EU agrees new mission to enforce Libya arms embargo

22:19, February 17, 2020

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  Libya's eastern-based army denies UN planes to land in Libya

  A fighter of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) observes during clashes with the eastern-based army in Sawani frontline in Tripoli, Libya, on Feb. 12, 2020. The eastern-based army in Libya has been leading a military campaign in and around the capital Tripoli since April 2019, attempting to take over the city and topple the rival UN-backed government. (Photos: Xinhua)A fighter of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) observes during clashes with the eastern-based army in Sawani frontline in Tripoli, Libya, on Feb. 12, 2020. The eastern-based army in Libya has been leading a military campaign in and around the capital Tripoli since April 2019, attempting to take over the city and topple the rival UN-backed government. Fighters of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) take positions during clashes with the eastern-based army in Sawani frontline in Tripoli, Libya, on Feb. 12, 2020. The eastern-based army in Libya has been leading a military campaign in and around the capital Tripoli since April 2019, attempting to take over the city and topple the rival UN-backed government. Fighters of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) observe during clashes with the eastern-based army in Sawani frontline in Tripoli, Libya, on Feb. 12, 2020. The eastern-based army in Libya has been leading a military campaign in and around the capital Tripoli since April 2019, attempting to take over the city and topple the rival UN-backed government. A fighter of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) takes position during clashes with the eastern-based army in Sawani frontline in Tripoli, Libya, on Feb. 12, 2020. The eastern-based army in Libya has been leading a military campaign in and around the capital Tripoli since April 2019, attempting to take over the city and topple the rival UN-backed government. Houses are seen in Sawani frontline in Tripoli, Libya, on Feb. 12, 2020. The eastern-based army in Libya has been leading a milita...

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  US urges Libya to dismantle militias

  TRIPOLI, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland on Monday urged Libyan authorities to dismantle militias and armed groups in the country.Mourners carry coffins during a funeral of military cadets killed in an airstrike in Tripoli, Libya, January 5, 2020. (Photo: AP)The ambassador made his remarks during a meeting with Fathi Bashaga, interior minister of the UN-backed government."Amb. Norland met with Interior Minister Bashaga today and reaffirmed U.S. support for ongoing efforts by Libyan authorities to dismantle and disarm militias and armed groups," U.S. Embassy in Libya tweeted."Such militias represent a serious threat to building a strong, democratic, and unified state in Libya," it warned.Libya has been suffering escalating violence and political instability ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

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  NASA breaks ground on new antenna to prepare for Moon, Mars missions

  Photo: jpl.nasa.govLOS ANGELES, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- NASA officials on Tuesday broke ground on a new antenna for communicating with the agencys farthest-flung robotic spacecraft, according to a statement from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).As part of the Deep Space Network, the 34-meter-wide antenna dish being built represents a future in which more missions will require advanced technology, such as lasers being needed to transmit vast amounts of data from astronauts on the surface of Mars.NASA will send the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024, which is part of its Artemis program, and apply lessons learned there to send astronauts to Mars.When completed in two-and-a-half years time, the new antenna could achieve 10-times higher the data rates of current tech and support future missions to the Moon and Mars, according to JPL."This new antenna, the fifth of six currently planned, is another example of NASAs determination to enable science and space exploration through the use of the latest technology," said Badri Younes, NASAs deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation.Managed by JPL, the worlds largest and busiest deep space network is clustered in three locations -- Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia -- which are positioned about 120 degrees apart around the globe to enable continual contact with spacecraft as the Earth rotates.