Libya Lights up after Years of Power Cuts

An aerial view shows cars driving past Martyrs' Square in Tripoli on September 2, 2023. (AFP)
An aerial view shows cars driving past Martyrs' Square in Tripoli on September 2, 2023. (AFP)
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Libya Lights up after Years of Power Cuts

An aerial view shows cars driving past Martyrs' Square in Tripoli on September 2, 2023. (AFP)
An aerial view shows cars driving past Martyrs' Square in Tripoli on September 2, 2023. (AFP)

It's midnight just before the weekend. Traffic snarls the corniche in Tripoli, where improved electricity service has brought renewed energy to Libya's capital after years of conflict and power cuts.

Chronic electricity shortages had shaped the daily lives of Libyans since the fall of Moamar al-Gaddafi in a NATO-backed 2011 uprising.

A decade of stop-start fighting between rival armed groups followed, adding combat damage and looting to an already dilapidated grid in the North African country.

Power "outages were a disaster for my business", said Hanan al-Miladi, a 43-year-old baker who sells pastries online for weddings and other celebrations.

After 42 years in power, Gaddafi left behind obsolete infrastructure, an economy largely dependent on oil, and an underskilled workforce.

To protect the network and prevent overloads, the General Electricity Company of Libya (Gecol) resorted to widespread power cuts over the past 10 years during the peak consumption periods of summer and winter.

Until last year, outages could last 10 or even 20 hours, turning the city's streets dark and leaving residents sweltering in summer temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) without air conditioning.

The most "unbearable thing was never knowing when the power would go out or for how many hours", said Miladi.

But with new management at Gecol since last year, along with a relatively stable security situation, Libyans now receive a markedly improved electricity supply.

Manager sacked

Head of the interim Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, who is also the Gecol chairman, sacked the previous manager in July 2022.

He also made sure the power company's new boss saw through projects, including a plan for maintenance of damaged infrastructure and tight control of funds to curb corruption.

Some foreign companies have now even revived projects they had suspended in Libya.

"The situation has improved, and customers notice it," said 34-year-old butcher Moaed Zayani, who also sells frozen products.

To avoid countless sleepless nights, Libyans did adapt to the power outages.

Buying batteries costing a few hundred dinars (tens of dollars), they could power a television set and one or two lamps, as well as provide basic internet connectivity.

Those who could afford it spent thousands of dollars on buying noisy, polluting fuel-guzzling generators.

But "even with a generator, refrigerators weaken after 10 hours", said Zayani.

The roar of generators hasn't completely gone away -- it returned in a July heatwave -- but not a week goes by without Gecol announcing the arrival of new equipment at the country's roughly 20 power plants.

'Return to life'

The electricity supply has improved countrywide, although the boost to Tripoli's was the most dramatic and significant.

Electricity network stability is the foundation of the "Return to Life" campaign launched by the city government, and is slowly restoring Tripoli's soul.

Residents proudly nickname their city "Siren of the Mediterranean" for its attractive seafront.

"It's clear that administrative stability within Gecol has contributed to the stability of the power network," said Mohamad Rahoumi, 53, spokesman for a pastry brand.

"But consumers also have a role to play in reducing their consumption and paying their bills."

Libyan electricity rates are among the lowest in the region, at 0.050 dinars (one US cent) per kilowatt-hour for individuals and 0.20 dinars for businesses.

"The government's efforts are visible, but citizens still have a constant apprehension due to instability," said 34-year-old downtown bartender Abdelmalek Fathallah.

In August, clashes between two militias using rocket launchers and machine guns killed 55 people. It was Tripoli's worst unrest in more than a year.

Although such incidents are less frequent, they "can erupt at any moment", destroying infrastructure as well as people's homes, Fathallah said.

Still, the lights shining in Tripoli's medina and silhouetting the adjacent Red Castle, a 16th-century fortress built by the Spanish, symbolize hope for a brighter future.



