Sunday, August 18, 2024

MOVING UP FROM TOYOTA

Chechen warlord invites Musk to Russia after he’s filmed driving machine-gun mounted Cybertruck


Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has invited Tesla CEO Elon Musk to Russia after being filmed behind the wheel of one of the company’s Cybertrucks, equipped with a machine gun


BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 August 17, 2024


Chechnya President Ramzan Kadyrov invited Tesla CEO Elon Musk to Russia on Saturday after being filmed behind the wheel of one of the company’s Cybertrucks mounted with a machine gun.

In a clip posted on Kadyrov’s Telegram channel, the self-styled strongman was seen taking the stainless steel-clad Cybertruck for a leisurely drive before standing astride the machine gun mounted in the truck bed, draped with belts of ammunition.

In a gushing post, Kadyrov, who rules over Chechnya, a republic within the Russian Federation, described the vehicle as “undoubtedly one of the best cars in the world. I literally fell in love.”

He also said he would donate the vehicle to Russian forces fighting in the invasion of Ukraine. “It’s not for nothing that they call this a cyberbeast,” he said. “I’m sure that this beast will bring plenty of benefits to our troops.”

Kadyrov, who was sanctioned by the U.S. after being linked to numerous human rights violations, said he received the truck from Musk, although this was not independently confirmed. Messages left with Tesla seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Kadyrov also took advantage of the video clip to invite Musk to Chechnya.

“I don’t think the Russian Foreign Ministry would mind such a trip,” he said. “And, of course, we’re waiting for your new developments that will help us finish our special military operation (in Ukraine).”




























SCOTUS VS HUMAN RIGHTS

Supreme Court denies stays of Title IX changes to protect LGBTQ students in 10 states



The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday denied a Department of Education request to enable partial enforcement of recent Title IX changes in 10 states while awaiting pending federal appellate court cases regarding their legality. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI. | License Photo

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court refused to hear arguments regarding stays of federal Title IX changes made by the Biden-Harris administration to protect LGBTQ students that 10 states successfully challenged in federal courts.

The Supreme Court on Friday denied the Department of Education's request to stay federal court injunctions that stop enforcement of several provisions of recent Title IX changes in 10 states.

Those provisions include defining sex discrimination based on "sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity," the Supreme Court said in an unsigned denial Friday.

Ten states and other parties filed federal lawsuits in Louisiana and Kentucky to stop enforcement of the Title IX changes and secured preliminary injunctions, which the Department of Education seeks to have overturned by federal appellate courts.

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The Education Department also wants to enforce the new changes to Title IX that aren't contested while the Fifth and Sixth Circuit Courts of Appeal hear the respective cases in October, but the appellate courts denied the requests.












The respective appellate court judges "concluded otherwise because the new definition of sex discrimination is intertwined with and affects many other provisions of the new rule," the Supreme Court said.

"The allegedly unlawful provisions are not readily severable from the remaining provisions," the court said in its denial.

"The lower courts also pointed out the difficulty that schools would face in determining how to apply the rule for a temporary period with some provisions in effect and some enjoined," the court said.

The denial letter said the Department of Education has the burden to show it has a likelihood of success in its legal argument and must show which provisions are independent of the new Title IX definition of sex discrimination, but has not.

"The court expects that the courts of appeals will render their decisions with appropriate dispatch," the unsigned Supreme Court said while denying the Education Department's requests for partial stays.

Title IX refers to the 1972 Education Amendments that ban discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that accept federal funding.




Biden establishes national monument at site of 1908 Springfield, Ill., race riot

"Over 100 years ago this week, a mob not far from Lincoln's home unleashed a race riot in Springfield that literally shocked the conscience of the nation," 


Aug. 16 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden signed a proclamation Friday establishing the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument in Illinois recognizing one of the most notable moments of racial tension in the country at the time.

