field-is-being-held-hostage.html">Libya&#8217;s biggest oil field is being held hostage, but even that won&#8217;t boost prices</a></p>
<ul>
<li>The protest group, known as the Fezzan Rage Movement, shut down the El Sharara oil field in Libya&#8217;s impoverished southwest earlier this month with the help of security personnel the Petroleum Facilities Guard, a militia known for its clashes with the Islamic State.</li>
<li>The movement of tribesmen is demanding better services from the government, which it claims has marginalized those living in Libya&#8217;s south.</li>
<li>Oil prices have fallen some 30 percent since hitting year-highs in October on concerns of global oversupply and slowing demand growth.</li>
</ul>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/19120242/100992669-libya.1910x1000.jpg" alt="" height="1000" width="1910" data-licensor-name="Leon Neal | AFP | Getty Images"/></p>
<p>Libya&#8217;s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) declared force majeure on operations at its biggest oilfield late Monday night amid a stand-off with armed protesters, expecting a loss of 315,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the OPEC member.</p>
<p>The protest group, known as the Fezzan Rage Movement, shut down the El Sharara oil field in Libya&#8217;s impoverished southwest earlier this month with the help of security personnel the Petroleum Facilities Guard, a militia known for its clashes with the Islamic State. The movement of tribesmen is demanding better services, health sector support, monetary stimulus for the southern region and better protection from the government, which it claims has marginalized those living in Libya&#8217;s south.</p>
<p>But while oil prices saw a slight rebound of about 2 percent one week ago on news of the shutdown,<br />
crude output from the U.S. is so high<br />
 it&#8217;s practically drowned out what would otherwise be a notable disruption in the oil market. Brent crude was trading at 58.54 at 2 p.m. London time on Tuesday, down 1.8 percent on the previous day.</p>
<p>&#8220;In terms of the impact on prices, at present it is struggling to overturn the prevailing bearish bias,&#8221; Stephen Brennock of PVM Oil Associates told CNBC on Tuesday. However, he noted, &#8220;any further unexpected outages could inject some much needed bullish impetus into the oil complex.&#8221;</p>
<p>Oil prices have fallen some 30 percent since hitting year-highs in October on concerns of global oversupply and slowing demand growth. The Energy Information Agency (EIA) projects U.S. shale oil output to top 8 million bpd by the year&#8217;s end and<br />
average a record 12.06 million bpd<br />
 in 2019.</p>
<p>While the crisis does heighten geopolitical risk, said Ehsan Khoman, head of Middle East and North Africa research at MUFG, &#8220;markets remained focused on the more structural concerns that U.S. oil production growth is well north of, and expected to stay, above global demand growth heading into 2019.&#8221;</p>
<p>Libya&#8217;s NOC said that production at El Sharara will only restart after &#8220;alternative security arrangements,&#8221; the Monday statement said, without elaborating.</p>
<p>&#8216;Security backdrop remains tense&#8217;</p>
<p>The North African country of 6.4 million has been struggling to rebuild its energy industry since its 2011 revolution that ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi and the ensuing collapse in central power.</p>
<p>Exempt from OPEC&#8217;s supply cut agreements due to its civil conflict,<br />
Libya was enjoying its highest output levels<br />
 in five years in the latter half of 2018. Production reached 1.28 million bpd as reported in November, up from roughly 500,000 bpd the previous June.</p>
<p>But the latest supply disruption shouldn&#8217;t come as a surprise, regional analysts say, citing the crisis as a timely reminder that this fragile recovery shouldn&#8217;t be taken for granted.</p>
<p>&#8220;The truth of the matter is that the security backdrop remains tense,&#8221; PVM&#8217;s Brennock said. Numerous armed factions still grapple for control and a cut of Libya&#8217;s oil wealth in an environment where the internationally recognized government in the country&#8217;s west is ignored by a separate, yet powerful, independent government in its east. In September, IS militants attacked the NOC headquarters in Tripoli, killing two people.</p>
<p>&#8220;Libya&#8217;s political landscape therefore remains deeply divided and the country continues to be a tinderbox for conflict,&#8221; Brennock continued. &#8220;This is hardly conducive for a sustained recovery in oil production. In short, Libya remains a hotspot of uncertainty and conditions are ripe for further disruptions.&#8221;</p>
<p>Earlier this month NOC warned of &#8220;devastating consequences&#8221; of a production shutdown to both the southern region and Libya&#8217;s economy as a whole, local newspaper the Libyan Observer reported. But it has thus far refused to pay a &#8220;ransom&#8221; to the protesters, saying it would set a dangerous precedent to Libya&#8217;s many other armed groups and endanger yet more oil production facilities.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have decided to close the oilfield in Ubari until our demands are materialized,&#8221; the Fezzan Rage Movement&#8217;s representatives said in a statement last week, referring to the area where the El Sharara field is located.</p>
<p>&#8220;If not, we will close El Feel oilfield as well. Our demands are on the tables of Libyan governments.&#8221; The nearby El Feel oilfield remains operational for now, with production of about 70,000 bpd.</p>
<p/>