What to Know About John Bolton, Former Trump Adviser Whose Home and Office Are Searched by FBI

National Security Adviser John R. Bolton listens while US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Oval Office of the White House on May 13, 2019, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
National Security Adviser John R. Bolton listens while US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Oval Office of the White House on May 13, 2019, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
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What to Know About John Bolton, Former Trump Adviser Whose Home and Office Are Searched by FBI

National Security Adviser John R. Bolton listens while US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Oval Office of the White House on May 13, 2019, in Washington, DC. (AFP)
National Security Adviser John R. Bolton listens while US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Oval Office of the White House on May 13, 2019, in Washington, DC. (AFP)

John Bolton, whose home and office were searched by federal agents on Friday, has been one of the most vocal critics of President Donald Trump since serving as a national security adviser in Trump's first administration.

After serving in the White House, Bolton wrote a scathing book that portrayed Trump as grossly ill-informed about foreign policy. FBI agents' searches of Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington office, purportedly part of an investigation into the handling of classified information, raise the question of possible future actions against critics of the Republican president who have voiced their opinions.

Bolton was not detained and has not been charged with any crimes, a person not authorized to discuss the investigation by name told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Here's more information on Bolton, a Republican and foreign policy hawk:

He served as one of Trump's national security advisers

Bolton served as Trump’s third national security adviser, appointed in 2018 after Trump dismissed H.R. McMaster.

Bolton's 17-month tenure was rife with clashes over countries including North Korea and Iran, with him voicing skepticism over Trump's outreach toward and summit with Kim Jong Un. On Iran, Bolton backed Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal but favored regime change and was frustrated when Trump called off a planned military strike in 2019.

Those rifts ultimately led to Bolton's departure, with Trump announcing on social media in September 2019 that he had accepted Bolton's resignation.

He wrote a scathing book about Trump's first administration

Bolton's 2020 book, “The Room Where It Happened,” painted an unvarnished portrait of Trump and his administration, amounting to the most vivid first-person account at the time of how Trump conducts himself in office. The 577-page book portrayed Trump as grossly ill-informed about foreign policy, with Bolton writing that the president “saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.”

Bolton wrote that while he was at the White House, Trump typically had only two intelligence briefings a week and “in most of those, he spoke at greater length than the briefers, often on matters completely unrelated to the subjects at hand.”

On Ukraine, Bolton alleged that Trump directly tied providing military aid to the country’s willingness to conduct investigations into Joe Biden, soon-to-be Trump's Democratic 2020 election rival, and members of his family. In one conversation, Trump said “he wasn’t in favor of sending them anything until all the Russia-investigation materials related to Clinton and Biden had been turned over,” Bolton wrote.

Bolton also wrote that he felt “hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations,” noting how Trump “pleaded” with China’s Xi Jinping during a 2019 summit to help his reelection prospects.

Trump responded by slamming Bolton as a “washed-up guy” and a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six.” Trump also said at the time that the book contained “highly classified information” and that Bolton “did not have approval” for publishing it.

The White House worked furiously to block the book, unsuccessfully asking a federal court for an emergency temporary restraining order against its release.

His criticism has continued, including in recent days In an interview that aired Wednesday on NPR, Bolton said little has changed in bringing an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, pointing to Trump’s efforts to secure a Nobel Peace Prize as the president's motivation to end the conflict.

“There’s no indication at all that Russia has in any way changed its objective, which is to bring Ukraine into the greater Russian Empire,” Bolton said. “Nor is there any real sign that Zelenskyy is prepared to do the sorts of things that Russia has demanded of President Trump, such as ceding a substantial part of the Donetsk Oblast or province, which the Russians have not yet been able to conquer militarily.”

On Thursday, Bolton posted to X that “Putin’s KGB training and flattery campaign is working Trump over, as seen by Trump’s statement recently about how Ukraine shouldn’t have taken the war on. It’s important to remember: Ukraine didn’t take anything on, they were invaded.”

And in an Aug. 14 interview with CBS News, Bolton castigated Trump’s decision prior to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, continuing that criticism following the meeting on X.

“In Alaska, President Trump did not lose, but Putin clearly won,” Bolton posted. “Vladimir has his old friend Donald back.”

Trump reportedly doesn't like Bolton's mustache Trump has spent a career fixated on image, prizing striking looks and frequently boasting about family members and Cabinet officials who look like they “stepped out of central casting.”