The creation of the monument came on the 116th anniversary of the riots that took place Aug. 14- to 16, 1908, in Springfield, Ill., which saw two Black men lynched while nearly three dozen businesses, mostly Black and Jewish establishments were destroyed in the city's Levee neighborhood by a White mob after two Black prisoners were moved instead of being released to them.

"By signing this designation for the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument, we remind ourselves we have to -- we -- we have no safe harbor unless we continue to remind people what happened," Biden said in the Oval Office before signing the proclamation.

"I am an optimist. I'm optimistic about this country because we're good people. But we can't let these things fade," he added.

The administration characterized the national monument as an effort to weave together two important threads in our nation's story -- "the hateful violence targeted against Black Americans, and the power of dedicated individuals to come together across racial lines to transform shock and grief into hope and action."

The monument will protect 1.57 acres of federal land in Springfield including historical objects that detail the riots.

"Over 100 years ago this week, a mob not far from Lincoln's home unleashed a race riot in Springfield that literally shocked the conscience of the nation," the president said Friday. "I mean, it shocked the conscience of the nation. But ... people forgot it as if, you know, it didn't happen. If you listen to some of our colleagues, you'd think, 'Oh, no, no, no. We've never had this problem.'"

The White House said that national outrage over the attack helped spark action around civil rights and led to the creation of what is now known as the NAACP.

"By establishing the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument, President Biden is recognizing the significance of these events and the broader history of the Black community resilience in the face of violent oppression," the White House said.

"President Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris are committed to protecting places that help tell a more complete story of our nation's history, including by recognizing difficult moments that have been ignored or obscured for far too long."

Canada says Ukraine can use donated tanks in Russia

CANADA INVADED RUSSIA IN WWI


 Ukraine's armed forces are now authorized to use donated Canadian military equipment like the Leopard tank (German version pictured) inside Russian territory, Canada’s Department of National Defence confirmed.
File Photo by Filip Singer/EPA-EFE

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Ukraine's armed forces are now authorized to use donated Canadian military equipment inside Russian territory, Canada's Department of National Defence confirmed.

Canadian officials made the comments Thursday, joining several other countries that have already given Ukraine the green light to use donated weapons inside Russia's territorial border.

Canada donated eight Leopard 2A4 tanks, several dozen armored combat support vehicles, hundreds of armored patrol vehicles and 4,200 M72A5-C1 rocket launchers. It has also provided ammunition and air defense systems.

"Ukrainians know best how to defend their homeland, and we're committed to supporting their capacity," Canadian Department of National Defense spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin told POLITICO Friday.

"Canada steadfastly supports Ukraine's right to defend itself against Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war -- and that is why we have committed over $4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine."

Overall, Canada has provided around $4.5 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since 2022. The Canadian government has pledged to continue military support until at least 2029.

British officials on Thursday gave Ukraine permission to use its donated weapons in Russian territory as long as international laws are respected.

The news came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Britain's Cabinet in July, calling for a reduction of weapon use restrictions on arms supplied by Western countries for use in Ukraine's war with Russia.

Germany has also previously said Ukraine has permission to use donated Western weapons inside Russian territory.

Zelensky on Thursday said his troops have now captured the town of Sudzha as they continue their incursion into Russian territory.

A ground invasion into Russia's western Kursk Oblast has been progressing for a week. The region shares a border with Ukraine and is where Russian officials have declared a state of emergency and evacuated thousands of residents in response.

It wasn't immediately clear if any of the Western donated military hardware was being used in the offensive.
DESANTISLAND
Backlash arises after Florida school accused of throwing out LGBTQ-themed books


A story about administrators at the New College of Florida throwing out hundreds of library books, many reportedly containing LGBTQ+ themes, has ignited a new controversy over the conservative takeover of the public liberal arts school. 
File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A report about hundreds of library books, including "many on LGBTQ+ topics and religious studies," being tossed by administrators at the New College of Florida sparked angry reactions from civil liberties groups on Friday.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Thursday reported that the New College of Florida, a small, public liberal arts school whose governance was restructured last year by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, had hauled hundreds of library books to a landfill, "many of which contained LGBTQ+ themes."