Libya’s biggest oil field is being held hostage, but even that won’t boost prices

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<p>Speaking at the diplomatic luncheon in Kigali, President Paul Kagame welcomed the new envoys and went on to address the issue on immigrants stuck in Libya, and African Union reforms.</p>


Rwanda offers to host African migrants stuck in Libya

<p>Libya put 142 illegal migrants on a flight back to Guinea on Wednesday with the help of the U.N. migration agency, officials said, as the North African country steps up deportations to ease severe overcrowding in its detention centres.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-43932 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/flow_of_migrants_reuters.jpg" alt="Europe hopes to stall migration at meeting with Africa" width="600" height="385" /></p>
<p data-reactid="40">The number of people stuck in Libyan detention centres has risen dramatically this year after armed groups largely shut down the boat route to Italy from the smuggling hub of Sabratha.</p>
<p data-reactid="41">The International Organization for Migration flew the Guinean migrants from two western cities to the city of Misrata, from where they boarded a plane for Conakry.</p>
<p data-reactid="42">The deportations come in the wake of a CNN report on migrants being sold for slave labour that sparked an international outcry.</p>
<p data-reactid="43">Migrant flows through Libya have surged since 2014. More than 600,000 people have crossed the central Mediterranean to Italy in the past three years, but departures from Libya’s coast dropped sharply in July when armed groups in Sabratha began preventing boats from leaving.</p>
<p data-reactid="44">After clashes in the western city in September, thousands of migrants held near the coast emerged and were transferred to detention centres under the nominal control of the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli.</p>
<p data-reactid="45">Amnesty International said this month that up to 20,000 people are being held in detention centres and are subject to “torture, forced labour, extortion, and unlawful killings”. Other human rights organisations have said similar things in recent months.</p>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="46">
<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="47">Reporting by Ayman Salhi and Mostafa Salem; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Hugh Lawson</p>
</div>


Libya puts 142 migrants on plane back to Guinea

<p data-reactid="32">Armed men blew up a Libyan pipeline pumping crude oil to Es Sider port on Tuesday, reducing the North African country’s output by around 90,000 barrels a day, military and oil sources said.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-131944 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/hqdefault-50.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="360" /></p>
<p data-reactid="33">The attackers arrived at the site near Marada in two cars and planted explosives on the pipeline, a military source said.</p>
<p data-reactid="34">Pictures purportedly showing a huge cloud from the blast in central eastern Libya circulated on social media.</p>
<p data-reactid="35">The damage was still being assessed, one oil source said. Oil prices rose on the report.</p>
<p data-reactid="36">Islamic State fighters had a presence in the area until government forces expelled them from their main stronghold in Sirte a year ago.</p>
<p data-reactid="37">The operator of the pipeline is Waha, a subsidiary of Libya’s National Oil Corporation and a joint venture with Hess Corp, Marathon Oil Corp and ConocoPhillips.</p>
<p data-reactid="38">Waha pumps a total 260,000 barrels a day, its chairman said last month.</p>
<p data-reactid="39">Libya’s oil production was last put by officials at around one million bpd but exact figures are hard to obtain a country riven by factional conflict.</p>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="40">
<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="41">Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli, Ulf Laessing, Ahmed Elumami and Ahmed Ghaddar; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew Roche</p>
</div>


Blast hits Libyan crude pipeline, cutting output by 90,000 bpd

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<p>Over 4000 Nigerians have been returned from Libya since April this year. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Damilola Ade-Odiachi reports on what happens to these Nigerians upon their return.</p>


What’s next for Nigerian returnees from Libya?