Bolton’s bushy mustache simply didn’t fit the part.

During the transition period following his 2016 election, Trump reportedly ruled out choosing Bolton to serve as secretary of state in part because he disliked his signature bushy mustache.

Following a meeting with Bolton at Trump Tower, Trump told confidants that the hawk’s trademark mustache would never be a fit in his administration, although he kept an admiring eye on Bolton’s frequent cable TV appearances, during which he often defended the policies of the president even when they ran counter to what he had preached for decades.

According to Bolton's 2019 book, however, the president told him that his facial hair “was never a factor” in appointing him to any position.

He backed George W. Bush's war in Iraq

When George W. Bush became president, Bolton served as the State Department’s point man on arms control, where he battled other governments on nuclear weapons tests, land mines, biological weapons, ballistic missile limits and the International Criminal Court.

An unabashed proponent of American power and a strong supporter of the Iraq War, Bolton was unable to win Senate confirmation after his nomination to the UN post turned off many Democrats and even some Republicans. He resigned after serving 17 months as a Bush recess appointment, which allowed him to hold the job on a temporary basis without Senate confirmation.

Bolton also held positions in President Ronald Reagan's administration.

He pondered a run for president

In the run-up to the 2024 campaign, Bolton said he was motivated to run after Trump, still obsessing over his loss of the 2020 election, in 2022, called for the termination of the Constitution to reinstate him to power.

“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote on his social media site, though no evidence has emerged to support his claims.

Bolton called the comment “disqualifying” and cast a possible second Trump term as a threat to national security.

He had also considered running both in 2016 as well 2012, when he later endorsed and advised the eventual GOP nominee, Mitt Romney.


Sweida Emerges as First Big Test for Syria’s New Era

An aerial view shows smoke rising over Sweida during clashes between Druze and Bedouin tribes, July 19, 2025. (DPA)
An aerial view shows smoke rising over Sweida during clashes between Druze and Bedouin tribes, July 19, 2025. (DPA)
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Sweida Emerges as First Big Test for Syria’s New Era

An aerial view shows smoke rising over Sweida during clashes between Druze and Bedouin tribes, July 19, 2025. (DPA)
An aerial view shows smoke rising over Sweida during clashes between Druze and Bedouin tribes, July 19, 2025. (DPA)

In late July, the spiritual leadership of Syria’s Druze minority in Sweida announced the creation of legal and security committees to run the southern province, a dramatic step that underscored its deepening rift with Damascus and the fragile hold of the country’s new rulers.

The move came after days of deadly clashes in mid-July, marking a turning point for a province that for more than a decade had remained on the margins of Syria’s war. It has now emerged at the center of a struggle that will test President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s efforts to unify the country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Damascus said its security forces had intervened only to end fighting between Druze and Bedouin tribes. Druze leaders accused the state of trying to reassert control through tribal allies – a claim they said was backed by documents in their possession.

The clashes left dozens dead and brought government troops into Sweida city. But their presence was short-lived: after Israeli airstrikes struck what appeared to be Syrian army positions on the outskirts, Damascus ordered its forces to withdraw. The pullback created a vacuum Druze leaders say they were forced to fill.

Sweida, home to Syria’s majority-Druze community, has long been distinct in the country’s sectarian mosaic. The Druze, who number fewer than 1 million across Syria, Lebanon and Israel, have historically pursued autonomy and avoided entanglement in wider conflicts.

During Syria’s 13-year war, Sweida largely stayed out of direct combat. Local communities resisted conscription into Assad’s army, and the province preserved a degree of autonomy with its own armed groups maintaining order.

That balance fractured last month. Violence between Druze gunmen and Bedouin tribes spiraled, with Damascus portraying its forces as neutral peacekeepers, and Druze leaders insisting the state had tried to impose its authority by force.

The government’s retreat after Israeli airstrikes reinforced local perceptions that the province was left exposed. For Druze leaders, the episode highlighted the need to build their own administrative structures.