Published images showed a dumpster in the parking lot of the school's Jane Bancroft Cook Library overflowing with books and collections, reportedly from the school's now-shuttered Gender and Diversity Center.

The New College has been at the center of a national controversy over academic freedom after DeSantis, a former Republican presidential candidate, appointed six new conservative members to its board of trustees with the stated goal of transforming the institution from an enclave of nonconformist "free thinkers" into a bastion of conservative thought.




Chosen to lead newly reshaped board was Christopher Rufo, an outspoken critic of "critical race theory in American institutions" and an activist claiming to have inspired legislation in 15 states.

The school denied the Herald-Tribune report, issuing a statement claiming it was carrying out a routine maintenance of its campus library and removing materials due to the scrapping of the gender studies program.

"A library needs to regularly review and renew its collection to ensure its materials are meeting the current needs of students and faculty," the school said. "The images seen online of a dumpster of library materials is related to the standard weeding process."

Nevertheless, the story created a backlash from civil liberties and academic freedom advocates.

"It's appalling to see books treated like common trash, and disposing of them by the truckload is nothing short of an attack on education itself and an attempt at all-out erasure," People For the American Way President Sante Myrick said in a statement.
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"These books could have helped people learn about each other, appreciate each other, and come together in common knowledge; instead, they'll likely rot in a landfill, and the people of Florida will be worse off for it," he added.

Myrick termed pictures of the mounds of trashed books "a shocking preview of what we could see during a second Trump administration, and we cannot let it happen. We cannot allow knowledge to become a casualty of hate."

"Politicians and school boards are making moves to ban books -- predominately those by Black and LGBTQ authors -- from public schools and libraries across the nation," added the American Civil Liberties Union. "But we'll keep fighting for our right to learn."

"Ron DeSantis' extremist college makeover continues with the destruction and disposal of hundreds of books from the gender and diversity collection at New College of Florida," said Jonathan Webber, Florida policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"The destruction of books for political gain is completely outside the mainstream of American values and is only embraced by a few fringe elements. Students and parents believe that educational decisions should remain in the hands of educators. They do not want Tallahassee politicians using their classrooms to advance their own ideological agendas," he said.









British union ASLEF announces 22-day weekend strike for LNER rail line workers


Britain's ASLEF union Friday announced strike actions by train drivers on the LNER line every weekend from Sept. 1-Nov. 10.
File Photo by Neil Hall/ EPA-EFE

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Uunion train drivers at London North Eastern Railway Friday announced 22 days of strike actions over staffing issues.

From Sept. 1 through Nov. 10, train drivers represented by the Associated Society of Engineers and Firemen union will take strike action every weekend.

"The bottom line is that LNER does not employ enough drivers to deliver the services it has promised passengers, and the government, it will run," ASLEF lead negotiator Nigel Roebuck said.

LNER said the rail line would continue to work with the union to find a way to resolve the labor issues.

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"Our priority focus will be on minimizing disruption to customers during the forthcoming Aslef strikes, which sadly will continue to cause disruption and delays," LNER said in a statement.

ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan said the union was forced into the strike by LNER allegedly repeatedly breaking labor agreements and acting in bad faith with bullying tactics.

"The continued failure of the company to resolve longstanding industrial relations issues has forced us into this position," Whelan said. "We would much rather not be here. But the company has brutally, and repeatedly, broken diagramming and roster agreements, failed to adhere to the agreed bargaining machinery, and totally acted in bad faith."

According to Roebuck, union drivers complained of being "badgered for favors" by managers

LNER operates British trains on the east coast mainline as well as from London to other cities including York, Leeds and Newcastle.

Widespread disruption is expected during the strike actions.

ASLEF said the announced LNER strike actions are not related to a national rail labor dispute with 16 companies.