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<p>As Nigerian migrants continue to return home from Libya, CNBC Africa’s Damilola Ade-Odiachi spoke to Chukwu John, one of the returnees, about his journey to Libya and the deportation process.</p>


Nigerian migrant describes horrifying experience in Libya

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<p>While the horror of the Libyan slave trade lingers, CNBC Africa’s Damilola Ade-Odiachi caught up with Adelo Jerry, a returnee fresh of the flight from Libya and he described his experience.</p>


Nigerians rescued from Libya speak out

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<p>After a global outcry of the slave trade in Libya, the Federal Government and the organization for migration, funded by the European Union has begun the evacuation of Nigerian migrants from the North African country to Nigeria.</p>


Here’s what you probably did not know about Libya slave trade

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<p>Joining CNBC Africa to give insight on the slave trade is Michael Meadon from Thomson Reuters.</p>


There are more slaves now than there ever was

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<p>The idea that people are still being used as a commodities and in 2017, the age of artificial intelligence, that there is still a market that will gladly buy and sell poor people.</p>


What’s driving the slave trade in 2017?

<p>Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of the former Libyan leader, is in good health and is following the political situation in Libya from his base inside the country, a Gaddafi family lawyer said on Tuesday.</p>
<p data-reactid="43">Khaled al-Zaidi said he was in personal contact with Saif, but refused to say where in Libya Saif was, or whether he had ever left Zintan, the western town where he was detained after the 2011 revolt in which his father was toppled and killed.</p>
<p data-reactid="45">“He’s working on politics from his base in Libya, with the tribes, with the cities, with the decision makers,” Zaidi told reporters in Tunis.</p>
<p>“He’s in a good health &#8230; in top condition. His medical and psychological condition are good.”</p>
<p data-reactid="47">Saif was seen by some as a potential reformist successor to his father in the years before 2011 and remains a key figure for Gaddafi loyalists.</p>
<p data-reactid="48">Seeking to rebuild their influence, they present Saif as someone who can help reconcile the country’s rival factions, though he is sought for alleged war crimes both in his home country and by the International Criminal Court.</p>
<p data-reactid="49">“The aim is to achieve peace in Libya,” said Zaidi. “He follows Libyan affairs closely every day.”</p>
<p data-reactid="50">In June, Zaidi said Saif had been freed in Zintan under an amnesty law passed two years ago by a parliament based in eastern Libya.</p>
<p data-reactid="51">Earlier reports that Saif had been liberated turned out to be false, and uncertainty about his whereabouts and status have long fueled rumors.</p>
<p data-reactid="52">Those included speculation during the summer that he was about to re-emerge with a speech or public statement.</p>
<p data-reactid="54">No physical evidence of Saif’s whereabouts has been offered. He was last seen by an independent international observer in June 2014.</p>
<p>A Tripoli court sentenced Saif to death in absentia in 2015 for war crimes, including killing protesters during the revolution.</p>
<p>The International Criminal Court, based in the Netherlands, is also seeking his arrest and said in June it was trying to verify the reports of Saif’s release.</p>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="55">
<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="56">Reporting by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Hugh Lawson</p>
</div>


Gaddafi son in good health, following politics: family lawyer

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<p>OPEC has extended a request for an output cut to Nigeria and Libya. Joining CNBC Africa is Nadir Thokan, Investment Analyst, 27four.</p>


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Libya

Coronavirus: African Union Member States reporting COVID-19 cases as of 29 May 2021, 9 am EAT

Alibaba extends import deal with Rwanda

Op-Ed: Force majeure declared on Libya’s largest oil field

Violence in Libya weighs on oil markets

What you need to know about the civil war in Libya

Libya’s biggest oil field is being held hostage, but even that won’t boost prices

Rwanda offers to host African migrants stuck in Libya

Libya puts 142 migrants on plane back to Guinea

Blast hits Libyan crude pipeline, cutting output by 90,000 bpd

What’s next for Nigerian returnees from Libya?

Nigerian migrant describes horrifying experience in Libya

Nigerians rescued from Libya speak out

Here’s what you probably did not know about Libya slave trade

There are more slaves now than there ever was

What’s driving the slave trade in 2017?

Gaddafi son in good health, following politics: family lawyer

OPEC extends output cut to Nigeria, Libya

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