Druze Leadership Realigned

The crisis reshaped internal dynamics within the Druze clergy. For years, the leadership was split: Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri opposed Damascus, while Hammoud al-Hanawi and Youssef Jarboua maintained channels with the state.

In July, that divide closed. Both Hanawi and Jarboua issued statements condemning the government’s conduct and urging international investigations. Hijri followed with a video demanding accountability, calling for an international probe and accusing the state of backing armed factions against Sweida. He went further by publicly thanking Israel for its support.

The alignment of all three authorities marked an unprecedented rupture between Sweida’s Druze and Damascus, turning a once-divided leadership into a united front.

Committees Fill the Vacuum

The withdrawal of state institutions and forces left Sweida’s leadership to create its own mechanisms.

Safaa Joudieh, spokeswoman for the newly formed legal committee, said the bodies were established in response to what she described as the “systematic destruction of infrastructure, power and water cuts, and a blockade of food and medicine.”

“These committees are tasked with running services and easing people’s suffering,” she said. “They are temporary, civil and humanitarian. They carry no political project at this stage.”

But she made clear that ties with Damascus were severed. “Sweida’s people have endured massacres, arson and a suffocating siege,” she said. “Any talks with the government must begin with compensation and lifting the blockade.”

She added that the initiative had broad local support and that Sweida was open to cooperation with other Syrian entities, including the Kurdish-led administration in the northeast, though alliances of a military or political nature were beyond the committee’s mandate.

Independence Calls

Beyond administrative measures, demands from the street went further. On July 16, thousands gathered in Sweida’s al-Karama Square, with protesters calling for independence from Syria – an unprecedented development.

Some waved Druze flags alongside Israeli ones, images that stirred sharp criticism not only from government supporters but also from opposition figures, who said rejecting Damascus did not justify abandoning the country.

Damascus reacted firmly. In a televised speech, President Sharaa ruled out partition. “Syrians categorically reject any project of division,” he said. “Those who call for it are ignorant dreamers. We brought down Assad’s regime in the battle to liberate Syria. Ahead of us now is the battle to unify it.”

He dismissed secessionist calls as unrealistic, saying no party in Syria possessed the means to impose partition and accusing foreign states of exploiting local grievances.

Damascus Treads Carefully

Despite the escalation, Damascus has avoided an all-out confrontation with Sweida. The government has emphasized unity while taking a measured approach on the ground, apparently seeking to contain rather than inflame the situation.

Mustafa al-Naimeh, a Syrian researcher, said the developments in Sweida amounted to “an attempt to control part of the province outside the authority of the state through armed groups supported by foreign agendas.”

He warned that such moves risked “deepening internal divisions and spreading instability beyond Sweida to areas under the influence of US and Kurdish forces.”

Al-Naimeh added that international conditions were not favorable to secessionist experiments. “Global powers today are focused on sustainable development,” he said, describing projects aimed at fragmentation as “regionally funded and internationally rejected.”

He also argued that Israel was “trying to export its internal crisis by fueling tension in Syria,” and that the rise of armed groups in Sweida had worsened humanitarian conditions by keeping the province outside state authority.

Al-Naimeh said Damascus was pursuing “gradual containment” to defuse the crisis, dismantle armed groups and reintegrate Sweida through political and security channels. He noted that the process would be long but described it as “the most effective path to reduce the cost of bloodshed.”


As Netanyahu Expands Gaza War, Some Reservists Grow More Disillusioned

Reservists and former pilots from the Israel Air Force take part in a protest outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, 12 August 2025. (EPA)
Reservists and former pilots from the Israel Air Force take part in a protest outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, 12 August 2025. (EPA)
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As Netanyahu Expands Gaza War, Some Reservists Grow More Disillusioned

Reservists and former pilots from the Israel Air Force take part in a protest outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, 12 August 2025. (EPA)
Reservists and former pilots from the Israel Air Force take part in a protest outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, 12 August 2025. (EPA)

As Israel seeks to expand its offensive in Gaza, a measure of how the country's mood has changed in the nearly two-year-old conflict is the discontent evident among some reservists being called up to serve once again.

Shortly after the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel by Palestinian group Hamas, Israelis dropped everything -- honeymoons, studies and new lives abroad -- to rush home and fight.