The government has proposed a deal with ASLEF leaders to settle that dispute and worker approval of the deal is pending. The deal offers train drivers a 14% pay increase over three years with no changes to work terms or conditions.

That pay hike will be retroactive covering the 2021-2024 period.

FDA approves first at-home, over-the-counter test for syphilis

NIETZSCHE COULD HAVE USED THIS

 (aacad.org)
The First to Know test for syphilis, manufactured by NOWDiagnostics, is the first at-home, over-the-counter test for the sexually transmitted disease to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Photo courtesy NOWDiagnostics

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first over-the-counter, at-home test for syphilis in response to surging levels of the sexually transmitted disease nationwide.

Regulators issued the green light for the release of the First To Know Syphilis Test, made by NOWDiagnostics of Springdale, Ariz., noting its status as the first at-home test to detect Treponema pallidum, or syphilis, antibodies in human blood.

They cautioned that results from the home test alone are not sufficient to accurately diagnose a syphilis infection and should be followed by additional testing by medical professionals.

Even so, the approval marks a significant milestone in the detection and treatment of STDs as cases soar across the United States, health officials said.

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"Access to home tests may help increase initial screening for syphilis, including in individuals who may be reluctant to see their health care provider about possible sexually transmitted infection exposure," said Dr. Michelle Tarver, acting director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "This can lead to increased lab testing to confirm diagnosis, which can result in increased treatment and reduction in the spread of infection."

Syphilis can seriously damage the heart and brain and can cause blindness, deafness and paralysis if left untreated, and when transmitted during pregnancy, can cause miscarriage, lifelong medical issues and infant death.

It's one of most serious of the sexually transmitted diseases and is now seeing a major resurgence. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported syphilis cases increased 80% between 2018 and 2022, jumping from 115,000 to more than 207,000, reaching their highest levels since the 1950s.

The situation has become so concerning that the Department of Health and Human Services in January established the National Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis Syndemic Federal Task Force to tackle the problem.

"The syphilis crisis in our country is unacceptable," said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. "The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to addressing this urgent issue and using all available means to eliminate disparities in our health care system."

Today in History: August 18, 1920
19th Amendment gives women the vote
2024: ERA STILL NOT PASSED



FILE - In this August 1920 file photo, Alice Paul, seated second from left, sews the 36th star on a banner, celebrating the ratification of the women’s suffrage amendment. The banner flew in front of headquarters of the Women’s Party in Washington of which Miss Paul was national chairperson. The 36th star represented Tennessee, whose ratification completed the number of states needed to put the amendment in the Constitution.

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Today in history:
On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing American women’s right to vote, was ratified as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.


UPI Archives

August 26, 1920

Women's right to vote now official in United States


WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 1920 (UP) - The right of women to the ballot was formally made a part of the Constitution of the United States today when Secretary of State Colby proclaimed ratification of the nineteenth amendment.

Colby announced the proclamation when he arrived at his office today, having signed it shortly before at his home here.

The official certification that Tennessee had become the 36th state to ratify the amendment was taken to his home early today.

A group of suffrage leaders who had waited until a late hour last night for the arrival of the Tennessee certification were hurriedly summoned to the State Department and met Colby.

They cheered when he told them the last step to make the amendment operative had been taken.

Among those in the party were Miss Alice Paul, chairman of the National Women's Party; Mrs. Abby Scott Baker; Miss Julia Emorty, Baltimore; Dr. Lydia Allen Devilbis of Georgia; Miss Mary Moore Forrest, Scituate, Mass.; Mrs. Anne Calvert Neely, Vicksburg, Miss.; Mrs. Walb, Houston, Tex.; Mrs. Cyrus Meade, Dayton, Ohio; Miss Emilie Grace Kay, St. Paul, Minn.; and Miss Emma Wold, Portland, Ore.

The Tennessee certification was taken to Colby's home by Charles L. Cooke, master of ceremonies of the State Department, and Colby and Frederick Nielson, State Department solicitor, went over it for possible legal flaws. They found none, it was stated.

Suffragists had expected to make the ceremony of proclaiming the amendment a public one and evidently were disappointed.

They requested him to go through the ceremony again for their benefit and for moving picture men.

Colby said he would consider going over the ceremony again and went into his office.

The women, however, left the State Department without waiting for Colby's decision.

They held a jubilation at their own headquarters a short distance away.

Miss Alice Paul declared that the suffragists will not relax their vigilance until they are sure that no further attempts will be made to take from the women what they have won.

Miss Paul will go to New York immediately to attend a conference where the date of the National Women's Party convention will be decided.
WORKERS CAPITAL

Aging Europe: Rising costs threaten EU pensions
DW
August 16, 2024

Europe's population is aging fast, forcing EU states to spend more on pension benefits. While governments want to raise the retirement age, savers are calling for a more flexible approach.


Eurobarometer data showed only 23% of EU residents have an occupational pension scheme
 Pond5 Images/IMAGO

Europe's demographic time bomb has been ticking for decades, with societies of European Union countries growing older and people living longer. More than a fifth of the European Union's population is now aged 65 or older. That figure is expected to reach a third by 2050. The World Health Organization warned last year that 2024 would mark the first time that over-65s would outnumber Europe's under-15 population.

Despite large increases in immigration over the past two decades, the continent still needs to attract enough workers whose taxes can help cover the growing cost of public pensions. Economists predict that by 2050, there will be less than two workers in Europe for every retiree, compared to three now.

Meanwhile, the annual public pension bill has reached more than 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 17 of the EU's 27 states — all but one of them in Western Europe. In Italy and Greece, pensions cost public finances more than 16% of GDP.

Raising retirement age irks workers

To help address the exorbitant and rising costs, several EU states have tinkered with their public pension systems, including by raising their retirement age. France, for example, faced months of angry protests last year over plans to force older workers to retire at 64, up from the current age of 62.

Other European countries have gone further, including the United Kingdom, which plans to keep people working until 68 from the mid-2040s onward. Women in Britain used to retire 5 to 7 years earlier than men, but a move to equalize the pension age sparked compensation demands for the affected women.

"The Dutch have recently reformed their pension system, but it's not achieving the set goals," Hans van Meerten, a European pension law professor at Utrecht University, told DW. "Also, in Germany, Belgium and many other European countries, I don't see the necessary reforms. They are digging their own graves."

Some EU states are raising retirement ages, so workers will have to wait longer for pensions
Andrey Popov/Depositphotos/IMAGO

Added to the strain on Europe's public finances, millions of people are still not saving enough in private or occupational pensions meant to complement their state pensions. Data from the Eurobarometer last year showed that only 23% of EU residents have an occupational pension scheme and just 19% own a personal pension product. The figures vary hugely between EU states.

A separate survey by the Insurance Europe trade body found that 39% of respondents are not saving for retirement — the figure was even higher among women and workers over 50. Many of those that do are frustrated with their investment outcomes.
Low returns, inflation hurt savers

"Over the past decade, Europe's pension crisis has significantly worsened due to persistently low real returns that have not been sufficient to outpace inflation," Arnaud Houdmont, director of communication at the Brussels-based investors' body Better Finance, told DW. "That has resulted in a substantial loss of purchasing power for savers."



Analysis by the Finnish Centre for Pensions found that nominal returns on pensions worldwide averaged 8% last year. But after the decades-high inflation that followed the COVID-19 pandemic was taken into account, the returns were just 2%. Eurozone inflation peaked at 10.6% year on year in October 2022.

Houdmont said high fees, poor asset allocation and a lack of transparency in pension products were also to blame for lower returns.