Now, some voice disillusionment with political leaders sending them back into battle, as the military prepares to take control of Gaza City, the enclave's biggest urban center.

According to a study conducted by Agam Labs at the Hebrew University which measured sentiment about the new campaign among more than 300 people serving in the current war, 25.7% of reservists said their motivation had decreased significantly compared with the start of the campaign.

Another 10% said their motivation slightly decreased.

Asked to describe their feelings about the campaign, the biggest group -- 47% -- of responders expressed negative emotions towards the government and its handling of the war and hostage negotiations.

In March, before the latest offensive was announced, the Israeli news outlet Ynet reported that the amount of reservists reporting for duty was 30 percent below the number requested by military commanders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas after it attacked Israel in Oct. 7, 2023 in the bloodiest single day for Jews since the Holocaust, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

But the war has dragged on, with Hamas still putting up a fight and Israelis condemning their prime minister for failing to reach a deal with the group to win the release of hostages despite many mediation efforts.

'THIS WAR IS ENTIRELY POLITICAL'

Reservists were among thousands of Israelis who took part in a nationwide strike on Sunday, one of the biggest protests in support of families of hostages, calling on Netanyahu to reach an agreement with Hamas to end the war and release the remaining captives.

One of those angry protesters was Roni Zehavi, a reservist pilot who stopped serving out of principle after more than 200 days of service when the last ceasefire fell through.

He said that when reservists were enlisted, they did everything required without saying a word. But then questions such as "where is this going?" started to pop up, he recalled.

Reservists accused the government - the most far-right administration in Israel's history -- of perpetuating the war for political reasons.

"This war is entirely political, it has no goal except to keep Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister," he told Reuters.

"He is willing to do everything necessary, to sacrifice the hostages, fallen soldiers, dead citizens - to do what he needs so that he and his wife will stay in power. It's the tragedy of the state of Israel and it's the reality".

Asked for comment about the disenchantment voiced by some reservists, the Israeli military said it sees great importance in the reserve service and each case of absence is examined.

"In this challenging security reality, the contribution of the reservists is essential to the success of missions and to maintaining the security of the country," it said.

The prime minister's office was not immediately available for comment.

Netanyahu has so far resisted calls to establish a state inquiry - in which he could be implicated - into the security failures of the October 7 attack. He has said such an investigation should not be launched as long as the war is still under way. Some of his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down the government should the war end without meeting all its stated goals.

When Israel called up 360,000 reservists after the October 7 attack, the largest such compulsory mobilization since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, it received an enthusiastic response.

The mood among some reservists appears different now.

“I will not be part of a system that knows that it will kill the hostages. I'm just not prepared to take that. And I really fear that, to the point where it keeps me up at night," one combat medic told Reuters. He asked not to be identified as he was not authorized to speak.

According to Israel's Channel 12, the military plans to call up 250,000 reservists for the Gaza City offensive.

Israel has lost 898 soldiers and thousands have been wounded in the Gaza war, the country's longest conflict since the 1948 war that accompanied its creation. Its military response to the Hamas attack has killed over 61,000 people in Gaza, including many children, according to Gaza health authorities.

'LACK OF VISION'

Military service is mandatory in Israel, a small nation of fewer than 10 million people, but it relies heavily on reservists in times of crisis. Reserve duty is technically mandatory, though penalties for evasion often depend on the willingness of the direct commander to enforce punishment.

Reuters interviewed 10 Israeli reservists for this story.

Like many other reservists, special forces Sergeant Major A. Kalker concluded that Israel's military and political leadership has failed to formulate a sound day-after plan for the war.

"There's a lack of vision, both in the political and the senior military leadership, a real lack of vision," he said, but added that shouldn't amount to refusing to serve.

"Bibi (Netanyahu) is the king of not making decisions ... like treading water."

Reservist Brigadier General Roi Alkabetz told Reuters that the military and Israel's Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir had transitioned to using the reservists in a "measured way", because Zamir understood the hardship for reservists and had put much of the hard work on soldiers in mandatory service.

"He's doing it in a logical way," Alkabetz said. "The reservists will come."