Slow rollout of portable EU pension

To help address the savings shortfall, in March 2022, the EU introduced the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP). The scheme allows workers to build up an additional pension, which is fully portable when moving to other EU states. However, only one country — Slovakia — has rolled out the scheme.

"PEPP has been in force for two and a half years," van Meerten said. "But the big investment funds say they don't have the expertise to roll out PEPP products alone and are seeking other partners."

The problem, say some pension experts, is that PEPP is also overcomplicated and restrictive. PEPP is also seen as unwanted competition for investment funds like BlackRock or Fidelity, whose largest clients are large Dutch, Norwegian and German pension funds representing tens of millions of European savers.

The arrival of neobrokers like Trade Republic have helped more Europeans to save
Michael Bihlmayer/Chromorange/picture alliance

Van Meerten is advocating for PEPP to be simplified and more flexible as some EU countries don't give the new pension scheme the same tax advantages as other retirement savings products.

Several industries in EU states — from Germany's chemical and metal sectors to France's national railway operator — have their own occupational pension schemes. Almost 60% of German workers who pay social insurance contributions belong to such plans. These schemes often give savers, especially those with physically demanding jobs, the option of retiring early, among other perks.


Workers demand more pension flexibility

Consumers are demanding more flexibility in their investments and retirement age. The rise of neobrokers like Robinhood, eToro and Germany's Trade Republic, which give users the ability to manage their investments on smartphone apps, has somewhat usurped Europe's many cumbersome and overcomplicated pensions systems.

Traditional finance providers argue that mobile investment apps encourage users to take uninformed and unnecessary risks that could hurt their long-term returns, while advocates say they have made investing simple, cheaper and more transparent.

In the future, more EU governments could allow workers to put some of their state pension savings directly into the stock market, like Sweden, whose private pension funds have collectively negotiated lower fees that have helped retirement funds to grow.

Van Meerten thinks workers would be more motivated to save if they were given more say in how their investments are managed and when they retire.

"Do you want your savings to be green? Do you want to invest in Israel or not? Let the individual decide. Why should social partners or trade unions decide this for you?" he questioned, referring to union-run pension schemes.

Houdmont from Better Finance warned of a day of reckoning in the mid-term due to the "shifting burden" from public to private pension savings, which he said savers weren't ready for.

"There is a good chance that the next generation of Europeans will retire considerably poorer and later than their older peers," he said.

Edited by: Ashutosh Pandey
ANOTHER NATO SUCCESS

Is Libya on the brink of a new civil war?
DW
August 16, 2024

With two rival governments at either end of the country, ongoing political ruptures and, now, fresh military mobilization, there are fears Libya could be heading toward more violence and fighting.


Forces loyal to the Libyan government in the east were seen moving toward rival territory in the west last week, sparking fears of renewed fighting 
(2022 file photo)Image: Yousef Murad/AP Photo/picture alliance

Over the past week, various international bodies have sent out the alarm.

In a statement, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya said it was monitoring "with concern the recent mobilization of forces in various parts of Libya."

The organization, known as UNSMIL, urged "all parties to exercise maximum restraint and avoid any provocative military actions that could be perceived as offensive."

On Thursday, the Delegation of the European Union to Libya expressed similar concerns. "The use of force would harm stability in Libya and lead to human suffering. It should be avoided at all cost," it said in a statement.

Longtime Libya watchers were more direct, suggesting that, after around four years of relative calm in the country, civil war might be about to break out once again.

The warnings came in response to last week's large mobilization of militias affiliated with one of Libya's two rival administrations.

Since 2014, Libya has been split in two, with opposing governments located in the east and west of the country. A UN-backed administration known as the Government of National Unity, or GNU, is based in Tripoli in the west, and its rival, known as the House of Representatives, is based in the east, in Tobruk.

At various times over the last decade, each government has tried — and failed — to wrest control from the other.

The government in eastern Libya is supported by former warlord-turned-politician Khalifa Haftar, who controls various armed groups in his area. It was Haftar's forces that appeared to be moving toward Tripoli late last week. In 2019, Haftar attacked the city but was eventually forced to sign a cease-fire in 2020.

Haftar said troops under the command of his son, Saddam, were marching in order to secure Libyan borders, to fight drug and human trafficking and to combat terrorism. However, military analysts suspected other plans.

The government in western Libya is headed by Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, although recent political ruptures have endangered his position
Image: Yousef Murad/AP Photo/picture alliance

Haftar's forces have wanted control of Ghadames airport and its surroundings for some time, Jalel Harchaoui, a North Africa expert with UK-based think tank the Royal United Services Institute, told French newspaper Le Monde. Controlling Ghadames "would significantly enhance his territorial stature in relation to Algeria, Tunisia and Niger," said Harchaoui, and would also block access for the rival GNU.

If Haftar's troops seize Ghadames, it "would officially mark the collapse of the 2020 cease-fire," Tarek Megerisi, a Libya expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

In response to the troop movements, a range of other militias that support the Tripoli government in the west were told to increase their combat readiness.
Will there be another Libyan civil war?

The day after Haftar's mobilization was sighted, a clash between two militias in Tajoura, on the coastal outskirts of Tripoli, left at least nine dead. However, local media later reported this had been motivated by an assassination attempt on one of the militia leaders.

And this week, the situation in Libya seems to have calmed again. But the danger remains, experts told DW.

Libya has experienced political instability since the end of the 42-year dictatorship headed by Moammar Gadhafi (pictured) in 2011
Image: Abdel Magid Al Fergany/AP Photo/picture alliance

Emadeddin Badi, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who focuses on Libya, sees Haftar's latest moves as a kind of ongoing "brinkmanship."

"Many of the actors [in Libya] are engaging in this, to see how far they could go in kind of taunting, or sidelining, or undermining their opponents," he said. "A zero-sum mentality still prevails," he added, referring to the fact that opposing factions in Libya believe that one of them must eventually run the country, as opposed to working together for unity.

"Libya continues to unravel quietly, with indications mounting that rival governments are regrouping for something big," Hafed al-Ghwell, executive director of the North Africa Initiative at Johns Hopkins University's Foreign Policy Institute in Washington, wrote in an op-ed for the website Euronews last week. With all of the different militias, Libya is in danger of becoming a "mafia state," he said.

Foreign interference keeping Libya from the brink?


Both Libyan governments are also supported by an array of foreign powers. The government in the west is backed by Turkey; the administration to the east by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. Previously, the UN and others have pushed for various international backers of the two sides in Libya and their soldiers to leave the country.

There have been regular clashes between militias competing for power since 2020, but the situation has mostly been calmer
Image: AA/picture alliance

However, as Badi explained, their presence is probably preventing further violence in Libya right now. "Ironically, the only thing that has really prevented a relapse into all-out war is foreign influence in the country," Badi told DW. "A balance of forces exists between the Turks and the Russians and others, and there's a loose geopolitical understanding about not engaging in full-scale conflict again."

Attempts to unite the two halves of the country by, for example, holding a national election, unifying security forces, administrative functions or a national budget, or setting up an interim unity government, have come to nothing. In fact, the international community has become accustomed to dealing with two administrations when working with Libya on oil supply or migration issues.

But analysts like Badi, al-Ghwell and Megerisi have all argued that simply accepting the status quo in Libya — where there are two separate governments supported by increasingly mafia-like militias — no longer works.

"Actors [in Libya] have been emboldened through the impunity that they have been afforded by the international community," said Badi.

"Libya has largely been neglected by the international community since 2021 and many have deluded themselves into thinking that Libya could remain stable in the long run, either with this status quo or through facilitating deals between the factions that have carved the country up for themselves. But this policy of pretending that conflict can be contained, is not working," he said.

"And that mirage — that Libya is fine, it's stable — is slowly collapsing right now."

Edited by: Martin Kuebler